What's the best religious book you've read?

[Twilight Hue]

I liked the Gateless Gate, Blue Cliff Records, and Moon in a Dewdrop (Dogen). Not sure if there is a best though for me. Cant decide as they all are on par as religious oriented books go.

If I'm feeling like a wise-cracker I'll meander over to the writings of Brad Warner or Alan Watts.

 

[Onkara]

Yes, certainly. Interestingly enough, I have come to the teachings of Osho through the critical observations of two of my previous influences, Jiddu Krishnamurti and UG Krishnamurti. In this book, Osho goes through each of the 112 different techniques found in the Vigyan Bhairav Tantra treatise and it has profoundly had an impact on me. Not only did it expound on the hidden meanings of the treatise, but it showed me how I can use that type of expose to go deeper into the ancient texts which have always left me baffled and confused..

That is encouraging to read. I hope I have the chance to read it. I am not sure how it helps to go further into ancient texts, unless you mean the ideas are similar and it serves as a good introduction to ancient ideas (as well as value in itself)?

 

[Levite]

Well, in terms of classical religious literature, of course Tanakh/Mikra'ot Gedolot and the Talmud with the traditional commentaries; but also Sefer Yetzirah (a book of Kabbalah) and Me'or Enayim (a Hasidic masterwork, by Rebbe Menachem Nachum of Chernobyl, 18th century).

In terms of currant literature:

Man's Quest For God and Heavenly Torah As Reflected Through The Generations, by Abraham Joshua Heschel
For The Love Of God And People: A Philosophy Of Jewish Law and The Unfolding Tradition: Jewish Law After Sinai, by Elliot N. Dorff
The Five Books of Moses, by Everett Fox
Engendering Judaism: An Inclusive Theology And Ethics, by Rachel Adler
Through A Speculum That Shines, by Elliot Wolfson
Meditation and Kabbalah, by Aryeh Kaplan
On The Mystical Shape Of The Godhead, by Gershom Scholem
On Changes In Jewish Liturgy, by Daniel Sperber

 

[Charity]

A book titled "Forgive, Forget And Be Free"....Since forgiveness and forgetting that I've been wronged is sometimes difficult for me, this book gave me a boost in the right direction.....

 

[UnityNow101]

That is encouraging to read. I hope I have the chance to read it. I am not sure how it helps to go further into ancient texts, unless you mean the ideas are similar and it serves as a good introduction to ancient ideas (as well as value in itself)?

Perhaps my explanation was a bit "off". What I meant is that ever since I began my spiritual journey, whenever I would read ancient texts such as the Bhagavad Gita, books in the Tantric tradition, etc, I would always feel as though I was never grasping the inner meaning. Sure, I would read the words, but it never resonated with me in any meaningful way. When reading this book, it dawned on me that my focus was not what it should have been. What seems to be a simple phrase can carry a million different meanings, all of them which can help on the spiritual journey. You're right, the book never really addresses any of the other ancient traditions, but it has helped me to put it all into the proper persepctive and penetrate into the deeper meaning of it all..

 

[Penumbra]

The Bhagavad Gita.

Best Christian book: The Way of a Pilgrim.

What did you like about it?

 

[strikeviperMKII]

The Naked Now, by Fr. Richard Rohr

 

[tumbleweed41]

The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark, Carl Sagan.

Not exactly a 'religious' book, but instrumental in my own religious path.

 

[Smoke]

What did you like about it?

I think the Hesychast tradition in Eastern Orthodoxy represents some of the best of Christianity. It eschews visualization and other cataphatic techniques, and likewise discourages visions and ecstatic religious experiences. It stands in stark contrast to the hysteria of the Catholic saints in the tradition of Francis, Teresa, Bernadette, and Padre Pio, and the ecstatic emotionalism of the Pentecostals. It's sober, aphophatic, and -- in my view -- beautiful.

The Way of a Pilgrim is a book about a layman's experience of hesychasm. The Pilgrim reads the Philokalia and practices the Prayer of the Heart as he wanders. It was one of the first Orthodox books I read, and helped shape my entire experience of Orthodoxy. St. Gregory Palamas gives you the theory; the Pilgrim gives you the practice.

St. Ignatius Brianchaninov wrote a good book about the Prayer of the Heart, and Mother Alexandra of Ellwood City, when she was still Princess Ileana of Romania, wrote an excellent little booklet about it. But I think The Way of a Pilgrim stands above them both.

Even though I'm not a Christian anymore, I still think it's a beautiful book. And even if Palamite/hesychast theology is obviously less meaningful to an atheist, I think the Pilgrim archetype transcends traditions and schools of thought.

 

[Smoke]

The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark, Carl Sagan.

I'm a great admirer of Sagan's, and I think that's the best thing he ever wrote.

 

[Smoke]

Man's Quest For God and Heavenly Torah As Reflected Through The Generations, by Abraham Joshua Heschel

Heschel was one of my favorite authors when I was in my twenties. Your recommendation makes me want to take him up again.

 

[Father Heathen]

Does Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse count?

 

[Smoke]

Does Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse count?

I don't see why not. Just about anything by Hesse should count.

 

[EverChanging]

A History of God, by Karen Armstrong. She made me see very clearly how radical mystics in all three of the major Abrahamic faiths were in some ways barely distinguishable from atheists. It also made me see that a people's definition or conception of God or the divine is dependent upon their history and current circumstances. Beliefs about God or gods are always changing and in some sense dependent on a people's environment.

 

[EverChanging]

I just saw that someone mentioned Father Richard Rohr, a Roman Catholic monk and priest. I've only read one book by him, one a friend gave to me, but it was probably the best book I've ever read by a Christian theologian: Everything Belongs.

It is highly mystical and often transcends differences between Christianity and other world religions. I found it poetic, useful, and contemplative as I continue to practice meditation and contemplation.

 

[tumbleweed41]

A History of God, by Karen Armstrong. She made me see very clearly how radical mystics in all three of the major Abrahamic faiths were in some ways barely distinguishable from atheists. It also made me see that a people's definition or conception of God or the divine is dependent upon their history and current circumstances. Beliefs about God or gods are always changing and in some sense dependent on a people's environment.

Very good book.:yes:

 

[Dezzie]

The Chariots of the Gods by Erich von Daniken. It fits my beliefs perfectly.

 

[Copernicus]

I always have trouble with what-is-your-favorite questions, because there are usually so many candidates to choose from. That is especially true in the case of religion. For my early years, it was Bertrand Russell's Why I am not a Christian, because that was the most popular book of its type when I was young. Nowadays, there are plenty of very good books, but I'll just mention two of my favorites:

Stewart Guthrie's Faces in the Clouds.
Anthropologist Stewart Guthrie explains why theism exists--because of our inborn tendency to anthropomorphize inanimate objects and forces. Dawkins discussed his thesis in The God Delusion but was apparently unaware of the source.

Bart Ehrman's God's Problem.
Ehrman gives a detailed review of what the Bible has to say about human suffering, which was the issue that he claims drove him away from religious faith.

I liked both of these books not because they were the best written works I've read on the subject, but because they gave me interesting insights that I did not have before I read them.

 

[Nepenthe]

I always have trouble with what-is-your-favorite questions, because there are usually so many candidates to choose from. That is especially true in the case of religion. For my early years, it was Bertrand Russell's Why I am not a Christian, because that was the most popular book of its type when I was young. Nowadays, there are plenty of very good books, but I'll just mention two of my favorites:

Stewart Guthrie's Faces in the Clouds.
Anthropologist Stewart Guthrie explains why theism exists--because of our inborn tendency to anthropomorphize inanimate objects and forces. Dawkins discussed his thesis in The God Delusion but was apparently unaware of the source.

Bart Ehrman's God's Problem.
Ehrman gives a detailed review of what the Bible has to say about human suffering, which was the issue that he claims drove him away from religious faith.

I liked both of these books not because they were the best written works I've read on the subject, but because they gave me interesting insights that I did not have before I read them.

Faces in the Clouds is phenomenal. It had a big impact on me as an anthropology undergrad'.
Why I am Not a Christian is one of the earliest critiques of religion I'd read as a kid and it definitely influenced me. But I think Kurtz's The Transcendental Temptation had the biggest influence if only for sheer volume and chutzpah in tackling so many diverse subjects.

 

[Penumbra]

The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark, Carl Sagan.

Not exactly a 'religious' book, but instrumental in my own religious path.

I like that one too. I didn't think of it because I don't think of it much as a religious book either.