What book changed your life?

[pumashared]

reading is my favorite thing to do. im wondering what book you guys read that changed your life for the better.

[ghostrider]

The Day After Roswell by Col Phillip Corso ... it made the technology jump make sense , and GE's rise to power ... computer circuts , fiber optic cable , nightvision, and lasers , all from the Roswell crash ... ET technology put us on fast track to the digital age ...

[Abhaya]

The Bhagavad Gita it's feeling and philosophy

http://www.amazon.com/The-Bhagavad-Gita-Feeling-Philosophy/dp/1886069530

This one changed everything for me :)

[GNC Harteveld]

Chariot Of The Gods and The Bermuda Triangle when i was about 14 years old.

[Dennis Leahy]

(in order encountered and read)

Lord of the Rings (trilogy) - Tolkien

Tao te Ching - Tzu

Stranger in a Strange Land - Heinlein

Original Teachings of Ch'an Buddhism - Yuan

Autobiography of a Yogi - Yogananda

Diet for a New America - Robbins

Journey of Souls - Newton

Dennis

p.s. If I had to say just ONE book, it was Original Teachings of Ch'an Buddhism

[Aryslan]

Illusions by Richard Bach.

[delfine]

"The biggest secret" by David Icke.

[Blacklight43]

"Johnathan Livingston Seagull" Richard Bach;)
"Out on a Limb" Shirley McClain
"Conversations with God" Neale Donald Walsch
"One" Richard Bach
etc...

[Mike Gorman]

I can say a few books I read as a young lad really changed my whole outlook, and affirmed for me that I was not alone in the world
and my thinking was not aberrant or 'weird'
1.1984-George Orwell
2.Lord Of The Rings Trilogy-J.R.R Tolkein
3.Eyeless In Gaza-Aldous Huxley
4.Thus Spake Zarathustra-Friedrich Nietzsche

[grapevine]

The Nature of Personal Reality (a Seth book) by Jane Roberts and
The Holographic Universe by Michael Talbot
and loads more since then . . .

[Ellisa]

I love reading and picking one book is difficult. Many of the books I love harmonise with my own view-point so I cannot say they changed things for me, they just affirmed opinions I already have, or had.

However a long time ago 'The Silent Spring', and later 'The Coming Global Superstorm', along with Tim Slattery's books really changed my view of the world, its resources and the way we seem to not understand that such resources are finite. From not giving such things much thought these books , and also some others, have changed my thinking on such things for the better. Books can do that!

P.S. 'Eyeless in Gaza'--- now that's a book!

[Mike]

"Journey To The End Of The Night" by Louis-Ferdinand Celine

And "The Mothman Prophecies" by John Keel

[Crystine]

The Christ Commission, by Og Mandino

OBE, remote viewing, time travel, Bi-location. Everything in one small package.

Changed? A different choice.

ONE: Richard Bach
I quote:

“Have you ever felt so at one with the world, with the universe, with everything that is, that you were overcome with love? That is reality. That is the truth. What we make of it is up to us, as the painting of the sunrise is up to the artist. In our world humanity has strayed from that love. It lives hatred and power struggles and manipulations of the earth itself for its own narrow reasons. Continue and no one will see the sunrise. The sunrise will always exist, of course, but people on earth will know nothing of it and finally even stories of its beauty will fade from our knowing.”
― Richard Bach, One

[Jake]

Illusions by Richard Bach.

Bravo!! Yes, Excellent choice. When I read it, I was in a strange daze. I thought that I had somehow wrote it,, my mind was racing with all of the same nuances... I was 9 or 10....

The one book that changed everything for me was Jonathan Livingston Seagull.... (Same Author) John Gull became part of my soul... Then I 'read' Illusions.... I couldn't stop laughing, with a great, joyfull tickle!!! :) :)

Jonathon Livingston Seagull was required reading in mee home. I, still,, cannot listen to the Soundtrack without crying my eyes out.... !!! :)

I have lots of favorite books, but Jonathon Livingston Seagull changed everything for me!!!

Excellent topic.
Jake.

[Axman]

The Law of One book series.

The Axman

[Wind]

The Journey of Souls by Michael Newton. I was in the process of awakening when I first read it four years ago and after it things started to make sense and my eyes were open. Then a year or two after it I read Eckhart Tolle's The Power of Now. After that book I just felt that something happened with my awareness and many fears and delusions dissolved.

[gripreaper]

"Anna, Grandmother of Jesus" by Claire Heartsong... because I was there.

[Camilo]

The third eye by Lobsang Rampa (& all of his books)
The Holographic Universe by Michael Talbot
The Celestine Prophecy by James Redfield
Communion by Whitley Strieber

All these books helped my awakening, stretched my consciousness, and changed my perspective about who am I, what's reality in this and other dimensions and planes of existence, and my relationship to God.

[pumashared]

could i ask everyone who posts from now on to state how and why these books changed their life. i think that will not only help us understand what the book is about it but how also you were changed personally by it
thanks

[Lefty Dave]

Chariots of the Gods, Von Danniken ...just as I returned from three years in the Army, 1971...my future wife gave it to me...and she's put up with my madness ever since...LOL

[Crystine]

could i ask everyone who posts from now on to state how and why these books changed their life. i think that will not only help us understand what the book is about it but how also you were changed personally by it
thanks

I have noticed something. I have read about 90 % or so of the books other members responding to this thread have read. Is anyone else seeing this also.
Gads, Tesla, after that list, I have to change the percentage to 80% Lol I read a lot.

[T Smith]

Let's see, my eclectic list, in no particular order, would be:

Seth Speaks, by Jane Roberts
The Conscious Universe, by Menas Kafatos and Robert Nadeau
Bridging Science and Spirit: Common Elements in David Bohm's Physics, the Perennial Philosophy and Seth, by Norman Friedman
Chaos: Making a New Science, by James Gleick
The Creature from Jekyll Island, by G. Edward Griffin
Tragedy & Hope, by Carroll Quigley
The Master Key System, by Charles F. Haanel
UFOs and the National Security State, by Richard Dolan
Nothing in this Book is True but it is Exactly How Things Are, by Bob Frissell
Breakfast of Champions, by Kurt Vonnegut
Your Health and Sanity in the Age of Treason, by Dr. Swineburne Clymer
Democracy in America, by Alexis de Tocqueville
Siddhartha, by Hermann Hesse
Gödel, Escher, Bach: an Eternal Golden Braid, by Douglas Hofstadter
The Report From Iron Mountain, author unknown

[Tesla_WTC_Solution]

Shadow Divers (nonfiction book) -- I read it in jail. Without this book I would never have been as interested in what happened to the Titanic and other vessels over the years. The book is about a group of friends who met through diving as a hobby and a business. They were treasure hunters and wreck-crashers. In the book Shadow Divers, half a dozen lives are lost in pursuit of a mysterious U-Boat found very close to New Jersey. The wreckage is dangerous, near-inaccessible, and pushes the divers to the limit. Finally, one of them manages to bring to the surface a metal plate that proves beyond the shadow of a doubt that the vessel these men discovered was a Nazi U-Boat on a secret mission to destroy a ship near enough NYC to cause panic in America during WWII, right as Hitler was losing the war. The captain of this U-boat was supposed to go through Gibraltar toward Libya, but instead he went to NJ. Scientists theorize that his U-Boat sank to the bottom of the ocean with its 60+ crewmembers as a result of a "circle-run", which is when a defective torpedo transits in a complete circle after launch and strikes its originating vessel without successfully meeting an enemy target.

Long story short, this tale made me read a bit more about naval warfare in general, maritime disasters during peace and war, and intentional false flags throughout history.
For many reasons, the Titanic story does not make sense as told. There is undoubtedly much more to this story than we know.

_________________________________________

DUNE series by Frank Herbert (fiction)

I read these after I had my baby boy. It was a hard time in my life. I had been temporarily separated from my family and was living with my grandparents for a month. My uncle bought me the first DUNE book, and I was shocked to find that the main character's name was the same as my son's. This happened the same day I was reading a Swamp Thing comic book that had an autistic boy named Paul in it. As I was away from my dear son and there was nothing I could do about it at the time, it was both tormenting and comforting to be reminded of him and the possibility of his hidden powers. Some ESP definitely runs in both sides of the family, and I think Paul got a bigger dose than his parents did. he is a special boy, just like the characters who share his name.

p.s. Frank Herbert wrote a fairly decent series, I'd say. It kind of fell apart with the whole Honored Matres thing. lol
I would rather have had more of his scientific knowledge than his theories about sex...

_____________________________________________________

Bible -- read it cover to cover (while in the clink)

You'll have to read it to understand why it's life-changing...

__________________________________________________

Les Miserables
The Swiss Family Robinson
The Odyssey
IT

^very long books that I read in childhood; you have to read the UNABRIDGED versions to "get it"...

______________________________________________________

Sandman comic series
Lucifer comic series
Preacher comic series

^these have a lot of tough criticisms of past and modern society and religion. Very worth it.

________________________________________________________

TIME QUARTET by Madeleine L'Engle
Lord of the Rings trilogy by JRRT
Silmarillion by JRRT

these three are very good if you are a history buff,
or believe in magic.

____________________________________________________

early childhood: ABCs of the Human Body by Reader's Digest (was crucial to my interest in science later)
Dr. Seuss: got me interested in language. it's a very good tool for teaching certain types of kids to read.

______________________________________________

Anne Rice is interesting enough, but not what I'd consider "great" literature lol
I blame the vampire movement of today on her personally.
Ayn Rand is definitely "great" but not always as fun?
Also another type of vampire (rofl) an energy vamp

_______________________________________________

I know I am forgetting probably hundreds of people.

There was a short story in high school that I found interesting: "That Old Demon", about an old Chinese woman who broke a (yellow river?) dam next to her village in order to drown Japanese invaders -- can't find it anywhere online. :( must have been a translation specially done for schools.

_____________________________________________


kids' magazines/other magazines that changed my life:
Ranger Rick -- helped me love nature more than farm kids get to see.
Popular Science -- too much like consumer report, but got me interested in NASA
Scientific American -- was a lifesaver in a boring home when i was a teen

_____________________________________________

War of the Worlds and all the spinoffs were super creepy to read as a kid.
So was Brave New World and the like.


illustrators who influenced me:

MC Escher
Leonardo
Michelangelo

they were very structure-oriented and i appreciated that.

__________________________

probably leaving out so many good ones.

[161803398]

"The Bible Story" when I was 4 that the Jehovah's witnesses brought to the door...I got so excited when I saw the pictures my dad had to buy it even though he never liked them. I spent hours and hours and hours with that book. The picture I remember most was Adam standing in the garden with all the animals. I thought that is how things are supposed to be...and what that picture told me is that we are here to take care of them and of nature. I grew up with that belief.

We Have Always lived in the Castle which I read as a child...about a little girl who is accused of poisoning her family. It made me realize that people sometimes don't use their thinking processes very well.

Kon Tiki, The Chrysalids and Animal Farm in Grade 8....our teachers gave us those books to read but never talked about them in class. Strange...the most useful books were never discussed. I just accepted that the ideas in Kon Tiki were true so I never had an issue with those concepts. I continue to believe that ancient people travelled all over the world. The Chrysalids was something like We have always lived in the Castle in terms of the strange thinking processes of humans. The things that are important to most people seem to be fairly stupid. Animal Farm I didn't really understand till later except, of course, I knew it was us.

Anything written about Edgar Cayce with whom I become absolutely fascinated as a teenager. It changed my awareness of our potential.

To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf - because I wrote a graduating essay about Virginia Woolf in University that is still being used to teach the course and recommended to students to read. The funny thing was no one at the University thought I had anything in my personality that would connect me with Virginia Woolf yet I still understood what she was writing better than many other people who would have more in common with her. Must be another side of my personality I know very little about. Virginia Woolf made me realize there is sanity in madness and madness in sanity....mostly madness in sanity, I'm afraid.

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley -- its important to know how monstrous people can be created by others.

The Law of Contracts --- which is terribly boring but useful. It made me a more useful person.

The Gnostic Gospels that I found quite comforting because I never liked the Bible. Particularly interesting was the concept of 3 basic types of people...the biological person; the psychological person and the spiritual person....didn't have the anthropological person then. Also, Jesus talked. He says almost nothing in the Bible, its all been edited out.

Holy Blood, Holy Grail that I found extremely scary....horrifying...i realized there were things going on I had never contemplated...I thought that's why my ancestors probably hoofed it to Narvik to get away from the people.

Fingerprints of the Gods by Graham Hancock which is, of course, a wonderful book which made me realize there was a lot more to history than I'd ever imagined.

The Art of War which made me realize the American politicians were trying to destroy their own country.

[donk]

Ishmael by Daniel Quinn

[Craig]

Convoluted Universe series by Dolores Cannon, they spun me out.

[Tesla_WTC_Solution]

@161803398


Anything written about Edgar Cayce with whom I become absolutely fascinated as a teenager. It changed my awareness of our potential.

To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf

Holy Blood, Holy Grail

You just gave me the biggest chill of the day... no, the week.

I feel that we have similar interests.

In an email to my therapist, once, I mentioned "To the Lighthouse" to him. I asked him, what kind of man did Virginia Woolf know, that she was able to describe him with such ability and love? When she speaks about the underlying fabric that supports the world. She was speaking of the male intelligence, and I wanted to know, who inspired her to write that.

Edgar Cayce was amazing... one day, I was reading a book that talked about Throne and Chariot mysticism. Well, I put the book down and was extremely frustrated. I picked up an Edgar Cayce book and went into the bathroom to read it. I turned to the heading "Jewish visitors". The passage talked about Edgar working in his garden. This made me think of the Garden of Eden and how we are all working there, in spirit. Edgar heard a noise like the sound of bees, and when he turned around, there was an angel in the garden, a glowing golden man in a chariot of fire. He told Edgar not to be afraid and said "behold the Chariot of the Lord and the Horsemen Thereof". and he had the shape of a human being.
We are the chariots of fire, the hekalot. "for what are men but chariots of wrath, by demons driven", indeed!

Holy Blood, Holy Grail is one that I own but am afraid to read.
Some things really worry me. In particular my interest in the deaths of certain members of royalty and the celebrity class has led me to wonder about the legend of the Grail.
I have to drive through a town named Roslyn once in a while, and it makes me think of the Grail bloodline. "England's Rose", candle in the wind, and all of that.

Thanks for posting about those books... spooky dooky, heh!

[Maunagarjana]

If I had to give you my top 3 that had a real impact on my life, I'd say:

- Entering The Stream (various authors) because it was the perfect intro to Buddhist teachings for me, which is the spiritual foundation of my life.

- Extraordinary Knowing by Elizabeth Lloyd Mayer, because it let me know that there is actually a lot of good evidence for paranormal abilities out there, despite what skeptics like to say.

- The Law of One (the whole series, which really are like one long book split up) aka the Ra Material, because there's really nothing else like it, and has helped me immeasurably in many ways.

[Arak]

Well there has been few.

- First one was Orwell's 1984 that I read at highschool mid 90's. It made me realize that trust no government.
- second big turning point came 15 years later as I read Tolle's "Power of Now" which was awesome and really opened my eyes.
- After that there has been 2 great experiences: Don MIguel Ruiz's "The four wisdoms" - it has basicly everything you need to know in order to live happy life
- and last one being Michael Newton's "Journey of Souls" which really answered all by big questions about past lives and times between and to come. :)

[Milneman]

The one I always go back to, the one that is the greatest book of philosophy and human wisdom: The House at Pooh Corner by A. A. Milne, tiddly pom.

Now you know how I chose my nickname, tiddly-pom :)

[christian]

The Dao De Jing (http://acc6.its.brooklyn.cuny.edu/~phalsall/texts/taote-v3.html) by Lao Tse. It's very short, you can read it in like 15 minutes. But the content may keep you inspired for many lifetimes.

[greybeard]

Quite a few but "The Power of Now" by Eckhart Tolle and various books by Dr David Hawkins and also Ramana Maharshi's books stand out.

Chris

[Azt]

The Holy Bible. But not on the religion side but on the code side. It is a book written in the now.

[Lifebringer]

Urantia Book, Book of Enoch, Greatest Story Never Told, Wars of Gods and Men, Bible, K'oran, Stephen King's "The Gunslinger."

[161803398]

@ Tesla_WTC_Solution

It must have been her father and To the Lighthouse somewhat autobiographical. Woolf had good relationships with men and admired their abilities even in the face of having been sexually molested by her half brothers as a child. She was concerned though about what had happened to men and women as of the time of her writing. She said she felt that people had been made self-conscious of their sex which had not been the case in times past and, as a consequence of which not only people but society had become unbalanced. That is why I never liked people talking about the matriarchal society as a solution because I do agree with Woolf that we don't need matriarchy...we need an androgynous society.

Im so suspicious of Holy Blood, Holy Grail....(part of it is now known BS although parts of it are true). But the reasons to be suspicious are more interesting. As I recall the investigation was inspired by an old story that appeared in a newspaper about the priest who was sent to the remote village in France and then uncovered certain information. That led the writer to re-examine certain historical information which led to the conclusion that Christ had not died on the cross and there would be a bloodline somewhere in Europe. That story in the newspaper always bothered me...because it was so timely you see...with what came after....Holy Blood Holy Grail seemed to inspire a literary landslide where suddenly everyone was re-thinking everything....again and all just around the same time the PTB appeared to be planning their Armageddon supposedly leading to the NWO. It was ALL so interesting. In fact, life had never really been quite that interesting...so many people addressing so many fascinating ideas about history....and I had previously imagined myself playing golf or some such ridiculous thing at this age. But things like this had happened before, at times, and some of the information was actually a rehash of information that had been written before at certain points in the past. So why now...again?

The funny thing was, I would have never read that book if not for a dream I had. It was so strange, I told a friend of mine about it...a baby who gets stabbed in the eye with a knife, at a time and in a setting much like an event described in the book. My friend got so excited when i told him the dream and said I had to read that book..so I did. I found it horrifying for so many reasons....I so know why my family wanted to live quietly in the snow. But it was a good book to read...sadder and wiser now....so much wiser even though much of the book is BS.

There was something going on in England then and in the 90s. A writer friend of mine told me that (Sir) Laurence Gardner had called him up wanting him to join a club...they were pushing the reptile thing....I believe it was royalty descended from reptiles. My friend declined...it was a stupid idea...but Laurence Gardner became quite famous I believe. Maybe a lot of people just jumping on the bandwagon but I remember that the entire reptilian idea was started by a strange aristocrat in some Eastern European Country who wrote a crazy book about his family being descended from reptiles. We all thought it was funny and then my friend, Phil, got a call asking him to push the idea...all the alternative writers were being asked to push it. What was that about anyway? I don't know if we will ever find out.

[Lifebringer]

I was intrigued by the Michael Newton's book title and found a free download, as I sometimes use this title to describe my life experience when talking to "self."

Thank you.

[Lifebringer]

I thought about Delores Cannon also, but I only saw the videos on YT, didn't buy her books, they didn't fit my budget, but I've definitely been intrigued enough to delve deeper because of her videos on hypnotic memory regression and past lives. Very good and I still enjoy going back and listening when the world/people/or my communication skills become less coherent in understanding, and I or others are misunderstood in communicating our own experience. Some things can't be tap danced over and must be faced, but the knowledge that this too shall pass, I've faith in the promise of the Son of God in every text that is over all gods or/those who think themselves god" of the nations past and present.

So many facets of the stones.

[sirdipswitch]

"Adventures Beyond The Body"
"The Secret Of The Soul"
by: William Buhlman

Awakened my Spirit... forever...

[panopticon]

The Dao De Jing (http://acc6.its.brooklyn.cuny.edu/~phalsall/texts/taote-v3.html) by Lao Tse. It's very short, you can read it in like 15 minutes. But the content may keep you inspired for many lifetimes.

Ditto.
Add Zhuangzi (http://ctext.org/zhuangzi).

[Maunagarjana]

I thought about Delores Cannon also, but I only saw the videos on YT, didn't buy her books, they didn't fit my budget

You know, there are some of her books available online in ebook format, here: http://esotericonline.net/docs/index.php?dir=L2RvY3MvbGlicmFyeS9DaGFubmVsZWQgTWF0ZXJpYWwvRG9sb3JlcyBDYW5ub24=

[Shezbeth]

Excellent selections!

I didn't see/missed:

The 48 Laws of Power
The 33 Strategies of War
The Art of Seduction
- Robert Green

The Complete Drizzt Do'Urden Series
- R A Salvatore

Ender's Game
- Orson Scott Card

Lies My Teacher Told me
- Unknown

[dianna]

Hugh Prather "Notes to Myself" -- the very first time I understood the term "honesty"


Within me is the potential to commit every evil act I see

https://fbcdn-profile-a.akamaihd.net/hprofile-ak-frc1/c30.20.506.506/s160x160/294426_244560978928894_245386343_n.jpg


“You say you just want to be my friend. I know that you mean you want to relate to my mind but not my body. I can understand that and will not ask you to relate to me in a way that you don't want to, or talk to me about subjects you find uncomfortable. But likewise I refuse to castrate myself for you by pretending not to have the feelings I have."

[dianna]

Marquis de Sade "Justine"

The first time I understood the idea of the "libertine"

Very much misunderstood this idea, just like de Sade himself


My manner of thinking, so you say, cannot be approved. Do you suppose I care? A poor fool indeed is he who adopts a manner of thinking for others!
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/m/marquisdes403023.html#Bu1Ulgm36YYWb55P.99

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/68/Sade_1.jpeg/300px-Sade_1.jpeg


It is only by enlarging the scope of one's tastes and one's fantasies, by sacrificing everything to pleasure, that that unfortunate individual called man, thrown despite himself into this sad world, can succeed in gathering a few roses among life's thorns.

[meeradas]

reading is my favorite thing to do. im wondering what book you guys read that changed your life for the better.


could i ask everyone who posts from now on to state how and why these books changed their life. i think that will not only help us understand what the book is about it but how also you were changed personally by it
thanks

So far, you've asked and received, but given nothing yourself.
How'd you answer your own questions?

[dianna]

Long Day's Journey Into Night Eugene O'Neill

The first time I understood what a "train wreck" life could be

http://www.shorewood.k12.wi.us/uploaded/faculty/WWiswall/images/ap_unit_three_images/correct_long_days_plain_title.jpg


The "makings of a poet. No, I'm afraid I'm like the guy who is always panhandling for a smoke. He hasn't even got the makings. He's got only the habit. I couldn't touch what I tried to tell you just now. I just stammered. That's the best I'll ever do, I mean, if I live. Well, it will be faithful realism, at least. Stammering is the native eloquence of us fog people.”

[pumashared]

reading is my favorite thing to do. im wondering what book you guys read that changed your life for the better.


could i ask everyone who posts from now on to state how and why these books changed their life. i think that will not only help us understand what the book is about it but how also you were changed personally by it
thanks

So far, you've asked and received, but given nothing yourself.
How'd you answer your own questions?


to be honest its not that i do not want to give anything but rather the fact that im young in my journey of knowledge and am no where as close in terms of thinking compared to many members of project avalon. i do not think someone as minuscule as me has any worthy opinion. however since you asked i will list the books that changed my life.

Enders game= this book really changed my life. it taught me that there is no sides. you are always being used or miniplated by someone somehow.

Moonwalking with Einstein= a great book about how to remember complex data words. its an easy read but then i found a website dedicated to training you on using his method to remember stuff. i have done p90x and do intense cardio and ill tell you that if you give me the choice of doing the brain exercises of the website or doing extreme workouts, i would chose extreme workouts. the brain exercises are extremely hard.

[meeradas]

Thanks!
No need to make yourself small; and, your opinion is as worthy or unworthy as anyone's.

To answer your original question :
Believe it or not, it was a simple (in the best sense of the term) math book which i got during a vocational retraining, years ago.
Taught me that all this complicated stuff i couldn't figure out before is quite easy to grasp, if simplified. That changed my (outlook on) life a lot.

All of Däniken's taught me, one can construct a totally different world(view) with the same data the 'establishment' use; that the way of looking at things can change everything.

Other books that 'changed my life' (rather 'facilitated my still-being-around') were M's "Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna",
Satprem's "Adventure of Conciousness", Tweedy's "Daughter/Chasm of Fire",
and Aurobindo's "Savitri" (which i never read fully)... amongst many, many others.

[13th Warrior]

"Heavens Mirror"- Graham Hancock

"A Sand County Almanac"- Aldo Leopold

"The Secret Teaching of All Ages" Manly Palmer Hall

"Lords of the Left-Hand Path"-Stephen E. Flowers, Ph.D.

[GreenGuy]

I love to read too. It'd be nigh-impossible to pick just one. Here are a few...

Return Of The Bird Tribes by Ken Carey. A lovely exploration of Native American spirituality.

Digital Mosaics: The Aesthetics of Cyberspace by Steven Holtzman. Opened my mind to the possibilities of the internet, in a time when it was all about AOL.

Forgotten Truth by Huston Smith. Showed me that our perception of reality is really very limited, but has endless potential.

The Bible What can I say? I am not religious, yet I return to some of the sublime passages, again and again.

The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon. Took me eight years to get through. I've just started over. One of the best expositions of history ever entered into the record. Written in the 18th century but still a great read.

Anna Karenina and War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy. Some of the most perceptive explorations of human nature in all of literature. Some say Anna Karenina is the best novel ever written.

Gems of Divine Mysteries by Baha'u'llah. All the Baha'i scriptures are full of sublime revelations and insights.

I know I could come up with more, but these have been extraordinarily influential in my life. Ovid, Homer, Ekhart Tolle, Paramahansa Yogananda, Richard Bach, and many others get honorable mention.

[StandingWave]

What a great thread! Thanks to OP for posing the question and a huge thanks to all who have contributed so far. Wonderful to have some great new titles to look forward to reading yet!

If there is one book that changed my life I would have to say it was Ishmael by Daniel Quinn. But in truth it has been a group of books and these are they:

- When I was a young boy of ten or so, my class teacher at the time gave me a book on the Spanish conquest of South America whose name and author I cannot recall. That book moved me so deeply and literally ripped my eyes open to the horrors of the 'reality' we have had foisted on us.

- Journey to Ixtlan by Carlos Castaneda was given to me by a close friend when I was 20 and this single book upended everything I assumed to be true yet it set everything in a beautiful new order at the same time. The introduction alone 'did it'. I proceeded to read all of Castaneda's books and have since re-read the series at least eight times and have discovered that, each time I read through them, everything written has made more sense. These books have been the most accurate barometer of my unfolding grasp of the simple complexity of Being.

- Ishmael by Daniel Quinn was the bombshell that truly changed the trajectory of my life. I bought it on the strength of a comment on the cover by Jim Britell (who wrote 'The Whole Earth Review'): "From now on I will divide the books I have read into two categories - the ones I read before Ishmael and those read after." This book is the single reason that I now live in a remote region of the world on an almost self-sustainable domain as detached as is realistically possible from the 'western world' and its 'culture'.

- The Culture of Make Believe by Derek Jensen was a gruelling marathon of a read that fueled my resolve to get out of the unholy mess of western 'culture' and make sure I was no longer contributing to it as fast as possible.

- The Ringing Cedars of Russia series by Vladimir Megre confirmed that the way I am headed is indeed The Way To Go. :)

- I Am That a collection of discussions with Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj sealed the deal as to what 'I' am!

- The Open Secret by Tony Parsons amplified and confirmed everything Nisargadatta had said and popped by 'personal' bubble of erroneous convictions.

- Always Coming Home by Ursula le Guin is a magnificent novel that highlights the difference between healthy and sick cultures. Le Guin is one of my all-time favourite writers, I envy anyone that has yet to discover her extraordinary talent.

Being a real bookworm I could list a lot more but these will do for now...

[dianna]

Not In His Image (John Lamb Lash)

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41g97NV5N1L._SY300_.jpg

Catalyst for my interest in the Nag Hamadi Codices

http://www.prophecypodcast.com/storage/naghammadi.jpeg?__SQUARESPACE_CACHEVERSION=1332027014293

[AxisMundi]

Way of the Peaceful Warrior-Dan Millman

The Holographic Universe-Michael Talbot

Journey of Souls-Michael Newton

:)

[vilcabamba]

I enjoyed Journey of the Souls Michael Newman ..I also like Shirley McClain's books like Out on a Limb.

[Karezza]

Autobiography of a Yogi: Last Gift of Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs was so influenced by the Autobiography of a Yogi that he read through the book each year. Hundreds of influential leaders in business, politics, and popular culture were introduced to Paramahansa Yogananda’s Autobiography of a Yogi at the 2011 memorial service of Steve Jobs, by express wish of the late founder of Apple Computer.

In a video interview posted online in September 2013, Salesforce.com CEO Marc Benioff related this and other stories to share what he saw as Mr. Jobs’ deep, though sometimes hidden, spirituality. A summary of the interview reported on CNET news (http://goo.gl/06jvx7) includes the following excerpt:


http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7xVGtJRASgM/UkAcMMqZuII/AAAAAAAAQQo/xu7Im78fvqo/s640/AutoYogi.png


“Benioff told his story of attending the memorial service following Jobs’ death, where the attendees were handed a small brown box on their way out. ‘This is going to be good,’ he thought. ‘I knew that this was a decision he made, and whatever it was, it was the last thing he wanted us all to think about.’

“The box contained a copy of Paramahansa Yogananda’s book, Autobiography of a Yogi. It was a spiritual book that inspired Jobs throughout his life. The book, first published in 1946, espouses ‘self-realization’ and the practice of Kriya Yoga meditation.

“According to [Walter] Isaacson's biography, ‘Jobs first read it as a teenager, then reread it in India and had read it once a year ever since.’ In 1974, Jobs traveled to India, seeking some spiritual enlightenment. ‘He had the incredible realization that his intuition was his greatest gift, and he needed to look at the world from the inside out,’ Benioff said.”


4rO_Vs4M29k

On intuition, Steve Jobs observed: (snipped from Good Friday 2012 (http://bit.ly/bsxGF2012))

Coming back to America was, for me, much more of a cultural shock than going to India. The people in the Indian countryside don't use their intellect like we do, they use their intuition instead, and their intuition is far more developed than in the rest of the world. Intuition is a very powerful thing, more powerful than intellect, in my opinion. That's had a big impact on my work.

Western rational thought is not an innate human characteristic; it is learned and is the great achievement of Western civilization. In the villages of India, they never learned it. They learned something else, which is in some ways just as valuable but in other ways is not. That's the power of intuition and experiential wisdom.

[Zampano]

For me a good book is the book I can read more then one time:
1) Holographic Universe, Michael Talbot
2) The Autobiography of a Yogi, Paramahansa Yogananda
3) Journey of Souls, Michael Newton

And the last one-when I read the first 30 pages I really got the feeling: Wow, after this book I will not need any other books to read!
And so it is! Bought in November and I still read and contemplate.

Be as you are, Sri Ramana Maharshi
Thats the book

[Ahnung-quay]

Boy, this is a tough question. If one really stops to think about it all books will change a person's life, even if in only a minute way. Here's my pick list-

The Lord of the Rings Trilogy-JRR Tolkien-read several times since age 14.
The Convergence series, Vol 1-3- David Wilcock
The Kybalion- Three Initiates
The Book of Aquarius- Annonymous
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee-Dee Brown-first initiation into the fact that our whole society is just wrong, age 16.
When God Was a Woman-Merlin Stone
Walking in a Sacred Manner- Mark St. Pierre and Tilda Long Soldier
The Spiritual Science of the Stars-Pete Stewart
Quest for the Zodiac-John Lash
Mother Earth Spirituality-Ed McGaa

And, the list could go on....

[42]

For me it was "Journeys out of the Body" by Robert Monroe... this was the book that started my awakening to the reality that i am a spirit on a temporary human adventure.

"Flying Saucers Have Landed" by George Adamski and Desmond Leslie was a thrilling 60's read as well...

[Soda]

The Celestine Prophecy by Redfield and the original Conversations with God Trilogy by Walsch
However my opinion on Walsch is that he was hijacked by the cabal/elite before finishing the second book because in that one "God" says he is a fan of Clintons and Bushes and says that a New World Order is the answer for our planet to survive. So even though it changed my life, I don't recommend it. LOL:p

[Roisin]

"Magnificent Obsession" is a 1929 novel by Lloyd C. Douglas

"Robert Merrick is resuscitated by a rescue crew after a boating accident. The crew is thus unable to save the life of Dr. Hudson, a doctor renowned for his ability to help people, who was having a heart attack at the same time on the other side of the lake. Merrick then decides to devote his life to making up for the doctor's, and becomes a physician himself." wiki

At the time of the boating accident, Merrick was an irresponsible party-boy from an affluent family but the accident changed his life once he found out about what happened to the doctor and the kind of person he was.

Merrick found out about Dr. Hudson's Secret Journal. "The secret was the literal practice of doing good deeds secretly, and thereby reaping spiritual power to use in becoming an excellent doctor." wiki

When Merrick found out about the journal, he too practiced doing good deeds secretly, just like Dr. Hudson did and not surprisingly, became a respected doctor in his specialty.

It's a beautiful story and one that changed my life for the better many years ago when someone loaned me a copy of that book.

Here's a free online version of that book:
http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks04/0400631h.html

[yuhui]

If the number is limited to one, then "The Happy Prince"……

If not, then "Tibetan book of the dead", "The Greatest Story Never Told", "The Occult Anatomy of Man"...these are what I remember at the moment.

[Olam]

Thanks so much pumashared for this great thread!, I really love the posts, its always great to find great stuff to learn and read.
Lots of book did it for me and still do, I am reading "The O Manuscript" right now, read it twice and its inspiring me to go do my own pilgrimage at Montsegur in France. I leave for 2 months next month...
other than that well there are a few:
"Freedom from the Known" -Krishnamurti
"Destiny of souls"-Newton
"Black Elk Speaks"
"78 degrees of wisdom"- Rachel Pollak

please forgive me for not noting all the authors, my books are in boxes right now, I just moved once again...

So basically since a very young age, I did not see the world as most people did. Never accepted what was told and thought of who we are, and so these books opened me up to what is behind the curtain...

[Ahnung-quay]

Oh yes, and how could I forget, The Twelfth Planet series by Zecharia Sitchin. I couldn't put them down until I read the last word of the last book.
Also, The Genesis of the Cosmos- Paul A. LaViolette, Ph.D. I don't agree with his view of the zodiac as it relates to creation. I've spent the past two years researching to try to prove him wrong. I have quite a bit of evidence but, still have holes in some areas; creationis a big study! (The esoteric teachings of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries are a quagmire and investigating the tarot origins is just as bad!) I do agree with him that originally astrology had nothing to do with psychology or individual predictions. (In fact, I feel that our society is overlaid with B.S. psychological principles and that is part of what is wrong on this planet at this time).
I'll probably find some opponents to my views, and that's the way it goes...

[Ki's]

I'd have to say that there were three specific books that I read as a child that impacted my entire life.
They are:
"A Wrinkle in Time" by Madeleine L'engle
"Esoteric Christianity" by Annie Besant
"Anthem" by Ayn Rand

These three books led me (at a very young age) to the conclusion that there was some pretty spectacular possibilities available for mankind...that there was probably a small group of people who already knew about them...and that if the rest of us didn't figure it out we'd be screwed.

[Earth Angel]

so many great books......The Power of Positive Thinking ( Norman Vincent Peale who my husband was named after which is why I got the book)......Anything by Abraham Hicks ie Jerry and Esther Hicks......love those books and can re-read them all the time......The Michael Newton books got me in one day while the family was out I read one of his books and boom!! couldn't wait to schedule a Past life regression and a LBL.....found someone within the month trained in his methods and went....spent a lot of money but felt like I was actually making it all up.....maybe I should go back and listen to the recordings again....Dolores Cannon read many of her books and love them all....sometimes her questions are annoying but the answers are well worth reading...Anita Moorjani Dying to be Me.....saw her in person, a lovely person and a very uplifting story

[astridmari]

von Däniken - dont remember the title.
Helen Wambach, Life before life and Reliving past lives
Lobsang Rampa - all the books.

[Ravenlocke]

Some of the books that I still use and learn from today:
You Can Heal Your Life by Louise Hays
Hands Of Light A Guide to Healing through the Human Energy by Barbara Brennan, Jos. A Smith
Old Souls by Ian Stevenson
To Hear the Angels Sing by Dorothy Maclean
The Wisdom of Flora Scovel Shinn
The Medicine Wheel Earth Astrology by Sun Bear
American Indian Healing Arts
A Handbook of Native American Herbs
Spirits of the Earth A Guide to Native American Nature Symbols Stories and Ceremonies
Indian Herbology of North America by Alma R. Hutchens
Sacred Plant Medicine The Wisdom in Native American Herbalism

[Old Snake]

Achie Fire Lame Deer :Seeker of visions, Changed my life

Old Snake

[MargueriteBee]

The works of Alvin Boyd Kuhn.

[Elainie]

Journey's Out of the Body- Bob MOnroe- read it when I was 13

The Morning of the Magicians- read it as an early 20 something.

Between 13 and 20 I read most of the theosophy books, Walter Russell etc;

[Observer1964]

Chariots of the Gods by Erich von Daniken (video and book)
Strategie der Gotter by Erich von Daniken (Strategy of the gods, german version, cant find a translation)
Celestine prophecy by James Redfield

And Most of All;
Buitenaardse Beschaving by Stephan Denaerde (operation survival earth)

Chariots of the Gods really opened my eyes to the possibility of extraterrestrial influence on human devellopment en archeological anomalies

Strategie der Gotter explained how a temple in south America is described in the bible (wich EvD visited and messured to check if true) and was build by 2 tribes out of Israel who moved there with assistence of UFOnauts, these tribes also mentioned in mormom book.

Celestine Prophecy describes how insights found in a temple in peru (see Strategie der gotter) influence human behaviour. these insights are written in a language of the ancient middle east.

Buitenaardse beschaving (or Operation survival Earth) describes a meeting between a man from Earth with an alien race that is observing Earth, and who give him information on how these beings organised their world, and what the meaning of life is and what we will evolve towards.

Although i read countless other books, the 4 books I describe here have influenced me the most, made me see life in a whole different way than before. ( I can hardly remember now how i was before reading these books )

[NDB]

Animal Farm: This book really taught me to recognize hierarchies and power structures. Probably read this book 3 or 4 times a year at least.

[Sunny-side-up]

These have had much influence on my mind!
Flying-Saucers-Straight-Line-Mystery (1954 UFO wave)
author, Aime Michel
This book caused me to dive into a 3 year UFO map plotting project!
Great book!

'Master of the Five Magics' Set of 6 Novels by Lyndon Hardy
It is the first of a trilogy set in the same world;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyndon_Hardy

the second book is Secret of the Sixth Magic and the third Riddle of the Seven Realms.
While the books feature different characters,
each explores, in successively more detail, the same system of magic.

The final part is entitled "The Archimage" and corresponds to Alodar's mastery of all other forms of magic.

(Lyndon Hardy, He is a member of the Science Fiction Writers of America.[1] He attended California Institute of Technology as an undergraduate and the University of California Berkeley for his Ph.D.[2]
In his college years he became fascinated with fantasy-dom. Outside of being a fantasy author, he has correlated work with the New Zealand Geology Society, started an Artificial Intelligence Company named Alodar Inc., and helped develop the Isis intelligence tool for medical research. He has two daughters and is married.
In 1961, Hardy masterminded the Great Rose Bowl Hoax, in which Caltech students rearranged the cards used by Washington to spell out words during half-time.)
Great read and interesting author!

Love and Hugs
Alan

[nzreva]

Reading the Bible in Hebrew and Greek.
Gave me insight I could have never had reading it in English

[Arak]

Reading the Bible in Hebrew and Greek.
Gave me insight I could have never had reading it in English
Could you please explain 'bit major differences?

[Circe]

Truth Vibrations - David Icke
Testimony of light - Helen Greaves

[Brodie75]

Conversations With God changed my life at a time when i most needed it and has led me down
a long road of discovery.
But the most important book in terms of real, practical life altering change is A Course In Miracles.
While i no longer beleive in Conversations With God it was the book that led me here.

[vilcabamba]

Honestly, it was Project Camelot interviews that changed my life.
But..books I liked were Shirley McClaine's books...out on a limb etc. They are good.

[STR]

reading is my favorite thing to do. im wondering what book you guys read that changed your life for the better.

I was very young. I remember sitting in front of my house on the sidewalk reading this book as a young boy. It was my first real introduction into the 'one consciousness' and I found it at the time to be very revealing not so much in actual content but it wet my taste buds wanting more and ignited the search. I couldn't have been much more than 8 when I was introduced to this and it was the first of many that led to further learning and growing. I can't really say I have this book any longer. I may still have it in the attic with my stuff at home in the old homestead my mother still lives in but since you asked. :-) http://www.amazon.com/Amazing-Laws-Cosmic-Mind-Power/dp/B0062BIMCY/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1393515710&sr=1-4&keywords=cosmic+mind+power

[WhiteFeather]

I have two: The Bermuda Triangle when i was a young kid. And Chariots of the Gods, I read this book sitting in an election poll on duty when i was a young rookie in the NYC Police Dept.

[pumashared]

i wanted to thank everyone for posting.
I will go through the suggestion and create tally and edit my first post so some others will be able to enjoy the book you all have mentioned

[john.d]

The Ra material ( all books ) - made me realise I was completely on the wrong path and woke me up spiritually

The Seth material ( all books ) - got into much more detail about reality , beliefs , the dream state etc

The holographic universe by Michael Talbot - anchored what I had learned in the above books to this 3d world

We the Acturians - a wonderful description of how a more evolved civilisation works where every thought and action are for raising the group vibration .

[Philaletheian]

Beelzebub's Tales to his Grandson by G.I. Gurdjieff - Although I had read many spiritual books that changed my perception of this reality, I seemed to have been on a plateau. Then I read this book and it took all the concepts, ideas, and philosophies from all the previous books about spirituality and broke them completely. I had to start my journey all over again, and I was excited once again. This also helped me realize to not just try and understand spirituality and the soul, but also the human psyche and thus started my journey with the works of Carl Jung.

TL;DR - This book's mindbending quality is second to none.

[Foxie Loxie]

"Blue Planet Project"!!! Heard it mentioned on the History Channel & had the darndest time trying to get a copy here in my college town....took months! :bigsmile:

Just took a look at the thread from the beginning...most interesting to see which books truly influenced others. :sun:

Was surprised by the Steve Jobs bit!

[Iancorgi]

"The book" Alan Watts

"Voyage au bout de la nuit" Celine

"The alchemist" Paulo Coelho

"Awaken healing energy trough the Tao" Mantak Chia

"The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge" Carlos Castaneda

[greybeard]

Yogananda "Autobiography of a Yogi"
Started the quest--thirty five years ago or there about.
Followed by Ramana Maharshi--every book I could find.

much later.

The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle and "I am That" by Nasargadatta Maharajh --outstanding influences.

I dont think I chose the books, they just happened.

Chris

[Alpha141]

Cool thread...

Saved By the Light - Dannion Brinkley

I was doing Senior Systems Engineer IT work in Sydney. Very hectic and demanding role back in 2008. I moved to Syd to follow a girl i loved. Gave up everything to follow her. She had a bad fall and smashed her left knee cap into 12 bits...Emergency surgery, 18 months of support. 2 weeks after it she became suicidal from the pain and i had to quit my work to make sure she didn't do it. I gave up everything to with her 8 months before and I didn't want to loose her on my watch if i could do something about it. I didn't know what would happen after death and wasn't sure what would happen. I was helping her go back to work and had the days free and at that time Borders Book stores still existed and had a coffee shop in them. I use to devour a pile of books a day.

The thing about that book was the life review he had. He talked about being a special forces sniper in the Vietnam war. He had a review where he was on a mission that killed a Nt Vietnamese General. He went into great detail of the review of that experience. Which included not only his. But the experience of actually being the general being killed and also the impact of the wife and children loosing their father and their entire life's loss of that. Just even on some level that no matter what you do or get away with you are accountable for all actions really had a profound impact on me. I integrated it into a personal responsibility in all i do in everything. It was my activation and abilities really opened up. I explored further to have my own past life regressions and been a Conscious Explorer ever since. Exploring there is so much more to existence than the 3D 5 sense reality we find ourselves in and accommodate as our default. alot of the psychics feel the above uncompromising when love was on the line. I know Earth does to as a 'Rite of Passage' test. Now doing alot of grid / Earth work etc and many many other things. Dannion had since his death experience had been there for many thousands of veterans crossing over on the death bed. It is a very challenging thing to do for people.

Some of the other early ones for me:
Biology of Belief - Bruce Lipton
Breaking Open the Head - Daniel Pinchbeck
Treasury of Spiritual Wisdom - A collection of 10000 Inspirational Quotes - Andy Zubko (amazing book!! - all the quotes are categorized under sections like Envy, Death, Love, Gratitude, Falsehood etc)

2008 era for me seems such a raw time. I feel very fortunate to have been how i am then. Its tough now for sure.

Cheers all :)

[Foxie Loxie]

Thanks for sharing that, Alpha141! These "death" & NDE experiences do seem to have an awesome effect on people!

I think of Ronald Bernard & then just heard about Cody Snodgras' experience yesterday!

Kudos to you for sticking by your Girl!! :heart:

[thepainterdoug]

Behold a Pale Horse

B S OR NOT it changed my life

[DNA]

Behold a Pale Horse

B S OR NOT it changed my life


In 1996 I was 23 visiting a local furniture store. I was buying a futon and the salesman was about my age. We were having this moment of profound connection, I wanted to talk to him more but I was afraid another dude might think I was hitting on him or something and I was afraid it would get weird.

I went to pay him for the futon and I hadn't figured the tax on the futon right, when I pulled every coin out of my pocket to pay I found that I had the exact amount, right down to the penny. It was a strange synchronicity, it had an impact so i stayed and we shot the sh!t for like two hours. There was no one else in the furniture store the entire time. He recomonded "Behold a Pale Horse" and said it had changed his life that and Michael Talbot's "Halographic Universe".

I recommended Carlos Castaneda and James Redfield's "Celestine Prophecy".

Behold a Pale Horse was the first book of it's kind I had ever read and not what I was expecting.

I believed it then and I believe it now.

[Mike]

Hey great story Marcus.

My latest would have to be "12 Rules For Life", by Jordan Peterson.

I was so moved by it that I bought 6 xtra copies ....1 for my Dad and 5 for friends.

It really is a spiritual guidebook masquerading as a 'self help' thing. It's a very dark book in spots, and those were the parts that actually motivated me the most.

[sunwings]

MIND POWER by John Kehoe

Whilst travelling in New Zealand I walked into a university library and picked it up. Read it cover to cover in two hours. I never recovered.

Chapter 1 Another view of reality - The universe is a giant hologram.

Anyone who enjoyed Michael Talbot´s book The Holographic Universe would connect to this book.

PDF is here http://www.rivendellvillage.org/John_Kehoe_Mind_Power.pdf

[RaiseMachine]

http://projectavalon.net/forum4/attachment.php?attachmentid=39131&d=1537736736

The ultimate book on conspiracy. You will also be taught that sometimes you have to give the bad guys credit.
It contains a modelling that can be applied to a lot of relevant subjects, e.g. UFOs.

My best friend read it in one night. I said the next day "what do you think?" His reply: "Oh my!"

One of PKD's finest and one of the best pieces of sci-fi ever made.

[5th]

Inspired to post here because this thread was referenced today by sunwings.

Read many of the great spiritual books mentioned here but I have something a little different that changed my childhood life and was connected with my ‘theme’ for this lifetime.

I’m talking about the Tarzan books by Edgar Rice Burroughs! Sadly, most people’s idea of Tarzan comes from the films that bear little relation to the books (there were nearly 30). Burrough’s Tarzan was fluent in many languages (no me Tarzan, you Jane), an English Lord and, for a short time, a member of the British Secret Service.

Edgar Rice Burroughs was clearly aware of the Illuminati, ETs and man’s slave condition. Tarzan represented the unprogrammed man, totally self sufficient, free from media and society conditioning.

Why was this significant for me? Because the theme for my life was to become totally self-sufficient. When I eventually achieved this (it took 60 years) I remembered that I had made an agreement not to be able to see anything spiritual such as Guides, auras, etc – so I would be totally on my own. In fact, as a very young child my bedroom was filled with all sorts of spirits and I was extremely scared of them! Later, I became a sceptic and took the scientific path…

But Tarzan inspired me to live outside of society and its silly ways…

[East Sun]

"There is a river" a book about Edgar Cayce. It changed my beliefs about a lot of things; This was in '81.

[Valerie Villars]

I've read so much of the above and they changed my life.

But the book that really changed the way I approached life was "On the Road" by Jack Kerouac. That one really hit me like a 2 by 4.

[Milamber]

Here is my list (not exhaustive) of the many books that were significant in my own journey. It should be noted that nearly all these books were impactful pre-internet days and that post internet there is now so much more information available, I wonder if I would have had the same realisations.



1 – Lobsang Rampa books (20) introduction to esoterica that blew my young mind (aged between 12 and 15) and set me off on a lifelong path of discovery

2 – Ramala Series (Revelation/Wisdom & Vision) – Channeled teachings that brought me in touch with the New Age. Directly responsible for helping me to become vegetarian!

3 – A Search In Secret India, Paul Brunton – Enthralling travelogue account around the Indian spiritual scene in the 1930s. Introduced me to Ramana Maharshi which was ultimately life changing.

4 – A Search in Secret Egypt, Paul Brunton – Standout account for me was PB’s visionary experience of high priests while spending a night in the Great Pyramid.

5 – The Silent Path, Paul Brunton – Introduced me to my first meditation technique based around Ramana Maharshi’s Self Enquiry approach

6 – The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus The Christ, by Levi – Channeled teachings that purported to document the 'real' life of Jesus and covers his missing years in India, initiation in the Egyptian mystery schools and more. Fascinating account that stirred my love for this remarkable Soul.

7 – Autobiography of a Yogi, Yogananda. Inspired me enough to make a real commitment to a spiritual path. Nearly joined the SRF as a result

8 – Be Who You Are, Teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi, David Godman – This book triggered an intense period following the Maharshi’s Self Enquiry method and a lifelong commitment in pursuit of liberation

9 - Initiation, Elisabeth Haich – Fascinating account of a woman who recalls her past life as an Egyptian princess undergoing the rites of initiation in the Great Pyramid

10 – The Magus of Strovolos, Kyriacos C Markides – Documents an anthropologist’s experiences with a Greek Cypriot Mystic.

11 – Life after Life, Dr. Raymond Moody – Thought provoking collection of NDE’s that set me off on a whole new area of research

12 – Disappearance of the Universe, Gary Renard – Re-invigorated my interest in A Course in Miracles

13 – A Course in Miracles – Followed the Text and then workbook – introduced me to the practice of forgiveness

14 – Journey’s out of the body, Robert Monroe – Practiced the OBE techniques described

15 – Mass dreams of the Future, Helen Wambach & Chet Snow – Details past and future life hypnotic progressions. Resulted in me having my own past life and future life sessions with Chet Snow. Many of the accounts are now proven to be inaccurate

16 – Nothing Ever Happened, David Godman – 3 volume Biography of HW Poonjaji, a prominent disciple of Ramana Maharshi

17 – Perfect Brilliant Stillness, David Carse – Account of David’s spiritual realization in a south American jungle

18 – And the Truth Shall Set you Free, David Icke – Opened my mind to the shadowy elite and I’ve never seen the world the same ever since

19 – The Thunder of Silence, Joel S Goldsmith – Opened me up to the mystical meditative technique of the Infinite Way



Fiction/Fantasy

1 – Lord of the Rings, JRR Tolkien

2 – The Lion the Witch & the Wardrobe, C. S. Lewis

3 – The First & Second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, Stephen Donaldson

4 – Magician, Raymond Feist

[petra]

Chris listed some books that "just happened" and that really made me think. So, which book out of the (not so many) books I have read which "just happened" had the biggest impact on my life?

Ender's Game. Hands down.

The idea of children fighting a war still blows my mind (and turns my stomach)

Hollywood eventually made the first book into a movie, and that blew my mind even more.

[Peter UK]

Many Mansions - Gina Cerminara

The Edgar Cayce Story on Reincarnation



41569


I read this book at a time when I was concerned over the question of having one life and how best that life should be lived. This book changed all that and set me on a quest that continued.

All that seems a long time ago but I never forgot the title and the time of its resulting in a paradigm shift.

[gord]

"There is a river" a book about Edgar Cayce. It changed my beliefs about a lot of things; This was in '81.


The same book for me, around 1983.

[Lakeofmarch]

Chronologically:

-Joseph Campbell's "Hero with a Thousand Faces", in high school. Dropped Catholicism like the hot rock it was after learning there were so many other stories.

-Aldous Huxley's "Island", first book I read for pleasure in college, that I remember, showed many possible and enthusiastic ways forward after the above.

-Borges' collected short stories, read them all over a summer and they've been a constant reference since. About the size of a good novel, if laid end to end.

-Frank Herbert's "Dune" and "God Emperor of Dune", first steps towards a grand theory of what the planet makes that matters so much, many personal synchs. Ask me about the movie!

-Carl Jung's "Red Book", read in intervals during work. Really showed the world beyond the world, and how it affects matter around us and can be a good guide.

-Bruce Chatwin's "The Songlines", while out in the Caribbean. Tied all the previous information together into a lived, walked, effective pattern of what's out there.

-Jodorowsky's "The Technofathers" / Joe Haldeman's "The Forever War", comic book versions, during months taken off work to just read. Marvelous imagination-expanders.

-Tolkien's "The Silmarilion", which I read first while events much like those described were happening to me, and LOTR and The Hobbit later, during a long night journey.

-David Halberstam's "The Fifties", because the world as it is came out the way it did because of many fingers in the pie, it was far from the self-rising cake advertised.

-Adrian Giblert and Maurice Cotterrell's "Maya Prophecies", explained the real symbolism and meaning behind important things that had happened to me while bumping around in Maya land.

-Andrew Collins' "The Cygnus Mystery", for what it says about Gobelki Tepe and the Neolithic origin of Spanish self-importance.

-Phylos the Tibetan's "Dweller on Two Planets", for an explanation of many things I had skated around, and an integrated, if partial, worldview.

-Philip L. Nicoloff's "Sacred Koyasan", a few weeks ago, a review of the life and practices of Shingon Buddhism, which really felt like coming home.
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EDIT:

Have now read the whole thread, was thrilled to find mentions of LaViolette's "Genesis of the Cosmos" and Castaneda's "Journey to Ixtlan", which could well be on the above list, and "Breaking open the head", which has some good tips. Terence McKenna anyone? The books are good, but it's hearing the lecture that can drive one into odd experience all by itself. Wrote down all the others that seem interesting, and Michael Talbot is, I think, the author most mentioned.. that goes on the list to come. Thank you!