(Part 3) Best christian meditation books according to redditors
We found 161 Reddit comments discussing the best christian meditation books. We ranked the 56 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the products ranked 41-60. You can also go back to the previous section.
It's based on several Near Eastern myths.
Man being created from clay is very common theme. For example, in the Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh, Enkidu is created in this manner. There are also Egyptian and Babylonian myths with the same theme.
The idea of a perfect garden where there is no sickness and death, and where all the animals live in harmony is also pretty common. For example, the Sumerian legend of the island of Dilmun.
The tree of life occurs in several Babylonian myths.
The serpent is a very common character, usually symbolizing wisdom (aka knowledge) and fertility, which is what he gives to mankind in Genesis 2 (although here he is punished for it).
However, it would be a serious mistake to see the story in Genesis 2 as having the same message as the stories on which it is based (same goes for Genesis 1 and many other parts of Hebrew Bible). Most historians now believe that the authors of the Bible composed the stories for an audience that was familiar with the Babylonian and Sumerian myths, and that their retelling was a sort of subversive polemic against those religions. The stories are drastically de-mythologized, with various deities being reduced to natural events (this is particularly evident in Genesis 1 and Esther). Multiple gods get merged into one (most notably, El, Marduk, Baal, and YHWH), and other gods get demoted to animals (like the snake), natural entities (like "the deep" in Genesis 1), or people (like Esther and Mordechai, though there is less evidence for this claim).
Nahum Sarna's books are probably the best sources to learn about similarities and differences between the Hebrew Bible and other Near Eastern mythologies. Here's a series of blog posts that summarizes his view of Genesis 2: http://knowinginpart.wordpress.com/2010/08/30/genesis-chapter-2-and-the-garden-of-god-nahum-m-sarnas-understanding-genesis/
...or you could grab a copy of his book on this subject: http://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Genesis-Heritage-Biblical-Israel/dp/0805202536
If you have more time, I also highly recommend this Yale lecture series: http://oyc.yale.edu/religious-studies/rlst-145#overview
And Marc Brettler's How To Read The Bible: http://books.google.ca/books/about/How_to_Read_the_Bible.html?id=39nQafdJ_ssC
Pure and Simple: The Extraordinary Teachings of a Thai Buddhist Laywoman. It's a book featuring Upasika Kee Nanayon's teachings. She was a famous Thai lay practitioner and teacher.
Some of the teachings are available here for free.
Very possible.
However, I'd suggest you visit a local monastery for a short period of time. Initially perhaps just for a couple of days, then the next time for perhaps for a week, and so on. If the way of life seems worth pursuing then by all means go to Thailand for a long stay.
Note that monasteries may not allow you to stay for long unless you have initially spent a shorter period of time with them, to check out whether you'd find it suitable.
My local monastery, Cittaviveka, is part of Lung Por Chah's line, which includes Amaravati in the UK, Abhayagiri in California, and Wat Pah Nanachat in Thailand, amongst others. While I've only visited Cittaviveka here in the UK, I can say that it's a lovely place to be, and the sangha is very open, caring, and friendly, so I wouldn't be surprised if the other monasteries were similar.
I'd suggest familiarising yourself with some of the teachers and approaches used in whichever monastery you decide to visit. For example, Lung Por Sumedo's book The Sound of Silence might be a good place to start. Similarly I can recommend the podcasts from Cittaviveka and Amaravati too.
Have a great time, and do report back here to let us know about your experience.
Relic Theft
Medieval Memory/Cognition Techniques
Women in the MA
Woman and Food
Asceticism
The Cult of the Saints
Monastic Culture
Medieval Origins of Modern Thought
If there's anything specific you're interested in, let me know and I'll try to think of some more recs.
> Again as an individual you'd have no way to know if you're living at the global maxima ideal, or just a very nice local maxima.
Yeah, I agree this is a problem. I haven't read a ton about this, but the Buddhists are aware of this problem. They teach to be wary of false enlightenment states. In fact, I've read that the actual practice doesn't begin until "enlightenment" - in the sense that there are different stages of enlightenment that are all qualitatively different.
> Also this scientific method for objectively studying personal experiences is interesting. Any resources you could direct me to that gives an overview of that?
I'm not familiar with any teaching or sutra that explicitly lays out a scientific method the way we have in the West, but I've read many books where they systematically break down and quantify experiences in a way that is very familiar to my rational brain. I'm sorry I can't be more helpful here; I suggest that you check out your local library (or even better, your campus library if you're a student) for some books on Buddhism. Here are a few books that I recall being especially scientific:
Everything I've seen by those two authors is very technical, which I appreciate, but can also be overwhelming if you aren't familiar with Buddhist thought in general. I still recommend you check them out though, so you can get a sense of what I'm talking about.
On an unrelated note, are you familiar with the works of David Pearce? He talks about eliminating suffering from a transhumanist viewpoint (genetic engineering, drugs, etc.), but he also mentions the problems of local maxima and how to avoid them.
One of the Monks used to tell me: "the best book is the one that gets you on a mat."
You'll read and read, but one day you'll read that one book, and in 24 hours or less you'll be on the floor staring at a wall. That's the one.
For me, it was "Being Nobody, Going Nowhere" by Ayya Khema. For you, it will be something else. Enjoy.
You can find some books that might be considered religious about meditation, like Zen stuff, that are actually more like meditation exercises. Zen Training is a good one. Two Zen Classics is also good if your intrested in zen.
FTFY-BOT ACTIVATED!!!
> Dear /u/WanderingRonin77:
>
> Today I would like to share my views about this "Dogen" character with you.
>
> Certain texts have come to my attention, that suggest he was not an actual Zen Master. I know, I know, this might sound shocking, so please, I kindly ask you: bear with me.
>
> Many negative characteristics of Dogen's disciples and tradition tend to support this claim. These are really negative facts that are hard to ignore, including unethical sexual behavior, among other things.
> BUT... since we're talking about Dogen and not his disciples, let's focus on the facts about the guy himself.
>
> There are three books that helped me see the questionable nature of this character, and I'd like to share them with you now:
>
> - Bielefeldt's Dogen's Manuals of Zen Meditation
> - The Sound of One Hand
> - Pruning The Bodhi Tree
>
> Granted, you seem keen to him, so you might not be interested in going through the trouble of reading all this material. But I promise: This is not "ANTI-DOGEN" material. These are factual accounts and unbiased analysis of texts that, far from trying to convince people to hate Dogen, merely paint a historically accurate picture of him, his methods and his intentions.
> We all have lots of stuff we want to read, and probably reading books that random strangers want me to read is not high on the priority list.
>
> But I wanted to share it nevertheless.
>
> I hope you have a fantastic day, and if some day you get to read one of these books, we could discuss them earnestly and enrich each other's point of view.
>
> With love,
>
> /u/ewk.
Not me, my only semi-exposure is to an edition of the Perfect Enlightenment Sutra that has some 14th century Korean Zen monk named Kihwa commenting on the whole thing.
On second thought, by the internet's standards, I suppose I can consider myself a grand scholar of Korean Zen. Let me know if you have any questions.
>I should definitely look into Tiantai, as far as I know is that they practice vipashyana, am it right?
Yes, they practice both shamata and vipashyana, and Zhiyi is very adamant that the two be correctly balanced :)
If you are interested in reading more, here are links to the Six Dharma Gates to the Sublime, the Essentials of Buddhist Meditation, and the Great Calming and Contemplation.
The first two are accessible meditation texts, and I would recommend them; the third is Tiantai Zhiyi's magnum opus, but is more doctrinal, is treated academically by Swanson, and is incredibly expensive. These are three of the four "zhiguan" (="shamatha/vipashyana") texts in Tiantai; the fourth has not been translated. There are also various other Tiantai texts that can be found on the Web.
I like The Art of Just Sitting, myself.
Ultimate Healing: The Power of Compassion, A Course in Miracles, Loving What Is
Elizabeth Elliot? I'm not a huge fan but lots of people are.
Susannah Spurgeon? Her biography was hugely impactful to me, and that was pre-children.
Noel Piper has a book, "Faithful Women and their Extraordinary God" or something like that.
Elyse Fitzpatrick writes toward that audience too.
SGM has some here.
Edit: if you are hoping to have children, it's never too soon to start getting your heads in the game, either. ;)
Look at books from Jiddu Krishnamurti
http://www.amazon.com/Freedom-Known-Jiddu-Krishnamurti/dp/0060648082
http://www.amazon.com/Book-Life-Daily-Meditations-Krishnamurti/dp/0060648791
Somewhat related, I'm currently reading Dalai Lama's "How to Practise: The Way to a Meaningful Life" and I find it very interesting. It outlines some Buddhist ideas and practises in a general "don't take my word for this, try and see what works best for you" way.
Highly recommend Listening to Your Life by Frederick Buechner.