What book would recommend to someone that is consumed contemplating the meaning of life, reality, spirituality, the self and how all of them are intertwined? There are some very deep minds on here, and I can't think of a better place to ask. Thank you 
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The Yoga VasisthaIn the born-again zeal of my early days in these matters, I thought there was no better gift anyone could ever give to anyone else than this book. Now I know better It is only for very special occasions. Here it is - right now. Start thinking about it and you miss it. ~ Huang-po
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The Celestine Prophecy by James Redfield 'What's going to happen?' 'Something wonderful.'
Skip the manual, now, where's the master switch?
We are interstellar stardust, the re-dox co-factors of existence. Serve the sacred laws of the universe before your time comes to an end. Oh yes, you shall be rewarded.
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Actually a trilogy: Monroe, Robert (1971). Journeys Out of the Body (1st ed.). Garden City, New York: Doubleday. p. 297. Monroe, Robert (1985). Far Journeys (1st ed.). Garden City, New York: Doubleday. p. 290. Monroe, Robert (1994). Ultimate Journey (1st ed.). Garden City, New York: Doubleday. p. 303.
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Lila by Robert M Pirsig is pretty thought-provoking. I am paranoid of my brain. It thinks all the time, even when I'm asleep. My thoughts assail me. Murderous lechers they are. Thought is the assassin of thought. Like a man stabbing himself with one hand while the other hand tries to stop the blade. Like an explosion that destroys the detonator. I am paranoid of my brain. It makes me unsettled and ill at ease. Makes me chase my tail, freezes my eyes and shuts me down. Watches me. Eats my head. It destroys me.
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bardo tödöl - the tibetan book of the dead
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Up From Eden, Grace and Grit, and A Brief History of Everything by Ken Wilber
Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism and The Myth of Freedom by Chogyam Trungpa
The Mustard Seed - Osho
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Atlas Shrugged answers all those questions and too many more. It's the most information overload i've ever received, more so than the time I ate a third of a gram of DMT and a third of a gram of harmine at the same thyme... be careful... that book will fluff you up. Also, if you haven't read so already, I would HIGHLY recommend you read Moby Dick. That book is the best portrait of western society I have yet to experience in my many lifetimes. '"ALAS,"said the mouse, "the world is growing smaller every day. At the
beginning it was so big that I was afraid, I kept running and running, and I was glad
when at last I saw walls far away to the right and left, but these long walls have
narrowed so quickly that I am in the last chamber already, and there in the corner
stands the trap that I must run into." "You only need to change your direction," said
the cat, and ate it up.' --Franz Kafka
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Perfect Brilliant Stillness - David Carse if you have any interest in non dualism, do read this!Who Dies? - Stephen Levine I Am That - Nisargadatta Maharaj Ramana Maharshi and the path of Self-Knowledge - Arthur Osborne A Brief History of Time - Stephen Hawking Word Consciousness - Stanley Sobottka makes the connection between quantum physics and non dualismIn all of reality there are not two. There is just the one thing. And I am that.
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Catch 22 by Joseph Heller sure points out some of life's absurdities well. My flesh moves, like liquid. My mind is cut loose.
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Robert Anton Wilson's books Cosmic Trigger vol 1, and Prometheus Rising
<Ringworm>hehehe, it's all fun and games till someone loses an "I"
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DMT: The Spirit Molecule by Rick Strassman The Secret Teachings of Plants by Stephen Harrod Buhner 'What's going to happen?' 'Something wonderful.'
Skip the manual, now, where's the master switch?
We are interstellar stardust, the re-dox co-factors of existence. Serve the sacred laws of the universe before your time comes to an end. Oh yes, you shall be rewarded.
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ehud wrote:What book would recommend to someone that is consumed contemplating the meaning of life, reality, spirituality, the self and how all of them are intertwined? A cooking book and mainly stories for children contain almost every important information. More intellectual theories can also be found from f.e. Ken Wilber. I like his integral approach. tseuq Everything's sooo peyote-ful..
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Other than the first book on this list, these aren't the usual suggestions for this sort of thing. However, I think if we're talking genuinely about stripping back the conditioning to let what's underneath shine through, these are the books I'd recommend: "The Book On the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are" by Alan Watts is a good starting place. "Dumbing Us Down" by John Taylor Gatto and "Deschooling Our Lives" by Matt Hern will help you disentangle the conditioning left over from schooling (assuming you weren't homeschooled). "Several Short Sentences On Writing" by Verlyn Klinkenborg will help you learn to use thought subversively and constructively, rather than to be at the mercy of unconscious assumptions. "The Art of Loving" by Erich Fromm and "Love 2.0" by Barbara L. Frederickson, now that you've started deconditioning yourself, will point you towards Love, which is your birthright and your greatest and only real power. (And some might say, "Who you really are." ) And finally, "The Frank Book" is its own absurd meditation, which I recommend to balance out my other suggestions.  Quote:I have come to believe that in the world there is nothing to explain the world. ―Loren Eiseley
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Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal, Golden Braid <- Douglas Hofstadter Complexity: A Guided Tour <- Melanie Mitchell Reaper Man <- Terry Pratchett Small Gods <- Terry Pratchett That's a good start. Godsmaker: Really? Atlas Shrugged? *Really?* Blessings ~ND "There are many paths up the same mountain."
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Gurdjieff's Beelzebub's tales to his grandson
Im also with UC and recommend Cosmic Trigger 1 by RAW
Siddharta by Hermann Hesse is an easy yet deep and beautiful read.
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Pirsig's "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" hasn't been mentioned yet, so I'll mention it now. +1 for Siddhartha. I already asked Alice.
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