Meetings with remarkable books, part deux.
Philosophy and works with a philosophic bent - plus a few seminal works of fiction that became my friends and influenced me.
Siddhartha, by Herman Hesse. Pushed me down that slippery slope towards Buddhism and the wheel of karma.
On the Road, Jack Kerouac - yes, there was a philosophic/nihilist bent to the Beat Generation and Jack Kerouac embodied that - anarchism with a conscience. I possess a strong strain of anarchism in my soul
Jean Paul Sartre - Troubled Sleep - French Existentialism at its finest. Why am I here? What is my purpose? These are questions we have to deal with, or not, everyday.
Franz Kafka - The Trial and The Metamorphosis. German Existentialism. Dark. Grim. Hopeless. The Germans really know how to freak you out!
I’m a big fan of Emile Zola. He considered Germinal his masterpiece and I agree. Of course he was more of a political critic than he was an existentialist, but the book touched my heart and brought out the compassionate political activist in me.
Meetings With Remarkable Men, by G.I. Gurdjieff - chronicles, or attempts to chronicle, mankind’s search for spiritual enlightenment - which leads me directly to Be Here Now, by Ram Dass (a Jew-Budd) - the fun, charming, free-association, multiverse hippie search for meaning in the everyday.
Sons and Lovers. Thank you, D.H. Lawrence for the pleasure of the physical. (See Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha.)
Carl Jung, my favorite Jungian psychologist with his theories of the archetype, synchronicity and the Collective Unconscious. The two books that made a big impression on me are Man and His Symbols and Memories, Dreams and Reflections. I love to slip these concepts into my books - in a Collective Unconscious sort of way!
I’m not a big Spinoza fan - too wordy and convoluted. I prefer the works of Moses Maimonides. He defined God by what he is not. You cannot say God is one, you must say God is not multiple. Great stuff. Think: Guide for the Perplexed.
The Hero with a Thousand Faces, by Joseph Campbell. I’ve read most of his works. Authors of romance unknowingly use many of his theories of the hero myth in their stories. There is always an obstacle that the hero must overcome, some dark vale he or she must pass through to reach his or her ultimate goal.
Souls on Fire: Portraits and Legends of Hasidic Masters, by Elie Wiesel. You have to read this one for yourself. It’s a good introduction to the heart and soul of the Hasidic movement. I’ll add to this - Days of Our Years, by Pierre Van Paassen, my grandmother’s favorite book which she left to me.
Don’t laugh - Spiritual Midwifery, by Ina May Gaskin. This book became my bible when I was studying midwifery and when I was pregnant with my own children. My copy is so dog-eared! I will always remember one thing Ina May says when discussing fear of childbirth, something I try to apply to every circumstance - The antidote to fear is courage. For anyone unfamiliar with Ina May and Stephen Gaskin and The Farm - http://www.thefarm.org/
Last, but not least…I kid you not…this book altered my path at a critical juncture in my young life - The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge, followed by A Separate Reality and Journey to Ixtlan. Contrary to the author’s claims that these works were based on actual interviews with a Yaqui medicine man, I do believe that these books are mostly fiction. It doesn’t matter. I do know that the author, Carlos Castaneda, became a recluse and a real weird dude later in his life, but The Teachings of Don Juan, in particular, opened my mind to otherness/oneness and the notion of separate realities.
Wow. I’m super tired. Must be from listening to Baruch Spinoze! Tomorrow - my favorite myths and then I’ll shut up! Night!
