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So this is my first forum topic. I just want to do a short one to get a discussion going. This one is about “The most influential book in my life has been…”
Mine is Krishnamurti’s, “The Urgency of Change”. I know it isn’t Christian. When I shared this with others so many years ago, they told me I was backslidden, a heretic, a mystic, a Buddhist or Hindu, and in trouble. But it has been the most revolutionary spiritual book in my life.
What’s yours?
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This topic was modified 2 years, 2 months ago by
David Hayward.
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This topic was modified 1 year, 11 months ago by David Hayward.
AnonymousLiving Buddha, Living Christ by Thich Nhat Hahn. It finally helped me begin to open my eyes to Christianity and Jesus again after I’d been so soured on it. I don’t know if I’d ever have been able to see it the way I do now without the book. I started calling myself a Buddhistian after I read the book. I only stopped because so many Christians would yell at me and tell me I can’t be a Buddhist AND a Christian because God is a jealous God and idol worshippers go to hell, etc. Using Thich Nhat Hahn as an example, I believe Buddhists can be great Christians!
That is a good book. I own many of Thich Nhat Hahn’s books.
AnonymousI like Thich Nhat Hanh’s books – I feel peaceful reading them. I remember reading “Living Buddha, Living Christ” some years ago, and it resonated with me on how similar the basic teachings of Jesus and Buddha are.
As for the most influential book in my life, “God is not a christian, nor a jew, muslim, hindu – God dwells with us, in us, around us, as us” by Carlton Pearson came to mind. I bought it about 1-2 years ago, when I was transitioning from christianity to a more inclusive form of spirituality.
Many of the things he shared in the first half of the book coincide with the things I have been learning in my journey, such as the expose of the myths of a literal hell and a literal devil and a literal second coming of Christ.
The second half of the book presents some expansive and progressive ideas about spirituality that is inclusive and universal. I find myself returning to read and appreciate and reflect on his ideas time and again, in awe and wonder of the revelations he shared about our divinity in humanity.
AnonymousFor me… Henri Nouwen, Reaching Out. I read this book the first time over twenty-five years ago. I had never read an author who described so well what I could not about the interior journey with self, others and God. Over the years I return to read it and find new something new.
Interesting the similarities.
AnonymousThe book that resonated so loudly with how I was feeling was Carlton Pearson’s “The Gospel of Inclusion.” I can remember hearing my pastor bash his name and condemn him to hell from the pulpit when the book was published years ago, but when I finally read it, I was filled with PEACE!
He TxGal… that has happened to me so many times. Whenever I was warned about a book or author, I immediately read it. And it was almost always a good thing.
AnonymousI especially love Brennan Manning’s book, “The Furious Longing of God.”
I hear lots of controversy about Rob Bell’s book Love Wins. I’ll take that as a sign that I should probably read it. Any comments on his book? Sorry if this is the wrong forum for the second part of my answer. I am brand new to the site.
That’s totally okay jo. relax. none of us bite i don’t think.
Jo White, I liked Rob Bell’s book. Love does Win.
I recently heard Thich Nhat Hanh speak. He was awesome.
that must’ve been great starfielder.
AnonymousThanks David and thanks Starfielder for your comment on the Love Wins book!
David, He was inspiring.
Just found this thread, and thought it was perfect for me… until I thought about it.
I am never not reading. (Yes, I do put the reader down once in awhile, but that’s just a pause for digetstion, lol.) So it’s hard to figure out which book changed me most.
After some thought, I want to say that it was two books, read in juxtaposition. One is Thich Nhat Hanh’s very challenging Understanding Our Mind, and the other is Daniel Dennett’s Consciousness Explained. I read them at the same time (actually didn’t manage to finish Dennett’s book, but in my defense, it’s like 900 pages of very small type, densely argued and with copious notes — I think I managed to get through about 600 pages). This was within a year of my decision to start meditating. I began to use the verses from Thich Nhat Hanh’s book as meditation seeds, and in fact I still do that on occasion. My understanding of what it means to be a human being was twisted into radical new shapes as I began to see the commonalities between these two approaches to consciousness.
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