Anxiety is awful and is probably the villain here. It doesn’t have to be logical: some part of you is cringing about past mistakes or awkwardness and you can’t see over the protective fence your mind built.
Here’s a quote from a book by Alan Watts, The Book: On the taboo against Knowing Who You Are: “the ego is indeed a fake—a wall of defense around a wall of defense, around nothing.”
I try to remember that what I’m protecting when I dread interacting with other people is imaginary. Sometimes it works, sometimes I just avoid things. Your choice.
Just a heads up, the paperback version on the Amazon link doesn't appear to be the Hays translation. I ordered after seeing your post (thanks!) and used this link:
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/0812968255/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Might want to edit in smile. before your link as well so charity gets some $$$. :)
Sure - he was a psychologist at Harvard and a friend of Timothy Leary - but you probably knew that already. The best way to learn more about his philosophy is to read his first book, Be Here Now. https://www.amazon.com/Be-Here-Now-Ram-Dass/dp/0517543052
First, a quote: "Never let the future disturb you. You will meet it, if you have to, with the same weapons of reason which today arm you against the present." - Marcus Aurelius
Second, seriously, buy the book of wisdom about him. I promise you it's on the shelf with dog-eared pages of every successful person you'll ever meet.
Third, don't worry about the world ending. It's not, it won't.
You're living in literally (literally) the safest, most prosperous time in all of human history. You're fine. Shit is fine.
Get of social media. You're being mislead by dumb people saying dumb things about stuff they don't, nor ever will, understand.
You're just being subjected to the information overload fallacy. That's all.
You think what your read is real. It's not. Example, gun violence in America has fallen to all time historic lows, but reporting on gun violence in the last 20 years has increased 300%. So people think there's some crisis now, when it's the safest it's ever been.
You're fine. The planet is fine. The US is fine. Go enjoy life.
Honestly many translations of the Bhagavad Gita are very accessible, even to newcomers, and give a good overall view of many of the core principles and beliefs.
Checkout Easwaran's version for one that's both very inexpensive as well as tremendously friendly to newcomers and westerners alike with it's introduction and commentaries.
I can’t stress this enough friend.
Read the Gita.
As RD says, read it first as a story. A second time as Arjuna and the third time as Krishna…because that is ultimately who you are.
The Bhagavad Gita https://www.amazon.ca/dp/1586380192/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_i_WGAYF2A8QC0G61ETB6DR
When you’ve done this, you will see what the next steps are
Namaste
I have this version. It is great. Whenever I read a passage from it I have to sit back and think for a while because it blows my mind.
OP, I think you will benefit from reading it. It uses plain English. Here it is on amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/Meditations-New-Translation-Marcus-Aurelius/dp/0812968255
The Meditations, fortunately, have been widely published and are almost certainly available in your native language.
There's a book called "Be Here Now" by Ram Dass. He was a another harvard professor who explored psychedelics and went to India. The middle (brown paper) section of the book is hand illustrated and is meant to be read while tripping. It is by far the best book I've ever tripped on and I'm not the only one. Here is the Amazon link if you're interested.
Jim?
Hays tr.: https://www.amazon.com/Meditations-New-Translation-Marcus-Aurelius/dp/0812968255
Hard tr.: https://www.amazon.com/Meditations-selected-correspondence-Oxford-Classics/dp/0199573204
Links go to the American Amazon store.
I started with The Book and I think it is as good as any place to start: https://www.amazon.com/Book-Taboo-Against-Knowing-Who/dp/0679723005
Then I would suggest The Watercourse Way and The Way of Zen.
There are also many great things on YouTube.
Enjoy! And remember not to take it all too seriously!
If I could only choose one addition: The Bhagavad Gita
It's a timeless classic that's studied read and studied by both religious and non-religious folks. (Also, it's fairly short as religious texts go, and a very easy read compared to most!)
I like the romanticism, wit and the dealing with a Christian background of Alan Watts and this is his first all encompassing book which I find pretty accessible (save what words can say about this, which he acknowledges (https://www.amazon.com/dp/0307741206/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_GZjjFbY3JQX1Z). Love those other suggestions too, you'll find something that speaks to you!
I got the paperback edition just cause I like having physical copies of things, but I think the kindle one is free
I have this one and found it quite easy to follow: https://www.amazon.com/Meditations-New-Translation-Marcus-Aurelius/dp/0812968255/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=meditations+marcus+aurelius&qid=1627377611&sprefix=meditations&sr=8-1
Marcus Aurelius - Meditations - He's a Roman emperor, but his thought practices are heavily based on Greek Stoicism.
Plato's Republic - This one is more about the discipline required from individuals for society to thrive as a whole, but he's a Greek philosopher, so it's an interesting read in that regard. Plato thought that Sparta's militaristic-discipline style of society was really neat, which is evident in this book.
Yep, definitely. As an example from my faith, just about everyone who's studied philosophy or ethics at a college level has read the Bhagavad Gita.
And I think there's a lot of history and context to be gained from studying religions as well. The only advice I would give is to make sure whatever versions you read have good annotations/commentary, or you read them alongside some sort of study guide. (Especially if it's a religion someone is unfamiliar with, as there's a lot we can unknowingly miss without a lot of historic and cultural context.)
The Hays translation of Meditations might work for you: https://www.amazon.com/Meditations-New-Translation-Marcus-Aurelius/dp/0812968255
Written in a more modern writing style but keeps a lot of the insights intact. Like you I have trouble reading philosophy books for attention reasons but this one worked for me 🙂
Yep, religious studies is definitely something you can pursue academically, and make a career out of if you want to. I don't think anyone can guarantee that it would be the most glamorous lifestyle (monetary-wise), but if you enjoy what you do..... that matters a lot less, right?
From the perspective of my faith (Hindu).... if I had to make one recommendation to someone who wanted to learn more, I would recommend one book:
This version is relatively inexpensive, and is perfect for an English-speaking, western-audience, with little to no prior knowledge of Hinduism. The commentary is fantastic, very accessible, and gives you a grand overview of most concepts in Hinduism (straight from one of, if not the, most influential sacred text of the faith).
Again, for an actual career, you'll definitely want to pursue things academically in a college/university setting, but I wanted to give you that suggestion as I'm not sure how close you are to that point (age-wise, financially, etc.) in case you wanted a next-step you can take now.
https://www.amazon.com/Meditations-New-Translation-Marcus-Aurelius/dp/0812968255/ref=pd_lpo_14_t_0/144-6026304-7578803?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=0812968255&pd_rd_r=3c0c10b0-31d2-4232-ac63-65b49110b8f4&pd_rd_w=4zLhc&pd_rd_wg=GokA7&pf_rd_p=337be819-13af-4fb9-8b3e-a5291c097ebb&pf_rd_r=X3GM2KYEYN7P8JXDHN0R&psc=1&refRID=X3GM2KYEYN7P8JXDHN0R pen, and highlighter read. This helped me a lot. Also seeing a therapist
Hmm this is not on the genre you asked but I would advice to give him meditations by Marcus Aurelius, Stoicism has been a Philosophy that has helped me throughout my life in any given situation. Another one would be The wisdom of the enneagram by don Richard Riso, two of the best books I’ve ever read.
Again this is not the genre you asked for but it’s my two cents, both of them helped me to find a profound knowledge of myself my soul and my psyche and all 3 of this are infinite.
Best of luck
Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
It is written by the man himself and filled with a lot of stoic wisdom that has become the basis for many of today's self help books. As a former military man it might strike a chord with him. It also doesn't come across as a "self-help" book since it is basically Marcus's personal reflections to himself.
Good for you! Many libraries participate in Inter-Library Loans, so I hope yours can find it for you.
BTW, Amazon has it for $6-$8; plus a PDF of random pages so you could get an idea of it. https://www.amazon.com/Light-Yoga-B-K-Iyengar/dp/0805210318
Sure thing! Make sure you order the paperback version - supposedly amazon likes to change translations depending on what format you pick.
if you like buddhism you might also like stoicism. i read buddhist stuff for years and liked it a lot (esp "The Wise Heart"). i felt like getting into stoicism made buddhism more complete.
the are basically the same thing, but from the western point of view. i dont control what happens to me only how i react what happens to me. also , just accept that life is suffering.
this version of "Meditations" by Marcus Aurelius is good (black book with red bird on cover). your local book store might even have it.
https://www.amazon.com/Meditations-New-Translation-Marcus-Aurelius/dp/0812968255/
youtube also has several videos on stocism i found very helpful.
this one is dark, but funny
> to me i'd rather instead take action
> you yourself could take action to resolve
In that case... do I ever have the religious book for you. This is also worth a look expanding on the specific focus of action: link
A really interesting book that talks about life in the modern world, and spirituality, and frames it in a philosophical nature with regard to how people relate to ourselves and each other --- is called The Book by a man named Alan Watts.
He's dead now, but he was a westerner, yet a Zen Buddhist philosopher who wrote about the idea of being here now, living in the moment, and how we are all connected and part of one collective humanity.
I read it when I was much younger, and it really opened my mind to a lot of thoughts about the nature of humans and the universe we live in. I don't think it's too technical, I think it is accessible and fairly down-to-earth given the nature of the subject matter.
Check out this book on Goodreads:
The Book on the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60551.The_Book_on_the_Taboo_Against_Knowing_Who_You_Are
Amazon:
The Book: On the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are https://www.amazon.com/dp/0679723005/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_2WfxEbWJMFXXP
I agree, drugs do not do anything special you could not do by yourself. However, they are a way to alter your perspective. They are not the only way, but they are not an inferior or superior way; they are merely different.
I do read books, and I'd like to recommend The Book on the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are by Alan Watts. That book has successfully altered a lot of perspectives and refined my own.
Try Philosophy if you are a deep thinker.
The name of the the book is actually "The Book" - https://www.amazon.com/Book-Taboo-Against-Knowing-Who/dp/0679723005.
I definitely understand the feeling of knowing the right place to stand. The truth is, there is no right or wrong place to stand. Just standing. It gets really messy when we are trying to work things out when we also try to figure out the right and wrongs of it all. There may be right or wrong ways to act out how we feel, but there are no wrong feelings per se. The spinning compass could indicate there is nowhere to go, you're exactly where you need to be at this time. Maybe it isn't pleasant, but it's also not forever.