I myself have read the Bible and the Kuran but never managed to get convinced by either. I was raised as a Catholic and we regularly went to church when I was younger. Eventually I stopped going and so did my parents really. I consider myself an atheist.
Some parts of both books seemed very reasonable to me and I have to say I’d be more inclined to agree with a lot of things in the Kuran for some reason. But there were also parts that I didn’t agree with. And parts I have no opinion on (no hunting during Hajj for example, as a vegan and someone who is not doing pilgrimmage).
Anyway I’ve always been interested in religion and I’d like to read some religious/spiritual books to take breaks from the marxist stuff from time to time. Maybe Budhism or something. What would you suggest?
Hindu texts have been the most interesting outside of the Bible for me, they are incredibly ancient and the Bhagavad Gita is insightful and interesting to study both spiritually and academically
more inclined to agree with a lot of things in the Kuran for some reason
I read both too and there is a reason, namely time of writing, Muhammad knew the previous books well and he had the time to revise and streamline.
Anyway, maybe not an active religious text, but i can recommend “The Greek Myths” by Robert Graves, probably the best compilation and commentary on the topic, especially he does concentrate on religion there.
I’m a Buddhist, and can suggest some texts:
- Walpola Rahula - What the Buddha Taught. Audiobook. The best introduction to the main Buddhist concepts: The Four Noble Truths, the Noble Eightfold path, the three marks of existence, and the five hindrances.
- Bhante Gunaratana - Mindfulness in Plain English. Audiobook . The best introductory meditation manual, to get you started.
- Ron Purser - McMindfulness. Audiobook. Goes into depth on how mindfulness practices are and have been historically used in the pursuit of increasing exploitation and profit.
also What Makes You Not a Buddhist by Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse
and a core text, The Dhammapada , Gil Fronsdal has an accessible english translation
“I was raised as a Catholic and we regularly went to church when I was younger. Eventually I stopped going and so did my parents really. I consider myself an atheist.” This is me too. I can relate to that feeling, even the part about wanting to read the Quran
I’m reading the Bible but due to other responsibilities I’m still not done with Genesis.
i used to be some kind of christian fundamentalist (anti-abortion, anti-fun et al), then i read the quran, buddhist sutras, bhagavad-gita, but maybe the hardships of life made me kinda cynic and i had to look another answer besides “god’s will™”…so i know something about spirituality.
-books? can i interest you in “A Discourse Against the Christians by Celsus”? that’s a pretty cool book revealing the contradictions of christianism
-“the devil’s notebook” of lavey is interesting too
Do you find any value in LeVayan satanism, or do you just like learning about weird stuff? I don’t really like the Ayn Randian hedonism, but it is fun to troll Christians.
well…there’s interesting things on lavey’s writings, but i think about laveyanism more like “edgy atheism” with a pinch of libertarianism more than genuine satanism, given his own interpretations about satan and religiousness
Ive read many versions of the Bible when I was Christian. I’d like to read the Quran, but it’s low priority in terms of books. I recommend reading anything @anarchospirituality recommends in his free ebook archives. And have recently enjoyed Bear Awareness. I’m still skeptical of the supernatural aspects, but it’s helped me understand Buddhism more.
