Churchless books and sites to explore

One of my most enjoyable blogging benefits is learning what inspires Church of the Churchless visitors. Amazon benefits also, because I’ve bought quite a few books after hearing about them from an email or post comment.

Here are some titles that have come to my attention recently. I’ll also throw in several web sites that either are related to authors of those books, or stand alone as interesting sites to explore.

The Secret of the Golden Flower. Amazon delivered this Taoist/Buddhist meditation guide yesterday. I’m already about half way through this short book. I like it.

The Mind and the Way: Buddhist Reflections on Life. Looks interesting. But struck me as similar to other Buddhist books in my library. Will probably hold off on getting this title until my backlog of unfinished books clears up.

Collision With the Infinite: A Life Beyond the Personal Self. A lot of people clearly resonate with the author, Suzanne Segal. I’ve read Bernadette Roberts’ “no-self” books, so decided to pass on this one for the time being, as it struck me as Roberts-like.

Emptiness Dancing. The title alone drew me in. This book by Adyashanti is on its way to me from an Amazon-associated seller. I have a feeling I’m going to like it.

Spiritual Humanism. This web site describes Möller de la Rouvière’s philosophy and his book, “Spirituality Without God.” Yes, I’m reading his book too. My big spiritual bet is that when I die and reach the Pearly Gates, there will be a heaven entrance exam that covers material from my metaphysical and philosophical readings.

Christianity Meme. Any web site that calls Christianity “a mind virus that controls human behavior to facilitate its own survival” has to get a thumbs-up.

U.G. Krishnamurti. Not to be confused with J. Krishnamurti, this web site describes U.G. as a “spiritual terrorist” whose message is a “grenade in the brain.” Sounds good. Otherwise, I don’t know much about him yet.

Distributed unconsciousness. Doesn’t have quite the same ring to it as “God,” “Tao,” or “Brahman,” but it seems to be billed as a modern way of describing the ultimate. Who knew? And who knew about WikiReason? I didn’t, until I was led to this site.

The Natural Taoist. Another WikiReason site that I found via the previous link. Based on a quick look, it appears worth a closer reading. I consider myself a Taoist. And natural.

Comments

[Edward]

On Having No Head: Zen and the Rediscovery of the Obvious
by Douglas E. Harding

[Brian]

Edward, thanks for the addition. I've read Harding's book. But I still seem to have a head. Must be doing something wrong. Need a sharper samurai sword, I guess.

Here's a web site about Harding's having no head:
http://www.headless.org/English/main.html

There's a nice collection of links on the site for those who still have a head, and want to use it:
http://www.headless.org/English/extra.html