Christian Theological/Philosophical Book Club discussion

So, for some of the new comers here:

Please share some of the religions you have looked in to. this is my favorite hobby. So it's nice to know who's digging.

I'm Rod.
I been devouring Islam for about a decade. I've read the Quran almost twice. And about 25 other books on Islam. And I chat with 100's of Muslims on the net.

And of course Mormonism is endless fun. It's taking me forever to get through the book of Mormon - but almost done. I've probably read about 20 books on Mormon issues.

Then there's the J.W.'s. They don't come to my door as often anymore - I need to learn to lengthen the conversation. I can't be bothered to read their New World Translation or Newsletters. But There's 100's of x-J.W. testimony books out there - and other random literature.

I started looking into Buddhism. But got really bored. Dalai Lama is mostly a useless figure head (Like Obama or the Colonel from Kentucky Friend Chicken.)

But of course Anything that touches on the Bible is my main passion. Whatever John MacArthur teaches usually agrees with my Bible perfectly. So i'm definitely not Catholic or Charismatic.

But it is fun to explore how all of these things cross paths and annoy atheists.

I used to have a long commute to work by transit. At one point, I decided I'd given enough time to newspapers and began to read other things.

I've read the Quran at least thrice through, as well as most of the hadiths. I've read the Bhagavad-Gita a couple of times as well. Plus a goodly chunk of Upanishads and related material. Read the Dhammapada, which is a Buddhist book, plus various other bits of Buddhism. A very obscure book called Zen and American Transcendentalism An Investigation of One's Self changed my life in that it somehow clued me in to the essence of Buddhist-Hindu ideas. Eventually I was able to reach some version of 'mind of nothing,' which is the second level of Buddhist freedom from invidious preconception. The great thing about that is that all those mysterious Zen koans opened up like a door and became obvious statements. The only problem is, of course, that you can't then really explain them adequately to anyone, because they direct you to a patch of consciousness that lies upstream of verbalization - see Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking for some (relatively primitive) insight into that. The interesting thing is that there's nothing religious about this kind of Buddhism - it's really the same as science, but uses a more effectively opened mind.

I've read up on Sikhism but the Adi Granth is like the Talmud - a monster-sized tome that you're unlikely to have at home.

My basic reference on shamanism is The Way of the Shaman. This is a fundamental reference that one needs not just to understand the hunter-gatherer religions, but also to understand where modern society is going. As a religious vacuum opens up in the Europeanized cultures, new age shamanism is one of the places where the spiritual restlessness of people comes to rest. This has many facets that we don't always see as being unified. Shamanism traditionally divides into up ('white') and down ('black') and this is ineluctable, since it is based on self-fulfilling prophecies that may be on the glass-half-full side or on the glass-half-empty side. Just as one can perform up-witchcraft by giving a woman an amethyst and telling her it will aid her physical health, one can perform down-witchcraft by obtaining a copy of a fellow-highschool-student's nude photo and then texting her to say 'now you're fucked - go die.' That's a formal curse backed up by traditional down-shamanistic 'dirt' linked to the victim, just like a voodoo doll made with the person's fingernail clipping or hair inside it.

I guess I've looked into a few other religions as well. My novel has a couple of chapters in lands where the people worship the ancient Hurrian gods such as Hebat(known in Semitic tongues as Ishtar) and Shawushka.

Oh, and I've read the Bible. I keep re-reading it, albeit piecemeal most of the time, because it keeps surprising me. Nominally, every quotation is at least semi-familiar, but I'm always struck by something new. I'm sure you know what I mean, Rod. It's a book that breathes.

Mark, I admire your willingness to explore a variety of ideas. I have read about and discussed with others Buddhism, Christianity, Wicca, Pagan religions, Deism, etc., and learned from all of them. I have not read much about Islam, but plan to do so. I think it is important to try to understand how people of various faith traditions -- or atheism and agnosticism, for that matter -- view things.

I am sure Stuart, who has spoiled every conversation I have tried, will do so here, but, fool that I am: During the Viet Nam War, I was both extremely disillusioned and also felt a call to something beyond myself. I investigated them all, and read their Holy texts either in part or in whole. Buddhism seemed more a way of life [though a good one] than a religion, as did Confucianism and Taoism. Hinduism, Shinto, etc., were too amorphous for me. For me, Paganism, Wicca, the various Earth Movements did not have a "lot of there there." That left the Abrahamic religions. I did not have access to two of the three, so, I turned to the one to which I had access. At the same time, I always try to remember that, first and foremost, I follow God, and my "religion" is secondary, as the way I choose to do so.

John: Buddhism can be considered either as a religion or a philosophy, and some branches are firmly in the religion camp while others aren't. I practice Zen. I don't go in for the supernatural much, but I tend to refer to Buddhism as a religion because it functions that way for me.

I am glad to be among people who are interested in the world of thought, spiritual and otherwise. I buy the line that Hinduism and Buddhism are religions on their bhakta side (generally involving statues or images with faces) but gradually extend over to the realm of philosophy on their meditative and intellectual sides. Readers of such things probably know the koan "What do you do if you meet Buddha coming down the road in your direction? Answer: kill him!" This isn't meant literally - it's a typical warning of the dangers of preconceived notions. Still, there's nothing like it in Christianity.

I didn't mention that I'm fond of the Tao te Ching and its later companion in mystical Taoism, Wandering on the Way. Wandering on the Way: Early Taoist Tales and Parables of Chuang Tzu.

Mark wrote: "I am glad to be among people who are interested in the world of thought, spiritual and otherwise. I buy the line that Hinduism and Buddhism are religions on their bhakta side (generally involving s..."

I have not read "Wandering on the Way," but I think I will add it to my to-read list. Thanks.

John wrote: "I am sure Stuart, who has spoiled every conversation I have tried, will do so here, but, fool that I am: During the Viet Nam War, I was both extremely disillusioned and also felt a call to somethi..."

I'm going to leave this one alone, John.

And maybe - so I'm leaving people in peace - I'll only participate in things I start myself. We'll see.

From memory, I think I've only jumped into 2 or 3 things I didn't start ...?