What book would you recommend everyone read in their lifetime

[rgray222]

Ultimately, the best book may vary based on personal interests and life experiences. What resonates with one person may not hold the same significance for another. But if you could limit your recommendation to one must-read book, which would it be? It makes no difference if it is War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy or Sahara by Clive Cussler. Please add a brief reason for your choice. Thanks

[DNA]

The Celestine Prophecy by James Redfield.
It takes the concept of human energy field manipulation through negative interactions explaining people steal each other's energy through dramas designed to do so.
It's the single best book to teach such a thing and it does so quickly, short and very entertaining. It's genius in its simplicity.

[drneglector]

The Secret Life of Plants, originally published in 1973, by Peter Tompkins and Christopher Bird, completely changed the way I look at plants.

[Michel Leclerc]

Pythagoras’ Golden Verses.

Get the original Greek text (it is short, a 50-odd pages at most) – with a few translations, and compare them so that you can get as near as possible to the original. Alternatively learn classical Greek and read the original in the original.

Doing this is what meditating on them amounts to. Then that is in itself the metanoia, the “around-thinking”, the “trans-reflexion”, the conversion they want to bring about. Reading: getting nearest to truth, goodness and beauty, all three of them through each of them.

Reading is self-education. Pythagoras first and foremost.

Indispensable for young people – unlike tik-tok, unlike the thumped bible. Jesus may have read Pythagoras. He spoke Greek after all.

[Satori]

The Creature From Jekyll Island by G. Edward Griffin.

[Satori]

Critical Path by R. Buckminster Fuller. And his short sequel, Grunch of Giants.

[George]

This is a great thread!
Quite often, when I have discovered yet another fascinating book, I think of it as the most important one, and I wished everyone of my friends and family would read it (which never happens, of course). Currently, I am re-reading Seth Speaks by Jane Roberts which (not coincidentally) appeared on my screen. It completely blows my mind a second time after many years. It is as if Seth is speaking directly to me.

I'd say the best book is always the one I am currently reading..!

[ulli]

In Search of the Miraculous, P. D. Ouspensky

[Bluegreen]

"Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance"

What is Quality?

An Event

[Inversion]

That would be a book I've mentioned many times The Ancient Secret of the Flower of Life Vol (https://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?102184-The-Ancient-Secret-of-the-Flower-of-Life-Vol.-1-2). 1. I guess a good investigator would want to start at the so-called beginning to understand our present state. I should read some more books, so I don't seem redundant. :)

[earthdreamer]

Krishnamurti “Total Freedom” really makes me think .

What I am currently taking in bits at a time is “An Idealist View of Life”, that I picked up as a pdf book on my phone. It is excellent and it’s from lectures by Dr Sarvepelli Radhakhrishnan, being the Hibbert Lectures of 1929. Still fresh 100 years later although some references to philosophers and thinkers from before 1929 can be a challenge that I kind of gloss over because the messages are quite vital and timeless for human thinking.

https://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/archivos_pdf2/idealist-view-life.pdf

[Artemesia]

The Celestine Prophecy by James Redfield.



DNA, I concur, The Celestine Prophecy is great, definitely changed things for me.
I especially loved how they discussed working with plants, and how to regard all life forms for their inherent sentience, although it is different than ours, it can still be engaged with via consciousness connection. These concepts helped me a lot as I traveled through the wilderness landcapes in my many years of backpacking and park ranger work and wilderness guiding, and the later settled down to where I began to garden and do permaculture. Listening to the plants is the key to all successful relationships with one’s garden.


Anyways, my addition to this brilliant and fun thread.
My list is not singular. Sorry, I live with D.I.D. …

The Douglas Adams Hitchiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and its sequel books:

Hitchiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
The Restaurant at the End of the Universe
Life, the Universe and Everything
And my total favorite,
So Long and Thanks for All the Fish

[Strat]

It would depend on the genre being asked but since it's asked in this forum I would suggest Carl Sagan's "The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle In The Dark"

Read that first so that you can have a foundational understanding of how to think and perceive the world. From there one can branch out into the 'woo' and separate the nonsense from the reality. You can believe in ghosts and aliens and whatever you want, but you need to be able to know when the particular case you're studying is worth your time or not.

[Hermoor]

"The Devil's Pulpit" by the Reverend Robert Taylor.

https://ia904503.us.archive.org/6/items/the-devils-pulpit-by-the-rev.-robert-taylor/The%20Devils%20Pulpit%20by%20the%20Rev.%20Robert%20Taylor.pdf

Taylor (1784-1844) was a vibrant polymath. Through birth he was able to move freely in high society. Initially he trained as a surgeon, but a strong spiritual calling lead him in to the Church of England after graduating from Cambridge University. He was an exceptional orator and freethinker of his era.

His razor sharp intellect soon figured out the fundamental purpose of the bible and Christianity in general society. Taylor implored religiously minded academics and senior members of the church to raise their game. They weren't having any of it. They didn't want to rock the boat and risk their position in the establishment. They just wanted Taylor to shut up and go away, or they actively ostracised and persecuted him.

Taylor was arrested and jailed more than once. He simply wouldn't back down. He was a fearless and principled soul. To those with eyes to see he was the biggest truther in the UK and Ireland. The sheeple knew him as an unhinged looney and ridiculed him accordingly.

The Rev. Robert Taylor was a force of nature, chapeau to him.

[madrotter]

Yes, Carl Sagan! I've read his The Varieties of Scientific Experience: A Personal View of the Search for God and that one blew me away, re-read it a couple of times....

What also blew me away was not just one book but a series of books by Australian author Colleen McCullough, the Masters of Rome series, 7 pretty hefty books, incredibly well researched, starting around the time when Caesar was born, when low-born Marius took power, the insane Sulla came up (he put Caligula to shame that one) all the way to the end of Mark Anthony and Cleopatra... It goes deep into.... well.... everything! From their religion(s), their wars, their politics, their daily customs, their slaves and how they lived, goes deep into all their foreign wars (and pretty deep into the cultures they were trampling), I spend a very pleasant dry season reading all of them, couldn't put it down, they really suck you in those books (much like Larry McMurtry's Lonesome Dove series) and it was amazing to see how much alike America is to old Rome, the corruption, the rot from within, but also some of the greatness... I cannot recommend those books enough.....

[Michi]

There are certainly more than one, but here is my pick:
Frederick Van Rensselaer Dey: The Magic Story (https://avalonlibrary.net/ebooks/Frederick%20Van%20Rensselaer%20Dey%20-%20The%20Magic%20Story.pdf)

[Johnnycomelately]

The hardest book, of all the books I’ve taken on, was Please Kill Me - The Uncensored History of PUNK, by Legs McNeil and Gillian McCain.

Too hard to put down, and way gritty, worse than Moby Dick. Cured me of reading books, since 10 or so years anyway.

[Marbelo]

Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach.

I imagine that everyone knows this book, but I believe that some people no longer remember the existence of this masterpiece.

There is even a movie with a soundtrack by Neil Diamond.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Livingston_Seagull_(soundtrack)

[Dennis Leahy]

Journey of Souls - Dr Michael Newton. An exploration of reality.

[DNA]

:shooting star:

The Celestine Prophecy by James Redfield.



DNA, I concur, The Celestine Prophecy is great, definitely changed things for me.
I especially loved how they discussed working with plants, and how to regard all life forms for their inherent sentience, although it is different than ours, it can still be engaged with via consciousness connection. These concepts helped me a lot as I traveled through the wilderness landcapes in my many years of backpacking and park ranger work and wilderness guiding, and the later settled down to where I began to garden and do permaculture. Listening to the plants is the key to all successful relationships with one’s garden.


Anyways, my addition to this brilliant and fun thread.
My list is not singular. Sorry, I live with D.I.D. …

The Douglas Adams Hitchiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and its sequel books:

Hitchiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
The Restaurant at the End of the Universe
Life, the Universe and Everything
And my total favorite,
So Long and Thanks for All the Fish

Picking the Celestine Prophecy was hard because there are better works in my opinion but none in just one short book that can be read in literally two or three sittings like the Celestine Prophecy.

It's funny, bluegreen mentioned Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance earlier and it's a great book.
That story starts off with a guy who can't and won't fix motorcycles.

If I didn't pick the Celestine Prophecy I would pick The Michael Teachings by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro.

In the Michael Teachings you learn about the source of human energy scarcity. You learn the source of the dramas outlined in the Celestine Prophecy used by human beings to steal attention and thus energy from one another.

If you read the Michael Teachings it becomes obvious that the person discussed in the zen and the art of motorcycle maintenence is suffering from impatience which is one of seven chief features outlined in The Michael Teachings that people are born with that suck at their energy and flavor a portion of their ego.


And if I had to pick a third book(set) it would be Carlos Castaneda whereupon he expands on this idea of being born with this situation and explains it as such and his entire set of books is dedicated to setting you free from this predicament.
Castaneda tells us that we are all born with a parasite. A energetic parasite that tricks us into being offended by your fellow man and that every time you are offended by your fellow man you feed this parasite. It is a living being intelligent and genius in its particular specialized field of stealing energy and staying invisible to the host.


1. The Celestine Prophecy makes you aware of the fact you are more than a physical being. That you have energy associated with your energy body that is affected by your actions, your environment and the actions of those around you.


2. The Micheal Teachings make you aware of the existence of 7 different chief features that everyone is born with. Knowing this will help you understand everyone in your life. It will help you understand yourself. It will help you understand that there is a thing siphoning off your energy and making you feel incomplete from the very beginning.


3. Carlos Castaneda, let's you know that the chief feature that everyone is born with is actually a living entity that feeds on us everytime we are offended. And gives the methods and practices one would need to utilize to detach from this entity. These practices work.

It's ironic I think that right now we are learning that most diseases are caused by parasites. I'm of the opinion that as above so below was never so fitting a phrase as it relates to physical and non-organic non- physical parasites in our existence . As we become more aware of one may we become more aware of the other.

Many of us walked away from the Matrix movie feeling like they may have hit the mark on the control aspect of reality.
When I watched it I felt they hit the mark on the parasitized aspect of our reality. When Neo woke up in the goo pod I felt like I woke up. I stood up and I said "no way", my friend embarrassed I was making a scene tugged at my garments asking I sit back down.

If the Demiurge is real. And I'm leaning in that direction. He would come under other names like Baal,Saturn,Moloch,Yaldaboath, Belial in Atlantis and Yehweh. If so these ingrained parasites are cords leading our energy back to the Demiurge. The ultimate cording if you will.

[Richter]

Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts.

[thepainterdoug]

Blindness by José Saramago | Goodreads
From Nobel Prize-winning author José Saramago, a magnificent, mesmerizing parable of loss A city is hit by an epidemic of "white blindness" that spares no one. Authorities confine the blind to an empty mental hospital, but there the criminal element holds everyone captive, stealing food rations, and assaulting women. There is one eyewitness to this nightmare who guides her charges—among ...
4.2/5

[rgray222]

:shooting star:

The Celestine Prophecy by James Redfield.



DNA, I concur, The Celestine Prophecy is great, definitely changed things for me.
I especially loved how they discussed working with plants, and how to regard all life forms for their inherent sentience, although it is different than ours, it can still be engaged with via consciousness connection. These concepts helped me a lot as I traveled through the wilderness landcapes in my many years of backpacking and park ranger work and wilderness guiding, and the later settled down to where I began to garden and do permaculture. Listening to the plants is the key to all successful relationships with one’s garden.


Picking the Celestine Prophecy was hard because there are better works in my opinion but none in just one short book that can be read in literally two or three sittings like the Celestine Prophecy.

If I didn't pick the Celestine Prophecy I would pick The Michael Teachings by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro.


I remember reading the Celestine Prophecy years ago and I had not thought about it until you brought it up. My recollection is that this was a wonderful book which was a joy to read but it was way too short. I am going to revisit this book once again and I definitely will give 'The Michael Teachings' a read.

[Craig]

I subconsciously thought of The Talisman by Stephen King and Peter Straub, unsure why, haven't thought of it previously for decades but do remember reading the hell out of it on the commute to and from work last century

[Vicus]

https://www.lehmanns.de/media/98618940 Not in His Image (15th Anniversary Edition)


With clarity, author John Lamb Lash explains how a little-known messianic sect propelled itself into a dominant world power, systematically wiping out the great Gnostic spiritual teachers, the Druid priests, and the shamanistic healers of Europe and North Africa. Early Christians burned libraries and destroyed temples in an attempt to silence the ancient truth-tellers and keep their own secrets.

“Sometimes a book changes the world. Not in His Image is such a book. It is clear, stimulating, well-researched, and sure to outrage the experts. . . .


https://ia800902.us.archive.org/27/items/NotInHisImageJohnLambLash2006/Not%20In%20His%20Image,%20John%20Lamb%20Lash%20(2006).pdf

[sunwings]

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQ-tp0KCZkRLcrNjly8BbS7Q4q53cscMHPTow&s


Under the guidance of such celebrated masters as Ed Parker and the immortal Bruce Lee, Joe Hyams vividly recounts his more than 25 years of experience in the martial arts. In his illuminating story, Hyams reveals to you how the daily application of Zen principles not only developed his physical expertise but gave him the mental discipline to control his personal problems-self-image, work pressure, competition.

[seehas]

The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81J4O-G8FTL._SY522_.jpg

this book contains universal spiritual knowledge about death and transition, regardless of whether you are a buddhist or not.

[onawah]

Must-read list for conspiracy theorists:bigsmile:
https://projectavalon.net/forum4/attachment.php?attachmentid=54167&d=1734557046


Yikes!

54167

[edina]

For many years my top book to recommend was A Course in Miracles (https://acim.org/). It's not an easy book to read (https://ia600506.us.archive.org/3/items/ACourseInMiracles_201609/A%20Course%20In%20Miracles.pdf), in part, because as you read it the logic of one's mind is turned almost inside-out. The experience of reading the book and doing the workbook lessons is transformative.

Recently, I've been looking at Joe Dispenza's (https://neurochangesolutions.com/about/) book, Becoming Supernatural (https://davidhason.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Becoming-Supernatural.pdf). I think if people "get" the ideas and apply them, it too, can become personally, individually, and culturally at the the human species level, equally transformative, maybe even more so. Still investigating it...

V_-K4GUX53k

(Support documents mentioned at the beginning of the audiobook (https://support.drjoedispenza.com/hc/en-us/article_attachments/360080871431))

[Ioneo]

As A Man Thinketh by James Allen published in 1903 and still as relevant as it was then.

[Mike]

Maybe 'The Alchemist'.

It's not my favorite book. My tastes are far darker and weirder. But it might be the most important book re the marriage between fate and free will, and having the courage to follow your "personal legend".

[Bright Skies]

Journey of Souls - Dr Michael Newton. An exploration of reality.

:stars:Wow! What a synchronicity!:stars:

Last night I reunited with an old work colleague who I have not had contact with for four years.

We worked on the COVID frontline together as welfare officers stationed at the airport where we identified the health and welfare concerns of passengers who were directed into quarantine. (Note: I was suspicious of the p(l)andemic from the beginning and I applied for the position in order to see what was going on from the inside.)

Due to changes in the system our team was disbanded before the harmful mandates were implemented. Indeed I resisted the mandates as they were in contravention to the principles of patient advocacy and I am currently assisting those who were injured and abandoned by the system. (See: https://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?122157-Freedom-Activism----An-archive-of-freedom-events-from-Perth-Western-Australia )

It turns out my old work colleague has the same feelings as I do on this matter. I did not know this since we have not had contact for four years.

Our conversation then turned to spiritual matters and it became rather synchronous as we ended up sharing similar thoughts and feelings on spiritual matters. During the conversation my old work colleague sent me a photo and suggested I read this book:

54168

"Journey of Souls (Case Studies of Life Between Lives)" by Michael Newton PhD

This morning one of the first things I have done is check Project Avalon.

It is a huge synchronicity that you have also recommended this very same book Dennis Leahy!

P.S. In the last couple of months I have make an effort to follow your posts Dennis Leahy (since I am in agreeance with your stance in regards to resisting Zionist supremacy and I cannot fault anything you say on this and related matters). Cheers to you and thank you! :handshake:

[grapevine]

Ultimately, the best book may vary based on personal interests and life experiences. What resonates with one person may not hold the same significance for another. But if you could limit your recommendation to one must-read book, which would it be? It makes no difference if it is War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy or Sahara by Clive Cussler. Please add a brief reason for your choice. Thanks

It's hard to pick just one book but in the spirit of the OP my recommendation would be

"The Biggest Secret" by David Icke

Considered by many to be the foundation of David's work The BS is all about the global elite, who and what they are, and their plan to create a totalitarian global New World Order, from which we will never escape.

When I first read this book in 1999, the content was almost unbelievable, but it's staggering how much has come to pass since then.

[Kryztian]

The Secret Life of Plants, originally published in 1973, by Peter Tompkins and Christopher Bird, completely changed the way I look at plants.

And I bet plants look at you differently since you read a book about them!

They say "finally, a human who understands us!!!" :flower: :bigsmile: :flower:

[arwen]

The Little Prince by Antoine de SAINT-EXUPERY (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Little_Prince)

https://d3525k1ryd2155.cloudfront.net/h/041/069/1288069041.0.m.jpg

I just came back from the Library with a new stack of books, I am a hopeless bibliophile. :sun:

So this was the hardest question for me to answer. Pick ONE?????? Anyhow, after some pondering, my small contribution:

When I was a baby and my mother was out walking me in the pram, this older woman came up to my mother, and placed a copy of "The Little Prince" in her hands. She told my mother to keep it for me until I was old enough to read it. Which my mother did, and at age 4, I could read, and read it. It was the Perfect Book. It had all I needed to know about life, and what is important in life, right there.

And the mystery woman who gifted me the book, whom my mother never saw again was part of the magic, like an angel. True story.

Today, many many moons later, it still holds true for me. I go back and read it periodically and "yep" - all we ever needed to know. :heart:

[Artemesia]

3. Carlos Castaneda, let's you know that the chief feature that everyone is born with is actually a living entity that feeds on us everytime we are offended. And gives the methods and practices one would need to utilize to detach from this entity. These practices work.
It's ironic I think that right now we are learning that most diseases are caused by parasites.

If the Demiurge is real. And I'm leaning in that direction. He would come under other names like Baal,Saturn,Moloch,Yaldaboath, Belial in Atlantis and Yehweh. If so these ingrained parasites are cords leading our energy back to the Demiurge. The ultimate cording if you will.

I found the Castaneda series in about2009/2010 when I was really starting to get my memories back (from use in all the experiments, and all the torture and just sort of general naricisstic abuse) and was starting to put together that the long strange trip I had been on, running around all over the USA and particularly the wilderness landscapes, endlessly finding a low paying job in the most beautiful places on Earth only to be persecuted and chased away to the next landing zone… all was indicating that there was indeed A SEPARATE REALITY going on that I had long understood and been speaking (out) about, and that this awareness was what was largely leading to the endless parasitic persecution etcetera. Nevermind that the gov-ment and handlers had had a pretty visible ‘unseen hand’ in a lot of those forced moves. It wasnt even ‘hidden out in the open’ it wasnt hidden at all, I just wasnt ‘supposed’ to beleive my own intuition and reality perception.

So anyways, finding Castaneda’s work when I did was so important to me. I discovered David Icke’s books around the same time, and was also chiming in here on Avalon as well as writing my own blog that I compiled into a book of short stories, basically teachable moment/parables largely written to remind myself of what the hell had actually been happening, because with the DID and continued manipulation I was then still under, I kept ‘forgetting’… which was so impossibly annoying and kept me churning in those ‘oh no, not another learning experience’ groundhog day-esque repeat cycles of looping, when at least some of me’s knew I should be far beyond falling for that sh*t over and over again. But of everything that I ‘tried’ back then to heal, the Lucia Rene stuff I found after watching Bill’s interview with her, the Holographic Kinetics stuff that I discovered when George Kavasilas discussed it on a show with James Gilliland, hypnosis, gobs of other ‘alternative modalities’ and ‘release work’ meditations… it was basically all just training wheels when I needed to learn how to fix the dang motorcycle myself, right?

But the Castaneda teachings always sorta stuck, even after I was ‘picked up’ again in 2013, held in a big city ER for 3 days and re-accessed (that means re-tortured with electricity, drugs, sexual torture, advanced mind control/splitting techniques that can ONLY be done in a place with access to extensive medical equipment and cult-trained personnel). I never fully forgot what was done to me in 2013, but it lost context. And I forgot most of the other teachings and modalities completely — like gone, erased. Only in 2019 did I finally remember some of that. By then I had been getting ‘blips’ of the really old programming tortures back for about 2 years, since 2017 when a lot of awakened people got the ‘mission change/upgrade’ energy message and things shifted majorly for many, in terms of focus.

So… anyways, I think that speaks to the power, truth and multidimensional endurance of the Castaneda work. That the mind control torture couldnt erase that from my consciousness. Indelible. Real truths are like that. Its why amidst all the stupid circumstance right now and that will surely go down this next year, I dont ‘worry’ like I used to. I know I will have what I need to know what to do when I am faces with whatever I am faced with. Its the warrior stance Castaneda spoke of: to be capable of facing the unknown where many cannot. Its where I am convinced the quantum entanglement and quatum field impacts of ‘the thems’ doing all these hideous experiments to me for decades is really going to be the last laugh on them. I just keep working my toolbox, holding kindness and compassion for myself and those I love and whom deserve my care, and I keep training that warrior spirit of mine in whatever way makes sense or is possible at each moment, given the totality of that moment of my lived experience. Everything else is maya, and frankly most of it had nothing to do with me at all anyways. It was a storyline of someone else’s creation, and knowing that, and knowing how to make the choice to step off that wheel of ‘NOT MINE!’ Is the ultimate shifting of the assemblage point and re-owning one’s self sovereignty and care for our own ‘luminous egg’. The energy doesnt lie. And the quantum field never forgets.

I don’t think the controllers, in all their manical and medical mind control project machinations, really considered that at all.

Sucks for them!

[Artemesia]

The Secret Life of Plants, originally published in 1973, by Peter Tompkins and Christopher Bird, completely changed the way I look at plants.

And I bet plants look at you differently since you read them book about them!

They say "finally, a human who understands us!!!" :flower: :bigsmile: :flower:

I love plants. Gaia’s Garden by Toby Hemenway was like that too.

Also Stephanie Kaza’s ‘The Attentive Heart: Conversations with Trees’

Current book of similar feel is Asia Suler’s ‘Mirrors in the Earth’

[Kryztian]

I have to pick two:



Plato's The Last Days of Socrates - which is really four dialogs: Euthyphro (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euthyphro), Apology (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apology_(Plato)), Crito (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crito) and Phaedo (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phaedo)


The Gospel of John (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gospel_of_John)

The story of two individuals who felt so strong about truth and righteousness that they lost their lives.

[aoibhghaire]

A long time ago after becoming awake to a new reality, I was just shortly after given this book which catapulted me to the next stage of my adventure of life.

The book "Dancing in the Shadows of the Moon" by Machaelle Small Wright

Dancing in the Shadows of the Moon is the grown-up version of the Harry Potter books — only Dancing is nonfiction. It examines our perceptions of life, death, and reality.

Although an amazing and inspiring adventure. Dancing is a book about expansion -- big expansion -- the kind that knocks the breath out of us, disorients us, makes us question our sanity. It's the kind of expansion that challenges us to let go of the reality we have always known -- and grown to trust -- in order to move into a completely new reality that we previously did not know existed.

It is recommended to go out and buy a large box of chocolates to ground yourself before reading this book.
I read the first two chapters six times because I could't integrate this big expansion I was having and try to integrate its reality.
By then I had eaten every chocolate and had to go out again for another box the next day.

Dancing reminds us that we are not moving through today's challenges alone, that wonderful options for moving forward are right in front of us and that death is not an end to anything. Dancing gives us new ways of seeing -- including how we see the present state of the world. In turn, we are put more at ease, we are strengthened and we can function.

If you are trying to make sense of life and the universe, the author's experience will give you a new, unique and useful perspective that can change how you understand and interact with the world around you.

[Artemesia]

The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81J4O-G8FTL._SY522_.jpg

this book contains universal spiritual knowledge about death and transition, regardless of whether you are a buddhist or not.


Your ‘footer’ signature…" Loka samasta sukhino bhavantu / May all beings in all worlds be happy and free and may the thoughts, words and actions of my own life contribute in some way to that happiness and to that freedom for all "
tibetian mantra

SO beautiful!! Thanks for sharing that mantra!

[Artemesia]

I love her work with the Perelandra principles but havent read her book! Thanks for the tip!

[Mark (Star Mariner)]

Journey of Souls - Dr Michael Newton. An exploration of reality.

:stars:Wow! What a synchronicity!:stars:

"Journey of Souls (Case Studies of Life Between Lives)" by Michael Newton PhD


Heartily approved. See thread here:
Michael Newton - Past Life Therapy - Journey Between Lives (https://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?3644-Michael-Newton-Past-Life-Therapy-Journey-Between-Lives)

Here's an old interview with Michael Newton.
Vk5bSG78pbQ

On the subject of life after death/lives between lives, I recommend the following books:

Life After Life (https://www.amazon.com/Life-After-Bestselling-Investigation-Experiences/dp/006242890X/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=raymond+moody&qid=1594924639&s=books&sr=1-1) - Dr Raymond Moody

Life Between Life (https://www.amazon.com/Life-Between-Joel-Whitten/dp/0446347620/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=Life+Between+Life&qid=1594925004&s=books&sr=1-2) - Joel L. Whitton (M.d, Ph.D) Joe Fisher

Origin of the Soul (https://www.amazon.com/Origin-Soul-Purpose-Reincarnation-Lives-ebook/dp/B07J5QYFRZ/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=origin+of+the+soul&qid=1594924884&s=books&sr=1-1) - Dr Walter Semkiw

Many Lives, Many Masters (https://www.amazon.com/Many-Lives-Masters-Prominent-Psychiatrist/dp/0671657860/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=Many+Lives%2C+Many+Masters&qid=1594925093&s=books&sr=1-1) - Dr Brian Weiss

Between Death and Life (https://www.amazon.com/Between-Death-Life-Conversations-Spirit/dp/1940265002/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=between+death+and+life&qid=1594924561&s=books&sr=1-1) - Dolores Cannon

Life After Death (https://www.amazon.com/Life-After-Death-Renowned-Psychic/dp/0804113866/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=mary+t+browne&qid=1594924939&s=books&sr=1-2) - Mary T. Browne

The Afterlife is Real (https://www.amazon.com/Afterlife-Real-Theresa-Cheung/dp/1471112365/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=The+Afterlife+is+Real&qid=1594925154&s=books&sr=1-1) - Theresa Cheung[/QUOTE]

-----
Concerning a personal recommendation re the broadly applicable declaration in the OP:

https://i.etsystatic.com/19194225/r/il/8d7f3c/3436096180/il_fullxfull.3436096180_tr3w.jpg

[AxisMundi]

"Bringers of the Dawn", Barbara Marciniak, 1992

Just an exquisitely beautiful channeled book exploring galactic history, the nature of the soul, the power of free will and our spirit's infinite capacity for evolution.

It also deals with some dark themes such as Reptilian consciousness and Reptilian takeover of Earth which is explained in a way so as it's not menacing and disempowering.

Likely the single most empowering and inspirational book I've encountered :heart:

[Tintin]

Ultimately, the best book may vary based on personal interests and life experiences. What resonates with one person may not hold the same significance for another. But if you could limit your recommendation to one must-read book, which would it be? It makes no difference if it is War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy or Sahara by Clive Cussler. Please add a brief reason for your choice. Thanks

This is a fabulous idea for a thread, well done :highfive:

Right, and I've read a LOT. I'm really going to have to ponder this for a bit.

In a synchronistic way Culture Critic on X (https://x.com/Culture_Crit/status/1870200265606910256) had started a thread with almost the exact same topic. Many here I haven't read yet: this is some list too :sun:

---




I asked X: "Which book changed your perspective on life more than any other?"

After THOUSANDS of replies, these were the top 50.

The ultimate 2025 reading list… (bookmark this) 🧵


https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GfQpEj5WIAMrpd8?format=jpg&name=4096x4096

The Bible was the outright winner according to CC, and he's provided categorisations too.

Theology:

1. Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis
2. Orthodoxy, G.K. Chesterton
3. The City of God, Augustine of Hippo
4. Summa Theologica, Thomas Aquinas
5. Confessions, Augustine of Hippo

Philosophy / Political Theory (Part 1):

6. Meditations, Marcus Aurelius
7. Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle
8. Letters from a Stoic, Seneca
9. The Republic, Plato
10. Tao Te Ching, Laozi

Philosophy / Political Theory (Part 2):

11. Beyond Good and Evil, Friedrich Nietzsche
12. The Abolition of Man, C.S. Lewis
13. The Prince, Niccolò Machiavelli
14. The Federalist Papers, Hamilton / Madison / Jay
15. The Symposium, Plato

Psychology / Self Improvement:

16. Man's Search for Meaning, Viktor Frankl
17. The 48 Laws of Power, Robert Greene
18. The Road Less Traveled, M. Scott Peck
19. How to Win Friends and Influence People, Dale Carnegie
20. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey

Economics / Personal Finance:

21. Basic Economics, Thomas Sowell
22. The Richest Man in Babylon, George S. Clason
23. The Creature from Jekyll Island, G. Edward Griffin
24. Rich Dad Poor Dad, Robert Kiyosaki
25. Think and Grow Rich, Napoleon Hill

Fiction (Part 1):

Dostoevsky, Orwell and Rand dominated suggestions. The most common as follows...

26. Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand
27. The Brothers Karamazov, Fyodor Dostoevsky
28. 1984, George Orwell
29. Demons, Fyodor Dostoevsky
30. To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee

Fiction (Part 2):

31. The Fountainhead, Ayn Rand
32. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams
33. Animal Farm, George Orwell
34. On the Road, Jack Kerouac
35. Crime and Punishment, Fyodor Dostoevsky
36. The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho

Fiction (Part 3):

[Tintin Q comment: The Screwtape Letters is on my shopping list :) ]

37. The Stranger, Albert Camus
38. The Screwtape Letters, C.S. Lewis
39. The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien
40. Dune, Frank Herbert
41. The Old Man and the Sea, Ernest Hemingway
42. Brave New World, Aldous Huxley

Classical / Medieval Poetry:

43. The Divine Comedy, Dante Alighieri
44. The Iliad, Homer
45. The Odyssey, Homer
46. Metamorphoses, Ovid

History & Other Non-Fiction:

47. The Gulag Archipelago, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
48. The Art of War, Sun Tzu
49. Histories, Herodotus
50. The Decline of the West, Oswald Spengler

---

The original thread is here (https://x.com/Culture_Crit/status/1869394350058389944)


"Which book changed your perspective on life more than any other?"

[Karl]

I have always been fascinated and energized by 'better' ways of doing stuff, down to earth things.
If only we applied a fraction of our knowledge, we would live in paradise.
Many, many examples, e.g., Geopolymer (https://www.geopolymer.org/shop/product/geopolymer-chemistry-applications/), Teaming with Microbes (https://www.amazon.com/Teaming-Microbes-Organic-Gardeners-Revised/dp/1604691131), Holistic Management (https://savory.shop/collections/books/products/holistic-management-a-commonsense-revolution-to-restore-our-environment), Scalar Waves (https://www.meyl.eu/go/index92d2.html), etc. etc.
In that train of thought, maybe one book stands out for me, because it's easy reading and gives a nice overview:

Suppressed Inventions (https://www.amazon.com.au/Suppressed-Inventions-Other-Discoveries-Jonathan/dp/0399527354/) by Jonathan Eisen.

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71Ezd6bgWYL._SL1200_.jpg

[WhiteFeather]

The Day After Roswell by Colonel Philip J Corso non fiction. NY Times Best Seller.

[Applesprig]

' World's in Collision ' by Immanuel Velikovsky. This book answers many of the questions about world cataclysmic events, how Mars was stripped of it's atmosphere and water and fills in many of the gaps in our knowledge about the cosmos. There is soo much guesswork out there about "pole shift', what wiped out the dinosaurs etc. It is my belief that to have a Pole Shift, only one mechanism can activate such an event, ( the moon's effect on our tides is well understood ) , so it would need a force that is at least as large as Earth, travelling at an enormous speed to initiate a pole shift. Size and speed. No need for the object to actually hit Earth - Action at a Distance will do it. Simplicity at it's best.

This is the book that Einstein left open on his desk when he died, he admired Velikosvsky's work.

[Heart to heart]

UFO OF GOD is the book I am reading today and it comes highly recommended! ♥️♥️♥️

[Valknut3301]

Brain Droppings - George Carlin

[Bill Ryan]

The Holographic Universe, by Michael Talbot.

(PDF here (http://projectavalon.net/The_Holographic_Universe_Michael_Talbot_PDF.pdf) :thumbsup:)

[Docim369]

I am suprised no one has put forth Tao Te Ching allegedly written by Lao Tzu.
This book is pure gold. And a cultural shock for the modern man. Amazing stability and flow this book has. Not to mention timeless wisdom! It's is said to be the second most read book after the Bible.

[Johnnycomelately]

I am suprised no one has put forth Tao Te Ching allegedly written by Lao Tzu.
This book is pure gold. And a cultural shock for the modern man. Amazing stability and flow this book has. Not to mention timeless wisdom! It's is said to be the second most read book after the Bible.

:bump: Was quite familiar with that book, found a copy at iirc a yard sale, read it usually nightly, daily chapters going to bed part of one year. Beautiful graphics in that.

I was bummed when I learned how he ended up, he apparently banished himself out to the wilds, because he lost faith in the morality of that civilization.

[DustOff72]

I like all of Alan Watts' books, but The Book on The Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are is my favorite.

[truthseek]

Paramahansa Yogananda's Autobiography of a Yogi is one of my favourites. It contains a lot of in-between-the-lines wisdom which is especially useful today.

Happy Holidays !

[RunningDeer]

Siddhartha
by Hermann Hesse, 1982

https://i.imgur.com/SWKIotl.png





Though set in a place and time far removed from the Germany of 1922, the year of the book’s debut, the novel is infused with the sensibilities of Hermann Hesse’s time, synthesizing disparate philosophies–Eastern religions, Jungian archetypes, Western individualism–into a unique vision of life as expressed through one man’s search for meaning.

It is the story of the quest of Siddhartha, a wealthy Indian Brahmin who casts off a life of privilege and comfort to seek spiritual fulfillment and wisdom. On his journey, Siddhartha encounters wandering ascetics, Buddhist monks, and successful merchants, as well as a courtesan named Kamala and a simple ferryman who has attained enlightenment. Traveling among these people and experiencing life’s vital passages–love, work, friendship, and fatherhood–Siddhartha discovers that true knowledge is guided from within.

[RunningDeer]

The Kin of Ata Are Waiting for You
by Dorothy Bryant, 1997

https://i.imgur.com/I90gsdr.png




The Kin of Ata Are Waiting for You is part love story, part science fiction, at once Jungian myth and utopian allegory.

“Truly unforgettable!”—San Francisco Chronicle

The kin of Ata live only for the dream. Their work, their art, their love are designed in and by their dreams, and their only aim is to dream higher dreams. Into the world of Ata comes a desperate man, who is first subdued and then led on the spiritual journey that, sooner or later, all of us must make.

“A masterful novel . . . a beautiful, symbolic journey of the soul, the journey of a serious dreamer.”—Berkely Monthly

[Ashiris]

Read this and you will never be the same again! Unlike anything else I have ever read, the Oversoul 7 trilogy stands alone, and in my top 5 books of all time. Cosmic truths presented in fictional format, but NOT cheesy or contrived like most 'New Age fiction.' You know what I mean - those books that have a story just to provide an excuse for New Age preaching. blech. It's great when it works, but it rarely works. Well this time it works! Jane Roberts pulls it off, and pulls it off quite well! Read Oversoul and your dreams will come alive. You will look at every sunflake with new appreciation. Your sense of time and space will be forever altered. You will grasp at last the paradox of nonlinear time (ie, 'time travel'). You will meet unforgettable characters and remember them fondly many years later (the hallmark of a great book). And, you'll have fun reading it.

[ExomatrixTV]

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/818tt8K6mUL._SY522_.jpg (https://rumble.com/search/all?q=William%20Bramley)

"Gods Of Eden (PDF: here (https://avalonlibrary.net/ebooks/William%20Bramley%20-%20The%20Gods%20of%20Eden.pdf))", William Bramley (https://rumble.com/search/all?q=William%20Bramley) ... but only if you are a "beginner/novus reader" .... I can sum up dozens more profound ones ... but this one is a good one to start a journey of multiple Project Avalon topics ... if I can recall correctly it will discuss at least 10 different (controversial) topics that are also separate "stand alone" P.A. Forum Threads (https://projectavalon.net/forum4/forum.php).


If you are young of age and have no real idea "where to begin" to dig much deeper or not ... this book can help you to see what topic(s) resonates with you the most! ... When done, let us know if it helped/inspired you, that would be nice!



Please be aware, all is for consideration purpose only ... heaving a healthy skeptical (https://www.ufoskeptic.org/truzzi/) but open mind is certainly needed.

cheers,
John 🦜🦋🌳

[Bill Ryan]

I like all of Alan Watts' books, but The Book on The Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are is my favorite.A piece of personal trivia. :) This was the very first 'spiritual' book I ever read, in my late teens, and it had a huge impact on my worldview at the time.

:stars::stars::stars::stars::stars:

[RunningDeer]

I like all of Alan Watts' books, but The Book on The Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are is my favorite.A piece of personal trivia. :) This was the very first 'spiritual' book I ever read, in my late teens, and it had a huge impact on my worldview at the time.

:stars::stars::stars::stars::stars:


PDF (https://www.pdfdrive.com/the-book-on-the-taboo-against-knowing-who-you-are-e156796774.html) - The Book: On the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are
by Alan Watts

https://i.imgur.com/ZuDoeAf.png




A revelatory primer on what it means to be human and a mind-opening manual of initiation into the central mystery of existence, by “perhaps the foremost interpreter of Eastern disciplines for the contemporary West" (Los Angeles Times).

At the root of human conflict is our fundamental misunderstanding of who we are. The illusion that we are isolated beings, unconnected to the rest of the universe, has led us to view the “outside” world with hostility, and has fueled our misuse of technology and our violent and hostile subjugation of the natural world. To help us understand that the self is in fact the root and ground of the universe, Alan Watts provides us with a much-needed answer to the problem of personal identity, distilling and adapting the Hindu philosophy of Vedanta.


:heart: :happy dog:

[DNA]

The Holographic Universe, by Michael Talbot.

(PDF here (http://projectavalon.net/The_Holographic_Universe_Michael_Talbot_PDF.pdf) :thumbsup:)

When I was a young man of 23 I walked into this furniture store looking for a futon.
This really friendly young man helped me and when I went to pay I had found that I had the exact dollar amount right down to the penny in my pocket and not a penny more or less.
I felt like this was a omen.
I felt the weight of celestial social workers manipulating events giving extra tangibility and weight to this environmental synchronicity.
As such I stayed in the store and talked and no one came into the store for nearly an hour.
It was really a profound conversation, we had each written down two books for the other that we considered must reads.
It was January of 96'.
He had recommended Michael Tolbots The Halographic Universe and William Coopers Behold a Pale Horse. Both excellent reads that changed my view of the world at that time.

[ExomatrixTV]

Journey of Souls - Dr Michael Newton. An exploration of reality.

:stars:Wow! What a synchronicity!:stars:

"Journey of Souls (Case Studies of Life Between Lives)" by Michael Newton PhD


Heartily approved. See thread here:
Michael Newton - Past Life Therapy - Journey Between Lives (https://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?3644-Michael-Newton-Past-Life-Therapy-Journey-Between-Lives)

Here's an old interview with Michael Newton.
Vk5bSG78pbQ

On the subject of life after death/lives between lives, I recommend the following books:

Life After Life (https://www.amazon.com/Life-After-Bestselling-Investigation-Experiences/dp/006242890X/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=raymond+moody&qid=1594924639&s=books&sr=1-1) - Dr Raymond Moody

Life Between Life (https://www.amazon.com/Life-Between-Joel-Whitten/dp/0446347620/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=Life+Between+Life&qid=1594925004&s=books&sr=1-2) - Joel L. Whitton (M.d, Ph.D) Joe Fisher

Origin of the Soul (https://www.amazon.com/Origin-Soul-Purpose-Reincarnation-Lives-ebook/dp/B07J5QYFRZ/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=origin+of+the+soul&qid=1594924884&s=books&sr=1-1) - Dr Walter Semkiw

Many Lives, Many Masters (https://www.amazon.com/Many-Lives-Masters-Prominent-Psychiatrist/dp/0671657860/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=Many+Lives%2C+Many+Masters&qid=1594925093&s=books&sr=1-1) - Dr Brian Weiss

Between Death and Life (https://www.amazon.com/Between-Death-Life-Conversations-Spirit/dp/1940265002/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=between+death+and+life&qid=1594924561&s=books&sr=1-1) - Dolores Cannon

Life After Death (https://www.amazon.com/Life-After-Death-Renowned-Psychic/dp/0804113866/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=mary+t+browne&qid=1594924939&s=books&sr=1-2) - Mary T. Browne

The Afterlife is Real (https://www.amazon.com/Afterlife-Real-Theresa-Cheung/dp/1471112365/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=The+Afterlife+is+Real&qid=1594925154&s=books&sr=1-1) - Theresa Cheung

-----
Concerning a personal recommendation re the broadly applicable declaration in the OP:



Journey of Souls - Case Studies of Life Between Lives by Michael Newton (Part 1 of 2):

https://1a-1791.com/video/s8/2/D/T/k/c/DTkct.caa.mp4?u=3&b=0

This remarkable book uncovers for the first time the mystery of life in the spirit world after death on earth. Dr. Michael Newton, a hypnotherapist in private practice, has developed his own hypnosis technique to reach his subjects' hidden memories of the hereafter. The resulting narrative acts as a progressive "travel log" of the accounts of twenty-nine people who were placed in a state of superconsciousness. While in deep hypnosis, these subjects movingly describe what has happened to them between their former reincarnations on earth. They reveal graphic details about how it feels to die, who meets us right after death, what the spirit world is really like, where we go and what we do as souls, and why we choose to come back in certain bodies.

Destiny of Souls is a book by Michael Newton (9 December 1931 – 22 September 2016), published in 2000. Newton was a hypnotherapist who claimed to have developed his own age regression technique.

Learn the latest details and most recent groundbreaking discoveries that reveal, for the first time, the mystery of life in the spirit world after death on Earth―proof that our consciousness survives―in Journey of Souls by Michael Newton, Ph.D.

Using a special hypnosis technique to reach the hidden memories of subjects, Dr. Newton discovered some amazing insights into what happens to us between lives. Journey of Soulsis the record of 29 people who recalled their experiences between physical deaths. Through their extraordinary stories, you will learn specifics about:


How it feels to die
What you see and feel right after death
The truth about "spiritual guides"
What happens to "disturbed" souls
Why you are assigned to certain soul groups in the spirit world and what you do there
How you choose another body to return to Earth
The different levels of souls: beginning, intermediate, and advanced
When and where you first learn to recognize soulmates on Earth
The purpose of life

Journey of Souls is a graphic record or "travel log" by these people of what happens between lives on Earth. They give specific details as they movingly describe their astounding experiences.

After reading Journey of Souls, you will gain a better understanding of the immortality of the human soul. You will meet day-to-day challenges with a greater sense of purpose. You will begin to understand the reasons behind events in your own life.

Journey of Souls is a life-changing book. Already, over 165,000 people have taken Journey of Souls to heart, giving them hope in trying times.

In his second book, and through what he calls research into the afterlife, Michael Newton claims to have documented the results of his clinical work in spiritual hypnotherapy. These are presented in a form of case studies and Newton asserts that they uncover the hidden aspects of the spirit world.

Michael Newton, Ph.D., born in 1951, holds a doctorate in Counseling Psychology, is a certified Master Hypnotherapist, and is a member of the American Counseling Association. He has also been on the faculty of higher educational institutions as a teacher while active in private practice in Los Angeles. Over many years, Dr. Newton developed his own intensive age regression techniques in order to effectively take hypnosis subjects beyond their past life memories to a more meaningful soul experience between lives. He is considered to be a pioneer in uncovering the mysteries about life after death through the use of spiritual hypnotic regression. He now trains other advanced hypnotherapists in his techniques.

Dr. Newton is the author of three best-selling books, Journey of Souls: Case Studies of Life Between Lives (Llewellyn, 1994) , Destiny of Souls: New Case Studies of Life Between Lives (Llewellyn, May 2000), and Life Between Lives: Hypnotherapy for Spiritual Regression (Llewellyn, 2004). Dr. Newton has an international reputation as a spiritual regressionist who has mapped out much of our life between lives experience. He has appeared on numerous national radio and TV talk shows to explain our immortal life in the spirit world.Journey of Souls


source (https://rumble.com/v5a4gnx-journey-of-souls-case-studies-of-life-between-lives-by-michael-newton-part-.html)



Journey of Souls - Case Studies of Life Between Lives by Michael Newton (Part 2 of 2):

https://1a-1791.com/video/s8/2/I/2/k/c/I2kct.caa.mp4?u=3&b=0


source (https://rumble.com/v5a4h42-journey-of-souls-case-studies-of-life-between-lives-by-michael-newton-audio.html)

[madrotter]

The time I was reading, let's call 'em spiritual books, was in my teens, the very early 80's, Castaneda, Paul Brunton made a big impression, and some others, but what really shaped my thinking and convictions were all the science fiction books I was reading, loads and loads of them, as Kurt Vonnegut wrote in his God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater:

“I love you sons of bitches. You’re all I read any more. You're the only ones who’ll talk all about the really terrific changes going on, the only ones crazy enough to know that life is a space voyage, and not a short one, either, but one that’ll last for billions of years. You’re the only ones with guts enough to really care about the future, who really notice what machines do to us, what wars do to us, what cities do to us, what big, simple ideas do to us, what tremendous misunderstanding, mistakes, accidents, catastrophes do to us. You're the only ones zany enough to agonize over time and distance without limit, over mysteries that will never die, over the fact that we are right now determining whether the space voyage for the next billion years or so is going to be Heaven or Hell.”

These days, and for quite a lot of years I'll read anything, right now I'm almost done with E. du Perron's excellent Country of Origin... One book that really made a huge, huge impact and that I think everybody should read is Robert Fisk's The Great War for Civilisation: The Conquest of the Middle East. It's one of the very, very few books that made me weep, literally weep. I'll let goodreads and especially the comments there speak for it:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/52142.The_Great_War_for_Civilisation

And speaking of the Middle East, I can really recommend No God But God by Reza Aslan, about the history of Islam, it'll surprise many of you.... When I first came to Indonesia, 28 years ago, as a backpacker (and before 9/11) I always thought that Indonesia was mainly Hindu, well, as most of you know now I quickly found out that it's actually 90% Muslim. I met a woman and she's been my wife (and still is) for all the years that I've been living here. She is a Muslim and so, to try and understand I've read quite a few books on the subject and this book, by Reza Aslan really is the best book about the subject that I've come across. To put it mildly, the Islam practiced nowadays by most is not what the Prophet Muhammad envisioned... Then of course, Indonesia's version of Islam is very, very different anyway, as mixed up it is with Buddhism, Hinduism and specially the old more animist belief systems from before Islam arrived here like Kejawen and Wiwitan....

To Your Scattered Bodies Go, from Philip Jose Farmer is another book that I thought was fantastic. From goodreads:

To Your Scattered Bodies Go is the Hugo Award-winning beginning to the story of Riverworld, Philip José Farmer's unequaled tale about life after death. When famous adventurer Sir Richard Francis Burton dies, the last thing he expects to do is awaken naked on a foreign planet along the shores of a seemingly endless river. But that's where Burton and billions of other humans (plus a few nonhumans) find themselves as the epic Riverworld saga begins. It seems that all of Earthly humanity has been resurrected on the planet, each with an indestructible container that provides three meals a day, cigarettes, alcoholic beverages, a lighter, and the odd tube of lipstick. But why? And by whom?

Really, some amazing ideas, some amazing characters like Hermann Goring, who keeps committing suicide and keeps coming back, every time more deformed, more psychotic, Sam the cigar chomping Neanderthal and others.....

Then there is A Canticle For Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller Jr., one of THE best post-apocalyptic science fiction books that I've read. It follows a Catholic monastery that tries to keep science and knowledge in a world where just knowing how to read and write is an automatic death sentence and it spans hundreds of years......

One last writer I can really recommend, and I apologize if this post is getting too long so I'll keep it to this, is Dan Simmons. Just incredible writing. In fact, when he was taking a course in creative writing by none other than the great Harlan Ellison, Harlan, after reading a short story by Dan, in class, walked out. Dan found him outside, weeping, and Harlan, the indestructible, always rude, always fighting Harlan, told him, in tears, basically, " you will have a tortured life because you, sir, are a WRITER!!". Dan Simmons Hyperion series (based on The Canterbury Tales by Chaucer) his The Terror and his Gothic horror book Drood are simply amazing.....

So much more to recommend but for now..... enough me thinks :)

[gord]

I don't think I could come up with a book I would recommend to everyone, so after thinking about it for a week, I'll just go with the one that popped into my head first: There Is a River: The Story of Edgar Cayce by Thomas Sugrue. It was part of my mother's collection of books, and I first read it when I was thirteen, about a week after my first OOBE (Oct 1975, in Acton, Massachusetts), which happened while I was playing a musical instrument, and I suddenly realized I was watching myself and listening to myself play from about thirty feet above my head. After about one minute of that, it was so weird, I stopped playing, and couldn't focus on playing for the rest of the night.

Anyway, here's a pdf copy on archive.org, which I won't embed because it's too big:
https://dn790006.ca.archive.org/0/items/in.ernet.dli.2015.60076/2015.60076.There-Is-A-River.pdf

and here's a description found elsewhere:


Edgar Cayce came to be known as the "father of holistic medicine" and the founding voice of alternative spirituality.

The Sunday Times of October 9, 1910, profiled the Christian mystic and medical clairvoyant in an extensive article and photo spread headlined "Illiterate Man Becomes a Doctor When Hypnotized". At the time, he delivered daily trance-based medical readings in which he would diagnose and prescribe natural cures for the illnesses of people he had never met. By the time of his death in January 1945, Cayce had amassed a record of more than 14,300 clairvoyant readings for people across the nation, with many of the sessions captured by stenographer Gladys Davis.

In the 1920s, Cayce’s trance readings expanded beyond medicine (which nonetheless remained at the core of his work) to include “life readings,” in which he explored a person’s inner conflicts and needs. In these sessions, Cayce employed references to astrology, karma, reincarnation, and number symbolism. Other times, he expounded on global prophecies, climate or geological changes, and the lost history of mythical cultures, such as Atlantis and Lemuria. Cayce had no recollection of any of this when he awoke, though as a devout Christian the esotericism of such material made him wince when he read the transcripts.

Contrary to news coverage, Cayce was not illiterate, but neither was he well educated. While his knowledge of Scripture was encyclopedic, Cayce’s reading tastes were somewhat limited, but he did spend several early years as a clerk in bookstores, but never did write any of the books that bear his name, he had a son named Edgar and many others that assembled his readings into popular form along with a bevy of independent authors.

Thomas Sugrue (1907–1953) was a widely respected and world-travelled print journalist who wrote for many of the nation’s leading newspapers and magazines, including the New York Herald Tribune and The American Magazine. Born in Connecticut on May 7, 1907, Sugrue discovered the work of psychic Edgar Cayce (1877–1945) when he roomed with Cayce’s son, Hugh Lynn Cayce, at William and Lee College in Virginia. Sugrue later sought medical help through Cayce’s channeled readings, and went on to become both Cayce’s biographer and a lifelong supporter. Sugrue’s There Is a River appeared in 1942 (he revised it in 1945) and was the sole biography written of Cayce during his lifetime. The book popularized Cayce’s work in alternative healing and channeling, and became a founding document of New Age spirituality. Sugrue died in New York City on January 6, 1953.

[DustOff72]

Yes, Hesse was very formative in my youth.

[happyuk]

The book Autobiography of a Yogi, which I first read in 1992, profoundly changed my life. It lifted a huge weight off my shoulders regarding the mystery of what happens after death, revealing the timeless truth that we are souls encased in human bodies, temporarily experiencing this physical existence. Ditto the matter-of-fact accounts of spiritual masters like Sri Yukteswar performing feats of clairvoyance, bilocation, and other extraordinary acts inspired a deep belief in the boundless potential of spiritual realization.

I came to understand the profound science of Kriya Yoga, but what particularly struck me was Sri Yukteswar’s explanation of humanity’s cycles of spiritual evolution through the yugas, or ages. Unlike conventional understandings of progress, he revealed a vast cosmic cycle of ascending and descending ages that influence the collective consciousness of humanity. According to Sri Yukteswar, the dark and materialistic Kali Yuga, which reached its lowest point around AD 500, concluded in AD 1700, ushering in the current Dwapara Yuga. The Yuga we're in, Dwapara, while a period of expanding awareness, itself carries inherent challenges and dangers: overemphasis on technological advancement without sufficiently high spiritual principles, for example, is what leads to mass environmental destruction, insane cut-throat competition and wars over resources.

If you only read but one chapter, please do check out The Tiger Swami (https://anandaindia.org/paramhansa-yogananda/autobiography-of-a-yogi/the-tiger-swami/), an absolute delight.

[Bright Skies]

Journey of Souls - Dr Michael Newton. An exploration of reality.

:stars:Wow! What a synchronicity!:stars:

"Journey of Souls (Case Studies of Life Between Lives)" by Michael Newton PhD


Heartily approved. See thread here:
Michael Newton - Past Life Therapy - Journey Between Lives (https://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?3644-Michael-Newton-Past-Life-Therapy-Journey-Between-Lives)

Here's an old interview with Michael Newton.
Vk5bSG78pbQ

On the subject of life after death/lives between lives, I recommend the following books:

Life After Life (https://www.amazon.com/Life-After-Bestselling-Investigation-Experiences/dp/006242890X/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=raymond+moody&qid=1594924639&s=books&sr=1-1) - Dr Raymond Moody

Life Between Life (https://www.amazon.com/Life-Between-Joel-Whitten/dp/0446347620/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=Life+Between+Life&qid=1594925004&s=books&sr=1-2) - Joel L. Whitton (M.d, Ph.D) Joe Fisher

Origin of the Soul (https://www.amazon.com/Origin-Soul-Purpose-Reincarnation-Lives-ebook/dp/B07J5QYFRZ/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=origin+of+the+soul&qid=1594924884&s=books&sr=1-1) - Dr Walter Semkiw

Many Lives, Many Masters (https://www.amazon.com/Many-Lives-Masters-Prominent-Psychiatrist/dp/0671657860/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=Many+Lives%2C+Many+Masters&qid=1594925093&s=books&sr=1-1) - Dr Brian Weiss

Between Death and Life (https://www.amazon.com/Between-Death-Life-Conversations-Spirit/dp/1940265002/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=between+death+and+life&qid=1594924561&s=books&sr=1-1) - Dolores Cannon

Life After Death (https://www.amazon.com/Life-After-Death-Renowned-Psychic/dp/0804113866/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=mary+t+browne&qid=1594924939&s=books&sr=1-2) - Mary T. Browne

The Afterlife is Real (https://www.amazon.com/Afterlife-Real-Theresa-Cheung/dp/1471112365/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=The+Afterlife+is+Real&qid=1594925154&s=books&sr=1-1) - Theresa Cheung

-----
Concerning a personal recommendation re the broadly applicable declaration in the OP:



Journey of Souls - Case Studies of Life Between Lives by Michael Newton (Part 1 of 2):

https://1a-1791.com/video/s8/2/D/T/k/c/DTkct.caa.mp4?u=3&b=0

This remarkable book uncovers for the first time the mystery of life in the spirit world after death on earth. Dr. Michael Newton, a hypnotherapist in private practice, has developed his own hypnosis technique to reach his subjects' hidden memories of the hereafter. The resulting narrative acts as a progressive "travel log" of the accounts of twenty-nine people who were placed in a state of superconsciousness. While in deep hypnosis, these subjects movingly describe what has happened to them between their former reincarnations on earth. They reveal graphic details about how it feels to die, who meets us right after death, what the spirit world is really like, where we go and what we do as souls, and why we choose to come back in certain bodies.

Destiny of Souls is a book by Michael Newton (9 December 1931 – 22 September 2016), published in 2000. Newton was a hypnotherapist who claimed to have developed his own age regression technique.

Learn the latest details and most recent groundbreaking discoveries that reveal, for the first time, the mystery of life in the spirit world after death on Earth―proof that our consciousness survives―in Journey of Souls by Michael Newton, Ph.D.

Using a special hypnosis technique to reach the hidden memories of subjects, Dr. Newton discovered some amazing insights into what happens to us between lives. Journey of Soulsis the record of 29 people who recalled their experiences between physical deaths. Through their extraordinary stories, you will learn specifics about:


How it feels to die
What you see and feel right after death
The truth about "spiritual guides"
What happens to "disturbed" souls
Why you are assigned to certain soul groups in the spirit world and what you do there
How you choose another body to return to Earth
The different levels of souls: beginning, intermediate, and advanced
When and where you first learn to recognize soulmates on Earth
The purpose of life

Journey of Souls is a graphic record or "travel log" by these people of what happens between lives on Earth. They give specific details as they movingly describe their astounding experiences.

After reading Journey of Souls, you will gain a better understanding of the immortality of the human soul. You will meet day-to-day challenges with a greater sense of purpose. You will begin to understand the reasons behind events in your own life.

Journey of Souls is a life-changing book. Already, over 165,000 people have taken Journey of Souls to heart, giving them hope in trying times.

In his second book, and through what he calls research into the afterlife, Michael Newton claims to have documented the results of his clinical work in spiritual hypnotherapy. These are presented in a form of case studies and Newton asserts that they uncover the hidden aspects of the spirit world.

Michael Newton, Ph.D., born in 1951, holds a doctorate in Counseling Psychology, is a certified Master Hypnotherapist, and is a member of the American Counseling Association. He has also been on the faculty of higher educational institutions as a teacher while active in private practice in Los Angeles. Over many years, Dr. Newton developed his own intensive age regression techniques in order to effectively take hypnosis subjects beyond their past life memories to a more meaningful soul experience between lives. He is considered to be a pioneer in uncovering the mysteries about life after death through the use of spiritual hypnotic regression. He now trains other advanced hypnotherapists in his techniques.

Dr. Newton is the author of three best-selling books, Journey of Souls: Case Studies of Life Between Lives (Llewellyn, 1994) , Destiny of Souls: New Case Studies of Life Between Lives (Llewellyn, May 2000), and Life Between Lives: Hypnotherapy for Spiritual Regression (Llewellyn, 2004). Dr. Newton has an international reputation as a spiritual regressionist who has mapped out much of our life between lives experience. He has appeared on numerous national radio and TV talk shows to explain our immortal life in the spirit world.Journey of Souls


source (https://rumble.com/v5a4gnx-journey-of-souls-case-studies-of-life-between-lives-by-michael-newton-part-.html)



Journey of Souls - Case Studies of Life Between Lives by Michael Newton (Part 2 of 2):

https://1a-1791.com/video/s8/2/I/2/k/c/I2kct.caa.mp4?u=3&b=0


source (https://rumble.com/v5a4h42-journey-of-souls-case-studies-of-life-between-lives-by-michael-newton-audio.html)


The last time I logged in to Project Avalon I failed to check back on this important thread and therefore I have only just seen the excellent follow up posts about the Journey of Souls book now by Mark (Star Mariner) and ExomatrixTV.

Thank you very much both of you. :handshake: I will work my way through the old thread, watch the Michael Newton interview and save the links to the audiobook videos. I will also inform my old colleague who initially recommended the book to me about the developments in this growing thread.

I was going to write it seems someone or something is gently tapping me on the shoulder and whispering into my ear "read this book". But at this stage it's more akin to someone holding a megaphone in front of me and yelling "READ THIS BOOK!"

And I really need to go through this thread from the very beginning. All posts here definitely deserve to be 'thanked'. :thumbsup:


--------------------------------------------------


The following is not my own list of books (I have been thinking but selecting only one will be very difficult!) but a list of books that has been compiled by the person who runs the excellent Clif High Videos website, a website that lists and summarises all of Clif High's appearances: https://clifhighvideos.com/

On the website there is a page titled Clif High Library:

https://clifhighvideos.com/wp-content/uploads/ClifHigh-library-horiz.jpg

https://clifhighvideos.com/library/

This is a collection of books that Clif High deems as important to humanity—or at least influential—based on the number of times he mentions them.

Have a look! I have heard of some of the books listed but certainly not all of them. Some of the books listed have already been mentioned by members in this very thread.

[Ratszinger]

The Gods Of Eden by William Bramley. Should be a must read on every book shelf.
Also, The Gift Of Fear by Gavin de Becker.
Fingerprints of the Gods by Graham Hancock
The View Over Atlantis by John Michell