(Part 2) Best religious leader biographies according to redditors
We found 779 Reddit comments discussing the best religious leader biographies. We ranked the 290 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the products ranked 21-40. You can also go back to the previous section.
Praise God of your desire to put sin to death and walk closer with God.
> I dont really know how to be a man
This is a challenge even for me as a guy. There's a lot of Christian books that focus more on what our world says it means to be a man than what the Bible says.
What I've found helpful is to study passages which show this distinction, such as found in Ephesians 5 and 1 Peter 3.
> I'm trying to develop an attraction for women.
Don't force this, but allow it to come as the Holy Spirit grows you in your walk with God. The focus of having a right relationship with God isn't dependent on who you are attracted to, but what you do with those feelings.
It is just as sinful to be attracted to a women whom someone lusts after as it is to a man.
> I'm looking for spiritual advice and resources for this journey.
Some helpful online resources I turn to include:
Those sites tend to cover a lot of broad topics.
You may find people like Jackie Hill Perry and Rosaria Butterfield also helpful. Both women are solid Christians who share about God's work. Rosaria came from the gay community, while Jackie has battled SSA.
I really enjoyed "The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert" by Rosaria. I've also heard a lot of great things about Jackie's book, "Gay Girl, Good God."
Have you read Something Other Than God by Jennifer Fulwiler? She was raised as an atheist and became Catholic. Her parents were more accepting of her choice though.
But when her formerly liberal and secular father set out to produce a documentary about the WBC, his detached interest gradually evolved into fascination, and he moved the entire family to Kansas to join the church and live on their compound.
Thoreau: Walden, although non-fiction, may be the closest.
Ram Dass: How Can I Help, also non-fiction, has stories that are perhaps what you are looking for.
Ken Wilber One Taste. Wilber's meditative "journal" for a year. It's one of my 5 top books ever.
Ken Wilber: Grace and Grit. "Here is a deeply moving account of a couple's struggle with cancer and their journey to spiritual healing."
In another area are Carlos Castenedas books, which came out as non-fiction but there have been arguments they are fiction, and I don't know or mind either way. They are based on shamanistic drug use, but I believe it all is possible without drugs.
The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge
I have not read (Lila) Kate Wheeler's works, but I have heard of them. I've not read them mostly because if I can't get them at the library, I am too cheap to buy them.
Not Where I Started From
Nixon Under the Bodhi Tree is a collection of works and the authors there might lead you to more of their works.
I did read Bangkok Tatoo which has some Buddhist meditation themes in it, but it wasn't really to my liking.
The Four Agreements is said to be like Carlos Casteneda's books, but I have not read it.
Bottom line, I've read a lot, and I can't find any matches in my memory for Herman Hesse's Siddhartha. If I think of any I'll add it as an edit.
If you find anything interesting, please pm me, no matter how far in the future it is!
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Edit: as per the reply below, I've added here if anyone has "saved" this post:
I thought of two more, these actually should be higher on my earlier list:
The Life of Milarepa : "The Life of Milarepa is the most beloved story of the Tibetan people amd one of the greatest source books for the contemplative life in all world literature. This biography, a true folk tale from a culture now in crisis, can be read on several levels.... "
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance which was the start of all books titled, "Zen and the Art of ____." "One of the most important and influential books written in the past half-century, Robert M. Pirsig's Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance is a powerful, moving, and penetrating examination of how we live . . . and a breathtaking meditation on how to live better."
For anyone interested in some nice reading, there's a good book called Cave In The Snow, the story of Tenzin Palmo, a woman who spent 12 years alone in a cave 13,000 feet up in the Himalayas.
The book goes into detail about the topic of women and Buddhism. I actually just finished it today :) Enjoy.
Let me also recommend this book which was written by a former atheist who converted to Christianity. She had a lot of the same questions as you do, and I think you will find answers to many of your questions in it.
https://www.amazon.com/Autobiography-Yogi-P-Yogananda/dp/8120725247 🕉🕉🕉
First of all, can I just say how much I love giving and receiving book recommendations? I was a religious studies major in college (and was even a T.A. in the World Religions class) so, this is right up my alley. So, I'm just going to take a seat in front of my book cases...
General:
Christianity:
Judaism:
Islam:
Buddhism:
Taoism:
Atheism:
Currently Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act 1965 limits the Shariah courts including Kelantan to sentences of any combination of maximum of three years in jail, RM 5,000 in fine and six strokes of rotan, so the recently passed amendments to Kelantan's Syariah Criminal Code II 1993 cannot be implemented yet even if you're Muslim. Secondly, Syariah courts has jurisdictions over only items specifically listed in (Senarai II Jadual 9 perlembagaan persekutuan) which does not contain power over criminal matters.
Thirdly, (Senarai II Jadual 1 perlembagaan persekutuan) (later). IF Pas managed to table and pass a private bill in parliament to amend the act and (Senarai 11 Jadual 9 Perlembagaan Persekutuan) then only can the Hudud law be carried out in full.Senarai II—Senarai Negeri
> Kecuali mengenai Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur, Labuan dan Putrajaya, hukum Syarak dan undang-undang diri dan keluarga bagi orang yang menganut agama Islam, termasuk hukum Syarak yang berhubungan dengan pewarisan, berwasiat dan tidak berwasiat, pertunangan, perkhawinan, perceraian, mas kahwinafkah, pengangkatan, kesahtarafan, penjagaan, alang, pecah milik dan amanah bukan khairat; Wakaf dan takrif serta pengawalseliaan amanah khairat dan agama, pelantikan pemegang amanah dan pemerbadanan orang berkenaan dengan derma kekal agama dan khairat, institusi, amanah, khairat dan institusi khairat Islam yang beroperasi keseluruhannya di dalam Negeri; adat Melayu; Zakat, Fitrah dan Baitulmal atau hasil agama Islam yang seumpamanya; masjid atau mana-mana tempat sembahyang awam untuk orang Islam, pewujudan dan penghukuman kesalahan yang dilakukan oleh orang yang menganut agama Islam terhadap perintah agama itu, kecuali berkenaan dengan perkara yang termasuk dalam Senarai Persekutuan; keanggotaan, susunan dan tatacara mahkamah Syariah, yang hendaklah mempunyai bidang kuasa hanya ke atas orang yang menganut agama Islam dan hanya berkenaan dengan mana-mana perkara yang termasuk dalam perenggan ini, tetapi tidak mempunyai bidang kuasa berkenaan dengan kesalahan kecuali setakat yang diberikan oleh undang-undang persekutuan; mengawal pengembangan doktrin dan kepercayaan di kalangan orang yang menganut agama Islam; penentuan perkara mengenai hukum dan doktrin Syarak dan adat Melayu.
edit: the rest removed.
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UNDANG-UNDANG MALAYSIA PERLEMBAGAAN PERSEKUTUAN Mengandungi pindaan terkini - P.U.(A) 164
/2009
The Eternal Message of Muhammad
The Life of Muhammad
Islamic Perspectives: Studies in Honour of Sayyidd Abul A'la Maudoodi (Perspectives on Islam)
Not much, but my bio of Crowley will be free on Kindle until the 6th.
Here you are
I can recommend a few things. For some reason I like reading books about people who have escaped from fundamentalist sects. These may not be exactly what you're looking for but you might want to give them a try.
A bit dramatic, but considering the association geometry is masonry, the use of numbers implies we can numerically prove that something transcends masonry/geometry. Thus the first step, i.e. Initiation, is unlearning what you have learned, and numbers/geometry is proof that reality itself implies a super-reality (which then gets into the need for a supreme being/morality, etc... and etc...)
EDIT: which brings us to the Mystery of the Aleph.
I’m currently reading this book.
Caught in the Pulpit: Leaving Belief Behind https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00UQYA12M/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_UzLmDb4WR346H
It’s really good. Right up the ally of someone in your situation
Warning: I'm not throughly familiar with Stoicism, I'm currently learning and reading, but this how it currently looks like to me. My view of Buddhism comes from practicing (Zen) meditation over a decade relatively intensively, so I'm not covering all Buddhism either. I'm also have scholarly interests in cognition and bran science, so it colors my opinions. So be warned.
I think the main difference that radiates into philosophy and the motivations is the meditation in Buddhism. In Buddhist meditation the attention is put into time resolution below 1 second. Mind is used like microscope to drill down to something we don't see in normal life. If you drill down to somewhere around 20 millisecond timeframe, you can actually see "the gears turn." There will be sudden change in the view how we see the world if you keep looking down to the moment to moment functioning of the mind. It's called entering the stream in Vipassana and Kensho in Japanese Zen.
This radical change of view is something that can also be recognized in other so called "mystical" traditions (don't confuse mystical with magical or other wordly) but I have not seen it in Stoicism texts (at least yet). For example Meister Eckhart 1260 - 1327 seems to see the world same way even if he uses completely different context to describe it. This change of view often results texts that seem to abandon logic and be outright silly. If you have read Zen books you know what I mean :)
Vipassana teacher Henk Barendrekt explains this well (he is also well known Logician/Mathematician)
>Now we will explain how contradictions, which happen to occur in some buddhist texts, are possible. Suppose some part of reality U is described using some language L. Some of the regularities observed in L are in fact physical laws, but may be confused with logical laws. If we extend the reality U to U+, but keep as the describing language L, then statements may result that contradict statements made about U. Although the contradictions are only apparent, because the statements are about different
worlds', it may seem that logical laws are violated.<br /> <br /> &gt;An example will be helpful. Consider a tribe living on an isolated island. Vision of the tribesman is such that they can only see the colors black and white. In their description of the world they say: *"Something is either black or white."* Although we know that this is for them in fact an empirical law, the people of the island are tempted to consider this as a logical law. Sometimes they use the words *'white'* and *'non-black'* interchangeably. On some day someone has a mystical experience. In our language we can say that that person has seen the color green. In the language of the tribe she says: *"I have seen something very impressive. It was neither black nor white."* For most of the people of her tribe she was saying: *"It was neither black, nor non-black."* Therefore on the island one may think she is speaking nonsense. However, we know that she is not.<br /> <br /> &gt;There are, however, stronger contradictions. In his book Exploring Mysticism already mentioned, F. Staal discusses the following so calledtetra lemma' occurring in buddhist texts.>It is not A;
it is not non-A;
it is both A and non-A;
and it is neither A nor non-A.
> Even this contradiction may be explained. Simply consider again the tribe seeing only black and white. But now our mystic sees the color gray. Indeed gray is not white, not black. And it can be said that gray is both white and black. But also that it is neither white nor black.
>I hope that the examples show that contradictions occurring in texts of mystics are not a sign that something essential is wrong. Nevertheless it is preferable that descriptions of altered states of consciousness are free from contradictions in the sense of logic.
All that said, Buddhism has many other practices that are very similar to Stoic practices tat least in their goal. Everyday life in zen monastery tries to teach the student very stoical lessons. Life is not as peaceful there as you might imagine and if it is, Zen teacher stirs the pot and makes you miserable :) Novice to Master: An Ongoing Lesson in the Extent of My Own Stupidity by
Soko Morinaga has good description of how demanding and difficult life in monastery can be. The main lesson why I'm studying stoicism is because I can see the similarities of practicing with Zen teacher and practicing with Stoic master. They both question your essence every day.
I would get a pre-apologetic biography of Muhammad written by a orthodox Muslim such as that written by Muhammad Husayn Haykal called "The Life of The Noble Prophet Muhammad"
Just noted this part of your reply.
>it's his claim that compared with Jesus, the amount of genuine scholarship on the historicity of Mohammed is woefully lacking.
What are you talking about? There are scholars for the revisionist theory, albeit outdated. John Wansbrough, Patricia Crone, Joseph Schacht, Michael Cook. The ones that I'm fond of and they all have impeccable credentials (the number of degrees, and where you obtained them from actually do matter) Fred Donner, Harald Motzki, Jonathon Brown, and Andreas Goerke.
I usually recommend these two books to anyone that's interested in the history of Muhammad and Islam, they're critical of the traditional narrative among others.
Muhammad And The believers: At The Origins of Islam by Fred Donner
Muhammad: A Very Short Introduction by Jonathon Brown
Slightly OT but has anyone read The Heavenly Man and if so, how much of it do you believe? It claims to be factual but having read it, I found it to be incredibly far fetched.
Cardinality meaning the size of, or number of elements in, a set. Cantor did ground breaking work showing that in some sense there are different sizes of infinity - the start of which was that the real numbers can't be enumerated, or counted, using the integers; meaning there are more real numbers than there are integers, which is very weird.
His diagonal argument is relatively easy to follow.
I highly recommend this layman's book if you're at all interested: The Mystery of the Aleph: Mathematics, the Kabbalah, and the Search for Infinity. It's a great human-interest story in addition to the mathematics.
I assume you might have read this:
The Mystery of the Aleph: Mathematics, the Kabbalah, and the Human Mind
Great book. Easy read, undergraduate level.
In Confession of a Buddhist Atheist, Stephen Batchelor wrote of visiting the giant Buddhas of Bamiyan, three decades before they were reduced to a pile of rocks.
"From the monk's cell, hewn out of the sandstone cliff centuries earlier, where I spent my days idly smoking a potent blend of marijuana, hashish, and tobacco, a narrow passage led to a dark inner staircase that I would illuminate by striking matches. The steep rock steps climbed to an opening that brought me out, via a narrow ledge, onto the smooth dome of the giant Buddha's head, which fell away dizzily on all sides to the ground one hundred and eighty feet below. On the ceiling of the niche above were faded fragments of painted Buddhas and bodhisattvas. I feared looking up at them for too long lest I lose my balance, slip, and plummet earthward. As my eyes became used to the fierce sunlight, I would gaze out onto the fertile valley of Bamiyan, a patchwork of fields interspersed with low, flat-roofed farmhouses, which lay stretched before me. It was the summer of 1972. This was my first encounter with the remains of a Buddhist civilization, one that had ended with Mahmud of Ghazni's conquest of Afghanistan in the eleventh century.
Like others on the hippie trail to India, I thought of myself as a traveler rather than a mere tourist, someone on an indeterminate quest rather than a journey with a prescribed beginning and end. Had I been asked what I was seeking, I doubt my answer would have been very coherent. I had no destination, either of the geographical or spiritual kind. I was simply "on the road," in that anarchic and ecstatic sense celebrated by Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, and other role models I revered at the time.
I enjoyed nothing more than simply being on the way to somewhere else. I was quite content to peer for hours through the grimy, grease-smeared windows of a rattling bus with cooped chickens in the aisle, observing farmers bent over as they toiled in fields,women carrying babies on their backs, barefoot children playing in the dust, old men seated in the shade smoking hookahs, and all the shabby little towns and villages at which we stopped for sweet tea and unleavened bread." https://www.amazon.com/Confession-Buddhist-Atheist-Stephen-Batchelor/dp/0385527071
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While the adventures of past pilgrims are inspiring, other types of journeys are impressive as well:
Cave in the Snow: A Western Woman's Quest for Enlightenment https://www.amazon.com/Cave-Snow-Western-Womans-Enlightenment/dp/0747543895
The Sound of Two Hands Clapping: The Education of a Tibetan Buddhist Monk https://www.amazon.com/Sound-Two-Hands-Clapping-Education/dp/0520232607
I hope he gets to have an impact like Brother Yun:(http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/082546207X?ie=UTF8&amp;force-full-site=1&amp;ref_=aw_bottom_links).
I bought the hardcover version by Swami Nikhilananda. The book is 1,062 pages. The price is really reasonable too - $20 used/$35 new.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0911206019/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_GPd5BbM5FH7WT
https://www.amazon.com/Muhammad-Introduction-Jonathan-C-Brown/dp/0199559287
You asked for everything really, but here is a selection I personally like that is more focused on the biography of Muhammad.
For Muslim books on the biography of the Prophet, I highly recommend:
A Biography of the Prophet of Islam: In the Light of the Original Sources, an Analytical Study
In the Footsteps of the Prophet: Lessons from the Life of Muhammad
Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources
On the more academic side of his life and following centuries, I recommend:
Muhammad: A Very Short Introduction
Hadith: Muhammad's Legacy in the Medieval and Modern World
In God's Path: The Arab Conquests and the Creation of an Islamic Empire
The Death of a Prophet: The End of Muhammad's Life and the Beginnings of Islam
For the four best primary sources of his biography translated into English:
The Life of Muhammad: Al-Waqidi's Kitab al-Maghazi
The Life of the Prophet Muhammad: Al-Sira al-Nabawiyya
The Life of Muhammad
The Expeditions: An Early Biography of Muhammad
I wrote something on Cantor in the past - he is a fascinating character...http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Mystery-Aleph-Mathematics-Kabbalah/dp/0743422996
> How can people in Europe get their book in English?
Amazon UK?
I would suggest you read “The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert” she has the best description I have ever read of the struggle when a sin is so a part of my identity.
Link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1884527388/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_t1_zWqYBb5GB3W59
First and foremost, realize that they will be in human in their response, in all of their flawed and weird and emotional ways.
In my experience, you will likely come across Christians in many different stages of journey of knowledge and understanding. Some may be very defensive, others may be more open. My advice is to understand what is driving their defensiveness and then you can get them to be more open and thoughtful, which is the point of SE.
Realize that their livelihood and/or their families are tied to maintaining their belief, and you coming in to ask hard questions puts that at risk. Take a look at Daniel Dennet's book, Caught in the Pulpit, to understand the strain this can put on them. https://www.amazon.com/Caught-Pulpit-Leaving-Belief-Behind-ebook/dp/B00UQYA12M/
You may be surprised to find that many may be more open and "liberal" in their theology that their churches. It depends on how much and what they studied in seminary. But many of the things that they learned, they cant share from the pulpit without getting fired. So they may appreciate being able to talk to you about it, but you may still represent a threat if you were to blab to others in the congregation. In the end, you may also discover how they manage the cognitive dissonance for things in Christianity that just don't make logical sense. Of course, the reason isn't that its all false, it's because its beyond our understanding. /s
I had one person describe it as "transrational". Not that it is irrational, just that it is beyond rationality.
Just realize that your SE approach may face an uphill battle, when so much is at stake for them. That isn't to say that it isn't worth the effort. I agree wholeheartedly in what you are attempting to do. Just go into it understanding the emotional stakes, and don't forget to address those, or at least help them realize the emotional stakes that may be clouding their judgement.
edit: I forgot to mention to look out for those who approach it from the realization that saying anything to convince you to join the church will increase their own paycheck if you join and start giving. This is their livelihood, so I have seen preachers adopt different theological positions depending on what they think the other person wants, as long as you join their church.
I just read the book by a young woman who left the church. It wasn't great literature but interesting. Also, the girl ended up being one of the ridiculous photogenic memes.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1455512427
This quote, along with some other really good ones (that I unfortunately can't remember right now) are in Morinaga's book Novice to Master: An Ongoing Lesson in the Extent of My Own Stupidity.
Zen Buddhism, as weird as it is, has some pretty cool stuff in it and personally I think it's really worth checking out
This book will help you! It has all of the zen masters for Chan Buddhism (Chinese) and all of their stories.
Zen's Chinese Heritage: The Masters and Their Teachings https://www.amazon.com/dp/0861716175/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_EnaEDbGNS4ZKE
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0911206019/ref=tmm_hrd_title_0?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=&amp;sr=
I hope she enjoys it. :)
Where are you getting your sources from?
Here are a few book suggestions:
Martin Lings - Amazon Books
The Sealed Nectar - Amazon Books
Karen Armstrong - Amazon Books
If you are interesting in some audio, here is a detailed breakdown of the Shama'il of Imam Tirmidhi (which describes mannerisms and characteristics of the Prophet) by Shaykh Husain Abdul Sattar (a well know Islamic scholar and well known medical doctor)
http://sacredlearning.org/shamail-of-imam-tirmidhi?layout=category
Do you want modern personalities, too? Because I found Jennifer Fulwiler's Something Other Than God to be quite nice, and even Scott and Kimberly Hahn's Rome Sweet Home was pretty good.
These are the only Catholic memoirs by living persons I've read (not typically my genre), but each was enjoyable in its own way. (If you're only picking one, I vote Fulwiler.)
My prayers for your search! Enjoy the reading. :)
EDIT: Duh! GK Chesterton's Orthodoxy is not exactly a conversion story, but it kind of is, and it's pretty great, too.
The Life Of Milarepa
An Introduction To Zen Buddhism by D.T. Suzuki
The Way Of Zen by Alan Watts
Be Here Now by Ram Dass
These are just some of the better ones ive read so far, all really great starting off points into Buddhism. Zen in particular. Good luck!
That article is from way back in 2013, that is why u/johndehlin went to go interview them again. Hans Mattsson's new book: "Truth Seeking" was published in English earlier this month.
I haven't read the book yet, or listened/watched the new interview which aired live yesterday, so I can't speak to where they are in their current beliefs.
>"It also said he was in an 'Emeritus' role...usually that means for life doesn't it? Did he step down or was that rescinded?"
An "emeritus general authority" is very common in Mormonism. There are upper level leadership positions, e.g. twelve apostles & first presidency (one president and two counselors), which are life time appointments, and there are mid level leadership positions, e.g. quorum of seventy & area authorities (Hans was an area authority, i.e. 3rd quorum of seventy):
>"Hans Mattsson was a member of the 3rd Quorum of the Seventy of the LDS Church. He was at the time the highest-ranking LDS member in Sweden."
Members of the first, second, third, etc. Quorum of Seventy are eventually released and become "emeritus general authorities", see here:
>"The LDS Church website indicates that "members of the First Quorum of the Seventy are called to serve until the age of 70, at which time they are given emeritus status (similar to being released). Members of the Second Quorum of the Seventy typically serve for three to five years; after this time, they are released."
If I recall correctly, Hans had served as an Area Authority for five years, or so, and was released.
There is another issue, which is, Hans and Birgitta have been given the "second annointing" - which means that they are guaranteed to reach the "celestial kingdom" (i.e. Mormon Heaven) and have "their calling and election made sure", which means the Church can't really excommunicate them without violating the concept of the second annointing (i.e. the effectiveness of Mormon Ordinances and the power of Mormon Priesthood to "bind things on earth, as well as heaven") and raising media awareness of such an "ordinance".
There is already one person who spoke about receiving the "second annointing" - Tom Phillips - when Hans & Birgitta Mattsson's interview is published soon, there will be another account of it, according to OP.
The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna https://www.amazon.com/dp/0911206019/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_b1KRCbWVYXN2Q this is the only one I know of
Here are all the local Amazon links I could find:
amazon.co.uk
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I got my yoga teacher training at a hatha yoga school that has lineage to Paramhansa Yogananda. I'd recommend reading his autobiography (it's also on audible) and there's a documentary on Netflix about him called Awake which was how I first learned about him.
There are many stories like that in Buddhism - the biographies of great Indian and Tibetan mahasiddhas that had to overcome some absolutely mind-boggling obstacles in order to reach enlightenment.
I will suggest the most beloved and popular one - The Life of Milarepa.
I would recommend this one:
http://www.amazon.com/Mystery-Aleph-Mathematics-Kabbalah-Infinity/dp/0743422996/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1255474257&amp;sr=1-4
Pythagoras and Turing are also great people to read biographies on :)
Pythagoras:
http://www.amazon.com/Pythagoras-Pythagoreans-Charles-H-Kahn/dp/0872205754/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1255474335&amp;sr=1-4
don't know a good book only on turing, but this documentary that covers turing, cantor, godel, and others is really good:
http://bestdocumentaries.blogspot.com/2007/09/dangerous-knowledge-full-documentary.html
Enjoy!
Hakuin's autobiography would be a great place to start.
Heinrich Dumoulin's 2-volume "Zen Buddhism: A History" (Vol 1, Vol 2) is a classic, albeit somewhat dated. It has extended descriptions of the lives of some of the more notable teachers.
Andy Ferguson's "Zen's Chinese Heritage" is a very readable translation of the Lamp Records, providing some useful historical flavor. Although, the Lamp Records are where many of the major koan collections are drawn from, so if you're not into koans, ymmv.
I'll see if I can think of any others.
I recommend John Brown's Muhammad - A Very Brief Introduction. The biographic tradition of Muhammad is highly controversial, and after Brown introduces the biography, he explains why it's inauthentic. For example, there was no massacre of Jews, Satan never tricked Muhammad to recite his verses instead of the Quran, and many other stories the first biographer plagiarized from Jewish and Christian lore.
I'm reading a great book called Caught in the Pulpit. This book disccuses the research from Daniel Dennett an Linda LaScola on atheists/agnostics who used to be clergy. Its fascinating in its own right and replete with deconversion stories that I personally can't get enough of.
One aspect of the book I am enjoying is the discussion of liberal clergy or as you put it "sophisticated" Christians. Essentially, what happens is a clergy member will drift over time from a fundamentalist theological position toward a more liberal theological position for a variety of reasons. This liberal theological position can be expressed as:
There are other points but these are the big ones that I can recall.
My guess is that liberal or 'sophisticated' Christians are abandoning supernaturalism and biblical literalism while incorporating scientific facts into their theology so that they can remain Christian with less of the "baggage" that comes from a fundamentalist position.
For me, I'm sort of torn. I like religious people who move away from fundamentalist position to liberal positions that allow them to be more humane. BUT it can seem a bit dishonest at times. For instance, these 'sophisticated' Christians attempt to take a 1st - 2nd-century Bible and try to interpret it to reflect their 21st-century morality and ethics.
But check out my book recommendation! It tackles your question head on and give you much more to go on!
Edit: formatting and reworded sentences for clarity
you can make something or talk about it !
making something of the genuine laniakea thread is just really quite different . . !
as you say a well done commentary doesn't preclude some-one from being creative but the mumonkan commentary is an abortion !
there is a sort of master document that they took the cases from ! ?
in fact I think there are distinct authorship issues with the mumomkan, it may in fact be the work of a committee of monks based on their filtered recording and understanding !
recent scholarship and better availability of original records in recent years is exploding the view of a monolithic and simple scriptural ch'an tableau !
"The Wudeng Huiyuan (Compendium of Five Lamps) is the primary source for the translated passages in this book. That text, compiled by the monk Puji at Lingyin Monastery in Hangzhou during the early thirteenth century, is the distillation of five previous "lamp records," which provide traditional accounts of the lives of famous Zen teachers and their teachings (note that the "five lamps" is not a reference to the five traditional Zen schools). [...] First and foremost among the five lamp records compiled within the Compendium of the Five Lamps is a text entitled The Record of the Transmission of the Lamp of the Jingde Era, commonly called the Transmission of the Lamp. I have translated some passages in this book directly from that text. Often, passages from the Compendium of Five Lamps and the Transmission of the Lamp are the same or quite similar. However, since each text contains material that is omitted from the other, I sometimes cite the Transmission of the Lamp separately"
look at this poem of Sylvia plath's Lorelai, one of the greatest ever written to understand what "the real juice" is !
No one knows for sure. Dying and "coming back" probably constitute as not really dying fully at all. Again it's important to note that everything of the physical Earthly realm...that is all we can experience here. Biology, Science, Physics etc they are ALL constrained to the Universal Laws. Those cease to exist in the divine realm.
However you will see a slew of things like Heaven Is For Real and 90 Minutes in Heaven that give a clearer idea that there is something.
Interestingly enough most of the people who report nothing...or blackness. They were not Christian or Catholic from my memory of the individuals and stories etc. Who knows if that factors in at all, but I think it leans more towards you can't know, or things get jumbled or confused with Earthly experience/circumstance than divine. There's only one who came back from the dead!
We DO know that once we pass....we come to the Final Judgment. At that time we are deemed worthy or not for Heaven and eternal Communion with God. Even though we may die in a state of Grace, (no mortal sin on the soul), and have repented for our Sins, we still have to go through the purification (Holy Fire) to be in God's presence. This could be quick, this could be long. It's disconcerting to know even though I've repented for my sins and they are forgiven I STILL have to atone!
However many graces in life allow for the shortening of this...attending liturgy, mass, receiving Communion, Prayers for the Faithful, prayer, Rosaries etc.
I would have to say 90 Minutes in Heaven
I read this book whenever I was going through some tough times in my life and it helped me get through it. It's an amazing book full of inspiration, and it is amazing. And my name is Hunter. :D
Novice to Master: An Ongoing Lesson in the Extent of My Own Stupidity
Came across this book when I was looking into Buddhism and wanted to learn more about it. The title really made me want to read it, seemed accessible to me. This book was great I recommend it to people often, relates to much more than just Buddhism.
Set Theory - Georg Cantor, personal hero. Also, a great book about his life and research: http://www.amazon.com/Mystery-Aleph-Mathematics-Kabbalah-Human/dp/156858105X
Huangbo said, “I didn’t say there is no Zen, just that there are no teachers. None of you see that although Zen master Mazu had eighty-four Dharma heirs, only two or three of them actually gained Mazu’s Dharma eye. One of them is Zen master Guizong of Mt. Lu. Home leavers must know what has happened in former times before they can start to understand. Otherwise you will be like the Fourth Ancestor’s student Niutou, speaking high and low but never understanding the critical point. If you possess the Dharma eye, then you can distinguish between true and heretical teachings and you’ll deal with the world’s affairs with ease. But if you don’t understand, and only study some words and phrases or recite sutras, and then put them in your bag and set off on pilgrimage saying ‘I understand Zen,’ then will they be of any benefit even for your own life and death? If you’re unmindful of the worthy ancients you’ll shoot straight into hell like an arrow. I know about you as soon as I see you come through the temple gate. How will you gain an understanding? You have to make an effort. It isn’t an easy matter. If you just wear a sheet of clothing and eat meals, then you’ll spend your whole life in vain. Clear-eyed people will laugh at you. Eventually the common people will just get rid of you. If you go seeking far and wide, how will this resolve the great matter? If you understand, then you understand. If you don’t, then get out of here! Take care!”
~
From: Zen's Chinese Heritage by Andy Ferguson
Book's Source: "Wudeng Huiyuan" (Compendium of Five Lamps)
This book https://www.amazon.com/Autobiography-Yogi-P-Yogananda/dp/8120725247
was interesting. It led me onto other great research. I wish you luck in finding a place to belong.
http://www.amazon.com/Autobiography-Yogi-P-Yogananda/dp/8120725247
A good book that deals with this topic is Cave in the Snow, which is about Tenzin Palmo, an Englishwoman who's part of the Kagyu sect of Tibetan Buddhism. She's famous for a 12 year cave retreat, and she also founded a nunnery.
She balances nicely, in my view, between critiques of patriarchy and respect for tradition.
Amazon US - $3.23
http://www.amazon.com/Aleister-Crowley-Lore-Connor-Sansby-ebook/dp/B00OYHRFK8
Can't wait to read it!
https://smile.amazon.co.uk/dp/B074T6P9YK
£0.99 in uk
This one?
The answer to your questions are in the Seerah of Prophet Mohammad (peace be upon him).
Unfortunately the source of the research is not in english; it is fairly recent and written in arabic.
I invite you to diversefy your reading and look for other sources that describe the history and life of the prophet; I'm sure that you will find it worthy to read and it will not be a waste your time. If you care, there is a book about him in English:
Title: "The life of Muhammad";
author: Muhammad Husayn Haykal
I'm willing to buy the book and send it to you as a gift if you send me your address. You can get it from amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Life-Muhammad-Husayn-Haykal/dp/0892591374
Hey OP,
I have not experienced what you are going through, but I found this book enlightening from someone who has.
Rosaria Butterfield
Have you talked to anyone close about this struggle? Parents or pastor?
I don't like how people can make a big deal about a grounds crew putting a cross on the mound but think it's perfectly fine to promote this. Consistency, people... c'mon... Are you equal rights or what?
Also, don't pull the whole "b-b-but they were never persecuted" bit. It never works out.
You don't remember Christians getting fed to lions in the Coliseum back in ancient times? Let's go more recent with another example. Here's a book about persecution of Christians in China that happened not too long ago: http://www.amazon.com/The-Heavenly-Man-Remarkable-Christian/dp/082546207X
I did like what you said about people celebrating and it being OK as long as they're not promoting it. No one likes getting beliefs shoved down their throat.
People are always going to judge. Nothing you will ever be able to do about that. Just separate yourselves from those people because they're not worth being around.
Also there are a shitton of weirdos on the internet that I wouldn't want being themselves in public. For the safety of a lot of people. We've all visited 4chan...