hyperion - dan simmons
<Ringworm>hehehe, it's all fun and games till someone loses an "I"
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I recommend Tomorrow and Beyond  It has an amazing collection of sci-fi art!
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I just got the book "The Encyclopedia of Psychoactive Plants: Ethnopharmacology and its Applications" Its by Christian Ratsch Look..Listen to me.. you all need to hear me out. GET THIS BOOK.. Whether you buy it on amazon or rent it from your local library( what I did). You need to see how much information this book has.. I would start listing things that blew me away but I would be typing all night. They have every plant you can think of and list them very well and are indepth.. Just do yourself a favor and get this book...Wow.. "Think more than you speak"
"How do you get rid of the pain of having pain in the first place? You get rid of expectations"
"You are everything that is. Open yourself to the love and understanding that is available."
"To see God, you have to have met the Devil."
"When you know how to listen, everyone becomes a guru."
" One time, I didn't do anything, and it was so empty... Almost as if I wasn't doing anything. Then I wrote about it. It was fulfilling."
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currently reading this : The Heart of Recognition: The Wisdom and Practices of the Pratyabhijna Hrdayam by Swami Khecaranatha.  Quite cool. It seems Kashmir Shaivism and a lot of the tantric philosphies give 'names' to concepts i've thought of before but not had them arranged as consisely with an actual conceptual 'gloassary' to bring perspective to how it all fits together. Tis basically the art of liberation through direct recognition of the non-dual source of one-ness that is in all things that manifests into multiplicy , and sepeartion,veil of maya, ego etc. Just to find it's self again and pierce the veiel.
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The Unsettling of America: Culture & Agriculture New Collected Poems Blessed Are the Peacemakers: Christ's Teachings About Love, Compassion and Forgiveness - Wendell Berry Especially that last book, gave me a new perspective on Christianity and exactly how its changed over the last 2000 years, at least in terms of beliefs/actions of Christians. Wendell berry is a true intellectual and Renaissance man, with a way with words few have. Jesus was a revolutionary who was nailed to a cross for having too much love to give. Then we founded a hypocritical institutionalized religion with him as a false martyr. Everything he would be against,  , but not all Christians are like that. Coming from a christian scientist upbringing, i can say they are pretty close to what Jesus was all about more or less. And off the topic of Wendell Berry, one of my all time favorite pieces of literature- Walden and Civil Disobedience -Henry David Thoreau Like Berrys work, best read deep out in the heart of nature, preferably with the enhanced perception psychedelics can offer, for me it was mescaline and an rock mound known to the native Americans for hundreds of years near my mountainous town of residence. Like changing experience  . "let those who have talked to the elves, find each other and band together" -TMK
In a society in which nearly everybody is dominated by somebody else's mind or by a disembodied mind, it becomes increasingly difficult to learn the truth about the activities of governments and corporations, about the quality or value of products, or about the health of one's own place and economy.
In such a society, also, our private economies will depend less upon the private ownership of real, usable property, and more upon property that is institutional and abstract, beyond individual control, such as money, insurance policies, certificates of deposit, stocks, etc. And as our private economies become more abstract, the mutual, free helps and pleasures of family and community life will be supplanted by a kind of displaced citizenship and by commerce with impersonal and self-interested suppliers...
The great enemy of freedom is the alignment of political power with wealth. This alignment destroys the commonwealth - that is, the natural wealth of localities and the local economies of household, neighborhood, and community - and so destroys democracy, of which the commonwealth is the foundation and practical means.” - Wendell Berry
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Fear And Loathing in Las Vegas-Hunter S Thompson What Dreams May Come- Richard Matheson A Scanner Darkly-Philip K Dick Survivor-Chuck Palanuik American Gods-Neil Gaimen Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep-Philip K Dick Neuromancer- William Gibson "Today a young man on acid realized that all matter is merely energy condensed to a slow vibration, that we are all one consciousness experiencing itself subjectively, there is no such thing as death, life is only a dream, and we are the imagination of ourselves. Here’s Tom with the weather."
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I'm not well-read but these are some of the finest and most important (to me) books that I've read: Glass Bead Game and Siddhartha by Hesse Gorgias by Plato Catch-22 by Heller Slaughterhouse-Five and Mother Night by Vonnegut Girl with Curious Hair and Oblivion: Stories by DFW Kafka on the Shore by Murakami The Castle by Kafka A Personal Matter and The Silent Cry by Oe On the Nature of Things by Lucretius The Birds by Aristophanes Hmph, there are some I'm forgetting. Well, I guess I'm a sucker for fiction. The Day Tripper wrote:Jesus was a revolutionary who was nailed to a cross for having too much love to give. Then we founded a hypocritical institutionalized religion with him as a false martyr. Everything he would be against, , but not all Christians are like that. Coming from a christian scientist upbringing, i can say they are pretty close to what Jesus was all about more or less. Jesus was a nut, and fictional besides. 
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Amy S wrote:I'm not well-read but these are some of the finest and most important (to me) books that I've read: Glass Bead Game and Siddhartha by Hesse Gorgias by Plato Catch-22 by Heller Slaughterhouse-Five and Mother Night by Vonnegut Girl with Curious Hair and Oblivion: Stories by DFW Kafka on the Shore by Murakami The Castle by Kafka A Personal Matter and The Silent Cry by Oe On the Nature of Things by Lucretius The Birds by Aristophanes Hmph, there are some I'm forgetting. Well, I guess I'm a sucker for fiction. The Day Tripper wrote:Jesus was a revolutionary who was nailed to a cross for having too much love to give. Then we founded a hypocritical institutionalized religion with him as a false martyr. Everything he would be against, , but not all Christians are like that. Coming from a christian scientist upbringing, i can say they are pretty close to what Jesus was all about more or less. Jesus was a nut, and fictional besides. Well lets not get too off topic, but its open to interperetation. I know a countryfull of people that would call us "nuts" for doing what we do, taking the drugs we take, and saying what we say. And fictional or not (got some evidence either way bud?), you can't read what people say he said in the bible and say its all BS. Theres truth in everyones perspective, in varying amounts. And yes, Jesus was there to rage against the machine, and the STORY (metaphorical, true, fiction or not, isnt worth arguing about without evidence) of how things went down is pretty much in line with my post. He was there to bring religion out of the temples and into the streets, ad-hoc, decentralize the whole affair. Look how things turned out. "let those who have talked to the elves, find each other and band together" -TMK
In a society in which nearly everybody is dominated by somebody else's mind or by a disembodied mind, it becomes increasingly difficult to learn the truth about the activities of governments and corporations, about the quality or value of products, or about the health of one's own place and economy.
In such a society, also, our private economies will depend less upon the private ownership of real, usable property, and more upon property that is institutional and abstract, beyond individual control, such as money, insurance policies, certificates of deposit, stocks, etc. And as our private economies become more abstract, the mutual, free helps and pleasures of family and community life will be supplanted by a kind of displaced citizenship and by commerce with impersonal and self-interested suppliers...
The great enemy of freedom is the alignment of political power with wealth. This alignment destroys the commonwealth - that is, the natural wealth of localities and the local economies of household, neighborhood, and community - and so destroys democracy, of which the commonwealth is the foundation and practical means.” - Wendell Berry
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There's no evidence he existed, that's evidence enough right there.  I would say things didn't turn out very well at all! A lot of his teachings are pretty messed up, if you think about them carefully. Not that they really got followed. But I'd say there were quite a few people much more influential than Jesus that actually shaped Christianity over the centuries.
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House, I read a post by you yesterday and was opened up to the author Philip K. Dick. He is amazing! I got a collection of his stories, Volume II. He write in such a cynical, creepy way. So fantastic!! Thank you for mentioning him on the forums! "Think more than you speak"
"How do you get rid of the pain of having pain in the first place? You get rid of expectations"
"You are everything that is. Open yourself to the love and understanding that is available."
"To see God, you have to have met the Devil."
"When you know how to listen, everyone becomes a guru."
" One time, I didn't do anything, and it was so empty... Almost as if I wasn't doing anything. Then I wrote about it. It was fulfilling."
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Amy S wrote:There's no evidence he existed, that's evidence enough right there.  Bart Ehrman (who is a secular agnostic) wrote:[Jesus] certainly existed, as virtually every competent scholar of antiquity, Christian or non-Christian, agrees. "The infinite vibratory levels, the dimensions of interconnectedness are without end." -- Alex Grey
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Amy S wrote:There's no evidence he existed, that's evidence enough right there. I would say things didn't turn out very well at all! A lot of his teachings are pretty messed up, if you think about them carefully. Not that they really got followed. But I'd say there were quite a few people much more influential than Jesus that actually shaped Christianity over the centuries. Never said he existed. I said the story of jesus, fictional, metaphorical, or whatnot, tells a tale of an enlightened individual who preached decentralized reform of theism at the time, and unrestrained love/understanding/empathy for everyone, including your enemies. You can't read the bible and call anything in there non-fiction. But you can read it as a book and say, hey, whats being said here makes sense. Theres a lot of moral/ethical stuff in that book that cannot be marginalized, and yes, it shares many commonalities with other religions throught the ages. I think you are mistaking me for a christian, or someone who takes the biblical text as factual in any way. I walk under no banner, and pick up spiritual bits and pieces from many different spiritual teachings, some religious, some not. "let those who have talked to the elves, find each other and band together" -TMK
In a society in which nearly everybody is dominated by somebody else's mind or by a disembodied mind, it becomes increasingly difficult to learn the truth about the activities of governments and corporations, about the quality or value of products, or about the health of one's own place and economy.
In such a society, also, our private economies will depend less upon the private ownership of real, usable property, and more upon property that is institutional and abstract, beyond individual control, such as money, insurance policies, certificates of deposit, stocks, etc. And as our private economies become more abstract, the mutual, free helps and pleasures of family and community life will be supplanted by a kind of displaced citizenship and by commerce with impersonal and self-interested suppliers...
The great enemy of freedom is the alignment of political power with wealth. This alignment destroys the commonwealth - that is, the natural wealth of localities and the local economies of household, neighborhood, and community - and so destroys democracy, of which the commonwealth is the foundation and practical means.” - Wendell Berry
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Just ran across this public domain booklet by Elbert Hubbard, describing his viewpoints regarding law, war, and government. JesusWasAnAnarchist.pdfGood stuff "let those who have talked to the elves, find each other and band together" -TMK
In a society in which nearly everybody is dominated by somebody else's mind or by a disembodied mind, it becomes increasingly difficult to learn the truth about the activities of governments and corporations, about the quality or value of products, or about the health of one's own place and economy.
In such a society, also, our private economies will depend less upon the private ownership of real, usable property, and more upon property that is institutional and abstract, beyond individual control, such as money, insurance policies, certificates of deposit, stocks, etc. And as our private economies become more abstract, the mutual, free helps and pleasures of family and community life will be supplanted by a kind of displaced citizenship and by commerce with impersonal and self-interested suppliers...
The great enemy of freedom is the alignment of political power with wealth. This alignment destroys the commonwealth - that is, the natural wealth of localities and the local economies of household, neighborhood, and community - and so destroys democracy, of which the commonwealth is the foundation and practical means.” - Wendell Berry
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Singing to the Plants by Steve Beyer taina naina nainí
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Not sure if anyone mentioned these books but I will repeat them even if someone has! -Out of The Silent Planet by C.S. Lewis -The Gods Themselves by Isaac Asimov -The End of Eternity by Isaac Asimov -The Shadow of the Torturer(And following books in series if you like) by Gene Wolfe All are SciFi, enjoy! "Think more than you speak"
"How do you get rid of the pain of having pain in the first place? You get rid of expectations"
"You are everything that is. Open yourself to the love and understanding that is available."
"To see God, you have to have met the Devil."
"When you know how to listen, everyone becomes a guru."
" One time, I didn't do anything, and it was so empty... Almost as if I wasn't doing anything. Then I wrote about it. It was fulfilling."
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DeDao wrote:Not sure if anyone mentioned these books but I will repeat them even if someone has!
-Out of The Silent Planet by C.S. Lewis
-The Gods Themselves by Isaac Asimov
-The End of Eternity by Isaac Asimov
-The Shadow of the Torturer(And following books in series if you like) by Gene Wolfe
All are SciFi, enjoy! Ah, Out of The Silent Planet, i remember reading that back in my jr high years. Fantastic book, makes me want to get a copy and run through it again. "let those who have talked to the elves, find each other and band together" -TMK
In a society in which nearly everybody is dominated by somebody else's mind or by a disembodied mind, it becomes increasingly difficult to learn the truth about the activities of governments and corporations, about the quality or value of products, or about the health of one's own place and economy.
In such a society, also, our private economies will depend less upon the private ownership of real, usable property, and more upon property that is institutional and abstract, beyond individual control, such as money, insurance policies, certificates of deposit, stocks, etc. And as our private economies become more abstract, the mutual, free helps and pleasures of family and community life will be supplanted by a kind of displaced citizenship and by commerce with impersonal and self-interested suppliers...
The great enemy of freedom is the alignment of political power with wealth. This alignment destroys the commonwealth - that is, the natural wealth of localities and the local economies of household, neighborhood, and community - and so destroys democracy, of which the commonwealth is the foundation and practical means.” - Wendell Berry
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Some really good recommendations here. I feel like some Nexians might be interested in the works of Cesar Aira. He's an Argentinian "novelist," though most of his books are less than 100 pages long and lack many of the characteristics most people would associate with novels. His books tend to start relatively normal, then get really wacky and digressive really fast. Kind of like the magic realism of Marquez meets the controlled tone of Borges meets the absurdity and humor of Donald Barthelme. My favorite books by him, in order:
1. An Episode in the Life of a Landscape Painter
2. How I became a Nun
3. The Literary Conference
4. The Seamstress and the Wind
5. Ghosts
6. Varamo
*he has more coming out in translation. He's written over 100 of these novellas in Spanish!
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Night Angel Trilogy by Brent Weeks! Fantasy about assassins, magic, politics and culture! "Think more than you speak"
"How do you get rid of the pain of having pain in the first place? You get rid of expectations"
"You are everything that is. Open yourself to the love and understanding that is available."
"To see God, you have to have met the Devil."
"When you know how to listen, everyone becomes a guru."
" One time, I didn't do anything, and it was so empty... Almost as if I wasn't doing anything. Then I wrote about it. It was fulfilling."
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