Top Ten Books in Philosophy and Metaphysics

What are your top five to ten books in this realm, even adding spiritual and religious and paranormal to the mix. Even a historical book like Holy Blood Holy Grail would count. Anything in the quest for truth or enlightenment or inspiration.

I'm just going to throw out 5 that are on my bookshelf, i'm looking for similar lists for you all. My cupboard is bare and my search for truth broadens.

Cheers.

1. The Holy Man
2. The Celestine Prophecy
3. Conversations with God.
4. Notes from the Universe
5. The book of 5 Rings
6. The Secret
7.

Man my shelf is really bare! Help!

a reply to: amazing

Read The Art Of War by Sun Tzu

It's a far better guide of how to deal with people in general than how to wage a war. At least it is in the 21st century.

The Third Millennium by Ken Carey.

a reply to: amazing

These two don't fall scrictly within your criteria but they have both enlightenend me greatly on the way of the world and how civilisation really operates. With some philosophy & natural truths thrown in.

'The secret teachings of all ages' by Manly P. Hall
'Tragedy and Hope' by Carroll Quigley.

I can't recommend the second highly enough. It's a must read for anyone with a desire to wake up to reality who has ambitions of being a truthseeker. It's availability fluctuates and as a result so does it's price. I had it imported from Amazon US for $20 to save myself £10 only to see it listed for around £200 shortly after on Amazon UK.

Edit: to add, you must also have this on your list it took me a while to track down back in the day but I believe it's much easier to source now. In fact I'd be amazed if there weren't free PDF versions floating about as it's from 1798, out of copyright, and contemporary to the Bavarian Illuminati.

'Proofs of a conspiracy" (short name my copy has a much longer title) by john Robison.

Do add, I Come As A Brother. By Bartholomer. It's way Out There, adds to the missing links we all Question from Time to time.

Reading a book is different then say Being Involved in what is being said. Makes that Idea come alive in your Lie.
Many good books out there do tend to go back to basics. It's hard for people to drop whats in their head, considered fact, yet never actually questioning if it was true and/or still has meaning now.

Then again. While waiting in line, pick up a Mag there and have yourself a Laugh. Being a man reading Globe, Exquire or some Crazy story on the cover while paying attention to whos watching. lol

Peace

May I Add as well?

1. Rudolf Steiner - There are many books and lectures from his time and teaching, Im still trying to gain all of his works and collections.

2. A.T Mann (Alden Taylor (Tad) Mann). I have one of his books, The Round Art: The Astrology of Time and Space. Most detailed looks on Astrology ( and to learn the basis of astrology) and the patterns of sacred geometry, Space.

In all these two man collections have helped my own spiritual guidance, personally.

Man's Search for Meaning
by Victor Frankl

A small book in size but deep in meaning. Frankl lived through the Nazi concentration camps and describes the way people responded to that experience. An insightful look at both the heights the human spirit can reach and the depths it can sink to.

a reply to: amazing

Good selection of books in your list. I also like "Way of the Peaceful Warrrior" and since I was involved in Tayesin's book getting it to the publishing phase now, I would add to that list, "Keep it Simple" by Tayesin (Mark Aubrey). Hopefully it will be available early next year.

If you wish to actually do philosophy, you have to start at the beginning.
The perfect book to introduce anyone to the art of reasoning is Joel Feinberg's "Doing Philosophy"
The copy I have was published in 2005. It's a tiny book.
If you wish to continue from there read David Kelly's "The Art of Reasoning" It's a first year textbook.

You might as well start with an appreciation for what is knowable and how, in the end, like all philosophers, you'll come to the unfathomable truth that life is an endless ocean of personal responsibility, you have the choice to take it or not.

I also publishedthis on ATS, "A bibliography for understanding modernity"
A fellow member called my list "healthy" and a few nice people had suggestions too.

Personally, I like Camus, he could make sentences that went on forever.

Good luck in your studies.

a reply to: amazing

Although I do enjoy a good book on philosophy of spirituality every now and again, I find that I discover more meaning and purpose to existence when those lessons and theories are worked into a compelling narrative. On that front, here are 5 books I would recommend:

01. "The Brothers Karamazov" by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
02. "The Hollow Man" by Dan Simmons
03. "American Gods" by Neil Gaiman
04. "The Dresden Files" series by Jim Butcher
05. "The Divine Comedy" by Dante Alighieri

Each of those, in its own way, will open you to diverse spiritual experiences and philosophical ideologies. From the clash between theism and atheism (one of the major plots of The Brothers Karamazov), to the mathematical underpinnings of reality (The Hollow Man), with stops along the way that help you connect mythology and psychological archetypes (American Gods), to traditional theology and religion (The Divine Comedy), and then teach you how to embrace those strengths in the modern day (The Dresden Files), you're sure to find much of value in any and all of the titles I listed.

If you don't fancy yourself "too old" to read some graphic novels as well, then I can recommend a couple of those for you to check out too:

06. "Watchmen" by Alan Moore/Dave Gibbons/John Higgins
07. "Habibi" by Craig Thompson

The first is, well, basically about all of those topics you've listed in your opening post. There's a lot of complex writing and intricate studies of the human condition in there (and even has a half-way decent movie to boot!).

The second, and one of my personal favorite "books", is a meditation on purity, love, and our connection to God, told through Islamic mysticism, in an exploration of cultural taboos ranging from hedonism to slavery with some Eunuchs, thieves, Djinn, and angels tossed in. It's not hard to read, but it has some breath-taking artwork, some deep passages, and gives a lot of insight into the human condition and how it relates to human spirituality.

I figure plenty of other members will hand out the good books from the non-fiction and spirituality sections of bookstores, so I hope my reply here has given you a way to branch out into normal fiction, as plenty of well-written gems are shining among the everyday books as well.

Happy reading!


~ Wandering Scribe

Thank you all! Now I have some good places to start! Much appreciated. I do have the Art of War on my shelf and perhaps that is as good of a book on life as it gets?

I'm making a list. Thanks again!