# Spiritual books you'd recommend- **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 11, 2007, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spiritual-books-youd-recommend/407567 "2007-06-11T15:26:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Fuji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a9a28c/32.png) [@Fuji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuji)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2007, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spiritual-books-youd-recommend/407567/21 "2007-06-11T17:47:24Z")
I would recommend: “On the Unseriousness of Human Affairs: Teaching, Writing, Playing, Believing, Lecturing, Philosophizing, Singing, Dancing” by James Schall. The subject matter was actually quite depressing, but the effect was quite uplifting. I’ll also agree with others who have mentioned “The Bhagavad Gita”. It’s actually quite short, written in an entertaining fashion, and of course, quite profound. And just to shake 'em up: “The Denial of Death” by Ernest Becker Well written with savage insights. Precipitated a full-blown existential crisis in my case. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2007, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spiritual-books-youd-recommend/407567/22 "2007-06-11T17:57:18Z")
Alll of Robert Fulghum’s books have a good spiritual bent to them. ---
**Author:** ![Flutterby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Flutterby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flutterby)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2007, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spiritual-books-youd-recommend/407567/23 "2007-06-11T18:01:33Z")
I need to pick up some of these. But I’d like to add The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2007, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spiritual-books-youd-recommend/407567/24 "2007-06-11T20:59:30Z")
[QUOTE=Lord Ashtar] I love how whenever anyone mentions books and spirituality in the same post, someone else has to come in and mention Sagan’s book with a postscript about how stupid spiritual people are. [/QUOTE] Really? If you can find the word “stupid” in my post, I’ll paypal you $5000. What’s funny to me is how defensive some people get if their worldview is questioned. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2007, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spiritual-books-youd-recommend/407567/25 "2007-06-11T21:11:11Z")
[QUOTE=Lord Ashtar] I love how whenever anyone mentions books and spirituality in the same post, someone else has to come in and mention Sagan’s book with a postscript about how stupid spiritual people are. [/QUOTE] Yes, I think this amounts to thread shitting. I’m a stone atheist and a skeptic but I respect those who are spiritual. I have friends who are Jews, Catholics, Buddhists, and Muslims, and I don’t try to convince them they’re wrong. Religion is their trip, I have mine, and that’s fine. If I overheard a group of people discussing their favorite spiritual books I wouldn’t barge in and recommend a book about science, despite that I’d personally prefer the latter to the former. And I wouldn’t do it online, either. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2007, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spiritual-books-youd-recommend/407567/26 "2007-06-11T21:31:52Z")
[QUOTE=Argent Towers] Yes, I think this amounts to thread shitting. I’m a stone atheist and a skeptic but I respect those who are spiritual. I have friends who are Jews, Catholics, Buddhists, and Muslims, and I don’t try to convince them they’re wrong. Religion is their trip, I have mine, and that’s fine. If I overheard a group of people discussing their favorite spiritual books I wouldn’t barge in and recommend a book about science, despite that I’d personally prefer the latter to the former. And I wouldn’t do it online, either. [/QUOTE] My preference is for a spirituality compatible with science. I never understood why those two ways of understanding the world are always portrayed as invariably _antagonistic_ rather than complementary. To my way of thinking, there is but one universe out there; science is a good tool to explore the physical aspects of it, the _what_ of it if you will; and spirituality is a tool to explore the _why_ of it. The two tools I think work well together. The big drawback of spiritual or mystic thinking, when it goes bad, is woolly-headedness and the tendancy to believe in the physical reality of mythology and magic (which can lead to inhumanity); the big drawback of scientific thinking, when it goes bad, is the tendency towards egotistic thinking that leads to inhumanity. Scientific thinking keeps mystic thinking sane, and mystic thinking keeps scientific thinking human, for a net benefit all around. Indeed, one can lead to the other. Many a scientist has found, in the study of the natural world, an increased sense of wonder and interconnectedness that can only be described as “mystic” or “spiritual”; a truly religious/spiritual/mystic person would, in pursuing his or her love of the diety, wish to know as much as possible about the physical manifestation of it, and so turn to science as an act of love. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2007, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spiritual-books-youd-recommend/407567/27 "2007-06-11T21:34:58Z")
I think you’re right. What I object to is using the term “fairy tales” to dismiss someone’s spirituality. It’s a loaded term that carries connotations of childishness and frivolity, and we all know it. So please, be more respectful. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2007, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spiritual-books-youd-recommend/407567/28 "2007-06-11T21:45:34Z")
This is an interesting thread. Please let’s not derail it into the 4,000th “spirituality, good or bad” noisefest. ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2007, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spiritual-books-youd-recommend/407567/29 "2007-06-11T22:01:17Z")
I enjoyed: **Illusions:** Richard Bach **Celestine Prophecy** all of them. James Redfield **Compass of the Soul** Most of Andrew Weil’s philosophies… I actually enjoyed \*\*the Secret \*\* quite a bit. One doesn’t have to intellectualize EVERYTHING, right? ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2007, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spiritual-books-youd-recommend/407567/30 "2007-06-11T22:16:27Z")
I would suggest starting with a book covering a variety of ideas. Something like Bertrand Russell’s History of Western Philosophy. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2007, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spiritual-books-youd-recommend/407567/31 "2007-06-12T00:10:11Z")
I suggest Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. By Robert Persig ---
**Author:** ![fessie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@fessie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fessie)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2007, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spiritual-books-youd-recommend/407567/32 "2007-06-12T00:58:04Z")
_Gone With the Wind_ by Margaret Mitchell _Illusions_ by Richard Bach _Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance_ by Robert M. Pirsig _If You Meet the Buddha in the Road, Kill Him_ by Sheldon Kopp _Tao Te Ching_ by Lao Tzu _Franny and Zooey_ by J.D. Salinger _Raise High the Roofbeam, Carpenters_ and _Seymour, an Introduction_ by J.D. Salinger _Man’s Search for Meaning_ by Victor Frankl _The Four Noble Truths_ by the Dalai Lama _Loving What Is_ by Byron Katie _Conversations with God_ by Neale Donald Walsch _The Cliff Walk_ by Don J. Snyder _The Doors of Perception_ by Aldous Huxley ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2007, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spiritual-books-youd-recommend/407567/33 "2007-06-12T01:12:02Z")
[_Small Gods,_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_gods) Terry Pratchett. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2007, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spiritual-books-youd-recommend/407567/34 "2007-06-12T02:29:21Z")
[QUOTE=RikWriter] Really? If you can find the word “stupid” in my post, I’ll paypal you $5000. What’s funny to me is how defensive some people get if their worldview is questioned. [/QUOTE] If you thought _Demon Haunted World_ was directed at spiritual people and helping them learn how to not lean on “fairy tails” so they could “depend on themselves”, then you didn’t understand the book. I recommend rereading the book, this time for comprehension. ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2007, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spiritual-books-youd-recommend/407567/35 "2007-06-12T02:53:11Z")
[QUOTE=Lord Ashtar] If you thought _Demon Haunted World_ was directed at spiritual people and helping them learn how to not lean on “fairy tails” so they could “depend on themselves”, then you didn’t understand the book. I recommend rereading the book, this time for comprehension. [/QUOTE] You also might try rereading the book in question. It was most certainly directed at people who would read such books as The Secret, mentioned in the OP. But you’re too busy trying to put words in my mouth to do that, I suppose. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2007, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spiritual-books-youd-recommend/407567/36 "2007-06-12T07:09:22Z")
We must not omit [_Principia Discordia, Or How I Found Goddess and What I Did to Her When I Found Her,_](http://www.principiadiscordia.com/) by Malaclypse the Younger. And – immeasurably more spiritually meaningful, insightful and truthful than **anything** listed in this thread so far – [_The Book of the SubGenius!_](http://www.subgenius.com/bigfist/classic/classics/X0003_botsg-intro.html) ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2007, 9:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spiritual-books-youd-recommend/407567/37 "2007-06-12T09:41:51Z")
[QUOTE=Arnold Winkelried] I would suggest starting with a book covering a variety of ideas. Something like Bertrand Russell’s History of Western Philosophy. [/QUOTE] That’s certainly a good book to read, but not all philosophies — especially not all Western philosophies — are spritual. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2007, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spiritual-books-youd-recommend/407567/38 "2007-06-12T13:47:00Z")
[QUOTE=RikWriter] You also might try rereading the book in question. It was most certainly directed at people who would read such books as The Secret, mentioned in the OP. But you’re too busy trying to put words in my mouth to do that, I suppose. [/QUOTE] I would think Sagan would encourage reading the book with a skeptical mind. If you think that amounts to learning how to not depend on “fairy tails” to know how to live one’s life, then I refer you back to my last post. ---
**Author:** ![Lissla\_Lissar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lissla\_Lissar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissla_Lissar)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2007, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spiritual-books-youd-recommend/407567/39 "2007-06-12T14:14:25Z")
**ITR Champion** stole my list. I’ll add: _As I Lay Dying_- Richard John Neuhaus _Pilgrim at Tinker Creek_- Annie Dillard _Gilead_- Marilynne Robinson _My Utmost for His Highest_ Specifically for Catholics or liturgical Christians, I’d probably add: _Swimming with Scapulars_- Matthew Lickona _The Seven Storey Mountain_- Thomas Merton _The Divine Comedy_ I’m sure there are lots of others, but I can’t think of them right now. I’d be more inclined in general to recommend books that I’ve found life-changing than how-to guides, but that’s at least partly because I have no experience with how-to guides, and therefore can’t recommend any from personal experience. ---
**Author:** ![delsol](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6f9a4e/32.png) [@delsol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delsol)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2007, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spiritual-books-youd-recommend/407567/40 "2007-06-12T14:52:32Z")
I suggest The Celestine Prophecy by James Redfield, also Conversations With God,by another author. And the Bible! I wanted to introduce myself really quickly, wasn’t sure where I could so formally. I am new and I just wanted to say hi! I live in N. Va, and work in marketing for [Bud.tv](http://Bud.tv) which has been so awesome thus far. On the weekends I like to stay active and with the weather being so good, I love to tan and swim! Look forward to chatting with everyone really soon. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spiritual-books-youd-recommend/407567.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spiritual-books-youd-recommend/407567.md?page=3)