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?
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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.
