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    #1

    Eastern religion book recommendations?

    So, I'm really on this eastern philosophy kick, and I was wondering if any of you had sources or books to recommend on hinduism, buddhism, or taoism. The latter two, I've done a bit of researching already, and I'm quite enamoured with buddhism, to be honest - but there's always been this lingering desire in the back of my skull to learn more about hinduism, and I've not the foggiest idea where to start.

    Considering I went to a south asian festival yesterday (my hand is painted with henna!) ...and I'm going to Thailand and India in the winter, it's just, well, the spark of interest is very much there. I'm too much of an atheist to convert entirely, but even so, eastern philosophy just works really well for me. My friends call me a hippie. Actually, I probably am, lol.

    So. Sources, books, sites - eastern religion, go!


    Mostly art.
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    #2
    Re: Eastern religion book recommendations?

    Hmmm...for starters...

    The Bhagavad Gita
    The Analects of Confucius
    Tao te Ching by Lao-tzu

    The DharmaNet learning center.
    Great Grandmother's Kitchen

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      #3
      Re: Eastern religion book recommendations?

      So...I haven't read these, but they were recommended in an (IMO) interesting and pretty good book I have been reading as a good grounding in understanding the basics of these two religions:

      An Introduction to hinduism by Gavin Flood
      What the Buddha Taught by Walpola Rahula (available free as a PDF)
      The Story of Buddhism by Donald Lopez


      also, I was thumbing thru this at the library, and its on my list to pick up-- Darsan: Seeing the Divine Image in India
      Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of HistoryPagan Devotionals, because the wind and the rain is our Bible
      sigpic

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        #4
        I Ching. You might want to try that, as well as the various commentaries that have been attached to it over time.

        Unfortunately, the I Ching and most especially the very, very early commentaries are extraordinarily difficult material to understand because the mode of expression is so alien to Western conventions. So I'd recommend that you look for a good translation with explanatory notes to help you make sense of the commentaries. The Wilhelm/Baynes edition, put out by Princeton University Press (Bolingen Series XIX) is very good. It also has an introduction by Carl Jung.
        Every moment of a life is a horrible tragedy, a slapstick comedy, dark nihilism, golden illumination, or nothing at all; depending on how we write the story we tell ourselves.

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          #5
          Re: Eastern religion book recommendations?

          Thanks for the replies, guys - sorry I didn't get back to you sooner. I was on my way to work - I can't look at all these sites right now, because my company blocks religious sites (including some about buddhism, go figure) ...but I will look into some of these sites/books when I get back into town!


          Mostly art.

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            #6
            Re: Eastern religion book recommendations?

            Found the following set on the archive.org website, for FREE download.

            sacred books and early literature of the East vol 01.pdf
            sacred books and early literature of the East vol 02.pdf
            sacred books and early literature of the East vol 03.pdf
            sacred books and early literature of the East vol 04.pdf
            sacred books and early literature of the East vol 05.pdf
            sacred books and early literature of the East vol 06.pdf
            sacred books and early literature of the East vol 07.pdf
            sacred books and early literature of the East vol 08.pdf
            sacred books and early literature of the East vol 09.pdf
            sacred books and early literature of the East vol 10.pdf
            sacred books and early literature of the East vol 11.pdf
            sacred books and early literature of the East vol 12.pdf
            sacred books and early literature of the East vol 13.pdf
            sacred books and early literature of the East vol 14.pdf
            HEY ADMIN

            DELETE THIS ACCOUNT

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              #7
              Re: Eastern religion book recommendations?

              Don't forget the Upanishads! I'm still climbing through that one in paperback.

              Medusa's Hair is a good one as well, from an anthropologist.

              Dangit. I still need to unpack my books before I can make any more recommendations. I have to second the recommendations about Chang Tzu!
              Last edited by AzazelEblis; 22 Aug 2011, 11:54.
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                #8
                Re: Eastern religion book recommendations?

                Korean Shamanism -Muism by Dr Kim Tae-kon translated by Dr. Chang Soo-Kyung
                Don't buy it from Amazon sellers (way too expensive). Try Han books. Besides being an interesting albeit very different read than hinduism confucianism or buddhism it is worth the insight because of the great spread of Korean culture around the world.

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                  #9
                  Re: Eastern religion book recommendations?

                  Cool, thanks guys. I just picked myself up a little booked from the 60s yesterday called "Hinduism and Buddhism" - gonna start chewing into that as soon as I get a chance.


                  Mostly art.

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