(Part 3) Top products from r/Psychonaut

Beyond the obvious choices, Watts' The Book, Ram Dass' Be Here Now, Huxley's Doors of Perception, Leary’s The Psychedelic Experience, and of course Fear and Loathing (all of these should be on the list without question; they’re classics), here are a some others from a few different perspectives:

From a Secular Contemporary Perspective

Godel Escher Bach by Douglass Hofstadter -- This is a classic for anyone, but man is it food for psychedelic thought. It's a giant book, but even just reading the dialogues in between chapters is worth it.

The Mind’s Eye edited by Douglass Hofstadter and Daniel Dennett – This is an anthology with a bunch of great essays and short fictional works on the self.

From an Eastern Religious Perspective

The Tao is Silent by Raymond Smullyan -- This is a very fun and amusing exploration of Taoist thought from one of the best living logicians (he's 94 and still writing logic books!).

Religion and Nothingness by Keiji Nishitani – This one is a bit dense, but it is full of some of the most exciting philosophical and theological thought I’ve ever come across. Nishitani, an Eastern Buddhist brings together thought from Buddhist thinkers, Christian mystics, and the existentialists like Neitzsche and Heidegger to try to bridge some of the philosophical gaps between the east and the west.

The Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way by Nagarjuna (and Garfield's translation/commentary is very good as well) -- This is the classic work from Nagarjuna, who lived around the turn of the millennium and is arguably the most important Buddhist thinker after the Buddha himself.

From a Western Religious Perspective

I and Thou by Martin Buber – Buber wouldn’t approve of this book being on this list, but it’s a profound book, and there’s not much quite like it. Buber is a mystical Jewish Philosopher who argues, in beautiful and poetic prose, that we get glimpses of the Divine from interpersonal moments with others which transcend what he calls “I-it” experience.

The Interior Castle by St. Teresa of Avila – this is an old book (from the 1500s) and it is very steeped in Christian language, so it might not be everyone’s favorite, but it is perhaps the seminal work of medieval Christian mysticism.

From an Existentialist Perspective

Nausea by Jean Paul Sartre – Not for the light of heart, this existential novel talks about existential nausea a strange perception of the absurdity of existence.

The Myth of Sisyphus by Albert Camus – a classic essay that discusses the struggle one faces in a world inherently devoid of meaning.

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I’ll add more if I think of anything else that needs to be thrown in there!

That's a good question. I learned to meditate using the TM method ( https://www.tm.org/), but it can be cost prohibitive. Luckily I was able to get mine paid for because I'm a veteran, but I know they do offer discounts and whatnot depending on circumstances and income level. Some people have issues with TM (those people generally don't actually know the method and are just basing it on personal conjecture) and usually pop in every time someone mentions practicing this way - just as a heads up in case that happens here ha. However, I don't really abide by the TM method anymore - I'm much more exploratory in my practice now. That's the great thing, once you learn "what" meditation feels like, you're able to try different practices and methods.

Anyway, beyond that, I suggest checking out /r/Meditation - they're much more in tune with helping others begin - lots of resources, practice types, etc. Here's a good place to start: https://www.reddit.com/r/Meditation/wiki/faq#wiki_how_do_i_begin.3F

Don't get too caught up in "am I doing it right?" or focusing solely on the results. It's a practice, and it takes time to develop. The best advice I can offer is to really dedicate yourself to a practice, set time aside everyday, and just do it. If you feel like something isn't working, try a different type of meditation.

I also recommend this book: https://www.amazon.com/Journey-Awakening-Meditators-Ram-Dass/dp/0553285726/ Ram Dass writes in a very clear, understandable manner, and this book really helped me expand my meditative practice beyond my normal routine, helping me incorporate meditation into more waking parts of my life, such as walking meditation.

Some classic young there. Loved this part:

>"But what we have outgrown are only word-ghosts, not the psychic facts which were responsible for the birth of the gods."

While definitely introductory, Patrick Harpur's Daimonic Reality picks up on all these themes via Jung in a really fascinating way.

Really, there is so much to Jung's work that I'm not sure what else I could suggest. You seem to be on a good reading-track. Are you familiar with Jung's lesser-known, and published late-in-life book Flying Saucers: A Modern Myth of Things Seen in the Sky? That's another good one along the same vein of Daimonic Reality.

You might be interested in Jung's essay on Wotan, and the psychology/archetypal force of this god on the German people precipitating WWII. An interesting, arguably archetypal interpretation of events that happened: Wotan

Lastly, Gary Lachman, a consciousness scholar and researcher, wrote a great biography on Jung that seems up your ally (and many readers here at /r/Psychonaut): Jung the Mystic: The Esoteric Dimensions of Carl Jung's Life and Teachings.

OK I'll stop pulling books out of my library now. Maybe this was useful. :-)

> There is also a book called Prometheus Rising that might help you there. It goes into the social spectrum of personalities and the somatic effects that thought scripts have on the body.

Thanks for dropping that in. I just bought the book from Amazon because of this comment. I've put off reading one of Robert Anton Wilson's books for far too long. Here is the description for anyone else interested.

>Imagine trying to make sense of an amalgam of Timothy Leary's eight neurological circuits, G.I. Gurdjieff's self-observation exercises, Alfred Korzybski's general semantics, Aleister Crowley's magical theorems, and the several disciplines of Yoga; not to mention Christian Science, relativity, quantum mechanics, and many other approaches to understanding the world around us. That is exactly what Robert Anton Wilson does in Prometheus Rising. In short, this is a book about how the human mind works and what you can do to make the most of yours.

>"Robert Anton Wilson speaks for that tiny but indispensable minority who are changing the way we think. To read him is to learn what the future holds, how to be part of the future and how to help create the future." -- Robert Shea
"The man's glittering intelligence won't let you rest. First he shocks, then he enlightens. One is never the same after reading him. With each new book I welcome his wisdom, laced with his special brand of crazy humor." -- Alan Harrington, author of The Immortalist

>"Bob has done it again for the first time ever! This book is everything I ever wanted to write in a practical guidebook on how to get here from there, and he's-as usual-first in print again! Just the exercise on finding quarters has paid for the book many times over." --E. J. Gold

Amazon link

I recommend giving Carlos Castaneda's "Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge" a read. Some dispute it's authenticity, but many of the teachings in it line up with indigenous Mexican brujos' and diableros' use of entheogenic substances and divination.

Don Juan, the Yaqui sorcerer the author apprenticed under, speaks in an animist language, personifying the spirit of the plant as a teacher and ally in the sorcerer's descent into the world of spirits. He refers to peyote not just as a cactus that "makes you trip balls" but as the body of Mescalito, the spirit of the cactus that has a life of its own. It is certainly an interesting way to approach to the topic, one that is shared by many indigenous cultures that live closer to the earth.

The Penguin Classics version is pretty good and, unlike some of the others, is a complete translation. Leary's The Psychedelic Experience is definitely worth reading as well. When you're done with those, the Tibetan Book of Living and Dying is quite interesting as well.

There is a 500 page legendary book that mostly discusses the ego called Course In Miracles.

All my info comes from that book and yes, the book teaches people about the miracle of living in peace no matter how bad things may seem to be and it identifies the ego as the key blocker to peace. The only purpose the ego holds is to give us the option to idolize it instead of idolizing our higher, more powerful self.

Just check out that Amazon feedback.

https://www.amazon.com/Course-Miracles-Combined-Workbook-Students/dp/0960638881/ref=pd_sbs_14_t_2?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=QRVJGTG4SQMJ3PA76C8H

Oh, it's so hard to pick just three... but I would feel comfortable recommending these:

https://www.amazon.com/Prometheus-Rising-Robert-Anton-Wilson/dp/0692710604/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1492139963&sr=8-1&keywords=prometheus+rising

https://www.amazon.com/Not-His-Image-Gnostic-Ecology/dp/193149892X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1492139398&sr=8-1&keywords=not+in+his+image

https://www.amazon.com/Seth-Speaks-Eternal-Validity-Soul/dp/1878424076/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1492140107&sr=8-1&keywords=seth+speaks

I try to read a little bit of everything, but the main topics I enjoy reading about are religion, history, philosophy, occultism/esotericism, parapolitics, UFOlogy, and psychology.

Meditation in a nutshell:

In concentration you hold your attention on a thing (called your object) as perfectly as you can for a period of time (5 minutes, 15 minutes, hours...).

In expansion you basically do the opposite of concentration. You allow your awareness to expand, without getting attached to this or that phenomenon.

Get good at concentration first, it's way easier. You will also see some stuff that is relevant to expansion, which helps when you decide to try that.

Meditation is like riding a bike, simple and tricky at the same time.

If you want to learn how to meditate, find your local cult of meditating weirdos. Yoga or Buddhist people. They will probably give you a big dose of ritualistic nonsense along with the meditation instruction but I guess that's unavoidable.

I guess you need a book. This is a nice one : [Journey of Awakening by Ram Dass] (http://amzn.com/0553285726)

Terrence McKenna's calls it the "Archaic Revival". But not in a religious way. Instead in a sense of dissolving boundaries and breaking down cultural programming to allow for accelerated personal/societal growth.

I think it would be great if people could sign up for a course, learn about certain drugs (eg: LSD), and undergo sessions with trained professional guidance in controlled environments. There doesn't ave to be any mysticism or religion involved.

From a religious standpoint, shamanism is much healthier than the sober, monotheistic thought. Where male-dominated power structures dictate your behaviours and control you via guilt.

I'm not sure where I'm going with this...just thoughts that popped into my head :)

The, err, idea you're talking about is a pretty big one and a lot of cool stuff has been written about it. You might really enjoy reading some of it, if you haven't already, and even writing some of your own. The question if we make words for ideas or if we get have ideas because we have words for them is a mind boggling. You can probably find wikipedia articles through the article for structuralism. Then there's this amazing book which goes into the question about the neurons and consciousness, called "Gödel, Escher, Bach." here: http://www.amazon.com/G%C3%B6del-Escher-Bach-Eternal-Golden/dp/0465026567/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1335752053&sr=8-1
And the obligatory reading-guide subreddit: http://www.reddit.com/r/GEB/

since I quit the weed I've really gotten into it.. try to get the nice stuff, compared to the other green stuff the money is negligible. My local organic shop has first flush organic sencha, loose leaf. Steep 30 seconds at 70 degrees C, I reuse the same leaves 3 times, each time a bit hotter and longer. I'm kinda wondering if I've just replaced my weed addiction with a green tea addiction, but I know its doing me alot more good.

ps. I also had a really unsettling lsd trip quite a few years back... still kindof feel like I'm reassembling myself ever since then. and just recently got away from the weed for good. took a really horrible relationship to make me see that one... yea, drugs are fun, but sober self needs some attention too.

edit: currently reading this pretty far out book. It's not an easy read, but I think there's some incredibly powerful stuff in there. Especially regarding the ego and its constant up/down crap that tends to make life, at least for me, much more difficult than it ought to be.

[http://www.amazon.com/Course-Miracles-Combined-Workbook-Students/dp/0960638881/ref=pd_sim_b_4/184-9607254-3680411)]

I haven't read it myself but I would imagine The Tibetan Book of The Dead would be an interesting read, and I'm fairly sure it has a lot about 'reincarnation' in it.

You're not alone, and I hope you're not tempted to think this has revealed something unforgivable/unacceptable in you. Seems to be the expansion of the personal into the collective psyche.

There's an interesting book called Dark Night, Early Dawn where at one point the author talks about a very similar incident, where he went from protecting his daughter from an onslaught of rapists to becoming one of them. It shook him to the core. This is just one incident from his methodical, decades-long exploration of transpersonal psychology with the aid of high-dose LSD. Stan Grof is a mentor of the author's, and wrote the forward to the book.

Just thought I'd mention it in case it's helpful to hear that some have fleshed out frameworks of the psyche in which these experiences can be accepted as part of a larger process. Helps to know it doesn't say something about you personally.

This is a book tha all psychonauts should read. It is not a fiction but it reads like one. This book is freaking awesome. It is hard to put down. Must read.

The Teachings of Don Juan.
http://www.amazon.com/Teachings-Don-Juan-Yaqui-Knowledge/dp/0671600419

I highly recommend the book Sapiens for a discussion of how we got here. His latest book is also great on describing the severe challenges we will face in the near future.

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I've read about it in this book: http://www.amazon.com/Introduction-Tantra-Lama-Thubten-Yeshe/dp/0861711629/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1417589506&sr=1-2&keywords=introduction+to+tantra+lama+yeshe


Hope that helps.

I recommend Magick (or Book 4) reminded me of Wilson's writing style even. very accessible.

If you want more of his crazy cool ideas and poetry I recommend Book of Lies

Also this website has everything

He covers so many diverse topics everything is worh checking out!

This author advocates for a more gentle approach after he went for it the intense way:
Dark Night, Early Dawn: Steps to a Deep Ecology of Mind (SUNY series in Transpersonal and Humanistic Psychology) https://www.amazon.com/dp/0791446069/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_V56RCbKFJCA04

Shroom by Letcher is great.

Upside-down Zen (not a classic but I get a lot out of this one)

"Decomposing The Shadow," by James Jesso, has some good info about embarking on journeys with this kind of intention: https://www.amazon.com/Decomposing-Shadow-Lessons-Psilocybin-Mushroom/dp/0991943503

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0991943503

It's funny that your username is what it is, considering the title of the book. Pick it up, read it. It has exactly what you are looking for.

http://www.amazon.com/Synchronicity-Connecting-Principle-Collected-Extracts/dp/0691150508

I really recommend this book.

In the academic world this is called the cognitive revolution.

I really recommend the book Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind which touches this topic when the author talks about the formation of culture and civilisation.

The Emperor's Handbook. For those that are interested.

Word, check it out on Amazon, click on the book cover and they have the "look inside" feature


http://www.amazon.com/Emperors-Handbook-New-Translation-Meditations/dp/0743233832/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1425929872&sr=8-1&keywords=emperor%27s+handbook

The Tao of Psychology: Synchronicity and the Self

Pick up Carl Gustav Jung's Synchronicity, if you have not already.

What's your conception of synchronicity? Do you think deja vu has any relevance to the subject?

This book takes a look at mushrooms from an ethnomycologist's point of view. Describes many cultures' myths and stories regarding the spiritual, recreational, and medicinal use of all kinds of mushrooms.

https://www.amazon.com/Messengers-Owls-Synchronicity-UFO-Abductee/dp/0967799570

That person left a 0 left off of the end of the link, this one should work.

Zig Zag Zen: Buddhism and Psychedelics https://www.amazon.com/dp/090779162X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_QJ4EDbB3R1DCY

Secret Drugs of Buddhism https://www.amazon.com/dp/0692652817/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_wK4EDb733CREK

Entheogens, Myth, and Human Consciousness https://www.amazon.com/dp/1579511414/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_CM4EDb7WCZCJJ

The Effluents of Deity: Alchemy and Psychoactive Sacraments in Medieval and Renaissance Art https://www.amazon.com/dp/161163041X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_PN4EDbMCDQ1CQ

Magic Mushrooms in Religion and Alchemy https://www.amazon.com/dp/0892819979/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_gO4EDb3KYSGN5

The Apples of Apollo: Pagan and Christian Mysteries of the Eucharist https://www.amazon.com/dp/089089924X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_FO4EDbH0C12RD

Krishna in the Sky with Diamonds: The Bhagavad Gita as Psychedelic Guide https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00770DJRW/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_2Q4EDb7AEKZ2F

Check this book out if you haven't already.

Check out Aleister Crowley's Book 4. I found this book at a time in my life where I was pondering similar things.

This may be preferred:

http://www.amazon.com/Introduction-Tantra-Lama-Thubten-Yeshe/dp/0861711629/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1376586725&sr=1-1&keywords=introduction+to+tantra

It covers similar concepts but in a more comprehensible way.

Too many great ones to name but since no else has mentioned it yet: Illusions by Richard Bach.

Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah by Richard Bach


Short read. Cheap book. Thought provoking. I read this right when I went to college and it really opened up my world.

The Tao of Psychology: Synchronicity and the Self - Jean Shinoda Bolen, MD

Exploring Madness: Experience, Theory, and Research - James Fadiman

It seems to be real, but I'm at a loss regarding mechanism. This book covers the subject: https://www.amazon.com/Messengers-Owls-Synchronicity-UFO-Abductee/dp/0967799570

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

CS Jung's book
https://www.amazon.com/Flying-Saucers-Modern-Things-Skies/dp/0691018227
Where the apparitions are real in a sense but also spiritual. Manifestations of the planet's collective psyche that are warning us about the destruction to the planet

Jacques Vallee has written numerous books on the topic. His focus is less on where they might be from but more on the effect it's having on society. He is of the school of thought that they are interdimensional beings of some sort