Best spiritual self help books according to redditors

We found 905 Reddit comments discussing the best spiritual self help books. We ranked the 293 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the top 20.

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Top Reddit comments about Spiritual Self-Help:

u/mycleverusername · 127 pointsr/science

tl;dr - The title gives it away, but eat food, not too much, mostly plants. Basically, nutritionists don't know much about nutrition, they get bogged down thinking about vitamins and micro-nutrition, not macro-nutrition. That's why every 5 years eggs go from good-for-you to bad-for-you and back again.

Supplements don't do anything, because the vitamins usually work together, and if you don't have it's partners, it won't work much.

Processed foods and refined foods are horrible, they lack nutrient combos. The nutrients they add in may be lacking the undiscovered ones that allow them to work.

Don't eat packaged food with ingredients you don't know (chemicals and preservatives)

The most important parts are on page 11 & 12

(forgive my summary, I just browsed the article, I am summing up this and parts of his great book In Defense of Food)

EDIT: "Nutritionists" in this instance does not mean those unregulated people who call themselves nutritionists. I was referring to all nutrition scientists, including food scientists, dietitians, and nutritionists.

EDIT 2: Also, I'm not trying to make claims here people, just trying to sum up the article/book. I understand my comments are blanket statements, but that is what "TL;DR" is for.

u/whichever · 59 pointsr/Frugal

If you're really "trying to eat healthy," it's not that complicated. Vegetables should be your main source of nutrition.

>Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.

-Michael Pollan

u/IntrepidBeachcomber · 29 pointsr/AskWomenOver30

I think every woman's "normal" is individualistic.

I shave everything off (legs, armpits, pubes) once week; legs and pits every other day during the summer. Twice a month I shave my arms and face because it feels really good, I like the exfoliation, and my hair grows slowly and soft. I pluck my eyebrows and upper lip when need be, so maybe like every couple of weeks or so.

I don't wear any makeup at all; I think the last time I did was maybe 4-5 years ago.

I only use bar soap with minimal ingredients in order to lessen the toxic burden. I try to treat my skin as delicate fabric, not a dirty floor to be scrubbed with harsh chemicals.

In terms of hair care, I have thick, wavy hair that I simply wash; no products, I just set my waves while my hair is wet so that it's not frizzy. I use diluted lemon juice a couple times a week to clarify my hair.

Always clean and fitted clothes, teeth flossed and brushed.

Two well-balanced meals per day, no snacking, 99% of my meals are homecooked with whole foods and full fat, nothing ever bottled/packaged or processed. I only drink black coffee, unsweetened tea, wine, beer, or water. I definitely allow myself dessert when I crave it, or eat junk food at parties/other people's homes if offered, but I do not buy it and keep it in my home. Michael Pollan's In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto is a good one to abide by. I walk everywhere (I live in NYC).

Basic philosophy: minimal, clean, natural, and groomed.

u/drasil · 21 pointsr/askphilosophy

Nagel's book is what does it all mean? a very short introduction to philosophy.

he's not kidding, either--it's only 112 pages of extremely easy reading. I've used it in teaching secondary-level intro philosophy survey classes as the first text. it's incredibly useful for total novices and the high school crowd.

if you have no idea what epistemology even is, this an excellent place to start.

u/bombeater · 20 pointsr/ADHD

This is a great question!

The most important part of this is the idea of "okay to ask for help".

The truth is, this has more to do with who you're asking than it has to do with you.

ADHD is difficult to come to terms with because its effects are so hard to pinpoint; they're mixed in with all of the other confounding factors that make life a struggle for everybody.

This is unfortunate because you can never completely blame ADHD for anything--there's always the possibility that you could "just try harder" to make The Thing happen.

On the other hand... no one can ever completely blame you, either! Because there's always the possibility that your executive faculties are just not running at full capacity, and absolutely nothing you do will make The Thing happen on a faster timeline.

So, how do you manage this balance? What do you do when there's never a straight answer?

In short: you have to learn the boundaries of each person in your life, how much they're willing to help (whether "help" means "listening to me bitch and moan" or "coming over to help me stay focused"), and whether they feel like you're leaning on them too hard.

You have to learn to have those awkward uncomfortable conversations where you put your emotions on the line intentionally, because it's actually safer to do it this way than wait until people blow up on you and say "UGH, JUST TRY HARDER!"

I say a lot of things like:

---

> I feel like I've been bugging you a lot lately. I just want you to know that if you ever need some space, you can just say "Hey, my plate is full--think you'll be OK without me on this one?"

---

> Yo, is it cool if I vent about my productivity a sec? (afterward) Phew, all right. I feel a little better, thanks. How are you?

---

> I really appreciate how much you've been willing to help me out with my struggles lately. Is there anything I can do to help you out in return?

---

> Hey, I'm really sorry I went MIA yesterday. I should have let you know I was having an off day. Are we cool?

---

If you're looking for reading material, I suggest:

u/carsonmcd · 19 pointsr/Meditation

This is like...my favorite subject! Meditation and exercise are a fantastic combination, they feed off each other and you'll see improvements in both.

Running has been mentioned already, and it's a great practice especially for distance. Might I recommend this book, Running with the Mind of Meditation. The author goes over the practice of meditation on its own, and then delves into multiple ways you can carry it over into your running practice. It's a wonderful read -- if you'd like a more extensive guide than you can find online, this is the book for you.

Also, meditation has helped me tremendously with weight training, if you're interested in that (which I also recommend! Besides the obvious physical benefits, research has shown that resistance training benefits include increased self-efficacy, memory, cognitive abilities and muscle relaxation while reducing risks of anxiety and depression). I haven't stumbled across much literature on it, but it's a great opportunity to practice mindfulness since your body is undergoing tremendous stress and is reacting to it. One note, don't listen to music like so many people do at the gym; it hinders the meditative experience. Between sets, you can ask yourself, how do my muscles feel? Am I in pain? Or you can lay back and visualize or practice the form for the lift you just performed, focusing all your mental energy on mastering the form. While you lift, focus entirely on form and breath, nothing else. Make sure you are entirely under control, as many people swing weights to cheat out reps or try and lift too much and don't use the proper form. Feel your muscles, are you actually working the muscles you are intending to target? It also makes you appreciate and come to love the "pain" that resistance training puts you through. You'll note how exercise makes your body and spirit feel good, strong and full of life.

Whew, okay. My point is, YES! Try it out for yourself, though, and find a form of exercise that you truly enjoy.

u/Urieka · 17 pointsr/AskReddit

Because science doesn't know all the answers. As much as some nutritionists would want you to believe the opposite, we are only scratching the surface with our understanding of what the human body needs. Take a look at Michael Pollan's In Defence of Food which offers an alternative to nutritionism > Eat food, not too much, mostly plants.

u/istillhatecraig · 17 pointsr/Fitness

Food Rules by Michael Pollan. It is incredibly simple and he makes very good points throughout. It is almost written too simply and is a bit redundant, but it's a great book.

If you want something a little more in-depth, In Defense of Food is basically an expanded version of Food Rules, also by Michael Pollan.

u/sonar_un · 15 pointsr/environment

They reference Michael Pollan "In Defense of Food" in the article. I am currently reading another book by Michael Pollan called "Omnivore's Dilema" which is an incredible book on the history and techniques used by modern farmers, both industrial and organic.

This guy knows what he is talking about. I really recommend the read if you are interested in where your food comes from, which I believe everyone should know.

u/ninja_j · 14 pointsr/explainlikeimfive

Yep, there's a section in Michael Pollan's In Defence of Food that details dentist Weston A. Price's research in the 1930s:

> isolated populations eating a wide variety of traditional diets had no need of dentists whatsoever (Well, almost no need of dentists: The “sturdy mountaineers” of Switzerland, who never met a toothbrush, had teeth covered in a greenish slime—but underneath that Price found perfectly formed teeth virtually free of decay). Wherever he found an isolated primitive race that had not yet encountered the “displacing foods of modern commerce”—by which he meant refined sugar, canned and chemically preserved foods, and vegetable oils—he found little or no evidence of “modern degeneration”—by which he meant chronic disease, tooth decay, and malformed dental arches. Either there was something present in the Western diet that led to these problems or there was something absent from it.

u/unmutablejones · 14 pointsr/vegetarian

If you want to eat healthy I suspect you are going to have to change some of your expectations. Preparing an entire week of healthy meals will take more than an hour, vegetarian or not. The processed foods themselves are bad for you if its turkey loaf or to-furkey. Sometimes its fine but in neither case do you want to be living off of that. Swapping out the milk in chocolate milk for soy milk will at least release animal suffering but it isn't great to be feeding children so much sugar either. There is another book that really affected me I suggest you read called "In Defense Of Food" by Michael Pollen. I found it way more engaging than the Omnivores Dilemma in explaining why these foods are not ideal and will help you in developing not only a better meal plan but a better way of thinking about food.

https://smile.amazon.com/dp/0143114964/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_dp_T2_pk5tzbNGZTCGM

u/atheistcoffee · 14 pointsr/AskMen

I don't talk about it much, but in the end of 2008 we lost our daughter at full term; then in 2009 I became physically disabled - went from a skier, biker, bodybuilder, super active person to being permanently bed/chair bound; had to leave my job; had to move out of our house and in with family; live in never ending, chronic, mind-crushing pain that will most likely be my constant companion for the rest of my life; am on heavy painkillers/narcotics; had heart trouble because of the seriousness of the pain; diagnosed as clinically depressed; had been a Christian for 20 years, was a minister with a Christian wife and 2 kids, had gone to bible school after high school and had only ever wanted to be a preacher - lost my faith after examining it and finding that it didn't hold up to reality.

Mind and body completely crushed. Emotionally destroyed. No hope of improvement. Only feel disappointment when I open my eyes in the morning because I have to face a day exactly like yesterday, and exactly like tomorrow. Just wanted to never wake up again.

Read The Way Of Zen just in time. Learned that most of my mental anguish was due to mental images of all I had perceived to have lost and all I would perhaps never have... and that I was not living in the only reality I have - right now. Have been studying Zen for a while now. It's simply direct pointing... that is, simply living now and not being overwhelmed with grasping at images.

Now I'm going to have breakfast.

u/rkoloeg · 14 pointsr/wholesomebpt

A starting point that worked for me was picking up a copy of Anger from the local library, reading through it and kind of thinking about it one chapter at a time. Alternatively, a lot of the advice is somewhat similar to what can be found in the Meditations by Marcus Aurelius. And in the end both of them boil down to essentially the same message as the OP; being angry at someone hurts you and not them, everyone makes mistakes, sometimes grave ones, and dwelling on them accomplishes nothing except to increase and spread your pain. People who hurt you often do so because they are acting out their own pain and anger in some way, and doing the same only repeats the cycle pointlessly. That doesn't mean you have to forgive them (although it's nice if you can find your way to that); it's more about giving you tools to move on with your life and leave your anger behind. I think Anger presented the ideas in a way best arranged to provoke reflection and adjustment of my outlook (which makes sense, since it was written by a Buddhist monk). In the most general sense, the way to make use of these tools is by reflecting on them and consciously choosing to put them into action. And it doesn't happen all at once - I still struggle sometimes when I am reminded of the things that I used to be angry about, but now I have the tools to get on with my life and not let dwelling on those things consume me or lead me to behavior that I will regret later.

u/softball753 · 13 pointsr/Fitness

In Defense Of Food By Michael Pollan

u/4dseeall · 12 pointsr/atheism

http://www.amazon.com/Universe-Single-Atom-Convergence-Spirituality/dp/0767920813

Actually, the Dalai Lama did say this. He's completely willing to change his beliefs based on what science and technology uncovers about the universe.

Say that about any other spiritual leader.

The circle-jerking on this subreddit is starting to hit the ends of my nerves, most of you guys don't know anything but hate.

u/UsedToBeRadical · 11 pointsr/JordanPeterson

>Hitler also had a great deal of problems with cultural Marxists. Like Peterson, he despised socialists.

Oh no! Everyone who hates socialism is a Nazi!

> Peterson’s idea that you have to put your house in order before getting politically involved is designed to stop young people (who are generally left-leaning) from entering politics.

The idea that young people should act as individuals to improve their lives is horrible, I know. Literal Nazism!

> Peterson has worked for PragerU, a reactionary organization with politics indistinguishable from Hitler.

Yes, PragerU is preparing the concentration camps for the Jews right now, you figured it all out!

> Peterson is a climate denier, meaning that the extermination of the entirety of the human race is okay with him, so long as he makes a buck first.

Such a shame that the Nazis were actually known for their environmentalist policies then. Probably the only good thing that the Nazis ever did. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animal_welfare_in_Nazi_Germany

> Self-proclaimed Nazis and Trump supporters have claimed Peterson as one of their own. There’s nothing wrong with calling people Nazis when they’re actually Nazis.

Like who? The alt-right seems to hate Peterson. A famous alt-righter Vox Day has written a whole book attacking Peterson. https://www.amazon.com/Jordanetics-Journey-Humanitys-Greatest-Thinker-ebook/dp/B07JY9XV38

u/Jaja1990 · 9 pointsr/howtonotgiveafuck

My mistake. I took an excerpt from a book through which the author tries to do something nearly impossible — talk about Zen — and I didn't think about possible misunderstandings. So, I'll try to explain the point, although it's really difficult.

The whole point of Zen is to uncover reality through direct experience of the world we inhabit; to be able to do so, we have to let go of our preconceived ideas about it, we have to approach reality with a beginner's mind. The mean to this purpose is mainly a form of meditation called zazen.

What is zazen? From the Zen point of view is really nothing special, is just sitting: when a Buddha sits, he sits, he's the whole act of sitting. A Buddha is constantly immersed into reality, is one with his actions, is one with the whole world. In common speech we could say that he's always in the zone, no matter what he does.

An enlightenment being knows by direct experience that words are only fingers pointing at reality, he also knows that our image of reality doesn't corresponds to reality itself. For this reason Buddhism always stress the importance of experience and therefore of the present moment, the here and now.

> The way I interpreted the OP is this: Stop assigning meaning to fleeting and ultimately inconsequential things and start focusing on what really matters. The way it also can be interpreted: Don't assign meaning, it doesn't matter in the end anyway.

Both interpretations are acceptable: what matters is the very moment you're living and since your thoughts — when not used as tools — are nothing but illusions, even your meaning of life is an illusion.

Please note that this is an oversimplification of the Zen core: the philosophy behind Buddhism is really profound, but also useless without the practice. Every precept is not a dogma, but the open step of a dialog between the master and the disciple that is meant to be a guide for the only thing really important: the experience.

In the excerpt I shared (from the book “Nothing Special” by Charlotte Joko Beck), the author was stressing once more the importance of the present moment, which is our life, regardless of the content: nirvana could be even a terminal cancer.

Is it bad? No: it is It. If you're sick, you have to find a way to stay better, but above all you have to accept the reality you're in. You're going through a breakup and you say your ex-girlfriend is a bitch? Bullshit! The breakup is real, your judgement is not! To live a Zen life is to live outside our heads, but it's difficult because we like our personal drama, we're addicted to suffering at some degree.

I'm not sure I've been successful in explaining well the core of Zen Buddhism and I'm sure your mind is now full of doubts and questions; I know the feeling, ahaha. Unfortunately is really hard to talk about this stuff and I have to make a double effort, since I'm not a native speaker. By the way, if you're interested, I could suggest you some books on the subject. Above all, since you're not familiar (I guess), you should read “The Way of Zen”: this book explains really well the basics.

Then read something by DT Suzuki.

Then you'll be ready for serious deep shit, a book so good Aldous Huxley made the foreword to the English version.

Again, I'm sorry for the mess.

u/Kalinali · 9 pointsr/Enneagram

Yeah I'd start getting annoyed too if I had to go by online resources and tests which have effectively mistyped me for years. Instead of taking online tests, read this book Wisdom of Enneagram which was published by the Enneagram Institute, or read through enneagram type profiles which is a free type description inventory from the same publication source.

u/tathata · 8 pointsr/running

> "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants."

I love this book!

u/rpros1 · 8 pointsr/Buddhism

I recommend reading "The Universe In A Single Atom", lot of insightful things presented by the Dalai Lama.

http://www.amazon.com/Universe-Single-Atom-Convergence-Spirituality/dp/0767920813

Talks about much of what you touched upon.

u/trnabout · 8 pointsr/RedditForGrownups

If you don’t have any serious trauma driving this, I found this book helpful.
Anger: Wisdom for Cooling the Flames https://www.amazon.com/dp/1573229377/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_WyD2BbP60W1DX

u/frunt · 8 pointsr/reddit.com

In his book In Defense of Food, Michael Pollan makes a very convincing argument against what he calls nutritionism. Basically that studying individual nutrients in isolation will never show us the whole picture of how our diet really works. And also that not only is that basic premise flawed, but so too is the evidence used to support it.
http://www.amazon.com/Defense-Food-Eaters-Manifesto/dp/1594201455

u/mingus-nous · 8 pointsr/todayilearned

Also, Michael Pollan's books on the subject, including In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto

u/inquirer · 7 pointsr/steroids

Peterson is a charlatan.

Jordanetics: A Journey Into the Mind of Humanity's Greatest Thinker https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07JY9XV38/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_2Vc9BbT6JC07P

Don't listen to his meaningless word salad.

u/mysteron2112 · 7 pointsr/Buddhism

>Buddhism ... science
>Apples and oranges.

On the contrary, we can compare some aspect of Buddhism and Science side to side. This book Universe in a Single Atom delves in the topic that Science and Buddhism have some similarities as well as differences.

Although the science in some part of the chapters, I might disagree with. Overall, Dalai Lama provides a great insight between the two.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Universe-Single-Atom-Spirituality/dp/0767920813

u/ASupertramp · 6 pointsr/AskReddit

In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan. He is single-handedly changing my understanding of the American agriculture/food industry and I must say I don't like what I see!

u/cat_mech · 6 pointsr/todayilearned

Let me ask you this, though:

>But there's also another worldview, secular humanism, which fits more or less the description I wrote above about buddhism, that doesn't carry the religious beliefs of buddhism.

Which religious beliefs are you speaking of? I cannot address the statement without the relevant evidence and information you refer to, being present. It goes without saying- the religious beliefs you state that Buddhism has and secular humanism lacks- would have to be presented first before I can address them and share my information/experience.

Also,

>Why should buddhism be preferable to secular humanism then?

I can think of several prongs on the response to this:

First, who stated that Buddhism should be preferable over secularism?

Following that, why assume that they cannot co-exist and compliment one another? What reason is there to start with the stance that with so much alike and so little dissimilar between the two, that the innate conclusion would be a demand that one be chosen 'over' another?

With so much alike and so little different, why should an antagonistic dualism or 'competition for exclusivity rights over the individual' ever be considered a logical default stance or be the relation between the two? Doesn't it seem that- if not the more logical option outright- at least the reasonable starting point would be to treat the two as essentially compatible and one or the other an extension of the philosophies of it's pair, with the addition of tenets or aspects it's kin-path simply feels no need for?

Of course, I cannot delve into the differences or religious beliefs without knowing what you are speaking of, so I can wait on that.

I'd like to suggest this book as well: The Universe in a Single Atom, by HH Dalai Lama.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Universe-Single-Atom-Spirituality/dp/0767920813

And point in the direction of this quote by HH:

>My confidence in venturing into science lies in my basic belief that as in science so in Buddhism, understanding the nature of reality is pursued by means of critical investigation: if scientific analysis were conclusively to demonstrate certain claims in Buddhism to be false, then we must accept the findings of science and abandon those claims.

And, in the hopes that the frame of review appeals specifically to the questions and answers you are seeking, here is a review and discussion of the book as found on skeptic.com:

http://www.skeptic.com/eskeptic/05-10-19/

>Buddhism must accept the facts — whether found by science or found by contemplative insights. If, when we investigate something, we find there is reason and proof for it, we must acknowledge that as reality — even if it is in contradiction with a literal scriptural explanation that has held sway for many centuries or with a deeply held opinion or view.







u/MJtheProphet · 6 pointsr/DebateReligion

>I'm saying that it has it shortcomings, but it is effective and it's the best thing we have right now.

Well, I happen to think that it's not effective. The thousands of years of repression, war, and various and sundry atrocities perpetuated in the name of religion don't make it seem like a good thing. And my overall point is that if it's the best we have right now, that's because we haven't tried hard enough yet.

>Instead, I'm saying that we embrace the fact that the doctrine contains fiction and work with it.

Let me know when you've succeeded at convincing the religious people of the world that their religion isn't actually true, but serves as a useful moral guide, like Aesop's fables. Well, as long as you ignore all the bits that are morally reprehensible. Believe me, if you're going to help me convince people that their religious beliefs aren't true, I'm all for it.

>Religious precepts are fertile ground right now for clinical exploration of what contributes to human happiness.

So you're promoting the use of science to study human happiness? How in the world are you getting from this thesis, that we can explore the roots of human flourishing through empirical observation, to your conclusion that reason is bad at figuring out moral values? Believe me, I'm all for doing studies on what makes people happy. I just don't see any reason to tie it to ancient superstition. It has been tied to such things for a very long time, but that doesn't mean it should be. Sure, we can study religion scientifically. But that doesn't mean we should promote it as a solution to our problems; indeed, there have been people doing that for thousands of years, and they've caused a lot of our problems. See: The Middle East.

>Can you back it up with evidence? Can you show that religion has had an overall negative effect on morality?

As I noted above, see: The Middle East. And if you'd like me to start going through the holy books of the Abrahamic religions and pointing out the doctrines that they espouse which are blatantly contrary to the well-being of conscious creatures, I can do so but we'll be here a while. Did you want execution for imaginary crimes? Unnecessary slicing up of the genitals of children? The belief in the efficacy of at least one human sacrifice? Vicarious redemption? Submission of humans to an invisible being, and of women to men, leading to cultures in which millions of women are currently forced to live in cloth bags, and have battery acid thrown in their faces if they dare to try to learn to read? The entire issue of sexuality? I'd rather not wade through a bunch of raw sewage to pick up the gem of an ethic of reciprocity that gets expressed once or twice, when I can get the same or better from Epicurus and Lucretius.

>Can you find studies that show that religion has failed to promote the values that it claims?

Are you aware of the past 3000 years or so of history? I recall numerous religiously-inspired wars. But, if you insist on modern studies, here's one from Gregory S. Paul in which he compares rates of religiosity and societal dysfunction between 18 democratic nations in the developed world in order to "test whether high rates of belief in and worship of a creator are necessary for high levels of social health." Paul finds that "in almost all regards the highly secular democracies consistently enjoy low rates of societal dysfunction," demonstrating that widespread religious belief does not improve societal health, and that moreover there is a positive correlation between a first-world country's level of religiosity (e.g., the degree of confidence that a traditional monotheistic God exists) and level of social dysfunction (e.g., homicide rates). You can also check out the followup study on homicide rates from Gary F. Jensen, which finds that some dimensions of religiosity correlate with higher homicide rates, while others correlate with lower ones; it's not nearly as simple as "religion makes us more moral", or "religion makes us less moral". I can't find a direct link to the study, but Marc Hauser determined that atheists are just as ethical as religious people, so there's nothing special about religious ideologies that makes people behave more ethically. At best, there are factors that come into play when people are in groups, which is not specific to religion.

>While it is often cited that evangelicals divorce more often than atheists, if you factor in church attendance, the evidence I see points to church attendance stabilizing marriages.

Then you need to look, rather than at a study from 1997, to the 2008 data from the Barna group, which points out that you're completely wrong.

>Religion has also been clinically verified as one of the most effective treatments for alcoholism.

I see absolutely nothing in that abstract about religion. I see an analysis of Cognitive Behavioral Coping Skills Therapy, Motivational Enhancement Therapy and Twelve-Step Facilitation Therapy. And I see a result of "There was little difference in outcomes by type of treatment." The most you could be talking about would be the mention of "meaning-seeking", which again is far from being exclusive to religion. Alcoholism is a disease, one with an approximately 50% spontaneous remission rate. Every program with which I'm familiar has a success rate of about 50%. People simply attribute their success to the program that they happen to be in when they succeed; often, addicts will bounce between programs trying to find one that "works". If you're really interested in the topic, I recommend Marya Hornbacher's Waiting: A Non-Believer's Higher Power.

>I'm not saying we should stick with religion because we've done it for so long. I'm saying we should stick with it because science says that it works.

Well, since I think you haven't shown that, I'm going to have to continue to disagree.

u/dilusionz · 6 pointsr/Crystals

For beginners I highly recommend 'The Crystal Bible'

http://www.amazon.com/The-Crystal-Bible-Judy-Hall/dp/1582972400

When you understand a bit more, or simply want some more in depth reading and information, then 'The Book of Stones' is an absolute must ~ this is my goto crystal book these days :)
http://www.thebookofstones.com/

Hope this helps, good luck on your journey, most importantly ~ have fun with them !

u/freemarketmyass · 6 pointsr/Economics

Joel Salatin (the author) is a bit of a (admitted) nut job though. A lifetime of being the voice in the wilderness will do that to you.

I've seen him speak, and he's very persuasive. When he mentioned that raising animals on pasture produces meat/dairy with the optimal omega-3/6 balance for human health, it made my head pop.

For more on the benefits of traditional, natural ways of cooking, growing crops & raising animals, check out Michael Pollan's books: Omnivore's Dilemna and In Defense of Food.

These books have literally changed my life and my relationship to food - it's been a wonderful, rewarding experience.

u/boywbrownhare · 5 pointsr/AskReddit

to anyone that's read Ishmael, i highly recommend this book. excerpts here. film doc based on book here.

u/Kimos · 5 pointsr/reddit.com

Bingo.

That book along with The Omnivore's Dilemma completely changed the way I look at food.

u/drunk_dreams · 5 pointsr/vegetarian

You can try In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan. The basic philosophy of the book is "Eat food, not too much, mostly plants."

It doesn't advocate a strictly vegetarian diet, but more goes into the food production system in North America, and talks about things like the corn subsidies in the US, how many resources it takes to raise a cow, ect. It's a helpful book if you want to know how the food industry has changed for the worse (for our health and environment).

u/witty82 · 5 pointsr/philosophy

I would consider reading Thomas Nagel's book "What does it all mean" as it gives you a good idea of what contemporary academic philosophy is like.

u/nwv · 5 pointsr/Meditation

This is my first post on /r/meditation...I just finished my very first book of any kind on meditation, Running with the Mind of Meditation, and it's likely to be life changing.

I got it at the public library. Go get a copy!

EDIT: Sorry I got excited and hit post. It helps already with my breathing, and of course with mindfulness. I haven't used my ipod in a couple of weeks, suddenly I have somewhere else to go when I'm bored while running!

u/jplewicke · 5 pointsr/streamentry
  • You mentioned a while ago that you were going to try working on samatha / single-pointedness in the theory that ignoring distractions resulted in different purification experiences than dry insight. How has this been going?

  • You mention on your practice log that you did some chod practice based on Tsultrim Allione's Feeding Your Demons, and that it didn't stick with you despite helping you disidentify from some obsessive thinking. Do you have any more thoughts on chod, and is it something you'd consider revisiting in the future? What practices or attitudes have most helped you with integrating and healing shadow/unconscious/"negative" aspects of you?

  • What's your go-to response when you find yourself unusually reactive or identified with something?

  • A number of long-time pragmatic dharma practitioners have investigated different traditions in an attempt to find deeper psychological relief than they found with what they thought was MCTB 4th path. In light of this discussion with Jenny Foerst, what's your take on the Emotional Perfection models? Can sufficient practice actually eliminate all arising of deep-seated depression/anxiety/narcissistic wounds, or is it just a reduction and a change in their stickiness? Do you personally know anyone who's gotten past of all or almost all of their "stuff"? If so, are any of them regular pragmatic dharma practitioners rather than teachers with multiple decades of practice?

  • Along the lines of "the fourth jhana is hella imaginary", what role do you think that imagination plays in following the path?
u/himalayansaltlick · 5 pointsr/Enneagram
u/xecosine · 5 pointsr/gardening

Plants of the Gods by R.E.Schultes AND Albert Hoffmann is a great reference.

Mycotopia also has a forum devoted to this exact type of gardening.

On a side note, read up on Richard Evans Schultes if you don't know about him. Very interesting dude.

u/rach31 · 5 pointsr/selfimprovement

These books were extremely helpful for me during a period where I was recovering from a botched suicide attempt and clinical depression.

When Things Fall Apart

The Places that Scare You

I hope this is what you're looking for. I feel like the first book is most relevant. They're great books, and I get more out of them every time I reread them.

u/WillieConway · 4 pointsr/askphilosophy

>I had a shower thought that eventually became an epiphany one day.

Explain this idea, specifically what you mean by "epiphany."

>We humans are little more than systems of inputs and outputs, like robots. Our emotions are chemicals and our thoughts are electrical impulses.

This is a contentious issue in philosophy--the idea that emotions and thoughts can be reduced to their material basis. You can read more here.


>We live (in a truly impartial universe) having made no real impact outside our speck of a planet, then cease to exist when we die.

What do you mean by "real impact"? And why reduce Earth to a "speck of a planet"? It seems like you've just decided that our actions are completely insignificant, which is a thesis you'll have to try defend if you want a serious discussion.

>When it comes to the big picture, we quite literally have no meaning whatsoever. The universe simply doesnt give a shit about us. When I accepted this, I wanted to break down and die, but strangely enough, it felt liberating and I don't know how to explain why.

I mean, that's basic atheism. There is a ton of reading out there on this idea.

I'm guessing you're new to philosophy, which is fine. In that case, you might want to look at an introductory book. Nagel's What Does It All Mean? might speak to your interests.

u/[deleted] · 4 pointsr/Meditation

i've been dealing with some similar things. i found Peter Levine's work on trauma to be eye-opening. this book, for example. he offers some practices though i haven't actually tried them.

Tsultrim Allione provides a modern layperson's interpretation of Tibetan chöd practice which directly addresses this kind of thing. it's kind of intense, but then so are our demons.

it's often said that trauma is stored in the body. there are a lot of somatic meditation techniques available out there. i'm a huge fan of somatic work, especially for its applicability to this kind of thing. Touching Enlightenment is an excellent introduction to somatic meditation from a Tibetan Buddhist point of view.

hope you find something in there that's helpful. best of luck.

edit: clarification: Tsultrim Allione isn't a layperson. her book is written for the laity. :)

u/mishykahn · 4 pointsr/Random_Acts_Of_Amazon

I'm pretty happy with life, but honestly, there are times where I feel I just need a break. A release, a pause, something.

My friend highly recommended this book for me because he knows how stressed I can get. He read it in about a day, and he said he couldn't recommend it enough.

u/porscheguy19 · 4 pointsr/atheism

On science and evolution:

Genetics is where it's at. There is a ton of good fossil evidence, but genetics actually proves it on paper. Most books you can get through your local library (even by interlibrary loan) so you don't have to shell out for them just to read them.

Books:

The Making of the Fittest outlines many new forensic proofs of evolution. Fossil genes are an important aspect... they prove common ancestry. Did you know that humans have the gene for Vitamin C synthesis? (which would allow us to synthesize Vitamin C from our food instead of having to ingest it directly from fruit?) Many mammals have the same gene, but through a mutation, we lost the functionality, but it still hangs around.

Deep Ancestry proves the "out of Africa" hypothesis of human origins. It's no longer even a debate. MtDNA and Y-Chromosome DNA can be traced back directly to where our species began.

To give more rounded arguments, Hitchens can't be beat: God Is Not Great and The Portable Atheist (which is an overview of the best atheist writings in history, and one which I cannot recommend highly enough). Also, Dawkin's book The Greatest Show on Earth is a good overview of evolution.

General science: Stephen Hawking's books The Grand Design and A Briefer History of Time are excellent for laying the groundwork from Newtonian physics to Einstein's relativity through to the modern discovery of Quantum Mechanics.

Bertrand Russell and Thomas Paine are also excellent sources for philosophical, humanist, atheist thought; but they are included in the aforementioned Portable Atheist... but I have read much of their writings otherwise, and they are very good.

Also a subscription to a good peer-reviewed journal such as Nature is awesome, but can be expensive and very in depth.

Steven Pinker's The Blank Slate is also an excellent look at the human mind and genetics. To understand how the mind works, is almost your most important tool. If you know why people say the horrible things they do, you can see their words for what they are... you can see past what they say and see the mechanisms behind the words.

I've also been studying Zen for about a year. It's non-theistic and classed as "eastern philosophy". The Way of Zen kept me from losing my mind after deconverting and then struggling with the thought of a purposeless life and no future. I found it absolutely necessary to root out the remainder of the harmful indoctrination that still existed in my mind; and finally allowed me to see reality as it is instead of overlaying an ideology or worldview on everything.

Also, learn about the universe. Astronomy has been a useful tool for me. I can point my telescope at a galaxy that is more than 20 million light years away and say to someone, "See that galaxy? It took over 20 million years for the light from that galaxy to reach your eye." Creationists scoff at millions of years and say that it's a fantasy; but the universe provides real proof of "deep time" you can see with your own eyes.

Videos:

I recommend books first, because they are the best way to learn, but there are also very good video series out there.

BestofScience has an amazing series on evolution.

AronRa's Foundational Falsehoods of Creationism is awesome.

Thunderfoot's Why do people laugh at creationists is good.

Atheistcoffee's Why I am no longer a creationist is also good.

Also check out TheraminTrees for more on the psychology of religion; Potholer54 on The Big Bang to Us Made Easy; and Evid3nc3's series on deconversion.

Also check out the Evolution Documentary Youtube Channel for some of the world's best documentary series on evolution and science.

I'm sure I've overlooked something here... but that's some stuff off the top of my head. If you have any questions about anything, or just need to talk, send me a message!

u/RSRiedell · 4 pointsr/Enneagram

You could use the different Triads to determine your core type.


Intelligence Triads - Feeling vs Thinking


Feeling Triad (4): Primarily concerned with the development of a self-image. Have common problems with identity and hostility. Problems with identity stem from a rejection of one's own authentic self in favor of a persona that is believed to be more acceptable in some way. Respond with hostility whenever one's crafted identity is not validated. Highly concerned with issues regarding self-esteem, personal value, appreciation, and shame, and with getting others to validate the self-image that has been created. (Key words/phrases: self-image, stories, emotionality, holding on to moods, adapting to affect others)


Thinking Triad (5): Primarily concerned with finding a sense of inner guidance and support. Have common problems with security and anxiety. A pervasive fear or anxiety arises from a profound feeling of lack of support. Find solutions to gain some degree of security as a defense against fear. Cannot get mind to simmer down. (Key words/phrases: mental chatter, figuring it out, strategies, doubt, anxiety, fear, anticipation) Source


Harmonic Triads - Reactive vs Competency


Reactive Group (4): React emotionally to conflicts and people and have difficulties knowing how much to trust others. In conflicts, they want the other person to match their emotional state. They also need to deal with their feelings first, and usually once they are able to do so, things can blow over fairly quickly and permanently. This group also has difficulty balancing their need for independence and self-determination with their need to be nurtured and supported by others. They are either looking for advice and direction or defying it. Specific to the 4: They seek a rescuer who can understand them and support their life and dreams. They want to be seen. They fear abandonment and that no one will care for them. They also fear that they will not have enough support to find and become themselves. They deal with others by limiting access and playing "hard to get" to keep people interested in them, as well as hold on to their supporters.


Competency Group (5): These people deal with difficulty by putting aside personal feelings and striving to be objective, effective, and competent. Subjective needs and feelings are put on the back burner; they try to solve problems logically and expect others to do the same. This group also has issues related to working within the confines of a system or structure. They are not sure how much they want to give themselves over to the values of the system, and how much they want to withhold themselves from it. Specific to the 5: They emphasis being the expert and having deep information. They focus on the process, objective facts, and maintaining clarity and detachment. They manage feelings by splitting off and abstracting them. They also stay preoccupied and cerebral, as if their feelings were happening to someone else. They relate to systems by rejecting the system and wanting to work on their own, outside of it. They have little patience with rules or procedures. Source


Dominant Affect Triads - Frustration vs Rejection


Frustration Group (4): Never seems to be able to find what they are looking for; they can quickly become disenchanted with whatever previously seemed to be the solution to their desires. Specific to the 4: Fours are frustrated that they have not been adequately parented, and unconsciously expect valued others to protect and nurture them. When others fail to live up to their unrealistic expectations, Fours become frustrated and disappointed.


Rejection Group (5): The self is seen as small, weak, and potentially victimized, and others are seen as powerful, abusive, and rejecting. This group goes through life expecting to be rejected and so they defend themselves against this feeling in various ways. They repress their genuine needs and vulnerabilities, attempting to offer some service, ability, or resource as a hedge against further rejection. Specific to the 5: They feel negligible, on the sidelines of life, and therefore must compensate by knowing something or having some special skill so useful to others that they will not be rejected. Fives reduce the pain of rejection by cutting off their feelings from it. Source


u/mindroll · 4 pointsr/Buddhism

The Dalai Lama wrote an opinion piece in the New York Times: "If science proves some belief of Buddhism wrong, then Buddhism will have to change. In my view, science and Buddhism share a search for the truth and for understanding reality. By learning from science about aspects of reality where its understanding may be more advanced, I believe that Buddhism enriches its own worldview." http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/12/opinion/our-faith-in-science.html

Elsewhere he said:

“Suppose that something is definitely proven through scientific investigation, that a certain hypothesis is verified or a certain fact emerges as a result of scientific investigation. And suppose, furthermore, that that fact is incompatible with Buddhist theory. There is no doubt that we must accept the result of the scientific research.” https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/is-buddhism-the-most-science-friendly-religion/

"My confidence in venturing into science lies in my basic belief that as in science so in Buddhism, understanding the nature of reality is pursued by means of critical investigation: if scientific analysis were conclusively to demonstrate certain claims in Buddhism to be false, then we must accept the findings of science and abandon those claims." https://www.amazon.com/Universe-Single-Atom-Convergence-Spirituality/dp/0767920813

u/wezzz · 4 pointsr/Buddhism

http://www.amazon.com/Anger-Cooling-Thich-Nhat-Hanh/dp/1573229377

Nhat (one of the great modern Buddhist authors) wrote a book specifically on this topic. I recommend it.

u/Tall_for_a_Jockey · 4 pointsr/short

His book on anger was a Godsend when I was going through a tough time professionally. I would highly recommend it to anyone who is frustrated with a situation that they cannot change. Thank you for the positive feedback!

u/HyperThanHype · 4 pointsr/IntellectualDarkWeb

>I’m a smart person. Really smart, actually, and very expensively educated!

Stopped reading right there, then re-opened the tab and browsed through the rest of what he was complaining about. Not sure if Milo was trying to toot his own horn or just upset that he doesn't get the same praise from JP as he once did. Also somewhat surprised (but not really, seen this coming since his rise to the spotlight) that there are books critiquing JP as a "narcissist, a charlatan, and an intellectual con man who doesn't even bother to learn the subjects upon which he lectures" which undoubtedly contains just as much misrepresentation as all the other hit pieces. Even less surprising is it is only about $7 which is enough for people to buy to reinforce their already skewed views and not feel bad about wasting their money, and inexpensive enough that the author can feel validated about writing it as the sales go up. What a weird win/win situation they have created.

u/atomicturnip · 4 pointsr/Fitness

Focus on your health and not your weight. Weight and appearance are extremely complicated issues emotionally and are not going to help you to improve your health. Accept your body as it is right now. It does not mean that you are at your ideal weight, but you need to be comfortable with who you are.

Your long-term project should not be weight loss. It should be achieving and maintaining health. And it does not end if or when you reach some target weight. It continues for the rest of your life. Your goal is to eat a healthy diet and get enough exercise. Weight loss is not the goal, but is an indicator that your are making real progress.

Read In Defense of Food and The End of Overeating for diet information. The China Study is very controversial, but it has been a great motivator for me. Read ACJN and other journals on a regular basis - doing research is a great motivator.

In terms of exercise, what worked for me was making a goal of working out an hour every day. The challenge is then to see how many days I can do this for. On average it works out to about 4 - 5 days a week at about 90 minutes per day.

You need to build up your cardiovascular strength a lot. Start by waking an hour or so a day. When walking does not get your heart rate up that much any more, switch to riding a bike. Whenever possible, exercise outside. Expose some skin and don't use sunscreen (not 11am - 4pm though) so that you get some vitamin D out of it too.

I have been fat since puberty. Not as high a BMI as you, but emotional pain is not exactly proportional to BMI. I didn't have any friends in college. I had no boyfriends. It took me 15 years to figure out how not to feel like shit. When you are a little girl/boy, you have an image of what you will be when you grow up. Then you grow up and it's nothing like what you expected. You need to get over it. You are fat and if anyone has a problem with it, fuck them.

u/OxfordDictionary · 4 pointsr/Buddhism

I disagree with most of the people giving answers here, but I guess that's okay.

Your kids are always going to be in contact with people who don't agree with your points of view. Your job as a parent is to teach them how to navigate those waters in a healthy way. You might also want to check out a Jewish or black or Asian parenting subreddit--how do they teach their kids to deal with ignorant comments? I remember some Jewish friends just telling their kids something like, "Some people believe/do (this or that), but in our house, we believe (this or that). We still care about and love people, even if they do things differently than we do."

Your kids are old enough to understand that they can love Grandpa even though he believes stuff that your family doesn't believe. Encourage them to come to you if Grandma or Grandpa ever say or do anything that confuses them or they don't understand. (oops, just read your already did that--bravo)

Sit down and ask yourself, "why does it bug you so much that your Dad made that comment?" Since I am also coming from a fundamentalist Christian background, I would guess it is

  1. fear that your different path will never be accepted?
  2. fear that your kids will believe Grandpa over you and reject you?
  3. anger that your Dad will never get you and accept you?

    We are never going to be able to control what other people think of us/about us. The thing you can control is how you react to those comments. This is your Dad, so your reaction is going to be stronger.

    Why did your Dad make that comment? My guess is that your Dad is feeling fear that he is going to lose you and he won't see you again when he dies. You guys are probably already not as close as you were when you were still Christian, so the way he sees it, part of his fear is already realized. (Doesn't matter if you agree in an afterlife or think he's silly to fear that--he is still coming from a feeling of strong emotion).

    Have you read Anger: Wisdom for Cooling the Flames by Thich Nhat Hanh? It really helped my relationship with my fundamentalist father-in-law. I worked on being a deep listener so I could understand the emotions behind stuff he said.

    I also really like Ajahn Brahm and his youtube videos.
















u/DWShimoda · 4 pointsr/MGTOW

Cf Jordanetics
=

The guy is a psychological basketcase & a total "bafflegab" bullshit-slinging scamming-con-artist, snake oil salesman... media selected & promoted controlled opposition... an utter and complete FRAUD.

P.S. Also he's a "pathetic weasel."

u/dwelch91 · 4 pointsr/reddit.com

This is from Michael Pollan's "In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto" - in the book, he describes it as a condition or obsession, not a disease. You have to read the book to get the full context. It is certainly not a way to justify eating junk/fast food.

http://www.amazon.com/Defense-Food-Eaters-Manifesto/dp/1594201455

Its a good book, BTW.

u/RHCopper · 4 pointsr/Crystals

I'm sure there are more in depth books out there, but I've had this one for a while and it has a lot of info in such a small package. https://www.amazon.com/Crystal-Bible-Judy-Hall/dp/1582972400

u/glmory · 3 pointsr/science

>Fiber will increase metabolism and make you healthier by cleaning out toxins.

Whenever you hear a vague mention of toxins it is usually a good sign you should just stop reading. Whoever wrote this is probably clueless. If you want to lose weight, read and follow the advice of In Defense of Food, and start doing significant amounts of cardio.

u/JohnnyTurbine · 3 pointsr/enoughpetersonspam

This is an excerpt from a book by Vox Day called Jordanetics.

I'm not sure how I feel about a notorious white supremacist tearing into a notorious transphobe and charlatan. Mildly positive, I guess. Maybe I'll torrent it or see if the local library has a copy.

u/hardman52 · 3 pointsr/stopdrinking

You don't have to worry too much about the God part. I don't really know what I am, but I've worked the steps and been clean and sober for 32 years without worrying too much about finding the "right" higher power.

I've had some experiences that convince me that there is a creative power in the universe that the steps enable us to tap, but I don't think it is God as defined by most religions, although I'm open to their take on it being part of it (except for the obviously pathological sadistic gods). I think the word "God" is a metaphor; it's a shame that it's picked up all the negative associations throughout history from the actions of the psychopaths who claim they acted in his name.

I've been reading Waiting: A Nonbeliever's Higher Power, and it is very good.

u/cabbit · 3 pointsr/AskReddit

There's also the book:

http://www.amazon.ca/Defense-Food-Michael-Pollan/dp/1594201455

In continuing with the hilarity of me giving nutrition advice though, I haven't read it.

u/livinmystory · 3 pointsr/metaphysical

The Crystal Bible https://www.amazon.com/dp/1582972400/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_54E1Bb7GZTMB7

Crystals for Beginners: The Guide to Get Started with the Healing Power of Crystals https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075NF35FN/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_s5E1Bb3M1VZ9M

The Book of Stones, Revised Edition: Who They Are and What They Teach https://www.amazon.com/dp/1583949089/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_N6E1BbC7BKCGR

u/sf_mama · 3 pointsr/Parenting

Two year olds at bedtime are such a challenge - I can't imagine the stress of having 2. My son is 2 also and we just brought home his baby sister so everything is even more difficult because he's adjusting.

It sounds like you are well aware that this yelling/ anger thing is an ongoing issue you have struggled with. If at all possible I would take time to work on this yourself because you are in for a rough couple of years. I'm sure other aspects of your life would improve if you were to get your anger under control.

I used to be a very angry person. A lot of it was situational - I made a lot of changes to my life to make sure my emotional needs are being met, some of it was baggage from a traumatic childhood and other parts are just temperamental - I'm a sensitive person. I'm still not perfect but I'm a lot better and haven't yelled at my son unless he was at risk of hurting himself and I needed to catch his attention. Things that worked for me were therapy and mindfulness meditation.

With therapy, I'd find a therapist you click with who can help you improve your behavior right away - more of a cognitive behavioral approach - vs. old fashioned talk therapy where you deeply explore your issues. Once you get tools for dealing with your anger, a more in depth approach may help, but for now I'd focus on the short term. I found the mindfulness approaches outlined in the book Anger: Wisdom for Cooling the Flames by zen peace monk Thich Nhat Hanh to be very helpful for helping me stay more calm in situations that might otherwise escalate to anger.

I use positive parenting approaches with my son that focus on teaching how to behave and manage emotions without punishing behavior. It has been very effective for us - my son is very well behaved (for a toddler!), is incredibly polite, and has a good starting grasp of understanding his emotions and empathy. I like this approach to parenting for me too because it avoids escalations and keeps me calm.

When things start to spiral I tell my son mama is going to take a few deep breaths and encourage him to join me. It helps both of us to calm down and de-escalate. It is a way of showing him that mama has emotions but uses tools to manage them without losing control. I started introducing the breathing at about 19 months and now at 24 months I can sometimes get him to take a few breaths when he is out of control. This returning to the breath thing comes from that Anger book and is a cornerstone of mindfulness.

In the short term, I would definitely apologize and spend extra quality time with your son to reinforce your connection. Also, even though it seems like your son is freaking out about nothing, to him, going to bed is a big deal. As a 2 year old he is starting to want more autonomy and control and being forced to wrap up the fun and be subject to bedtime routine (changing, brushing teeth, etc.) and forced to go to bed is really upsetting. With my son we give him a minute's notice before we start bedtime routine. If he isn't cooperating we count to three and pick him up playfully.

Good luck! If you really use this experience to make changes this could go from one of your lowest points to a catalyst for making the rest of your life better. It is possible to change.

u/isthisnuf · 3 pointsr/BipolarReddit

Well, it's subjective as to what is 'good' but one book that I've found helpful is this one by Thich Nhat Hanh: Anger: Wisdom for Cooling the Flames





u/docforrester · 3 pointsr/entertainment

To anyone interested in this movie, you might want to check out In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan:
http://www.amazon.com/Defense-Food-Eaters-Manifesto/dp/1594201455/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1211866064&sr=8-1

Also, Iowa's DNR Director Rich Leopold has some great ideas when it comes to ethanol and crop alternatives. Please don't think that we're complacent about our situation.
http://www.siouxcityjournal.com/special_sections/ethanol/

p.s. southern Iowa is a pretty good model for small farms, let's hope they're able to keep it up. Support your local farmers market!

u/entermemo · 3 pointsr/suggestmeabook

I'm not familiar with Tool's music or lyrics at all but I do know that they used Alex Grey for some of their cover art which leads me to believe that you would enjoy Terence McKenna. There is a collected book of his interviews called The Archaic Revival that you might enjoy.

​

https://www.amazon.com/Archaic-Revival-Speculations-Psychedelic-Mushrooms/dp/0062506137/ref=sr_1_1?crid=FROPOW40VMNV&keywords=the+archaic+revival&qid=1572895474&sprefix=the+archa%2Caps%2C188&sr=8-1

u/aventeren · 3 pointsr/vegetarian

My favorite Pollan quote goes something like "Eat Food, mostly vegetables, not too much." (I think it's from In Defense of Food)

u/Jakedubbleya · 3 pointsr/IWantToLearn
u/buckwheaton · 3 pointsr/running
u/brutishbloodgod · 3 pointsr/Mindfulness

There's actually a book about it:

http://www.amazon.com/Running-Mind-Meditation-Lessons-Training/dp/0307888177

I'm a little surprised they didn't mention it in the article.

u/jonathan_bart · 3 pointsr/Meditation

Hi, nice to hear you are enjoying it so much :-). I consider integrating it as well but haven't yet.

Two things I'd like to share with you:

u/chiubaka · 3 pointsr/Meditation

>I honestly believe meditation is only ONE tool that helps us face our shadow.

Agreed, shadow work in conjunction with meditation can bring true benefit.

Meeting the shadow is a great book on this topic. Here are some quotes:

"The shadow cannot be eliminated. It is the ever-present dark brother or sister. Whenever we fail to see where it stands, there is likely to be trouble afoot. For then it is certain to be standing behind us. The adequate question therefore never is: Have I a shadow problem? Have I a negative side? But rather: Where does it happen to be right now? When we cannot see it, it is time to beware! And it is helpful to remember Jung's formulation that a complex is not pathological per se. It becomes pathological only when we assume that we do not have it; because then it has us."

"This brings us to the fundamental fact that the shadow is the door to our individuality. In so far as the shadow renders us our first view of the unconscious part of our personality, it represents the first stage toward meeting the Self. There is, in fact, no access to the unconscious and to our own reality but through the shadow. Only when we realize that part of ourselves which we have not hitherto seen or preferred not to see can we proceed to question and find the sources from which it feeds and the basis on which it rests. Hence no progress or growth is possible until the shadow is adequately confronted — and confronting means more than merely knowing about it. It is not until we have truly been shocked into seeing ourselves as we really are, instead of as we wish or hopefully assume we are, that we can take the first step toward individual reality."

There's also a meditation practice in the Tibetan tradition called Chöd that is very similar to shadow work. Tsultrim Allione describes this practice as "feeding your own demons"

u/abu_el_banat · 3 pointsr/TrueReddit

I second the suggestion to read Alan Watt's. The Way of Zen is a great introduction to the background, if not practice.

u/bariddles · 3 pointsr/Meditation

Couldn't agree more, BudTrip. Reading The Way of Zen stands as a significant transition point in my life development.

“For there is never anything but the present, and if one cannot live there, one cannot live anywhere.”

u/reddengist · 3 pointsr/books

The Way of Zen, by Alan Watts.

u/SeriouslyStoptheDerp · 3 pointsr/DebateReligion

The way of Zen by Alan Watts. It will change you life I promise :).

u/marshall_banana_ · 3 pointsr/movies

This is basically Zen Buddhism.

2016 has been a stark reminder that death is the only guarantee in life. For those struggling to cope with this fact, I highly recommend looking into Zen practices. It is very helpful. Here is a good place to start:

https://www.amazon.com/Way-Zen-Alan-W-Watts/dp/0375705104

u/Kuujoe · 3 pointsr/Enneagram

Last spring, I spent three months reading the entirety of The Wisdom of The Enneagram and designing graphics in a Chicago Starbucks for my graphic design senior thesis.

I designed micro-compositions (what I've been calling them) for each type based on my research, as well as small format logos, posters outlining the relationships between types, and business cards that users can keep in their wallets for tough times.

I am by no means an expert, but I tried to be as accurate as I could.
Here are some of my other posters if you want to read more about the mission, and here's the test I made to fit on a business card.
Feel free to comment or message me if you want to talk!

u/originalmythology · 3 pointsr/Shamanism

Plants of the Gods

http://www.amazon.com/Plants-Gods-Sacred-Healing-Hallucinogenic/dp/0892819790

It's academic without being dry, really digs into the cultural context of the plant rather than being just stories of people talking about their "trips".

u/thecompu · 3 pointsr/Buddhism

I'm trying to remember my path exactly, but it's been a few years. I started off reading suggestions from my then-therapist. I read Tara Brach and Jack Kornfield for a bit. Each author talks about the Buddha and aspects of Buddhism. That led to interests in other authors and works. I tried to read some original texts but found them way too confusing. :-)

Mostly I tried to make a consistent habit of meditation.

I had a crisis recently that may be of help to you. I am not in the medical field but I am in a service profession. (I.T.) I wouldn't put these two professions on the same level of importance, but, certainly there are anxieties like the pressure to perform, worries about rejection, fear of reprisal or loss of income, making a wrong decision that has bad effects, etc. Still, nobody died cause they couldn't open Word, although I have met some folks who thought they might consider suicide when they couldn't open Word, but I don't personally know anyone who took it that seriously in the end.

I had become a bit complacent my in meditation. I don't want to use the word "plateau" because that's a word loaded with the idea of attaining and striving which is counter-productive in meditation. I found that I was sitting in a chair about four days a week and slowly forgetting some of the things I had come to understand in therapy and mindfulness training.

Over time, and owing to a few difficult weeks at work, I started to experience some old symptoms of extreme anxiety. I would physically shake most of the day. I would say slightly antagonistic things to clients and my boss out of fear for my safety.

That led to this thread.

The result of that thread led to several conclusions for myself, most of which I summarized here.

At the moment, I have recommitted myself to thinking about the mind and am meditating a lot more. The following books have all been helpful right now: Pema Chodron's The Places That Scare You, Achaan Chah's A Still Forest Pool, and Shinzen Young's The Science of Enlightenment. The last two were recommended to me by fellow Buddhitor GeminiVI. All of this has been helpful.

I suspect I'm in a expansive phase and am absorbing a lot. I imagine that, like all things, there will be a contracting phase and I won't feel as in-control as I do now. (I can't tell if this is self-sabotage as I write this!)

I appreciate your coming back to ask me what I did. I am often resistant to giving advice. I think that makes me come off as aloof or arrogant sometimes, but it's simply because I am very worried about giving out bad advice. (You can imagine that is not necessarily helpful in my profession.) But more than that, I am not at all able to really defend my choices were I to get in some sort of argument. I don't know what will work for other people. I'm still trying to figure out what works for me.

In any case, I sincerely hope something in here is useful to you.

u/laineypc · 3 pointsr/exmormon

I am a big fan of Thich Nhat Hanh, he has a book I am working through now, called Anger: Wisdom for Cooling the Flames. It's taking a mindfulness/meditation approach to anger. That takes work, but I've found it helpful. https://www.amazon.com/Anger-Cooling-Thich-Nhat-Hanh/dp/1573229377

u/morjax · 3 pointsr/Meditation

These were along the same line as my thoughts. Especially with such a strong feeling as anger, and such a strong version of this strong feeling, I'm not sure that can ever be entirely "let go".

I would second any of Jon Kaba-Zinn's works. I would also recommend Thich Nhat Hanh's Anger: Wisdom for Cooling the Flames.

I have found with the most potent and persistent of the feelings I'd rather not be having, I cannot just leave that feeling (high and mighty meditation masters: say what you will. I'm a human, not a master). That's part of why it is so potent and distressing; these feelings can fester and we can't "just let go" of them. I've had the most luck by:
-"paying attention on purpose in the present moment, non-judgmentally" (Kabat-Zinn)
-not trying to get rid of the feeling, but to put my energy into not reacting to it.
-Welcoming the feeling. Being kind and compassionate to it "Hello, anger, my old friend. Here you are again with me."

A quote that has spoke to me previously:
>This being human is a guest house.
>Every morning a new arrival,
>a joy, a depression, a meanness,
>as an unexpected visitor.
>Welcome and entertain them all!



Tl;dr: I've never had luck "just letting go" of the most severe feelings I have. I try to be present with the feeling without reacting, focus on my breaths, and it does eventually leave.

u/JerBearGRR · 2 pointsr/exmormon
  • How Jesus Became God: The Exaltation of a Jewish Preacher from Galilee by Bart Ehrman. He provides a much more plausible explanation of who Jesus actually was and who he was not than what you'll hear in chapels.
  • The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell. The same pattern of the "hero" story repeats itself countless times over thousands of years and through different cultures. The story of Jesus fits the pattern.
  • And if you want your mind blown, Freedom from the Known. The most influential book I've ever read. It provided me courage to let my own ideas and perspectives guide my worldview. It teaches that it was OK to disagree with a perceived authority.
u/noonenone · 2 pointsr/depression

I highly recommend checking out this book: Freedom From the Known. It's about fear and a lot of other very helpful topics having to do with living. It's not wacky. If you don't want to buy, go to libgen and get it for free. You can get many books for free. It's Russian but you don't need to know the language to use the site to download pdfs for free. It's amazing. I've been where you're at. I'm not too far from it that I've forgotten the agony and the despair. Arm yourself with wisdom. It's the only way. You can't escape. You can't ignore. You must work your way through the motherfucker. You had the strength and honesty to articulate your problem. You can make it. Write anytime. I'm old and lonely and I've suffered a lot during my long life but I've never wanted to kill myself. I would make me feel good about myself for a few seconds if I knew I'd been helpful to someone.

u/jeexbit · 2 pointsr/Psychonaut

Sort of depends on the type of book you're looking for but here are some of my faves in no particular order: Illusions, Stalking the Wild Pendulum, The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, Dancing Wu Li Masters, The Holographic Universe, Center of the Cyclone, True Hallucinations, The Archaic Revival, Be Here Now.

u/BlackHoleBrew · 2 pointsr/books

Maybe The Archaic Revival: Speculations on Psychedelic Mushrooms, the Amazon, Virtual Reality, UFOs, Evolution, Shamanism, the Rebirth of the Goddess, and the End of History by Terence McKenna, because not only is it super weird, but I've never done psychedelic drugs in my life.

Also, I don't know any other atheists with as many Christian books as me. I'm not talking about academic or critical books on religion, I'm talking God Is in the Small Stuff, The Purpose Driven Life, The Daily Walk Bible, Jesus: Who is He?, and my personal favorite, The Book of God: the Bible as a novel, which is the only one I read from time to time. I'm not very far into it: I'm at the part where God has a wrestling match against Jacob. Oh sorry: SPOILER. My ex step-mom's mother used to buy these books for me every Christmas. Oh, I also have a pocket bible just from living on a college campus, and the Bhagavad Gita (also from living on a college campus; dude caught me wearing a Nirvana shirt and ended up giving me a free copy).

u/archpope · 2 pointsr/lebowski

You can add "The Dude and the Zen Master" to your list.

u/Criticalthinking346 · 2 pointsr/Divorce

I use the calm app daily, have read a lot of books on eastern philosophy/mindfulness, love to listen to Alan Watts speeches. Actually just finishing up the dude and the zen master now.

u/abnmfr · 2 pointsr/Paleo

The Eater's Manifesto.

It's not Paleo^TM Brand Paleo^TM but it's really good.

u/murdahmamurdah · 2 pointsr/hiphopheads

>Man you seem like a smart motherfucker sometimes Murda.

i swear i actually am sometimes.

>Would you say the diet improvements and the yoga helped a lot?

rediculously so. im lactose intolerant plus got celiac too so im pretty much vegan by default short of a couple thing and cant eat any sort of bread. the yoga was a life saver. if you get really into it beyond just a workout system, then its got some crazy beneficial effects. im all russell simmons now, meditate like twice a day, and the shit just grounds you very well.

if youre not trying to get spiritual with it, it will still leave you feeling amazing. plus, its easy to do. dont get trapped in the "but im not flexible" mindset. think of it like riding a bike with training wheels, once you learn how to ride without them then youre not just gonna stop riding a bike. youre gonna enjoy it that much more. so the goal isn't to be flexible, the goal is to relax and enjoy it.

yeah, i cut out all the meats. i read this book and this one somewhere early on in the diet shift. first one was written by the front man to one of my more favorite bands. just helped put things in perpective that we dont HAVE to eat meat and that doing so doesnt make you tough. Im just not tryin to have stuff die if it doesnt need to. second one gave me a better idea of what I should be putting into my body plus theres a lot about just how fucked our food supply is in there too.

other than that, the internet. tons of information at your disposal

the best way to do it, is to start cooking more. go to the grocery store, find the weirdest vegetable you can find and then look up how to cook it. and just consciously think about it. like hey, i dont HAVE to eat meat. make it so it's a choice. its not a cold turkey thing. maybe go one meal a day where you dont eat it and take it from there

plus, adding Worcestershire sauce to stuff helps give it that meaty flavor.

u/NGK87 · 2 pointsr/nutrition

Regarding insulin response:

Enter The Zone: A Dietary Road map https://www.amazon.com/dp/0060391502/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apap_aYdFVAwVnJWJz

Regarding nutrition, calories, etc:
In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto https://www.amazon.com/dp/0143114964/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apap_84Pt1bNIvcu25

u/bernadine77 · 2 pointsr/loseit

I'm in the same boat as far as feeling discouraged. I've been at a plateau for like 6 weeks and nothing has really had any effect whatsoever. It's very frustrating!

Can I recommend a few books? Maybe In Defense of Food or Food Rules. The author breaks down how our bodies deal with food and makes suggestions, citing good information.

u/ornryactor · 2 pointsr/AskFoodHistorians

Thanks!

  • Changes in the Land: Indians, Colonists, and the Ecology of New England. Cronon, William.

  • Selling 'Em by the Sack: White Castle and the Creation of American Food. Hogan, David Gerard.

  • Revolution at the Table: The Transformation of the American Diet. Levenstein, Harvey.

  • The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals. Pollan, Michael.

  • Manifestos on the Future of Food and Seed. Shiva, Vandana et al.

  • The Jungle. Sinclair, Upton.

  • Banana Cultures: Agriculture, Consumption, and Environmental Change in Honduras & the United States. Soluri, John.

  • The Fruits of Natural Advantage: Making the Industrial Countryside in California. Stoll, Steven.

  • Corn and Capitalism: How a Botanical Bastard Grew to Global Dominance. Warman, Arturo.

    Very cool to see the actual course listing information. I'd forgotten what it was like to flip through an actual paper course catalog with that kind of stuff in it. Thank god for the internet.

    Also, you helped me figure out what book I was trying to remember in this comment! It was The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan. IIRC, it was an awesome concept and 75% of it was an absolutely fantastic read, but one of the sections (maybe the third one?) was bit uninspired. Still overall worth the read, for sure, just be prepared to slog through one section. (And don't skip it, because what it discusses is still relevant to the final section, even if it's not as entertaining as the rest of the book.) It's worth it in particular for anybody living in an industrialized "modern" nation; it provides some of the come-to-Jesus moments that we all need to hear periodically. It's not on the level of Fast Food Nation in that regard (which is required reading for every American and Canadian, as far as I'm concerned), but still.

    EDIT: And that helped me remember another book I've heard recommended, also by Michael Pollan: In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto.

    You're on a roll, friend.
u/stinkerino · 2 pointsr/EatCheapAndHealthy

In Defense of Food is a really good book that addresses this question directly. its helpful to look at healthy eating conceptually rather than trying to remember all the information, stats, counting nutrients, etc. that gets overwhelming. if you can understand what a generally healthy diet looks like (more vegetables, less processed foods, that sort of thing) then you default into getting all the nutrients you need just because you're eating well. also, dont forget this one, dietary fiber is super important, this comes from plants and basically feeds your gut bacteria and is a pipe cleaner in your tubes. the gut bacteria process fiber that your body cant on its own and then give out things your body can use.

u/not_entertained · 2 pointsr/Fitness

In Defense of Food is a nice one. It is not just about HFCS as it is nonsense to assume that you are just leaving that out and all of a sudden all your problems will be gone. I'm having the impression that the media is promoting this just so that the companies can now write "no HCFS!!!" on the packaging to pretend that their crap food is healthy.

I don't know if it is sufficiently unscientific but I remember that it was a nice read and I'm not even a native speaker. Lots of people have read and liked it so I think it should have enough mass appeal.

http://www.amazon.com/Defense-Food-Eaters-Manifesto/dp/0143114964/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1291745240&sr=8-1

u/KettlebelleNYC · 2 pointsr/loseit

You'll find that this sub is extremely supportive - no berating or humiliating here at all, just encouragement and sometimes tough love.

Others have said this, but it can't be stressed enough that food should be your #1 priority. What you're doing in MFP is absolutely the right thing - if you keep eating at a deficit, you will 100% lose weight. (And the fact that you already have a MFP account and have been logging what you're eating shows that you are past the point of "literally no concept of health or weight loss!" You know what to do, the trick is making yourself do it, which is why we're all here, haha.)

Once you get the ball rolling, you can start to add in exercise, but that's not the priority upfront. By all means start walking a little more, but really focus on your calories and don't try to jump immediately into intense workouts - it's not necessary right now.

Ultimately, as everyone will tell you, this needs to be about a complete lifestyle change - you can't think of it as dieting. What helps me is reminding myself what's literally happening in my body when I eat certain foods. I really recommend the book It Starts With Food - regardless of whether you actually want to do a Whole 30 (30 days of eliminating a bunch of foods that tend to give people issues), the book is an excellent overview of how what you eat effects all of the organs in your body, both positively and negatively. Michael Pollan's In Defense of Food is another great choice.

You can do it! Good luck!

u/moyerma · 2 pointsr/AskReddit

I can recommend Michael Pollan's books:

  • The Omnivore's Dilemma
  • In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto

    He talks about why a lot of current nutritional science is flawed (poor data, biased funding, etc...) and concludes that while humans can survive and thrive on a wide variety of diets, the modern western diet is not one of them. His advice boils down to "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants."

    It's a good read because he's not really trying to push any one particular diet. The books are more concerned with how and why the western diet and modern nutritional science got to be the way they are.
u/razrblazr · 2 pointsr/GetMotivated

If you want to get healthy, start doing your research. Learn all you can from reputable sources and then use your new knowledge to get a plan. You should read "Why We Are Fat" by Gary Taubes and some of Michael Pollan's books. Check out r/keto and r/paleo. Watch "Fat Head" on Netflix. Personal health is a science and before you start, make sure you are doing it the best way for you. Plus, you don't want to put in a lot of time and effort only to find out there was a better, easier way out there. I wish I would have found r/keto wayyyy sooner. Good luck! You can DEFINITELY do this!

u/PorscheCoxster · 2 pointsr/politics

People who make excuses are a lost cause and are cheating themselves. Not to defend those people but a couple of good reads:

u/C_M_Burns · 2 pointsr/philosophy

I know I'm tardy to the party, but I found that it's best to start with general surveys of philosophy, so you're exposed to a wide range of thought, then narrowing down your interests.

Personally, I found the following to be the most helpful:

From Socrates to Sartre: The Philosophic Quest

Think

What Does It All Mean?

The Problems of Philosophy

u/CapBateman · 2 pointsr/askphilosophy

If you want a more general introduction into philosophy there's a Think: A Compelling Introduction to Philosophy by Simon Blackburn and the older What Does It All Mean?: A Very Short Introduction to Philosophy by Thomas Nagel. A more academic introduction (the last two books are more aimed at a general audience) is Fundamentals of Philosophy edited by John Shand. If you're willing to sit through it there also Russel's classic A History of Western Philosophy, which is a sort of introduction to philosophy through the history of the field (the audiobook is on youtube btw), and there also his Problems of Philosophy

I'm not that familiar with eastern philosophy, but a classic introduction to Existentialism is Walter Kaufmann's Existentialism from Dostoyevsky to Sartre and it should go nicely with Existentialism is a Humanism.

Hope this helps :)

u/1066443507 · 2 pointsr/askphilosophy

This is an excellent suggestion. If you want an easier read you might consider Nagel's What Does it All Mean? This book is excellent, very short, and very easy to get through. Probably the closest you can get to an absolute beginner's guide to philosophy.

u/mattrock23 · 2 pointsr/philosophy

What Does It All Mean? by Thomas Nagel

Stay away from The Problems of Philosophy by Betrand Russell, people recommend it as an introductory survey sometimes, but it's deeply biased into his views. Nagel's book simply puts forward and explains the main questions without really trying to answer them.

u/ewiggle · 2 pointsr/getdisciplined

My knee-jerk reaction was to suggest hardcore introspective journaling but then I read the next line where you said you'd tried it and it didn't help.

In my head, the best way to get thoughts out of your mind is to stick them somewhere else so that your brain doesn't think it's missing out on something. I used to keep a notepad handy (until I got a smart phone) and a pen clipped to my keyring so that I could jot down ruminating thoughts whenever I needed my mind clear.

So it was more of a brain basket than a journal. But then I would also go back later and decide whether or not to write more about it. More often than not, after the duration of the work day, I would decide it wasn't worth any additional thinking energy and would cross out the jot.

But ... that was my implementation of getting my mind clear. Too bad it hasn't worked for you yet though. Hopefully the therapist will work for you.

Oh and I agree with what some of the other replies have said in that physical exertion helps clear the mind. I found this process best described in a book about running. I'll edit this post to include the quote once I find it.

edit: here it is and this is from the awesome book Running With The Mind of Meditation

>With an untrained mind, the thought process is said to be like a wild and blind horse: erratic and out of control.

>[...]

>In order to access the mind, the wild horse has to be tamed. That comes through the constant application of the meditation technique. Even though there are some mental benefits in running, they are usually achieved not by taming the horse, but by exhausting the horse. by moving, we are physically exhausting the wind. Afterward, we feel calmer because the wind is more settled. Thus the mind is more present and at peace. So the clarity and peace of mind we feel after running is mostly because the wild horse is tired, not necessarily because it has been tamed. The mental clarity brought by physical exercise is temporary. When the horse has more energy, it resumes running around. Then we have to go for another run, exhausting the mind again. Using running as a way to train the mind is incidental whereas the peace and clarity that come from meditation are cumulative.

>[...]

>Ideally, our daily routine will include both exercise and meditation.

So I guess the advice is to start running, and train up your meditation skills too.

u/armillanymphs · 2 pointsr/streamentry

>Dhammarato's message seems to be that most forms of therapy are like going into the garden and taking a long, hard look at the weeds, while correct practice of the dhamma is like rooting up the weeds and throwing them over the wall.

I think that's one helpful way of looking at it, if it's assumed that one is primarily relying on therapy without practice. Perhaps there are areas of the garden one doesn't know of or doesn't care to look, and then the scope of dharma practice is limited to what one is comfortable with. With my own experience of counseling, I found that it helped bear the weight of all the stress in my life, freeing up energy and space for practice (rather than relying on practice to take care of everything). In an understanding the mind sense, I saw how defensive I'd get when I talked about practice and worrying that my counselor would think I was crazy, which was awesome insight practice. Plus, there is a lot to be said for the sacredness of someone holding space for all you are, given that it isn't easy to truly speak our truths to those close to us given karmic ties.

Some other considerations include the fact that there are buddhist counselors / therapists, and that there a variety of therapeutic modalities beside talk therapy, which is what I see comes under criticism mostly.

>I can absolutely see the potential to overlook/bypass what I'm experiencing, and yet here I am, engaging with this stuff fully and investigating.

​I didn't mean to suggest you weren't, but that sometimes aspects of our psyche lurk at the edges of the unknown, and a therapist can help one walk towards and through that out our tease out blindspots.

>Yes. I'm always grateful to have access to more resources, especially on recommendation from others here in this community.

Focusing is a practice borne from Eugene Gendlin observing what made therapy effective: the capacity of patients to feel into their bodies and acknowledge their feelings in a conversational way. Judith Blackstone, a psychotherapist with experience in Zen, Dzogchen, and Mahamudra, created a system that emphasizes integrated non-duality from a somatic perspective. Finally, Feeding Your Demons is fantastic as well. If you're left wanting other recommendations do get in touch.

One final note: I don't disagree with your comment that dharma could potentially take care of this matter all on its own. However, it's useful to consider the variety of modalities that can remove obscurations from another angle, of having a variety of tools so to speak.

Wishing you success in your journey – take care.

u/upinflames333 · 2 pointsr/Meditation

This reminds me of Feeding Your Demons. If imagery works well for you, then you might appreciate the methods in this book.


> a smile I think I never saw her make for me

I think that it is significant that you said this at the end. The bride image you saw at the end is not really your ex-girlfriend, but an idealization that just happens to look like her. I would go back down that staircase and keep looking deeper. I bet there is something more to the bride image than you have discovered.

u/hoshhsiao · 2 pointsr/Empaths

If it feels natural, and you both are aware of the best and worst traits without trying to hide them, that that's great.

The kind of stuff I was describing are more like ... pathologies in unhealthy relationships. So read on only if the healing aspects calls to you :-)

There's a practice I suggest to empaths who aspire to be healers. It is called Demon Feeding. The first half of the practice is a great exercise in being able to discern exactly what kind of energy signature, some aspect of someone really needs.

Just like you can hear someone say something, and their body language says something else, there is often an underlying energy that may say something else all together.

Likewise, when someone wants something, there are sometimes an underlying need that is different from what they say they want. Then, there is asking how someone would feel after they get what they need. That resulting feeling is the true experience of what they are really seeking.

In the first half of demon feeding, you tune into specific sensations, and then ask it to personify. Then you ask those questions. Then you trade places -- this is an exercise in empathy -- and ask those questions again. (This takes someone even deeper). In that last part, that resulting experiencing that they seek is the energy signature that, when fed in a certain way, can dissolve this.

Most people have some disconnect with what they really need. They tend to seek out the surface want, not knowing that it is driven by something deeper. However, just because they are not consciously aware of those deeper drives, does not mean it is not active. This is where it starts distorting relationships. It will feel like a form of attraction, but it is not -- more like hunger, obsession, and so forth.

If you are interested in this practice, you can find the outline here:

https://www.lionsroar.com/how-to-practice-feeding-your-demons/

The full book is here:

https://www.amazon.com/Feeding-Your-Demons-Resolving-Conflict/dp/0316013137

There is also an audio workshop for that, on Amazon somewhere. (It might be the audiobook).

If you like that kind of stuff, Tsultrim Allione also has an interesting book called Wisdom Rising ... I haven't read or practiced it yet, though I did hear an interview with her where she talks a bit about it. It is a mandala practice accessing the five elemental Daikini in the Tibetan Vajrayana way, and can give access to tremendous amount of energy. She made it available because she saw a number of female activists coming out in the past several years, and wanted to contribute something so that can tap into the power to make these changes in our society.

u/aniafaery · 2 pointsr/stopsmoking

So I picked up and started reading The Way Of Zen by Alan Watts somewhere around day 3. It seriously helped with my anger issues (on one previous attempt to quit I ran someone off the road onto the shoulder because she cut me off in traffic) and in general has made me a calmer person than the smoking ever managed to trick me into thinking I was. I completely think that mindfulness meditation is what made this attempt to quit actually work (or seem to be working).

Or you could just be an angry person and as long as you don't hurt anyone, rage on sister. :)

u/iamacowmoo · 2 pointsr/Buddhism

I think those moments you feel in yoga and biking are exactly what you need more of. A meditator is called a yogi. It is about focusing the mind. Yoga is focusing the mind while in many asanas (postures) and meditation is focusing the mind in one asana (usually sitting, though it could be walking or whatever you pick). You can just as easily practice Biking Meditation as well (I like running meditation).

Those brief moments are touching your experience in the present moment. Keeping in touch with the present is what you are practicing with meditation. This is what is extraordinarily simple and natural. Keep reading these difficult ideas, find some more accessible books, and start regularly practicing/sitting and you should be good to go. Happy learning!

Edit: For an accessible book check out The Way of Zen by Alan Watts. Or Steve Hagen's Buddhism Plain and Simple.

u/MrRexaw · 2 pointsr/Buddhism

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!

u/haCkFaSe · 2 pointsr/books

I'd recommend Alan Watts. Here are two of my favorite:

The Book: On the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are
or maybe
The Way of Zen

u/daybreak214 · 2 pointsr/suggestmeabook

I've read about twenty books dealing with the topic of Buddhism. The best general introduction I can suggest is The Noble Eightfold Path: Way to the End of Suffering by Bhikkhu Bodhi.

If you are interested in Zen, I would suggest The Way of Zen by Alan Watts. Best wishes.

u/rockytimber · 2 pointsr/zen

I like the zen cases, and the "sayings of literature" for the zen characters where its available. There are the Sayings of Joshu, Sayings of Layman Pang, and Sayings of Dongshan.

Some translations are so horrible, and the preface/introduction parts so slanted it is hard to take, but if you have any immunity at all to religious rhetoric, you should be able to cope with texts like

https://www.amazon.com/Sayings-Layman-Pang-Classic-China/dp/1590306309

and

https://www.amazon.com/Recorded-Sayings-Zen-Master-Joshu/dp/157062870X/ref=pd_sim_14_1?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=157062870X&pd_rd_r=ZD18X8D9RYN83KG1972P&pd_rd_w=xOAri&pd_rd_wg=U5T69&psc=1&refRID=ZD18X8D9RYN83KG1972P

and

https://www.amazon.com/Just-This-Dongshan-Practice-Suchness/dp/1611802288/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1519943814&sr=1-1-fkmr0&keywords=Sayings+of++Dongshan

People get very particular, find their favorite editions and translations, go very deep into it, but for me, years ago, starting out, even this simple little book

https://www.amazon.com/Zen-Flesh-Bones-Collection-Writings/dp/B001Q745TS/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1519943904&sr=1-2&keywords=Paul+Reps+flesh+bones

or

https://www.amazon.com/Way-Zen-Alan-W-Watts/dp/0375705104/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1519943976&sr=1-1&keywords=alan+watts+the+way+of+zen

were real gifts that I could and did read over and over. The main thing is to pick up the scent and be able to avoid frauds that take you down a dead end or a different path than what the zen stories were pointing to.

If you don't mind u/ewk, just look at the texts he quotes in his posts: https://np.reddit.com/user/ewk/submitted/

there is a treasure right there, for free.

u/Chroko · 2 pointsr/SuicideWatch

Your problems stem from nothing besides being extremely intelligent. You have been underusing your mental ability and walked down a dark back-alley of the mind, thinking far too deeply about problems in the world that we have no control over and have unsettled yourself. I've been there myself.

Interestingly enough, the other people I've met who have done this tend to be philosophy students. They've been to the metaphorical edge of existence - and they came back changed. Sometimes depressed (such as yourself and perhaps me), sometimes with a wild abandon to do and experience everything with no regard to risk (such as one girl I met recently and am completely failing to get to know because she's disappeared off around the world backpacking and has no idea when she's returning.)

Solution #1: Read "The Way Of Zen" (iTunes audiobook). I am completely serious. At worst, you'll find some of the anecdotes funny. At best, it'll show you a school of thought that the Chinese developed over thousands of years to cope with the weight of existence.

Solution #2: Do more sports. Decide to become a champion at _____, with the goal of competing in the nationals / olympic games. By the time you get there (or fail), you'll sit back and realize that you're in the best shape of your life, have had some wonderful adventures - and are looking forward to what's next.

u/Rayne58 · 2 pointsr/ifyoulikeblank

Ohh I got some goodies for ya, Hermann Hesse is amazing and opened me up to many books.

  1. Just buy it right now..seriously. The Book of Mirdad by Mikhail Naimy

  2. Another Classic by Herman Hesse Demian

    3)Another with a similar feel as Siddhartha The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

    So these top 3 are the "closest" to Siddartha that I've read. You will defintely like the top 3, they are amazing books with such fundamental truths told through a story. All easy to read and similiar in length.

    These next 4 are just suggested for anyone that is into these types of books, I would almost guarantee that you will love them! They are just less "story" like. The Autobiography is an amazing read, and is indeed a story but it's non-fiction. The Way of Zen is just a beautiful book, but is not a fiction along with the Bhagavad and The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari (The author actually suggests Siddhartha in it!)

  3. If you liked Siddhartha heavily for it's spiritual aspects and the effect it left on you, this book has changed me deeply (they all have but this book is a little different) The Autobiography of a Yogi by
    Paramahansa Yogananda


    5)And his translation of The Bhagavad Gita

    6)Good ol' Allan Watts The Way of Zen

  4. Another highly suggested book The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari by Robin Sharma

    Enjoy my friend!
u/selfprojectionasgod · 2 pointsr/atheism

You've been lied to your whole life and told that life has no meaning if it doesn't last forever. The opposite is true. This life would have no meaning if you had another one after it that would last forever. The reality is - everything you do is full of meaning... relationships, hobbies, shows, friends, books, laughing, family... Your focus needs to shift from an imaginary heaven to the reality of now.

After deconverting from fundamental Christianity, I sunk into a deep depression. I had given my life for God and the ministry and now it was all gone. Not only that, but I became physically disabled so that I couldn't even choose another path for my life. I wasted decades studying for the ministry and being in the ministry. So, needless to say, I was as depressed as it gets.

At the end of my rope, I was watching the TV show Life, and the main character was able to get through being in prison by studying Zen. Now, you have to realize, I am an anti-theist for the most part and do not want any religious practices in my life, thank you very much. But some of the quotes made me think... so I picked up the book The Way of Zen and gave it a shot. Almost threw it away half way through because it sounded like hocus pocus to me; but the second half blew me away... talking about the images we make in our mind... and the constant grasping for happiness and a better future... and the trap of the vicious circle of always trying to make things better... and being unhappy because we are grasping for a promising future instead of living right now in the moment.

Well, I've been studying it for quite a while now, and it's made all the difference in the world to me. So I would encourage you to concentrate on reality - what is right now. It takes time to detox the mind from all that religious clap-trap, but once you do, the constant torments that were caused by religion are gone. You don't need the false promise of a blissful future to be happy now. Don't let religion torment you so that you waste what time you have to enjoy the privilege of being alive.

u/lilmalchek · 2 pointsr/entp

Im INFJ, but I had a similar experience actually. Took me a while to really understand the enneagram, with the help of this book, a few events I went to, and talking about it with my ENTP boyfriend. I’d check out the wisdom of the enneagram if you’re interested:)

The Wisdom of the Enneagram: The Complete Guide to Psychological and Spiritual Growth for the Nine Personality Types https://www.amazon.com/dp/0553378201/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_9VDIAb3KJCTX6

u/urbster1 · 2 pointsr/Enneagram

In that book, that is all. However from The Wisdom of the Enneagram, it says this:

7w8: The Realist

Healthy People of this subtype truly enjoy the world and are "materialistic" in the broadest sense of the word. They combine quickness with drive, often leading to material success and positions of power and prominence. They are determined to get what they want from life; they think strategically and can rapidly organize their internal and external resources in pursuit of their desires. They are earthy, practical, and tough-minded. Their sense of humor expresses itself in a biting wit and a taste for the outrageous.

Average People of this subtype apply their energies in many directions, multitasking or even "multicareering." They can be aggressive and have the willpower and drive to take care of their own needs. They tend to be more workaholic than the other subtype, coming from the strong desire to accumulate possessions and experiences. ("I'm worth it!") Their focus is more on generating activities than on connecting with people. Hence they tend to be pragmatic about relationships—looking for a partner, not a romantic fantasy figure. They are not afraid to be alone and are clear about their own expectations and how much they will tolerate. Directness can verge on bluntness and on pushing people out of the way to get what they want. They can be jaded and callous, in contrast to the childish hyperenthusiasm of the 6-wing.

u/rosedemai · 2 pointsr/Enneagram

I also find this one incredibly helpful.

As a four still working on the confident thing.

u/squirreleegirl · 2 pointsr/Enneagram

I just joined reddit and this was the first place I came. I'm not sure what that says about me but hi! A friend introduced me to the Enneagram, I got this book, and I've also been listening to Enneagram for Idiots podcast. I find this all so comforting and compelling!

u/crafternoondelight · 2 pointsr/Enneagram

I think this is from the book The Wisdom of the Enneagram and after you get your letter combo, you’re supposed to do the questionnaire for the type that is 20 or so questions. Then there is a range that suggests you are: likely that type, may have a wing or a parent of that type, could be a commonly misidentified type, or aren’t likely that type (or something along those lines). I had to do literally every single type questionnaire except for, like, 7 and 9, and ultimately figured out I was a 4w5 by reading the whole book and another book called “The Road Back to You.” But then again, that’s a pretty standard experience for a 4 to not know who they are and feel like they don’t fit in, right?

u/reloadfreak · 2 pointsr/relationship_advice

http://www.amazon.com/Wisdom-Enneagram-Psychological-Spiritual-Personality/dp/0553378201/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1454037510&sr=1-1&keywords=enneagram

books on the different type of personality based on fears and desires. it will help you understand more about yourself at a subconscious level. why you act the way you are and it shows you how to grow spiritually from it.

u/bookofthoth_za · 2 pointsr/suggestmeabook

My personal favourite is The Wisdom of the Enneagram.

It's based on the Enneagram classification of personality and unlike other personality type systems, it embraces spiritual and psychological growth in unison.

There's a test here which will help you understand what number you are (between 1 and 9. i'm a 4).

u/TIME_Keeper15 · 2 pointsr/suggestmeabook

For Religion and Spirituality, I'd suggest starting with God Is Not One, it's a book that briefly yet thoroughly explains the eight major religions of the world. If any of them intrigue you, there are plenty of books in each religious study that can help you further, and most of them probably have their own subreddits. As for spirituality, it can be a difficult topic due to almost everyone having a varied sense of spirituality. I might recommend This by the Dalai Llama because of how well it covers modern spirituality playing in the modern world.

u/scrudit · 2 pointsr/Psychonaut

Also if you think about it, atoms are filled with over 99% empty space. If you make the comparison to the observable universe, thinking that you could perhaps replace the nucleus with a sun and electrons with planets, what percentage do you think the empty space would be?

I think I can now understand one of the reasons why Dalai Lama named his book about the convergence between science and spirituality The Universe in a Single Atom.

u/squizzlebizzle · 2 pointsr/Buddhism
u/lyam23 · 2 pointsr/zen

What is this from?

EDIT: The Universe in a Single Atom

u/IambadatIT · 2 pointsr/Buddhism
u/CalvinLawson · 2 pointsr/Christianity

>You said Theophilus never even used the word.

<citation needed>

> And before you go to champion about the Jesus Seminar you might want to look at various criticisms of it.

I have. While the Jesus Seminar is pretty extreme they are nowhere close to extreme as the minority of scholars that actually support the veracity of Christian dogma.

>You're some flunky with an agenda who lacks the training, breadth of study, and intelligence to have these conversations.

At least I'm not a pompous jerk. Seriously, you're a mod here? No wonder you're subreddit has such a bad reputation. You guys are making our job a lot easier, let me tell you.

I'm actually over Christianity, not reading Chrstian history anymore. This and this were the last two books I read, but I've got two book shelves full and have read many more besides.

I'm not a scholar but I'm no slouch; I simply don't respect what you're saying enough to give it more than what I have. He who has an interest in such things will study it for themselves and can make up their own minds. It's in our best interest that Christians know the human history of their supposedly divine religion.

I gave Christianity a fair shake, I studied it substantially more than the average bear and I'm simply not convinced. In fact what I've found un-convinced me. It's a web of belief supported by nothing but faith. Besides, if the God of modern Christians actually existed I wouldn't worship him, I'd spit in his face for the monster he is.

Now I'm reading books like this and this and this.

Actually, I am reading Christian books still, like this and this. It's evangelicalism I'm studying now...

My relationship to Christianity is now one of an adversary. If I see you on the front lines of the culture wars I'll wave and blow you a kiss.

u/KimUn · 2 pointsr/Buddhism

The DL said:

> If science proves some belief of Buddhism wrong, then Buddhism will have to change. In my view, science and Buddhism share a search for the truth and for understanding reality. By learning from science about aspects of reality where its understanding may be more advanced, I believe that Buddhism enriches its own worldview.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/12/opinion/our-faith-in-science.html


> Suppose that something is definitely proven through scientific investigation, that a certain hypothesis is verified or a certain fact emerges as a result of scientific investigation. And suppose, furthermore, that that fact is incompatible with Buddhist theory. There is no doubt that we must accept the result of the scientific research.

https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/is-buddhism-the-most-science-friendly-religion/

> My confidence in venturing into science lies in my basic belief that as in science so in Buddhism, understanding the nature of reality is pursued by means of critical investigation: if scientific analysis were conclusively to demonstrate certain claims in Buddhism to be false, then we must accept the findings of science and abandon those claims.

https://www.amazon.com/Universe-Single-Atom-Convergence-Spirituality/dp/0767920813/

u/halterwalther · 2 pointsr/whatsthisplant

To give a short answer. Yes.

This is from a book about psychoactive plants i have. Because there are a lot of non factual answers here, I thought i post this. I had to write it all so there might be some spelling errors.

.
.
.

Plants of the gods, By Richard Evans Schultes, Albert Hofmann &Christian Rätsch.
>

The chemistry of Fly Agaric

> The active principle of Amanita muscaria was thought once, a century ago, to have been muscarine when Schiedeberg and kope isolated this substance. this belief has been proven erroneous. Recently Eugster in Switzerland and Takemo in Japan isolated ibotenic acid and the alkaloid muscimole as being responsible for the Fly Agaric's psychotropic effects. The mushroom is taken usually dried. The drying process induces the chemical transformation ibotenic acid to muscimole, the most active constituent.

...Amanita muscaria may be the oldest of the hallucinogens and perhaps was once the most used...

A little background summary from me:


It's been used by many different cultures in the past and has been associated with many different gods, There is evidence suggesting it's been used in India, Siberia and The America's, (From Mesoamerica to the north of Canada.


If you're interested in these kind of things, i suggest you try to find some literature about it. The Encyclopedia of Psychoactive Plants: Ethnopharmacology and Its Applications, Plants of the Gods: Their Sacred, Healing, and Hallucinogenic Powers, Psychedelics Encyclopedia. It's amazon link's but you can find them anywhere.

u/rottie_Boston_daddy · 2 pointsr/Ethnobotany

I have an older version of this https://www.amazon.com/Plants-Gods-Sacred-Healing-Hallucinogenic/dp/0892819790 which is quite good. I'd love to see the newer edition with color photos.

u/Xipe_Totec_89 · 2 pointsr/AskHistorians

If you are interested in more information on the plants and some of their practices you should read Plants of Gods. It also has information about other cultures and plants uses around the world.

u/mangoed · 2 pointsr/Meditation

How about this?

u/saichoo · 2 pointsr/seduction

There's actually a book called "Fuck It." No idea if it's any good. http://www.amazon.com/It-The-Ultimate-Spiritual-Way/dp/1401927599

u/pgurugp · 2 pointsr/Buddhism

I found this book very helpful for metta meditation (loving-kindness meditation) and also turning the mirror in towards our inner self. Starting the process with learning to love yourself.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Places-that-Scare-You/dp/1570629218/

u/countofmoldycrisco · 2 pointsr/Advice

I still struggle with anger issues to this day. What helped me was the book Anger: Wisdom for Cooling the Flames by Thich Nhat Hanh (a Buddhist monk from Vietnam).

  1. Imagine your anger as a little child. Embrace our anger. Visualize yourself hugging a small child who needs comfort. Your anger isn't wrong. Recognize that it's there. Don't ignore it. Feel it.

  2. Imagine the people who wronged you (your parents ... if you continue to have anger problems you will have to do this with others as well) as 5 year old children. Find pictures of your mother and father as small children. When you want to yell at them, or even hurt them, imagine them as 5 year children.

    These two methods help me see the humanity in the people who make me angry. I have been using these methods for years and while I still have a long way to go, I'm better now because I use these visualization strategies.

    Book I recommend on anger: http://www.amazon.com/Anger-Cooling-Thich-Nhat-Hanh/dp/1573229377
u/zigzagswild · 2 pointsr/TwoXChromosomes

As someone with my own problems with CONSTANT LOWGRADE ANGER with occasional OUTBURSTS OF RAGE, I can't recommend Thich Nhat Hahn highly enough. He taught me how to slow down, breathe, and "take care" of my anger with love and understanding. Probably saved my relationship.

http://www.amazon.com/Anger-Cooling-Thich-Nhat-Hanh/dp/1573229377/ref=sr_1_13?ie=UTF8&qid=1324302391&sr=8-13

u/napjerks · 2 pointsr/Anger

You're not a monster. We all feel this way when we realize we have an anger problem and aren't sure what to do about it because it seems we're trying really hard but nothing seems to be working.

> Maybe it’s something genetic I got from my dad who has a lot of anger issues.

He has anger issues, that's good to know! One of the closest people in your life has difficulty with anger too. Try not to think of it as genetic. See if you can think of it as something you learned from your dad because that's the way he views and thinks about things. This allows you to consider that if you can even slightly change the way you think about and approach things, you can change how you react and interact with people. That means you're not destined to be grouchy like your dad. It's not a curse. It's a communication style (both with yourself and with other people) that you picked up from him. And you can change it.

Venting allows the grouchy, critical voice to run unchecked. That's why ranting and arguing online to work it out doesn't help. It perpetuates the same thing and unfortunately we never use it all up or run out of it. We have to figure out how to disengage that voice, stop entertaining it or distract ourselves from it in a healthy way to let it cool off.

Exercise helps with everything so keep doing it. But don't focus on doing it to be a better person. Don't say "I'm exercising because I'm so grouchy." Exercise to exercise. Enjoy it and do it daily if possible. Doesn't even really matter what it is, whether it's running, walking, gym, weights, as long as you like it.

> I can’t find time to relax cause I’m either stressed, anxious or depressed

Meditation and anger is a tricky subject. If you have stress and anxiety, work on that directly with calming routines. Try yoga, tai Chi or progressive muscle relaxation for a few months first. Lower your over all stress and tension levels for several months before taking up meditation.

Meditation is something that must be eased into. You don't become a super meditator over night. And for anger specifically, mindfulness is much more immediately effective. If you like the idea of a meditative approach, you could try a book like Anger: Wisdom for Cooling the Flames.

> I feel like ultimately she doesn’t understand what it’s like to me, and she doesn’t give me the time or space to vent in healthy way.

To improve your relationship, work on not venting at her. When you vent your anger at her, you're passing your anger to her and that stresses her out because it hands the burden of your anger to her. Then she tries to offer suggestions to help fix your problem. The issues is, you just want to be heard and your feelings about things to be acknowledged. So work on sharing your feelings with active listening instead. (See the video half way down the page.) It's a way to talk and listen to each other so you both feel heard and understood. But don't try to "fix" every problem that comes along.

Anger is called a secondary emotion because other strong negative emotions can feed into it. So dealing directly with anxiety or depression helps alleviate the anger. Keeping a thought diary for a few weeks helps with this. You don't have to do it forever and you don't have to do it every day. Dedicate a notebook or journal to it and it's there when you need it. Just take five minutes to reflect on how the day went, what things were frustrating and reviewing them to see how we might be able to work with it better next time. Especially if you have trouble sleeping, writing down any persistent thoughts helps. Just get them on paper. Don't feel like you have to be vigilant at keeping all the things that stress you out in your head. Putting them on paper makes them easier to evaluate. You deserve to get good sleep. So just write them down like a to-do list to look at again the next day, but let yourself get some rest. Don't let your gaming or internet time cut into sleep. It's idea to stop gaming in particular an hour before bedtime so you have plenty of time to cool off and come back down.

> I keep faking my mood until i snap. Most of what makes me snap i am unable to talk about or find the words for

Don't fake your mood. Just try not to take your anger out on people. Practice sharing your thoughts and feelings in a way that doesn't transfer your anger to them but still lets you share. You can use a formulaic phrase like, "When you say (or do) , it makes me feel ." Use it every day until it becomes second nature and you'll start to come up with other ways as well. Holding in your feelings contributes to anger because we all want to feel heard. So work on positive ways to share. Use the diary/journal to work on the things you're feeling and see what parts of them you could share with others.

> I still can’t find a job to replace my internship where they have stopped giving me work and pay.

The job search is one of the most difficult things for everyone, so you're not alone. Don't beat yourself up about it. Just keep applying and find ways to be creative in finding one. Talk to your friends about what they do.

> I always hate waking up. I rarely have any days where I feel excited, even on birthdays or vacations. I keep thinking I should have run away or followed up my suicide attempts sometimes sometimes .

This is depression, as you already stated. But try not to think of it as I have "depression AND anxiety AND anger". Try to look at it as all the same thing. Every bit you can improve in one area helps in the other areas. So go easy and be kind to yourself while you're figuring it out. The anger management techniques work if we know why we're doing them. Maybe don't try to be "overly positive" either, because that's still a false face in a way. As they say in meditation circles, let things be as they are.

> I feel/worry like everyone around me actually thinks I’m stupid

When we have anxiety we take what others say too harshly. So keep working on positive communication and sharing. A thing about art, when you put yourself out there and share your artwork, we can be critical of ourselves all over again. It's just anxiety. But it seems to become so much worse because now we have to consider how we are being judged after revealing ourselves by sharing what we have put our time and effort into. So consider that as a process in and of itself too. Great risk means great reward. But it's even more personal now. We have to figure out how to deal with that. It's what inspired Andy Warhol to say, "I don't read what they write about my work. I only measure it in inches." He found a way to enjoy the fact that he's being talked about, even if it's bad. We all need perspective like this sometimes. And when things get really harsh, we can remind ourselves that "What other people think of me is none of my business." They can have their thoughts, positive or negative. Their thoughts don't determine who I am. Only I know who I am.

> My mind is almost obsessed with revenge

Forgiving people is one of the hardest things to do. It's also one of the most beneficial for healing our own internal pains. Whatever people have done or said in the past, try to say to yourself, "I forgive this person. And I forgive myself for not knowing any other way to deal with it at the time."

> I have a dark side and dark thoughts and that keep telling me I’m selfish, I’m a hypocrite, and that i’ll Never be enough and am doomed to be cast aside by my friends and fans of my art.
>
> But When I think about myself, the first and only things that keep coming to mind are my flaws, mistakes, regrets, and shitty choices (in the short term and long term)

This is called negative self talk and it's a problem for us people with anger, depression, anxiety, you name it. The thought diary is also for dealing with negative thoughts. When we have these kinds of thoughts we can be stern. We can say "I choose to not think like that." And we can even just say "cancel" when they come up. We choose to not entertain them. We can improve how we talk to ourselves with just a week or two of practice. Give it a try and if you see improvement, acknowledge that it's your work on your own mental atmosphere that helped improve it. You are able to do that yourself. It's a very empowering skill to discover we have at our disposal.

Emotions are more subtle. We want to acknowledge our feelings and listen to what they are telling us. So we want to be more gentle and attentive to emotions. It helps to pause if we're noticing something going on and take a minute to put a word on the feeling. Say "this is what _____ feels like" to help set the word in your mind. Making sure we listen and pay attention to our feelings helps prevent us from ignoring or pushing them way only for them to come back later as anger. It's the opposite approach to dealing with negative thoughts, so it takes a little practice.

Don't get mad at yourself for getting mad, that only makes it last longer. Treat each time as an "anger episode" you can review to try to see what might be a pattern and when you could intervene with yourself to have a better outcome next time.

That was a lot but hope some of this helps. Hang in there! Congrats on finishing your Masters by the way. :)

u/gelastic_farceur · 2 pointsr/stopdrinking

You might check out the book Waiting: A Nonbeliever's Higher Power

u/athanathios · 2 pointsr/Buddhism

Anger is considered a poison in Buddhism, however it's a perfectly natural thing as well. If we didn't have anger, we would not as hard to survive and live when threatened and many other things. Was your feeling anger ok? I think so, your one year old and you do not deserve that, however nor did the whole building. So feeling anger that you were roused is a natural response. Good practice however can make even the initial response very slight or eliminate it.

Now I wouldn't say that anger or getting annoyed or whatever is the issue, the issue is hanging onto it. Your reflection on the fact a fire didn't place, you are safe, you even have the fire department there, are all valuable insights and these can be used to help you pacify your anger.

Good meditation and returning to your breath can help you. For instance if you feel your anger getting too much return to your breath and follow it. Maybe just 3 ins and outs, that may work, if it's longer do it longer. The issue is not that you get anger it's just that you have cultivated it to a degree that when it comes up it just needs a little bit of cause to feel the effect and it comes up fast. In Karmic terms you've become very skillful at manifesting this behavior and very likely to do it. I would recommend reading this book it is a very good one on Anger:

http://www.amazon.com/Anger-Thich-Nhat-Hanh/dp/1573229377

Additionally reflecting on the draw backs is important. Mainly I would see who is this anger effecting. When you realize that you are the one who is constantly being worked up and feeling negative, this can really help at least be able to say "this isn't good, I should stop it", which is a good first step.

Also cultivating metta is important and directly offsets ill will. You may want to try this meditation daily or practice it day to day in some way. Another good practice is gratitude, as you did. But doing it as a reflex. That is thinking of all the positives and not the negatives. Sure you are outside in the cold, but if it had been a fire, you could be in far worse shape, you can do this with any situation, really once you karmically build up the habit.

u/getinthegoat · 2 pointsr/Codependency

I am currently six months in the program and I too struggle with the belief of a higher power because I am an atheist. However, I have found that putting my belief in the universe… Even just simply imagining giving all of this horrible pain and struggle and turmoil and anxiety up into space has brought me some great relief. I finally asked my home group, admitting my strain on this.... what to do as a non-believer.... and a woman in my group recommended this book to me. I have not yet read it myself but I have it queued up in my list to purchase very soon. I hear it’s really great so I thought I would share with you.

Waiting: A Nonbeliever's Higher Power https://www.amazon.com/dp/1592858252/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_c_api_OuyOBbW9DV87A

Edit: fixed some words. Also PS.... i’ve grown an opinion to think that giving something to your higher power is just like the buddhist way of thinking to “let it go”. I hope this helps :)

u/drbonerlol · 2 pointsr/loseit

I'd highly suggest reading this http://www.amazon.com/Defense-Food-Eaters-Manifesto/dp/1594201455 along with the rest of Pollan's books. I've learned a lot and made drastic changes to my diet as a result.

u/yahr · 2 pointsr/books

> I'm really interested in food and health and the whole industry behind it

in that case i might add. . .

u/michael_dorfman · 2 pointsr/Buddhism

Thich Nhat Hanh has a book entitled Anger: Wisdom for Cooling the Flames.

But I'd recommend you also go beyond books, and visit a dharma center near you.

u/sapiophile · 2 pointsr/todayilearned

My assertions are axiomatic, and quite obviously so, at that. This is not a wise battle for you to pursue, unless you wish to descend into colonial European notions of manifest destiny and the white man's burden.

>>Those people are just as advanced as any other
>
>No, they're not.

Tell me, then: in a contest of using indigenous medicinal plants, who would prove "more advanced" - you, or these tribespeople? In determining who has superior herding techniques, which party would be the victor? In a comparison of familial kinship and relations? Spearcraft? Long-distance hiking? Animal husbandry?

There simply does not exist any way to declare any of these criteria "unimportant" without making a subjective assertion of your own personal values. And the people we're talking about would most certainly have a different class of values about those things. Why would your values be "more objective" than theirs - or anyone's? The answer is that they cannot be. It is your own opinion, and with any degree of humility, all genuinely reasonable people recoginze that, as I hope that you will, too.

>>Civilization and technology are specific types of advancements, but they are not objectively superior to any others
>
>Yes, they are.

Funny - there sure seem to be a great many very well-reasoned arguments against civilization and technology, even from those who have experienced the very height of their "advancement".

I certainly see no evidence for an objective declaration, even just by examing the meta-issue of the debate itself, which is undeniably still open.

>>to add "culture" in there is frankly just plain racist.
>
>No, it isn't.

Yes, it is. You have virtualy no notions of these people's culture. The very definition of "culture" practically prohibits the very idea of it being declared "advanced" or otherwise. It is simply the collection of common and traditional practices of a given group. I would even go so far as to say that if one were to make judgments of "advancement," surely a culture that has been largely uninterrupted and un-usurped for a period of thousands of years has matured and "advanced" far more than a culture which is ever-shifting and highly dependent on technological advances that didn't even exist a generation prior. But even to make an assertion such as that is meaningless, because the criterion "advancement" simply does not make sense when applied to culture - any culture. The only role that such a declaration can fulfill is to demean and devalue another group of people completely arbitrarily, as to support a racist or otherwise xenophobic worldview.

>By what standard are modern Western civilization, technology, and culture objectively superior to barefoot African tribesmen? By the only objective standard of value: their success at meeting the requirements of human life.

And just what are those "requirements of human life?" These tribespeople might tell you some very different things than what you would tell them. Would either of you be "right?" Absolutely not.

As for the rest of your points, they are all similarly obvious - and highly subjective, though largely incontroversial in our demographic - subjective and personal value judgments. Adding the word "objectively" to your statements does not make it so. Even such criteria as you have mentioned - lifespan, "individualism," property rights (lol), etc., are not objectively "advanced." After all, what are the "objective" benefits of a long lifespan if it is filled with ennui, alienation and oppression? What is the value of "individualism" to a person who cherishes deep bonds and shared struggle with others? How can one declare "property rights" to be an objective good when the very concept of such has only existed for a few hundred years, and has arguably led to the greatest ongoing extinction of species in millions of years?

You see? Value judgments, all of it. And for someone who might call themself a "libertarian," you certainly seem not to understand the true spirit of the credo, "live and let live."

u/0ttr · 2 pointsr/latterdaysaints

From this ?

u/b00tler · 2 pointsr/Parenting

In addition to some of the other things people have suggested, I recommend sitting down with your daughter and explaining to her that you grew up in a house where you were yelled at and belittled. Talk to her about how it made you feel. Then explain that you realize you are doing the same thing to her, and that you will be doing some things to fix it.

If you are the type to read up on things, I have two suggestions: "Anger" by Thich Nhat Hanh, and "How to Talk so Kids will Listen and Listen so Kids will Talk"

u/justahermit · 2 pointsr/Random_Acts_Of_Amazon
  • 1 you care about your family, i love you for that, not enough people do. and not enough people actually end up going for what they really want. Be very proud of yourself, you are winning at living life.

  • 2 You are working towards your goal, just realize that, it's not holding on for another year and a half, it's in pursuit of the life you want, you are on track, and that is something most people can't say. The volunteering will have a massive effect on you, and teach you so much. You're going to be quite few giant steps ahead because of this. A year and a half before you can start the rest of your life? Enjoy it, because you have the rest of your life to live the rest of your life.

  • 3 Honestly the thing that helped me the most was to do one thing each day that I didn't want to do, something i wanted to do, but didn't want to because either people would think i was stupid, or i was shy, or i was afraid. I'd do that one thing, and i would feel great after doing it. Maybe it was run around my yard naked (it was) but i did it, and it made me feel alive. 9 hours of boredom is 9 hours you can spend thinking of ways to better your life and your family. IT's 9 hours you can spend planning for your future, and daydreaming of it. It's 9 hours to watch people closely, because there are many out there who you will learn from, use that time to learn from them, learn what you don't like about them, learn about what you do like about them, watch how they are doing their life, and how you can apply their decisions, actions, to your own life. You will be able to learn a lot about what you don't want to ever become, and a lot of what you do want to become, and IT WILL help you in the future to take a good hard look at everyone, whats beyond the surface, and learn from it.

  • 4 link
u/ollokot · 2 pointsr/books

Endgame by Derrick Jensen
It's probably a little hardcore for most people, including myself, but it definitely makes you think.

u/Gizank · 1 pointr/pics

You're welcome, and thank you!

You make a good point. If your life ends up in a direction that leads to believing the sorts of things Watts talked about, which is no small 'if' in itself, then it will still take some time to process those ideas. I'm in my 40s and only starting to understand some of the things I read in my late teens.

My understanding of formal philosophy comes from books and conversations. ;) I was an art student. Watts is one of the more down-to-earth of the, uh, alternative thinkers/authors/speakers I spend a little time with once in a while. I do read more academic and/or formal stuff, but I tend more toward the mystical (spiritual but not religious) side of things. But I also read popularized physics and stuff like art theory books and the occasional programming manual. I tell you this so you don't go thinking I'm some kind of academic philosophy major before I recommend any books.

Here are the three books I've read from Watts, as Amazon links just because it's easy that way... no marketing here.

The Way of Zen - I read this mostly on the train back and forth to school each day when I was 18. It made some sense, but mostly introduced a lot of ideas I needed to examine and explore for years thereafter. I am not a Buddhist, but I really appreciated the ideas I picked up from this little book. It is on my list for re-reading in the near future.

Tao: The Watercourse Way - I don't think I recall much from this. I read it when I was in my 20s. I picked it up at a used bookstore, mostly because it was "by the guy that wrote that Zen book," and because I had heard of the Tao. I don't recall much of it, probably because I was a raging drunk at the time. I think I came to understand the futility of fighting against what you can't fight from this book, but I can't really say off the top of my head.

The Book - I just finished this last week. It's hard to describe, but it is very accessible, as are the other two, and sums up most of what Watts wanted to tell the world. I recommend it highly. Most of that thing I wrote before is from there, and from recordings of him speaking about it.

Search for Alan Watts on Youtube. There are many recordings of him. Most are just bits and pieces of talks he gave, but some are longer. I do this every once in a while (and other names, Ram Dass, Robert Anton Wilson, Terrence McKenna, etc.. Mostly kind of out-there people but I enjoy having different thoughts thrown at me. Watts is quite a bit more grounded compared to a lot of them.) Along the way Youtube recommends other videos from people who fall along that vein. I think you will find a lot there of interest.

Prickles and goo.

u/wickedcold · 1 pointr/science

>Somebody better come up with a marketable, sustainable, acceptable food source.

Well, you can start by reading this book.

u/Frankly_George · 1 pointr/unpopularopinion

>I keep hearing that name, who is that guy?

Find out more here.

u/Capital_Room · 1 pointr/TheMotte

I think I saw something about that somewhere in the middle of one of Vox Day's lengthy condemnations of JBP (online, not the whole book he wrote on the topic).

u/Matslwin · 1 pointr/psychoanalysis

This is how "popular" Peterson is with "the right":

Jordanetics: A Journey Into the Mind of Humanity's Greatest Thinker

u/ramdiggidydass · 1 pointr/ifyoulikeblank

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Way-Zen-Vintage-Spiritual-Classics-ebook/dp/B004J4X76M/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1397354589&sr=8-1&keywords=the+way+of+zen

thats The Way of Zen on Amazon.uk howd you not find it? lol

anyway yea anything he writes is great, but I really think that is the best one. better yet, look up a youtube video where he is talking, those are pretty great if you've never heard any of them before.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wz_wiaTe5ug

u/plato_thyself · 1 pointr/Meditation

Thich Nhat Hanh wrote a beautiful book on anger, and here is a free translation of a speech he gave titled "Five ways of putting an end to anger". The Buddha has a wonderful quote: "Grasping onto anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intention of throwing it at someone else - you are the one who gets burned." Hope this helps!

u/rossberry · 1 pointr/zen

This is a basic principle of Zen. If you are unfamiliar with Zen I recommend reading The Way of Zen. I'm a beginner so I would do a poor job of explaining it.

u/ellisftw · 1 pointr/Wishlist

A little Alan Watts would be lovely.

Thank you for the contest!!

u/nut_conspiracy_nut · 1 pointr/entj

Maybe someone will clone him. He is loaded now.

> what are his other flaws?

So I smelled his farts and he very much smells like a human.

I like him overall but ...

In how many ways does he stink? Let me count the ways ...

While his verbal ability is undoubtedly high, his tech skills/thinking is limited by his own admission. He tried to answer a question on Quora about the speed of light using the verbal part of his brain and it was painful to read. He confused very fast with instantaneous. I can't give a good answer on the spot either and I have taken more physics classes than Peterson did, but something I would not do is talk out of my ass on the subject. The internet is full of answers to at least some answers. I would just link to a good one if I could find it within a reasonable amount of time.

By the same token I would not trust his knowledge of statistics. I would suspect that he knows just enough of it to get a paper published. Psychology students take a class called stats for psych majors or something to that effect and it is a horrible memorization fest that is hard for an NT to get through. Take one step into the unknown territory and you are lost because you never understood it in the first place. Lots of people don't really get statistics, even engineers sometimes. I suck at it right now but I could get better if necessary. Though Peterson himself admits that much of psychology is quackery, he does have faith it psychometrics - things that you can measure. Problem is - you have to be aware of the limits of your knowledge. Peterson praises the IQ test highly. It has a high correlation - like .5 or something like that which by psych standards is very high. First of all, that's not high at all. Secondly, it is just correlation.

Nassim Taleb took a shot on the IQ tests recently. While he uses plenty of logical fallacies, his overall message stands. https://medium.com/incerto/iq-is-largely-a-pseudoscientific-swindle-f131c101ba39

If Peterson is happy with relatively low correlations in general, I wonder just how much of his academic work is useful. I do not have the time to try to figure it out. Got better things to do with my time.

  • He follows the so-called "alt-right diet". Ok, that's a joke. He basically eats just beef and water and hardly anything else. His daughter follows the same diet and does not take vitamins and blogs about it. Well, that seems dumb. She is gaining followers. Humans are omnivores who can't synthesize vitamin C and therefore rely on it being in the diet along with other vitamins. Sure, Inuit people also eat mostly deer meat but they eat the whole thing including organs, they also eat seals and whale and those store vitamins in their fat. Inuit also eat plants whenever they can, which is not often but happens. And finally, they could have evolved to be different over several thousands of years. Peterson should be taking vitamin supplements and so should his daughter and they should warn people about scurvy and other deficiencies.

  • You can't take much of what he says literally. He "literally" did not sleep for 30 days. Bullshit! He would die.

    He likes to use metaphors like "the eagles are all eyes" (while teaching human psych to undergrads). This is a bullshit artsy-fartsy statement, not a matter of fact. Nothing against artists or comedians or otherwise creative people BUT you have to separate the metaphors and fucking around from trying to build an argument. Sneaking metaphors into a cause and effect kind of conversations should generally be an illegal move.

  • His definition of the word "truth" is uber-confusing and allows mixing things that should not really be mixed: facts and stories, arguments and metaphors. Pick one world or another. Don't just slide in and out of the rational territory. Peterson has one foot firmly planted in the rational-ish world and one in the irrational. His arguments better be scrutinized. Sam Harris was right not to let him get away with his own definitions.

  • Peterson claimed that dolphins aren't that smart because they can't manipulate their world very well. Their snouts is all they have. Well shit, what about living in social groups and having a sophisticated language? Intelligence shows up in species in unexpected places. Octopi are fucking smart and they evolved from very dumb mollusks. He is trying to use his intuition and he failed. Some birds are very smart and some - not as much. It depends on their specific path of evolution. There are many variables at play - not mere presence of hands or tentacles.

  • He often claims that the Christian cross symbolizes the intersection of infinite and finite. Oh really? Here we go with artsy fartsy reasoning again. He pulled that straight out of his anus. How about a cross is one of the simplest shape you can make with two sticks and if the sticks are large enough, you can make it resemble a human and nail a person to it. I want to troll him and ask him what does the shape of an airplane symbolize? I am sure that he will think about it intensely and come up with something convoluted and his followers would swallow it. I don't feel like paying $300 just to see him.

  • He spoke about the interpretation of dreams and he believes in that stuff. I listened to his interpretation of his dream he once had (can't find that clip) involving several hurricanes moving through the ocean. He read very carefully into the meaning of the number of them and how they moved, etc. he made as much sense as the bullshit artists who are trying to sell you a black painted square for a few million bucks. It's just a fucking square!!! And his dreams are just that. They can be interpreted in MANY ways. Somehow he is sure of his interpretation.

  • He opined on the Brett Kavanaugh controversy and it was a shit show. He should have kept quiet on the subject.

  • He has gone mainstream. if he is charging $300 per ticket, he is raking in millions per month. He pretty much stopped doing anything other than lectures and books. I think (my subjective opinion) that he is moving fast toward being an out of touch intellectual who has not done anything in practice in a while. Having $ does not make him evil but I do not think he is providing equal value to the millions of confused young men who do not have a father figure and who have been plastered with feminist propaganda from all directions to confuse them even further. Given that he is interpreting the bible rather subjectively and is getting paid a lot to do so, it is borderline quackery. I strongly prefer capitalism to communism but the overwhelming majority of those who made money are not John Galt. Plenty of "MeToo" business models bring revenue. Plenty of companies sell shit that people do not actually need but aggressive marketing combined with the gullibility of da masses brings in the bacon. They have not technically stolen but I'm not going to congratulate those who made the money that way. Anyway, Peterson has now gone on some mainstream shows and in the process he had to sign some of his freedom away. Maybe he thinks it is worth it. Owen Benjamin talked on this topic and his CAA (not CIA) conspiracy theory. Sounds interesting but given Owen's erratic behavior as of late, a lot of what he says needs to be taken with a large dose of lithium salts. That said, I am almost always curious what a semi-bipolar creative person (like Owen) has to say. Interesting ideas rarely come from totally sane people.

  • I do not know how credible this part is but apparently JBP pissed off enough people (mostly Christians who do not like his interpretation of The Book and also some alt-right antisemites) so that a book was written discrediting him. https://www.amazon.com/Jordanetics-Journey-Humanitys-Greatest-Thinker-ebook/dp/B07JY9XV38

    Vox Day, the author is a self-styled genius (and so is Owen) who runs a social media echo chamber (and so does Owen, well sort of). They "got" Peterson on the "Jewish Question" (as in no - Jews aren't smarter than the rest, they are just conspiring and prefer their own). Of course they are loonies but if an entire book was written about him, then maybe there is some truth to it, even if it is 10 or even 5%. I have not read the book though.

    I am sure there are other things. Peterson once congratulated a leftist attempt to appeal to the working class when they made some moderate propaganda video. I can't find a video now. I thought it was lame. It was still shit propaganda, but a milder form of it. The enemy is trying to adapt and to look more palatable and less threatening. Their trick is so fucking transparent. Fuck that! 30% shit is still shit. Peterson should have called their bullshit but he did not.

    Also some of his arguments start in a weird place. To quote/paraphrase Doug Stanhope, let's start the argument where it starts.

    It should be: you can't have my freedom to speak, my freedom to protect myself with a gun, you can't have my stuff because ... go fuck yourself! That's where the argument starts. Not - well if you aren't free to speak then how can you develop sophisticated ideas? Yeah like that argument works with Stalinists. Why try to negotiate with someone who plans on doing the immoral? Peterson kind of does that. I understand that persuasion matters and raw power can be off-putting but he sometimes starts in a weird place.

    I've written enough. I think I covered the most important points.
u/tenshon · 1 pointr/Buddhism

Did you read the article by Thich Nhat Hanh on embracing anger? He has a whole book on the subject.

u/eyebellel · 1 pointr/Crystals

It's not clear if you are looking for crystals that will help support you in sharing the same space as this person, of if you are looking for general relationship advice. If you're looking towards crystals, Magnesite has a calming effect on emotions, helping you to handle emotional stress. Peridot might also be helpful as it will help to enhance your confidence without aggression and motivate growth. Smithsonite also helps aid in difficult relationships, it helps create harmony and diplomacy. All of these stones and descriptions came from The Crystal Bible by Judy Hall.

I would also think that any stone that promotes your own grounding would be helpful, hematite, black tourmaline, bloodstone, etc.

If you're looking more for relationship advice, I would suggest r/relationships.

I hope this was what you were looking for!

u/gucchee · 1 pointr/energy_work

http://www.amazon.com/The-Crystal-Bible-Judy-Hall/dp/1582972400

Here is a link to a book to start off with. Like I said, trust your intuition with books just as with anything else.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olNnr8UloFM

The video involves two psychics at different points in their career talking about energy, crystals, and other related subjects. I would suggest searching other discussion videos as they can be very enlightening. Safe journeys my friend.

u/Orph1969 · 1 pointr/pics

If you have both the time and the inclination, I'd point you to the book Endgame, by Derrick Jensen

There's a lot of examples of ways the planet's ecosystems would benefit from our disappearance (or from a massive hit to our population). We fuck a lot of shit up without even trying (or knowing about it).

Anyhow, it's worth a read.

u/jimmy0x52 · 1 pointr/IAmA

I'm not really interested in arguing - whatever works for you works for you. You don't have to agree with me. But some points:

My cereal and milk and banana every morning is roughly the same .47 as your shake - within a few cents - and mine are all organic and have an ingredients list I can read.

As for your salmon comparison - it's normally a negligible difference between the two - and I can choose to have either in moderation.

You also preach nutrition and in the same breath recommend food-replacement with shakes made of chemicals. Can I recommend some books/movies:

http://www.amazon.com/Omnivores-Dilemma-Natural-History-Meals/dp/1594200823

http://www.amazon.com/Food-Inc-Eric-Schlosser/dp/B0027BOL4G

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1594201455

u/girlreachingout24 · 1 pointr/stopdrinking

I think one of the most important things my bf did for me during my various attempts to stop drinking was: he refused to be my gatekeeper. By that I mean he didn't try to make me stop or make me go, not even when I asked him to. He refused to be responsible for if I picked up a drink or not, and fielding that responsibility back to me so I had to "man up" and handle it on my own is something I look back on and really appreciate now. It could've had bad repercussions on our relationship if he had taken that role, but I was too caught up in the problem to realize that.

The other thing is just show support, show you care. Knowing you give a crap and are there for her is huge! My boyfriend bought me these books, because I'm an atheist but wanted to explore the usefulness of the 12 steps. The books are helpful, right, but it wasn't the books themselves that meant so much to me- it was that he was taking my goals seriously and trying to help. That meant the world. I didn't feel alone in the middle of a really daunting task.

Take care. Thank you for being supportive of your SO. =) And good luck to you too! This is a great sub for support!

u/301ThrowAway · 1 pointr/NoFap

Perhaps a bit of mindfulness practice/meditation may help in this instance. I have found that practicing mindfulness has helped greatly with my anger/irritability.

The easiest way to get started would be a simple google search on 'mindfulness meditation.' I would also recommend Anger by Thich Nhat Hanh as well as The Art of Happiness by the Dalai Lama. The later text can be torrented ;)

I do not sit down and meditate regularly, but I have found simply practicing awareness and focusing on the breath during times of anger/irritability has helped to lessen the effect. Good luck mate

u/Concise_Pirate · 1 pointr/Buddhism

Although it's not exactly what you asked for, you might like this article or even this book.

u/TheHeartOfTuxes · 1 pointr/Meditation

Better than book teaching is real live teaching, and lots of it, from a consistent and capable source. But sometimes we look for a go-between, something to tide us over until we find a good teaching situation.

There is a specific traditional practice for equanimity. All kinds of other practices tend to get at equanimity, because you need to put it into effect just to proceed in the practice: if you let things 'get to you' you can't attend well to the object and method of the meditation. So for example, sitting Zen will train equanimity, as well many other practices.

But there is a specific practice also, which is part of the Brahmaviharas, or "Divine Abidings". These are four aspects of original, awakened mind: Metta (Kindness or Warmheartedness), Karuna (Compassion), Mudita (Mutual Joy), and Upekkha (Equanimity). Because of the boundless nature of original mind and the four noted aspects, these are also called "The Four Immeasurables".

The first three Brahmaviharas are about loving connection; but without the fourth, equanimity, they can spill over into sticky, entangled attachment. So Upekkha or equanimity is necessary for the correct function of love.

All the Brahmavihara practices have similar forms. You generate the quality, deepen its expression in you, and then extend it boundlessly. Styles vary a bit, but the general form is the same. You can try Brahmavihara practice to specifically nurture equanimity.

But as I say, most practices, and in fact a proper training situation itself, will also train equanimity.

Here is a talk and guided meditation on Upekkha.

This podcast comprises an entire afternoon or day retreat on Upekkha, condensed into a 3-hour recording (with silent practice periods edited out).

These two and several other Brahmavihara talks and meditations can be found on this page at Dharmaseed.org.

Here's an entire 2-day practice seminar on Upekkha, by the well respected teacher Gil Fronsdal.

Here's a short article with a couple of source excerpts.

~

Two great teachers who come to mind as directly addressing anger in their teachings are Thich Nhat Hanh and Pema Chodron.

Of course, there are many other great teachers; and if you find a live teacher and ask them to help you with anger, just the act of asking a living representative of Dharma is itself a very significant act. You establish a connection to Dharma and to your teacher and to your practice by taking concrete steps like this. It is the kind of action that sink down below the level of your habit and plants seeds that will eventually overtake the negative patterns, if you keep planting and taking care of the seeds.

See Thich Nhat Hanh's Anger: Wisdom For Cooling The Flames.

Here are a couple of articles in the same vein.

See Pema Chodron's Don't Bite The Hook: Finding Freedom From Anger, Resentment, And Other Destructive Emotions.

Here's an article that gives a little taste of her teaching.

~

I recommend choosing one path and sticking with it for a while. You can try this and that to get an idea of what's available out there, but very soon get down to actually doing it. People look around, around, around, and only confuse themselves. They think they are looking for the "best situation for me"; but really they are just avoiding the doing part.

You don't pick your path as if you're at a fruit stand looking over the selection with disdain: "Hmmm... I don't know... this one has a spot on it...." That's picking-and-choosing mind; and in fact, we are not capable of judging before we have significant experience.

Your path chooses you. Your path unfolds as you do it. Then in the doing you find out what's working and what's important to you and all that. So get to the doing part sooner rather than later. Don't 'bite the hook' of books! Don't let them hook you and reel you in and flip you into the boat of conceptual, disengaged thinking. Stay swimming.

u/persephonesphoenix · 1 pointr/Meditation
u/reallyserious · 1 pointr/spirituality

"Freedom from the known" by Jiddu Krishnamurti. He said something to the effect (paraphrazing) "when you follow someone else you no longer pursuit truth".

u/momonto · 1 pointr/books

While I don't consider myself 'spiritual' or 'esoteric',

J. Krishnamurti's 'Freedom from the Known'

did something to my mind. Read some reviews.

u/Wood_Warden · 1 pointr/conspiracy

DMT: The Spirit Molecule :: describes how DMT spikes are released when we're born and die and the connections the author believes are made once we understand that the pineal gland is the seat of the spirit.

The Archaic Revival: Speculations on Psychedelic Mushrooms, the Amazon, Virtual Reality, UFOs, Evolution, Shamanism, the Rebirth of the Goddess, and the End of History by Terence McKenna :: Discusses origins of mankind and the probable development of higher-consciousness through psilocybin and other entheogens. Also discusses beings in realms that closely resemble the same realms discussed in the book My Big T.O.E. below.

Supernatural: Meetings with the Ancient Teachers of Mankind by Graham Hancock :: Discusses how, through different culture's entheogens (natural cultural psychedelics), one can see/visit/communicate with other beings co-evolving with us through history. Just like humans are evolving in this plane, this author believes that the stories of Elves or Fairies are the same beings that have now become Greys/Aliens in today's mythos. He discusses his journeys and experiences as well as other's first-hand accounts on certain entheogens and the patterns seen.

Not In His Image: Gnostic Vision, Sacred Ecology, and the Future of Belief by John Lamb Lash :: discusses how the current Judea-Christian god is a counterfeit-mimic deity (villain of the galaxy basically) and how we're trapped in a false-copy (matrix) of a more perfect realm. Goes through the Gnostic mythos that shows and explains how they came to write/believe such concepts.

My Big T.O.E./Theory Of Everything by Thomas Campbell :: doesn't use psychedelics to achieve other states of consciousness but uses transcendental meditation and science to map non-physical matter realities. The author is one of the early students from the Monroe Institute (of Out-of-Body experience fame).

u/ltcdrfuzzypants · 1 pointr/Anarchism

I am more of a non hyphenated anarchist myself but I think you may like Terence Mckenna I've taken a liking to his stuff. heres a youtube of him

u/cat_turd_burglar · 1 pointr/todayilearned

Yeah, I get that. I think one of the major successes in the 20th Century was the movement toward medicalizing mental health issues so that they were given the credit they deserve. We know these experiences are a problem, and people having them are subject to many layers of oppression and human rights violations, and psychiatry has made a lot of strides towards these issues being taken far more seriously. I do also believe that psychiatry and pharmaceuticals do help some people. It is one option, and many people find their life more manageable because they have taken that route, and that's a beautiful thing and I'm very happy for anyone who has found solace there. But it is not universally true, and one of the reasons for that is how imprecise the science actually is on what is going on with the mind, and what the drugs are actually doing. The most famous example is the notion that depression is the result of lower than usual seratonin levels in the brain, which was actually the result of an ad that was using a study that had found that more people with depression in the study had higher levels of seratonin. But they had a drug that dealt with lower seratonin levels, so that's the narrative that was created (links below). Point being, (and see The Anatomy of Melancholy by Robert Burton on this), there is no chemical test for depression because there are many potential causes, and remedies. Psychiatry and the DSM have categorized these experiences, which I agree is a necessary thing to research them, but then got fully entwined with pharma. Now policies and laws impose that one narrative onto people who are going through these experiences, even though they often get it very wrong.


There are alternatives, and the Soteria house project by Lorne Mosher was one of the most interesting, where they took people with severe schizophrenia and had a virtually drug free approach, and their results were better than the alternatives. The problem for scaling up was that it did not put people on a lifelong hook for medication. So, I guess it's not about wanting to tear it all down, but I think people should know what's up, they should be informed about all the studies done on the chemicals they are taking, what all the side affects might be, and, ideally, alternative approaches that may benefit them in the long run. I think people going through these experiences should be given the rights and power to make decisions, including whether or not they will self-identify with the DSM categories at all.


I cannot stress the following enough, the result of extensive studies by the World Health Organization, as articulated by Robert Whitaker: "Most Americans are unaware that the World Health Organization (WHO) has repeatedly found that long-term schizophrenia outcomes are much worse in the USA and other developed countries than in poor ones such as India and Nigeria, where relatively few patients are on anti-psychotic medications. In undeveloped countries, nearly two-thirds of schizophrenia patients are doing fairly well five years after initial diagnosis; about 40% have basically recovered. But in the USA and other developed countries, most patients become chronically ill. The outcome differences are so marked that WHO concluded that living in a developed country is a strong predictor that a patient will never fully recover."

Sources:

Lorne Mosher's resignation letter from the APA

The Icarus Project (theicarusproject.net): "We are a support network and media project by and for people who experience the world in ways that are often diagnosed as mental illness. We envision a new culture that allows the space and freedom for exploring different states of being, and recognizes that breakdown can be the entrance to breakthrough. We aim to create a language that is so vast and rich that it expresses the infinite diversity of human experiences."

Soteria: From Madness to Deliverance, by Lorne Mosher

Mad in America by Robert Whitaker

Anatomy of an Epidemic by Robert Whitaker

The Anti-Depressant Era by David Healy

The Invisible Landscape: Mind, Hallucinogens, and the I Ching by Terence McKenna

The Archaic Revival: Speculations on Psychedelic Mushrooms, the Amazon, Virtual Reality, UFOs, Evolution, Shamanism, the Rebirth of the Goddess, and the End of History by Terence McKenna

The point is to try and empower people to improve their lives, and since we don't know how to do that universally, giving people the power and options to be able to choose methods that work for them is a vital part of maintaining their autonomy and preserving their fundamental human rights. I find this subject is very difficult to discuss without it getting heated. Please understand I have so much sympathy for your experiences. I have tried to take care of people while they were in the midst of full psychotic breaks, I have had to call the police, I have had to participate in the forced hospitalization of people I have known, I have lost too many people to suicide. I know these things and they still hurt and I am welling up thinking about all of them. And I care about you too, and you're not alone.

Sorry re length.

u/baloobear76 · 1 pointr/movies

That reminds me I bought this book on Amazon a few weeks ago and I can't wait to get it in the mail :)

The Dude and the Zen Master

http://www.amazon.com/The-Dude-Master-Jeff-Bridges/dp/0142180521/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1407956804&sr=8-1&keywords=the+dude+and+zen+master

I've always liked Jeff Bridges. In the Big Lebowski the one scene that always makes me laugh is when the Dude is all happy listening to Creedence on his 8-track, sipping on his beer and he tries to throw his roach out the window (not realizing that it's still rolled up) and it bounces back and starts to burn his crotch. It's something about that shreek that he lets out while trying to put it out with his beer. End result...TOTALLY NAILS THE DUMPSTER with his poor abused car.

u/asanskrita · 1 pointr/zen

Also this. Never read it, I'm not that into pop religious books, but some of the guy's earlier stuff was pretty legit. His urban retreats are interesting.

u/rauhaal · 1 pointr/funny
u/Renaiconna · 1 pointr/Negareddit

Taoism? Not nearly as Dude-ist as, say, Zen Buddhism. The Dude was totally Zen (book link, not youtube).

u/blue_cheezbox · 1 pointr/vegan

I'll look further into the lives of these chickens.

Only fortified almond milk contains B12. Fortified foods aren't any different from supplements.

Here's why I find supplements to be dubious:

  • We don't actually know that much about the human digestive system. We don't know much about how different compounds interact with each other when mixed together in our gut. Some compounds might cancel each other out, others might emphasize one or the other. We don't have much insight into what's going on.

  • That being said, the only way to know if a diet is healthy is to look at traditional diets - diets that have worked well for humans for a very long time. That's the most empirically sound way of determining what diets are healthy.

  • AFAIK any diet that has worked especially well for humans for a long time involves some animal products.

  • I'm not talking about mere 'survival' here. I'm talking about 'thriving'. If your diet doesn't provide for high energy, high brain activity, generally feeling good, and an array of other qualitative measurements you could take into consideration, then I wouldn't call that diet "healthy".
    You might be familiar w/ Michael Pollen's book In Defense of Food.

    > You do not need animal products to get B12
    Ultimately, this statement isn't indisputable. As long as there's reasonable disputability then "just enough" animal products from sources that don't/minimally compromise the livelihood of the animal, I argue, are still vegan - because it's the best we can do.

    I'm curious as to what you think about the above statements.
u/gmarceau · 1 pointr/occupywallstreet

Hi De,

Sorry, I'm not positive I understand why the answer was unsatisfactory to you.

They have poisoned the food supply through negligence, and undermined the farming system through monopolization.

Who is they?

There are the voice of corporate money -- finance in particular -- which has overwhelmed the power of people's votes. See Food inc, Omnivore Dilema, In Defence of Food, Supersize Me.

One theme that recurs through out these four works on the politics of food is that the will of the people gets overruled by corporate money once it gets to Washington. That money, in turn, is required to be this amoral by the atmosphere in Wall St.

---
It's possible that you are asking for a simple answer to a complicated question. I can understand that, to someone who hasn't invested a fair amount of effort educating themselves on the issue, the one-liners used in the manifesto might seem trite. But they refer to very specific organizational behaviors that are well documented.

I'm happy to continue the conversation, though at one point you will have to read a long-form book or watch a documentary or two, in order to understand the conversation on the ground at Liberty Square.

u/almostelm · 1 pointr/loseit

Here's all my favorites! For books:

Fast Food Nation.

In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto.

Food Rules: An Eater's Manifesto.

Salt Sugar Fat.

"Pandora's Lunchbox: How Processed Food Took Over the American Meal".

For movies/documentaries:

Fed Up,

Fast Food Nation,

That Sugar Film,

Food Fight,

Forks Over Knives,

The Future of Food,

Sugar-Coated.

I believe all of these are on Netflix!

u/ixplodestuff · 1 pointr/loseit

This book covers a lot of the topics you're curious about. And while it won't give you a menu or a set of strict rules to follow, it will help you to make well informed decisions on what you eat. This is the article Pollan first wrote which lead to the book. It's lengthy, but well worth the read. The book expands on the same ideas and gives a great history of the American food and health industries. I also personally enjoy his writing style; he uses a lot of tongue-in-cheek humor to make some really strong points.

And of course, /u/UnaBarbaAzul is right: there's no magic bullet. Even Pollan has some bias. So read as much as you can and develop your own opinions on whats best for you. Good luck!

u/PopcornMouse · 1 pointr/explainlikeimfive

Humans are omnivores, and as omnivores with a jack-of-all-trades digestive system there is no best or perfect human diet. We can eat a variety of foods, from all around the world, and be perfectly healthy individuals.

Don't get sucked in by fad-diets and get-healthy-quick schemes. They just want your money. Unless you have a condition that prevents you from eating a certain food group, or limits your consumption of a food group (e.g. allergies, intolerances, celiac, heart conditions, diabetes) then best advice I can give you is to "eat [locally and in season] foods, not to much, mostly plants". This isn't another diet book, its a manifesto in defence of good quality food.

u/1913intel · 1 pointr/WeightLossNews

You can check out the reviews of the book here:

In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto: Michael Pollan: 9780143114963: Amazon.com: Books

https://www.amazon.com/Defense-Food-Eaters-Manifesto/dp/0143114964/

> SPARTY 047
>
> 5.0 out of 5 stars - A life changing book...
>
> February 22, 2016
>
> I have a medical and science background...so traced references cited....everything checks out. Recently diagnosed with osteoarthritis at age 63 and weight 284 pounds. Read this book the first week of January.....went shopping for real foods the second week of January. Find it satisfying to eat no more than 4 oz of red meat 2-3 times a week....salmon, mackeral, sardines 2-3 times a week....and a couple of days with no meat...just veggie omega 3 sources. Have re-read the book....highlighted...added notes on all pages...and bought 2 more copies for my 30 and 21 year olds...both who grew up in the age of "nutritionism" with all its false information. Following Pollan's common sense advice....paying the extra for organic basic veggies and olive oil. Decided to eliminate all wheat and corn until I loose the weight I've set as a goal.
>
> Five weeks eating 3 meals a day...and by week two much of the chronic 24 hour a day pain was gone and I began walking the elliptical and the woods. Five weeks and 30 pounds lighter....with more energy than I've had in 20 years. Buy this book, learn it, live it, tell your loved ones.

u/infinity777 · 1 pointr/Bitcoin

Here you go. Really changed the way I looked at my eating habits.

u/Jakomako · 1 pointr/AskReddit

This book has been getting a lot of publicity recently.

u/martinibini · 1 pointr/Random_Acts_Of_Amazon

Reading Rainbow... Reading Rainboooooooowww!!!! (totally singing the song now)

So I've had this book on my list for a while and I really really really want to read it. My health journey is also a knowledge journey and I'm learning about what goes in my body. I also love Michael Pollan's writing style. He has a way of turning scientific information into an almost-poetic work of art. I'm watching "cooked" on Netflix too! Fangirl!

u/callouskitty · 1 pointr/ainbow

Those kinds of studies are really interesting. But I still think everyone should read this little book, particularly the part about chocolate.

Suppose, to paraphrase, that you were studying my experience of gender. If you could study and understand every neuron in my brain perfectly, that wouldn't tell you anything about my experience of gender, because my experiences are inside me and yours are inside you. Even if you opened up my skull and found that my brain tasted like sugar, spice and everything nice, it would just mean I have a delicious brain, not a female mind.

u/I_see_stupidpeople · 1 pointr/askphilosophy

I personally enjoyed David Edmond's "Would You Kill the Fat Man" and Thomas Nagel's "What does it All Mean" both provided a good foundation to tackle more challenging writings.

http://www.amazon.com/Would-You-Kill-Fat-Man/dp/0691154023

http://www.amazon.com/What-Does-All-Mean-Introduction/dp/0195052161

u/GreenyBlues · 1 pointr/Meditation

You might enjoy Running With the Mind of Meditation by Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche.

u/OneMoreSecond · 1 pointr/Meditation

I'm sorry but this is a just really low quality article which only purpose it seems to be capturing users for your mailing list. For people who are genuinely interested in doing some form of meditation while exercising, I've been recommended the book Running with the Mind of Meditation. Haven't yet been able to read myself though.

u/jscix · 1 pointr/Buddhism

You may also consider giving this a listen, or buy the book.

https://www.amazon.com/Feeding-Your-Demons-Resolving-Conflict/dp/0316013137

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEbJ_maF_fo

A short description:

"Tsultrim Allione brings an eleventh-century Tibetan woman's practice to the West for the first time with FEEDING YOUR DEMONS, an accessible and effective approach for dealing with negative emotions, fears, illness, and self-defeating patterns. Allione-one of only a few female Buddhist leaders in this country and comparable in American religious life to Pema Chodron-bridges this ancient Eastern practice with today's Western psyche. She explains that if we fight our demons, they only grow stronger. But if we feed them, nurture them, we can free ourselves from the battle. Through the clearly articulated practice outlined in FEEDING YOUR DEMONS, we can learn to overcome any obstacle and achieve freedom and inner peace."
-- From amazon Review

u/mybloodyballentine · 1 pointr/depression

Oh, wow, so you're both dealing with depression.

I definitely can understand how she's feeling. For me, I didn't really get anywhere with talk therapy until I had the right combo of meds.

If she's doesn't want to try medication, I found this book, "Feeding Your Demons," to be ver helpful. It's basically a guide to journalling and meditating your fears.

u/damaged_but_whole · 1 pointr/vajrayana

Okay, I hope everything goes more smoothly for you soon.

I keep running into obstacles myself. Now that I'm getting over the mental obstacles, I'm old enough to be hitting the physical obstacles of growing older.

Do you think I should delete this thread? It doesn't seem to be generating any advice from anyone who knows about such an idea as "archons" in Buddhism and I'm not sure the idea has helped you any...what do you think? Did it give you a clear idea to work with or did it just make your worst fears about the situation even worse?

In my opinion, a healthy attitude toward such things is found in Aristotle's quote:
>It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.

In other words, if it is useful to us and we can not prove otherwise, we can act as if we are facing obstacles from such beings in order that we can work with that idea in some positive way. One benefit I can see right away is that it frames the predicament in such a way that it motivates us to practice and we can stop feeling guilty for falling into such ruts by realizing it is not your choosing. Even if it were to turn out there are no such beings, it is clearly not your choosing to feel this way, so it is accurate enough to frame it this way.

If this seems 'crazy' to anyone, keep in mind we personify things quite a lot in daily life without even thinking about it. We personify our cars when they won't start, for example. We really give "old Bessy" a feeling of hope and faith and love on a cold winter morning when we pump the gas pedal just right and gingerly turn the key in the ignition. She starts and we cheer for old Bessy. Then, we promptly shift out of "crazy" mode and into sensible thinking again. But, when old Bessy doesn't start, we are profoundly disappointed and sad...and not just because we will be late for work and see an auto mechanic bill in the near future. When the car fails to start, before we dissolve the idea of old Bessy as a living car with feelings, we feel flashes of disappointment that she let us down, sadness that she is dying and empathy for that old car that served us well for so many years and maybe even a tinge of guilt for being angry at her for not starting.

It might be beneficial for you to check out the Feeding Your Demons book. I'm not sure. I checked it out but decided it wasn't for me.

I did read Uncle Ramsey's Little Book of Demons and found it fairly entertaining and informative. It's not a Buddhist book, but if you could relate to the idea of "old Bessy" it might interest you.

u/voidgazing · 1 pointr/Buddhism

I would say some insight meditation might help with the anger- first the 'floating above it all' kind (where you view things arising and passing away with the same emotional weight with which you view the weather). Second, go with it- explore that anger, wallow in it. Own it lest it own you- feed the demon and thus put it in its place in a tantric kind of way. You might want to give this a look: http://www.amazon.com/Feeding-Your-Demons-Resolving-Conflict/dp/0316013137

u/qq2345 · 1 pointr/askgaybros

So I used several items when I first started:


https://grokker.com/mind/expert/alister-gray/57fcc1dcc179d39938867c73


I really liked this coach (and remember, the coach is everything when first starting out). I used this as a beginner step and then took some more full courses with him. There are also several apps I recommend as well to get started:


https://apps.apple.com/us/app/stop-breathe-think/id778848692

​

https://www.headspace.com/headspace-meditation-app


Here are some books I also recommend:


https://www.amazon.com/Power-Positive-Thinking-Norman-Vincent/dp/0743234804


https://www.amazon.com/Way-Zen-Alan-W-Watts/dp/0375705104/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=the+way+of+zen&qid=1563019780&s=books&sr=1-2


This one is for once you clear your conscious and start to interact with others:


https://www.amazon.com/How-Win-Friends-Influence-People/dp/0671027034/ref=sr_1_3?crid=22WVROTLAUEQU&keywords=how+to+win+friends+and+influence+people+by+dale+carnegie&qid=1563019812&s=books&sprefix=how+to+win%2Cstripbooks%2C189&sr=1-3



Hope it helps. It really depends on who you vibe with as a coach.

u/callousedfingers · 1 pointr/INTP

If I might recommend a couple, there are two books I read fairly frequently to help me keep my mind focused.

Buddhism Plain and Simple

The Way of Zen

I'd recommend them to anybody, but perhaps especially INTPs

u/undercovercovers · 1 pointr/Buddhism

READ ALAN WATTS. The Way of Zen is amazing. Zen is probably the most natural for an atheist- speaking as an agnostic zen minded kinda guy.

u/JLMA · 1 pointr/Mindfulness

thank you again for your replies; very well articulated, very helpful to me

I would like to ask you for your favorite resources on how to enhance mindfulness/awareness.

Mine are E Tolle's The Power Of Now and Stillness Speaks.

I listened to Alan Watts Out Of Your Mind and Do You Do It or Does It Do You?: How to Let the Universe Meditate You, and read his The Way Of Zen. I liked the book very much, did not enjoy much the audios. I went right back to listening to E Tolle audiobooks, mainly his TPON.

Also, I am reading the The Zen Teaching of Huang Po

What about you? What do you definitely think I should listen to or read?

u/kaaist · 1 pointr/productivity
u/Realistik84 · 1 pointr/AskReddit

The Way of Zen by Alan Watts.
http://www.amazon.com/Way-Zen-Alan-W-Watts/dp/0375705104/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1299081363&sr=8-1

Zen is a way of life, not a religion, not a belief, but a way of living that will aid in understanding the world around you. However, it is a rooted ancient system, and therefore difficult for westerners to understand. A different way of thinking altogether. Alan Watts breaks it down better than anyone else in terms of allowing a westerner to understand an eastern belief.

u/Locke005 · 1 pointr/reddit.com

If you want to get interested in Zen, I suggest reading a couple books. Books will give you a good idea of what to expect and probably give you some positive motivation to get going.

I recommend books by Alan Watts and Thich Nhat Hahn. They have been very influencial for me.

Peace is Every Step by Thich Nhat Hahn

The Way of Zen by Alan Watts

The most important thing is practicing. It is easy to see the path but it is an entirely different thing to actually walk the path. Try sitting down on your couch and meditating for five minutes. If you need instructions you can find talks given by Gil Fronsdal that will guide you at Audio Dharma

u/aricbcool · 1 pointr/taoism

Rather than refrain from talking about zen, perhaps endeavor to further understand it.

Besides, you might find out that you understand it after all. :)

May I recommend a book?

u/GaboBR · 1 pointr/Buddhism

The Way of Zen, by Alan Watts

The Three Pilars of Zen, by Philip Kapleau Roshi

Confession of a Buddhist Atheist, by Stephen Batchelor.

Outside of that, most of the stuff that I read comes from brazilian monks, like Monja Coen or Monje Gensho

u/epi_420 · 1 pointr/AlanWatts

"The Joyous Cosmology" is a wonderful exposé of Alan's experience using psychedelic drugs.

I also found "The Way of Zen" to be a really great explanation of the history of Zen as well as many Zen principles and ideas (through the lens of Alan's own philosophy, of course).

u/LogiWan · 1 pointr/Enneagram

Asking others is not a preferable method of discovering your type. Read all of the type descriptions closely, and if that doesn't do it for you, nonjudgmentally examine your behavior over the next few days. It can be a process, but the only one who can really type you is you.

Edit: I'd recommend using the Enneagram Institute's book, The Wisdom of the Enneagram if you can get your hands on it.

u/rigning · 1 pointr/raisedbynarcissists

it's from a book called "wisdom of the enneagram"

:) me too

u/nowhearin · 1 pointr/Enneagram

I would suggest that you read this book and you make get a more in depth idea of the two types. My partner is a classic 9 and i'm a classic 4 (we both fit the types earily well) so I have a pretty clear idea of how each of them can look. It does sound like you have some aspects of both, but the motivations and fears of each type are pretty different.

Let us know if you figure it out! :)

u/Llyrellenya · 1 pointr/Enneagram

I haven't found one. I don't usually like personality quizzes, instead preferring to read up on type summaries from various sources and make my own determinations. I know that doesn't work for everyone, though.

The one quiz I did like was the one from this book, which actually has a separate 15-question quiz for each type. You answer statements with numbers from 1-5 based on how strongly you relate to the statement, then add up your totals. Something like this could help you figure out a tritype; it would usually come out to be your top number in each triad, and your highest of those three is likely your core. This worked for me, my wife, and my brother. (The highest of the two numbers on either side of your core would likely be your wing.)

If you can't get a hold of this book (it's a seriously good resource if you're interested in the Enneagram!), you could try doing something similar with online quizzes: just find your highest score from each triad, and then read up on descriptions of that type and see if it fits you, and how well. You can sometimes find overall descriptions of different tritypes, but they aren't consistent in my experience.

u/heptonomicon · 1 pointr/Psychonaut

I have had this EXACT experience, I think.

One thing I have realized recently is that there are always 2 sides to the story. From your perspective right now, you are an 'Energy Vampire,' a shameless victimizer, a user, a terrible person. But even as you find yourself shocked and horrified by this realization, ego will continue to hold on to this pattern, this view of yourself, because it represents POWER and CONTROL.

The other side of this pattern is the ADDICT--and if you think about this, it is pretty easy to see. An 'Energy Vampire' is just an addict; your drug is attention and approval. While the 'energy vampire' is all about power and control, the addict is all about helplessness--this is your experience with this new woman. She has you under her spell, you are experiencing yourself as helpless. It is a wonderful gift; she has shown you your shadow.

I would recommend this book to you:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Wisdom-Enneagram-Psychological-Personality/dp/0553378201/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1344033655&sr=8-1&keywords=the+wisdom+of+the+enneagram

I found it to be very useful following my encounter with my version of this woman. I would read the introductory chapters, and then just see which chapters jump out at you; it's not necessary to read it cover-to-cover.

u/glegleglo · 1 pointr/religion
  • I LOVE the Life of Pi. I recommend reading the "editorial reviews" because Amazon does a terrible job summing up how great the book is.
  • I also highly recommend the Ramayana this is the version I read. I like this retelling because, while long, it give you a sense of what this story truly is--an Indian epic.
  • Books by Deepak Chopra (I suggest looking through reviews of diff books to see if any catch your eye).
  • The Universe in a Single Atom: The Convergence of Science and Spirituality
    by the Dalai Lama because it is a very sincere book and I can almost visualize what he is saying.
  • If you're in the mood for a bit of silliness, I recommend The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible because while being funny, it does teach you a little bit of the lesser known tenements of Judaism and Christianity.
  • Last but not least, I recommend reading travel books. If you look for well written (read: not just looking for cheap laughs) books, even if they don't intend to, they inevitably talk about their personal views on the world--their personal religions.
u/blacklemur · 1 pointr/Buddhism

The Dalai Lama, and I'd assume many other Buddhist monks/scholars etc. are generally very appreciative of Science. This interested me a while back:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/30/science/30monks.html

HHDL's book 'The Universe In A Single Atom' is also a worthy read:

http://www.amazon.com/Universe-Single-Atom-Convergence-Spirituality/dp/0767920813/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1299282456&sr=8-1

u/bigzooter · 1 pointr/LSD
u/effinmike12 · 1 pointr/conspiracy

Terrence McKenna spoke about it, as did Schults, Hofman, and Ratsch in Plants of the Gods.

Soma is an entirely different matter, and my guess is that it is Amanita muscaria or possibly cubensis.

u/Py__ · 1 pointr/AskMen

One last tip. Read this book. The basics are the same as Vipassana Buddhism. But without all the terms and the idea you have to be a whole person to even try to let go.

And it's a pretty funny read too =)

u/Thousandtree · 1 pointr/television

She could probably find employment in the publishing industry.

u/zerospecial · 1 pointr/depression

Ok so you go out which is good. Ever had any history of getting sucked into drama? Bad breakup? Bad friendship? Usually when you don't want something it's because you've gone thru it once and don't wan't to risk re-living that situation. Brain essentially tries to steer us away from pain, but it's just not capable of distinguishing between physical pain and mental pain. Mental pain is always different from physical pain in the sense that it's always a different scenario while physical pain is always the same, you hit your self you hurt your self... Example: Put your finger into fire, your burn it. Brains steers you away from putting it back into fire. ... Date a girl, she cheats on you, you break up. It hurts. In your next relationship brain automatically assumes your in that same situation (you are in a relationship... with a girl) and will start to steer you away from pain once more by suggesting (those random thoughts) that this situation is the same as before and you will burn your self, which it can't ever know since it's not a fortune teller. Fire will always burn. People don't always have drama or problems. You said it your self... it's unfair to project this on a lot of people. The problem lies with you, and how you perceive things.

This is why it's important not to assume things when meeting new people. Even tho our brain does that all the time, doesn't mean we have to listen to it.

Remember that what you get out of life has nothing what so ever todo with other people. It has only todo with how you perceive the world. Of course people can be assholes but in the end it's you who decides if it has effect on you or not.

If you wan't a more relaxed attitude towards life and a more "fuck it" attitude I recommend reading this book here. http://www.amazon.com/F-k-Ultimate-Spiritual-Way/dp/1401927599/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1318588693&sr=8-1

Really puts life in perspective. It's available for kindle as well.

You can change this yourself but you really have to do the work that needs to be done. Deal with ghosts of the past and shit. That Fuck It book is a good way to start... after I picked up that attitude towards life my life has been going upwards ever since.

If your not sure about the book, give yourself an hour and listen (and really listen) to interview #2 on this page: http://www.thefuckitway.com/podcast.htm

It's about the author him self and his previously miserable life.

Also, try to get a job during the day... it's been shown that nightwork / shiftwork has negative impact on mental health an can lead to depression.

http://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/excessive-sleepiness-10/shift-work
http://www.ehow.com/facts_5557800_effects-working-night-shift-depression.html


Do what needs to be done. And good luck!

u/pollodustino · 1 pointr/books

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance http://www.amazon.com/Zen-Art-Motorcycle-Maintenance-Inquiry/dp/0060589469/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1418000780&sr=1-1&keywords=zen+and+the+art+of+motorcycle+maintenance

Do not look upon work as something that is outside of you, or a chore. Your labors must be of you, and include your mindset, because the end result is almost wholly dependent of the mindset of the laborer.

Among other philosophies and tenets of Quality...

And another book that may be a bit simple in its approach, but still has some important ideas, Fuck It: The Ultimate Spiritual Way. http://www.amazon.com/It-The-Ultimate-Spiritual-Way/dp/1401927599

There's something very freeing about being able to just say "fuck it" about something that's giving you frustration. I've found that after saying it, and really meaning it, the true solution becomes apparent.

u/jgi · 1 pointr/lostgeneration

I, too, recommend "Choose Yourself." Great book. His more recent one, "The Power of No" isn't as good. So go with "Choose Yourself" first.

I also recommend "Fuck it: The Ultimate Spiritual Way." And perhaps spend some time over at /r/stoicism.

u/SegoviaPia · 1 pointr/Divorce

I feel your pain. Mine was 22 years. I try to focus on now and the future, I can't change the past. However, I can change myself, my attitude and the reasons I thought it was OK to stay in that relationship with someone who did not appreciate me nor respect me. Here are some books that have helped me with the feelings of waste and the same exact question:

[When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times] (https://www.amazon.com/When-Things-Fall-Apart-Anniversary/dp/1611803438/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1484668584&sr=1-1&keywords=pema+chodron)

The Places that Scare You: A Guide to Fearlessness in Difficult Times

[The Power of Now] (https://www.amazon.com/Power-Now-Guide-Spiritual-Enlightenment/dp/1577314808/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1484668804&sr=8-1&keywords=The+power+of+now)

 

This process is not easy, there is a whole gamut of emotions, it is a wild, rollercoaster ride. I have gone though the blaming myself, the shock, denial, pain, guilt, anger, bargaining and depression. I still feel them from time to time. However, on the long run it is a choice. I am choosing to change what I can and to be happy. It is not always easy and Im tired of the anger. I will no longer allow my STBX to live rent free in my head or usurp my feelings.

Take care of yourself, go for walks; eat, eat well; be conscious, don't do anything stupid. Work with a therapist, reconnect with your friends or make new ones. Use this sub-reddit, there are many here with good advice, I know it saved me from doing stupid stuff more than once. You will make it through, how is your choice.

u/Johnny_Poppyseed · 1 pointr/PoppyTea

Wish you nothing but the best OP.

Talk to her just like this. Honest and accepting. Full of love.

Just stay strong if it goes bad. It might hurt a lot man, but you can use that as even more motivation to get your shit together. Times of suffering are the best times for personal growth.

Not sure if it is your style, but i have two book recommendations for you. Each only costs a couple of dollars on amazon(check used section). They are straightforward and easy to grasp beginner buddhist teachings. Written by an american too so it is relatable. Really helpful for times like this.

http://www.amazon.com/When-Things-Fall-Apart-Difficult/dp/1570623449

And its sequel

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1570629218/ref=pd_aw_fbt_14_img_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=1BA33ENK9BCG9ZZQR8E0


Any questions or if you want to talk. Hit me up. Im of similar age and can relate in various ways.

u/abbeyn0rmal · 1 pointr/Meditation

Turning the Mind into an Ally by Sakyong Mipham with foreword by Pema Chodron

The Places that Scare You by Pema Chodron

u/Lunchable · 1 pointr/videos

No, it doesn't depend on anything. Anger is anger. You have control over your actions at all times, and there's never an excuse for breaking anything. I recommend you read this book. It helped me: http://www.amazon.com/Anger-Cooling-Thich-Nhat-Hanh/dp/1573229377

u/CactusMonster · 1 pointr/AMA

Sorry to hear that. Narcissists are a massive pain in the ass, especially when you're related to them.

I haven't read this, but my SO I mentioned read this and said it helped a ton: Will I Ever Be Good Enough?: Healing the Daughters of Narcissistic Mothers

Also, to help yourself with any anger you have towards her (and anyone for that matter) I recommend Anger by Thich Nhat Hanh. Shit's enlightening.

Edit: links

u/slightlyoffki · 1 pointr/kungfu

Oh man, I could recommend so many.

Kung Fu and Taoism:

The Making of a Butterfly is one of my favorite books. It is about a white kid who starts learning Kung Fu out of a Chinese master's basement back in the 70s, well before Kung Fu was popularized in the West.

Chronicles of Tao by Deng Ming Dao is excellent, a narrative perspective of how Taoism intertwines with the life of a Kung Fu practitioner.

American Shaolin by Matthew Polly is an entertaining and illuminating story that disseminates a lot of the mysticism surrounding the Shaolin Temple.

The Crocodile and the Crane is a fun fictional book that is basically about Tai Chi saving the world from a zombie apocalypse.

My next goal is to tackle The Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

Of course, I highly recommend the Tao Te Ching and the Art of War as well.

Buddhism: I highly recommend anything Thich Nhat Hanh. Anger and Peace is Every Step are two of my favorites.

Karate and Japanese Arts:

Moving Toward Stillness by Dave Lowry is one of my favorite books, taken from his columns in Black Belt Magazine over the years. A really excellent study on Japanese arts and philosophy.

Miyamoto Musashi: His Life and Writings by Kenji Tokitsu is wonderful. It includes the Book of Five Rings as well as some of Musashi's other works, including many of his paintings.

The 47 Ronin, by John Allyn, a dramatization of the Genroku Ako Incident, is still quite poignant in 2016.

u/Sabuleon · 1 pointr/IncelTears

That's going to help tremendously. If you're interested in Buddhism in general and want a great teacher (albeit one who is obviously Asian so doesn't always understand or incorporate a Western perspective on some things, that's normal): Thich Nhat Hanh. His books are fairly short, on specific topics. One of them deals with this emotion:

Anger: Wisdom for Cooling the Flames (warning, obviously an Amazon link, this book is of course available in libraries)

u/ofblankverse · 0 pointsr/TwoXChromosomes

I'm not pro-soy or anti-soy. I'm pro-eating-the-whole food, because I believe our bodies are designed to eat whole foods.

When you isolate a single part of a food (like the fruit from a juice) you will take in an artificially large portion of it. That's why you must eat processed food in moderation, because the portion size isn't automatically moderated for you by nature anymore. Our bodies co-evolved to digest the foods in our environment... none of the food that most people eat today is in it's original (or close to original) form, or in the ratios given by nature.

For more info, read Mismatch, and In Defense of Food.

u/theksepyro · 0 pointsr/zen

Yea, I remember. I was sorta one of them, although i wasn't posting because i've got a 'lurk first, post later' mindset when it comes to joining a forum. The first two books I bought after my zen class in college were zen mind beginners mind and the universe in a single atom. I was here with just that a year before you got here.

>then people who had read Wumenguan.

Funnily enough, just a couple months before you arrived I happened upon blyth's translation of wumen's book at a second hand shop. and seeing as my prof had talked about it, snatched it right up

u/kokooo · 0 pointsr/Health

If you have an hour to spare I recommend this talk by Michael Pollan on his new book: Food Rules. It is both informative and funny. Out of all the books I read on nutrition and health I got the most out of In Defense of Food.

u/xcalibure · -1 pointsr/politics

Read Endgame.

Humans are fucked any way you choose to look at it.

The route for human beings should be peace and consensual interactions. Anything else is violence, and that includes using 3rd parties to "seize" property that you decide is exorbitant.

u/Thants · -1 pointsr/IAmA

I am pretty sure that esdee is just a jackass who thinks s/he knows more than s/he does, but I suspect the point about nutritionists may be that it is a field of science that is still in its infancy.

I came to stop listening to nutritional science thanks to Michael Pollan's books. In Defense of Food is a great book that calls out nutritional science as little more than a ploy to move "value-added foods." It goes into why the science in this case is more a shot in the dark at keeping healthy than is asking your grandmother what to eat. (tl;dr version: Nutriotional science is too reductionist and focuses too much on specific molecules in food rather than heeding conventional wisdom of "if we survived on it for two million years, we should eat it." Pollan sums it up himself in only seven words: Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants. Oh, and avoid processed foods.) Great book. If you end up liking it, read Omnivore's Dilemma by Pollan to enter the world of food politics.

u/Duckmandu · -2 pointsr/Fitness

Um… no. Replacing real food with a chemical powder that makes health claims on the package will be BAD for your health.

The true nutritional benefit of real, unprocessed food goes way beyond vitamins, minerals, calories, fats, and proteins. You will wreak havoc on your digestive system for starters.

See the film "Food Inc." Read anything by Michael Pollan, but especially "In Defense of Food." Read this link:

http://www.naturalnews.com/039743_processed_foods_eating_reasons.html#

And this:

http://bodyecology.com/articles/hidden_dangers_of_processed_foods.php#.U0U-EpK9KSM

Book here used for cheap:

http://www.amazon.com/Defense-Food-Eaters-Manifesto/dp/0143114964

Good luck and happy eating healthy!

P.S. Är du svensk? (The label has Swedish.)

u/teddyrux · -2 pointsr/atheism
  • Yes, outside the universe. Then do some real science within the system known as the universe.
  • I'm sorry I cannot explain to you what I have learned in 400 pages in 30 seconds of your time. He is a Pulitzer Prize winning author with a Ph.d in physics.
  • You're looking to a scientific language to answer questions that cannot be expressed in scientific language. Read some Alan Watts too. The Way of Zen makes mention how English and Japanese have differing ways of expression and because of that, formulate how our minds come to think.

    In the end, do you really need a yes/no checkmark for the belief in something greater than yourself as an individual?
u/Ethril · -3 pointsr/Cooking

It's probably worse for you than a good pork bacon from the likes of Burgers or Harringtons. I'm reading In Defense of Food for a Human Biology and Nutrition class, and I'd highly suggest it. It really puts a lot of our recent food history here in America in perspective.

u/rodmclaughlin · -3 pointsr/SargonofAkkad

He condemns personal attacks as a substitute for criticism of ideas yet calls Vox Day

> "a rather reprehensible individual"

dismissing him as an "ethno-nationalist" without defining it, explaining what's wrong with it,
or why he thinks Vox Day adheres to it.

I think this might be what Peterson is on about:

https://voxday.blogspot.com/2018/04/the-myth-of-jordan-petersons-integrity.html

I also suspect my posting of this article was the final straw which led to me being banned from the Quillette Facebook group.

His Kiwi host claims Peterson has

> "a remarkable ability to play the ball, not the man, or woman".


EDIT - no, he's on about this critique by Vox Day - https://www.amazon.com/Jordanetics-Journey-Humanitys-Greatest-Thinker-ebook/dp/B07JY9XV38

I haven't read it yet.

u/MarcoVincenzo · -3 pointsr/Health

There is a whole century's worth of studies linking the Western diet with the Western diseases and the Standard American Diet just took this to an extreme. But, you might want to take a look at Michael Pollan's In Defense of Food.

u/growboulder · -7 pointsr/food

dudeareyoufuckingser is actually correct (although a bit rude about it!). A good resource on this is In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan - http://www.amazon.com/In-Defense-Food-Eaters-Manifesto/dp/0143114964. Here's a quicker read just on enriched flour - http://www.ahealthiermichigan.org/2011/07/26/whats-in-your-food-enriched-flour-tops-list-of-unhealty-ingredients/