Secular Sangha: A Secular Buddhist Group discussion

Use this thread to discuss books you are reading.

I am currently reading Being and Time by Martin Heidegger. It is rather dense and requires a close reading, but it has been rewarding so far.

I decided to take a break from "Being and Time" since it kept on referencing Kant, and started reading Critique of Pure Reason by Immanuel Kant. It was proving to be difficult so I read his "Critique of Pure Reason for Dummies" book called Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics. Having read that now I am back to reading the Critique, and I'm finding it a much easier read having now read the Prolegomena.

Cosmos by Carl Sagan
Collected Poems, 1909-1962 of T.S. Eliot
and The History of Mr. Polly by H.G. Wells

The first two are more for when I have a spare 5-10 minutes. The third is interesting in that it's seems to be portraying the randomness of life and the complexities that our choices result in.

Don't Stop the Carnival. I am only a couple chapters in, but so far I like it. I generally do like Herman Wouk.

Currently reading "The World as Will and Idea" Vol. 1-3 by Arthur Schopenhauer. I am using the kindle book Delphi Collected Works of Arthur Schopenhauer (Illustrated) to read it and I want to credit this kindle version for it's format and features.

Presently reading The Republic by Plato. It is my first philosophical reading experience.

Piyangie wrote: "Presently reading The Republic by Plato. It is my first philosophical reading experience."

If you end up liking that book I would recommend the group book The Philosophy of Desire in the Buddhist Pali Canon (available as a free kindle download). Among other things, the book compares the conception of desire in Plato's works with the conception of desire in the Pali Canon (note: most of the Plato content is in the first chapter).

The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching: Transforming Suffering into Peace, Joy, and Liberation by Thich Nhat Hanh

After finishing I'll try to get to more of the suggested texts for the group.

John wrote: "The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching: Transforming Suffering into Peace, Joy, and Liberation by Thich Nhat Hanh

After finishing I'll try to get to more of the suggested t..."

I've always enjoyed the writings of Thich Nhat Hanh, but I have not read that particular book. If you could, I would be interested in reading a review by you after you are done.

I'm currently taking a break from The World as Will and Representation, Volume 1, because he kept on referencing his other works - even the ones he wrote after this book - as if the reader should know their content (note: he achieved this time-travel affect by re-writing parts of this book late in life).

Given that, I've decided to marathon all his other work before returning to his central work (I do want to point out, though, that I see this detour as more than worth it since I really enjoy his writing).

MJD wrote: "If you could, I would be interested in reading a review by you after you are done...."

Yeah, no problem. I'll do that. I already started taking notes in the hope that the ideas will stick in my mind a little better.

I needed a refresher to remind me of some things so I checked out The Miracle of Mindfulness: An Introduction to the Practice of Meditation by Thich Nhat Hanh.

I started reading Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami.

"For Small Creatures Such as We" by Sasha Sagan

Im alternating my reading between a long list of books. Currently im mostly reading an A Treatise Of Human Nature by David Hume, Essays by Michel DE Montaigne, and just started the Upanishads translated by Eknath Easwaran. I was also reading The World as Will and Representation, but ran into the same exact problem as MJD in this thread. Too many references to other books deterred me from finishing, which is unfortunate bc hes one of my favorite Philosophers.

“Little Book of Hygge”