(Part 3) Best hinduism books according to redditors
We found 276 Reddit comments discussing the best hinduism books. We ranked the 144 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.
Geeta by eknath easwaran
amazon link
There is a short version by C. Rajagopalchari, where he condenses the whole stroy in a novel like format. You may also want to give that a try if you don' want to commit yourself to something more exhaustive.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B019SDQOJ0/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1
She is likely calling out to you. Particularly with that feeling. The Hindi gods are an interesting bunch. I worship Kali myself.
From what I understand, Lakshmi is the goddess of wealth and Prosperity. As for my knowledge, many Hindu have altars set up in their home. I have one set up with Kali. For now, It's just a statue, with incense holders on the side.
This series of books have served my well, understanding a few of the Mantras. They are also available on YouTube to sing along with.
Remember that Hinduism is 5000 years old, and currently has 1.1 billion people who follow it. There are countless interpretations and various traditions. I can't possibly learn them all.
Zig Zag Zen: Buddhism and Psychedelics https://www.amazon.com/dp/090779162X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_QJ4EDbB3R1DCY
Secret Drugs of Buddhism https://www.amazon.com/dp/0692652817/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_wK4EDb733CREK
Entheogens, Myth, and Human Consciousness https://www.amazon.com/dp/1579511414/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_CM4EDb7WCZCJJ
The Effluents of Deity: Alchemy and Psychoactive Sacraments in Medieval and Renaissance Art https://www.amazon.com/dp/161163041X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_PN4EDbMCDQ1CQ
Magic Mushrooms in Religion and Alchemy https://www.amazon.com/dp/0892819979/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_gO4EDb3KYSGN5
The Apples of Apollo: Pagan and Christian Mysteries of the Eucharist https://www.amazon.com/dp/089089924X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_FO4EDbH0C12RD
Krishna in the Sky with Diamonds: The Bhagavad Gita as Psychedelic Guide https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00770DJRW/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_2Q4EDb7AEKZ2F
Ultraculture Journal Essential reading by Genesis P Orridge, my fave, I'm a fanboy, essays, edited by Jason Louv and a LOT of Jason's knowledge, this has been a favorite book of mine since I got it. Lots to draw from.
The Gita is quite fascinating but rather esoteric and difficult to understand upon first approach. It really helps to read a version with explanations as even the names have deeper meanings. I'd recommend Essence of the Bhagavad Gita, The Yoga of the Bhagavad Gita or, if you're really bold, God Talks with Arjuna.
As I understand it, The Gita is essentially instruction for Yoga (meaning union as opposed to bendy-practice.)
You can look through my comment history, but I would start with the following books, probably in this order:
Shakti, Realm of the Divine Mother, by Vanamali - This is a great overview over the Goddesses many names and forms, along with a great recounting of Her many stories.
In Praise of the Goddess: The Devimahatmya and Its Meaning, by Devadatta Kali
Kali: The Black Goddess of Dakshineswar, by Elizabeth Harding - An exploration into Mother Kali, and how She is worshipped at Dakshineswar temple in Kolkata. The author also goes into the life of Sri Ramakrishna, one of the modern day saints of the Divine Mother.
The Thousand Names Of The Divine Mother: Shri Lalita Sahasranama - The other "most important" book amongst Shaktaa's, this version contains verse by verse commentary.
As for converting - that's a bit of a thorny topic, but it's not really necessary. Begin to read, learn, and most importantly, practice the Dharma, and after a few years of doing so, perhaps consider a more formal conversion.
Also, seek out a guru if you can. It can be tough, but it makes a lot of this go a lot easier.
There's the reading list in the side-bar, but that doesn't really have secondary books on Hinduism.
There's Gavin Flood's An Introduction to Hinduism. I haven't read it yet, but it's the only thing I got off the top of my head. If you want, I can look through the copy I found on the sidewalk and tell you about it.
But Flood seems to have a pretty good pedigree. But I don't know if he's a Hindu. I would also recommend Eknath Easwaran's translation of the Bhagavad Gita. I have it, and his intro goes into Hindu concepts. This book also seem well-received, though I don't have it.
There's a public domain book called The Religion of the Veda: The Ancient Religion of India. There's also The Wonder that was India, which is good. And apparently the same guy wrote The Origins and Development of Classical Hinduism.
Most Indian history books talk about Hinduism, so maybe the Cambridge History of India?
Much of the modern interpretation of the caste system comes from the British translation of Manusmriti as a 'legal manual' for the governance of India. Basically, they took a book written some 2000 years ago with references to the caste system and made it a modern thing. The reason it's now used as a talking point against Hindus is because many of us don't actually know this basic fact and thus have no way to actually provide this clear counter-argument.
Edit: The book is called 'The laws of Manu' by Brian Smith and Wendy Doniger. The translation is excellent and highly recommended.
If you wanna tell them nothing else then tell them the above. It is found in a modern translation of the Manusmriti which I have the Kindle version of and I will edit the details in when I get back on the post. But, it's in there as a fact.
Next time someone tries to tell you this, just copy the above part and paste it. If you wish to reference me, that's nice but it's free information anyway. Don't believe a word from people who know jackshit about history but have the chutzpah to use it against you because they think you know less.
https://www.amazon.com/Jedi-Lotus-Star-Hindu-Tradition-ebook/dp/B007V59DS2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1518483093&sr=8-1&keywords=the+jedi+in+the+lotus
Regarding the context of Star Wars and its relation to Hinduism,
I found this very interesting, and am reading it. :) I've always known about Campbell and his influence on Lucas, and how Cambell was influenced by Eastern beliefs. Fun stuff.
One possibility is Hinduism - An Introduction from the old "Teach Yourself" series. It's not a scholarly introduction, but I've seen it used as a supplementary text in an introduction to the anthropology of South Asia taught by a reputable scholar. Since you're looking for online resources, I'd also suggest going over to Youtube, searching for "animated [name of important figure like Krishna, Shiva, etc.]" and looking for children's educational material from India. It's far from the full picture, but it's an easy way for a beginner to pick up a lot of basic reference points.
Social and Political Philosophy. Is the best place to start in my opinion. A lot of good excerpts that would give you a good understanding of where the major thinkers stand of various political and social issues. You can go on from there once you've decided what thinker interests you the most.
Also, take a look at:
Political Thinking by Glenn Tinder
Matt Lawrence's Like a Splinter in Your Mind: The Philosophy Behind the Matrix Trilogy - This is a MIND-BLOWING book!
OP, if the reaction to this post has motivated you to do any background reading, some good places to start are Religions of the Ancient World: A Guide (available more cheaply in abridged form as Ancient Religions), The Origins and Development of Classical Hinduism, and An Introduction to Shamanism.
I guess this question should be addressed to your fellow advaitins. My first answer would be that a lot of things make no sense in advaita, or at least in the modern version of it.
Otherwise there's no short answer because the gap between modern concept of gods and their actual meaning is too big. I would recommend this recent book on the subject: Cosmic Theogeny.
I realize that we are supposed to give short, concise answers, but this greatly depends on the level of the listener, just like to explain calculus one need a student to sit through many years of math classes first. I just don't see a short answer here, especially for someone with background in advaita - a premise that is at least incomplete if not outright wrong.
Simple Gita sounds exactly what you are looking for.
This is a common misconception that most Indians are unfortunately not aware of. Hinduism is nothing but the various traditions that existed in the subcontinent. In the vedic period, the deities were centred around the forces of nature. Here are some examples:
After the vedic period, you had the formation of Buddhism, Jainism and formation of many key concepts of Hinduism like karma, reincarnation, samsara (life cycle) and personal enlightenment were introduced. Then the primary god was only shiva. That is why in the oldest traditions, you have no mention of any other deity. Only after then were gods like Vishnu introduced. And through time you had many other introductions like Narayana, Jagannath, Venkateswara, etc. Then way later, you had resurgence of the vedic scriptures through Shankaracharya. He coined the concept of the Brahman (or universal conciousness). Then you had the bhakti movement. And so on....
Suffice to say, that most people are ignorant about all this. But the point remains that Hinduism is very different from Abrahamic religion. Although Christianity and Islam also have denominations, you can still trace them back to central individuals (Jesus and Mohammed) and central books (New Testament and Quran). Hinduism is just not like that. You had many separate traditions, that influenced one another, transforming themselves at the same time. So that is why when someone gives you very fixed answers that Hinduism prescribes so and so, that is a fallacy. Hinduism has no central book, no central concepts, no central authority, nothing. That is why Hinduism in the overarching term for philosophies which were atheistic (Disbelief in god), theistic (belief in personal god), deistic (belief in creator god/nature god), non-theistic (concepts not involving god), polytheistic (belief in many gods), (monotheistic) belief in one supreme god.
For a easy to understand intro to Hinduism, read Hinduism for Dummies. Great book!
Plenty of translations of his commentaries. Here is one from a Google search https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004LQ1NO6/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1
I would recommend you to read into Bhagavad Gita. Why? Because its essence is along the lines of everything you just stated.
If you allow me, I would recommend this translation, because this is layed out in a non-secterian way, but at the same time presents the Gita from a personalist perspective, i.e. God has a form (which is loving as you see it), instead of the non-personalist perspective, i.e. God has no form (nirvana, which cannot love anyone).
Edit: I just saw that you believe God has no form, but is still loving. I don't want to offense your viewpoint, but I think this is a contradiction. Love is something that only appears in relationships and relationships always take place between subjects. Hence God must be a subject and as such must has a form to give love.
For AI, I have to recommend The Jesus Incident by F. Herbert. It will also fulfill your Machiavellian theme.
On philosophy, I really love Social and Political Philosophy edited by J. Somerville and R. E. Santoni. It's a collection of "readings," important chapters of everyone from Plato to Ghandi. I especially like the sections on Thomas Jefferson, and Rousseau. Marx, Hitler, and Lenin are also in it but so are Gandhi and Dewey; Machiavelli, too. You should at least take a look at it. The Walter Kaufman book Existentialism from Dostoevsky to Sartre is also darned good.
Also, although not on your list, Song of the Dodo: Island Biogeography in an Age of Extinction is a great read about evolution, and the first part is a sort of biography on Darwin on how and why he came up with the theory (I thought this was a humorous part of the book) and the book in its entirety is about evolution, but it's also a great narrative story, and i guarantee you will learn a lot.
There's a couple of novellas, Taratuta / Still Life with Pipe, that come together by a South American writer named Jose Donoso that are more or less about art and existentialism, but they're super easy to read but also philosophical. I just mention them if you're interested in novellas. And if you're going to read fiction, I would love to suggest Milan Kundera's The Art of the Novel, which is a collection of his essays explaining how and why he creates art. It's interesting and not dry at all and it may help you appreciate plot, metaphor, etc, on your 52 book journey.
May I suggest a book, Read My Gita by Devdutt Pattanaik. He does an excellent analysis on the subject and other related topics that stem from the scripture.
Awakening to the Dream: The Gift of Lucid Living is great guide.