Book keeper book keeper find me a book!!

[Johnthelegoman]

Hi im intrested in some good reads on awareness consciousness love light and what it means to be a human any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. If you could also mention a little about the book that would be great.

I Also have a lets say aunt that i love dearly. Shes an amazing and kind person very religious (catholic) and shes at a time in her life where she loves to read. Could anyone suggest a book that might help her see that there is more to life then meets the eye. Shes very intelligent but shes always so worried about my well-being i know that im going to be okay and have a very fulfilling life but she still worries about me to the point where i feel it holds her back in her own life. Shes kind of a second mother to me.

any help for her would be also greatly greatly appreciated

thanks in advance

[SoulSail]

I could give you a hundred, but here's a great place to start (for both of you): The Untethered Soul (http://www.amazon.com/The-Untethered-Soul-Journey-Yourself/dp/1572245379/ref=pd_sim_b_13)

Best,

Soul

[ButterflyWoman]

Perhaps it might make your aunt feel better if you read some Christian-influenced spirituality? I'd say look into anything by Bernadette Roberts (great insights on the evolution of "no self" from a Catholic woman, a former nun, in fact) or Fr Anthony DeMello. Then you can show her, "Look! Nun! Jesuit Priest!" :)

But those are really good, insightful authors. The Roberts material might knock you for a loop. It did the first time I read it, but later I re-read and I knew what she was talking about because I'd experienced it by that point. And DeMello is just an all-around brilliant bloke, IMHO.

In fact, there's a LOT to be learned from reading the works of Christian mystics, even if you don't follow that brand of religion or the worldview. Juan de la Cruz (John of the Cross) and Teresa de Avila (both now saints, thankyou) come to mind for particularly good mystical writings. There are lots of others, too, of course

[CFTraveler]

Here is a book written by a christian mystic. It's called "The Inner Core" and I enjoyed it when I read it.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Inner-Core-Robert-Marshall/dp/0871592665

[SoulSail]

Allow me to correct on part deux...

The Little Flowers of Saint Francis Assisi is legend, The Jesus I Never Knew (http://www.amazon.com/The-Jesus-I-Never-Knew/dp/031021923X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1357916997&sr=8-1&keywords=the+jesus+I+never+knew) by Phillip Yancey changed my world for a time...beyond that and my tuner just fades.

Soul

[CFTraveler]

Allow me to correct on part deux...

The Little Flowers of Saint Francis Assisi is legend, The Jesus I Never Knew (http://www.amazon.com/The-Jesus-I-Never-Knew/dp/031021923X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1357916997&sr=8-1&keywords=the+jesus+I+never+knew) by Phillip Yancey changed my world for a time...beyond that and my tuner just fades.

Soul Dang! I 'looked inside' and only read the first page before the Amazon police shut 'the whole thing' down. Now I want to read it.

[Johnthelegoman]

Very intrested. What is religion to you guys? To me it seems to be a lifestyle or set of beliefs but i am young and have much to learn

[ButterflyWoman]

My husband insists that religion is a culture. He's culturally a Christian, because he was raised in it (grandfather was a minister, his mother is still very active in the church as a lay minister, organist, etc.), but, honestly, I don't think he actually subscribes to most of the dogma. I don't think he's even a theist, but he still uses the term "Liberal Christian" to describe himself, because, as he says, that's his family and cultural heritage, and part of his identity. The thing is, he KNOWS this. Most people don't. They insist that they "believe" (and some probably do), but for the vast majority of religious people, it's purely culture and habit, and not actual belief or faith or anything else. It's going through the motions because those are the motions you're supposed to go through (and this is in no way limited to Christianity, by the way; it's true of all religions).

There's also the metaphysical concept of the "egregore" that definitely applies to religion. Wikipedia explains it pretty well, and you can search these boards for the name to read more thoughts on it, but in a nutshell, there's a kind of group-think thoughtform with religion (and politics, and jingoism, and a whole lot of other groups, including families). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egregore

Religion is a complicated thing. It's cultural, social, historical, psychological, magickal, you name it. ;)

[CFTraveler]

Religion is a complicated thing. It's cultural, social, historical, psychological, magickal, you name it. I agree. Synchronicity- I also call myself a 'Liberal Christian'.

[SoulSail]

Very intrested. What is religion to you guys? To me it seems to be a lifestyle or set of beliefs but i am young and have much to learn

I'd say religion is more or less an attempt to order, categorize, and somehow comprehend what exists beyond our comprehensive abilities (with a human mind, at least). Of course, the cultural aspect is so heavily intertwined it's almost impossible to separate.


Soul

[Johnthelegoman]

Soulsail thats a great answer to me. Id like to use it as my own deffinition from now on.. Thanks for the book suggestions im going to look into them and get 1 or two copys of the ones i think are best fitting for us thanks guys