Best christian monasticism & asceticism books according to redditors
We found 10 Reddit comments discussing the best christian monasticism & asceticism books. We ranked the 6 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the top 20.
I also agree. I also like to recommend a book. It's called A Queer Chivalry which is a biography of Gerard Manley Hopkins who was a poet and a Jesuit priest who was homosexual and relied on God to help him conquer his urges. He never stopped being a homosexual understand but rather refrained from the acts and used art as an outlet. I can't recommend this book enough. It is wonderful.
:)
Way of the Ascetics by Tito Colliander. Small, short, simple, but extremely helpful.
>Should I not be proud of my accomplishments or of places God has brought me in life?
You (we) should be grateful for the places God has brought you in life, knowing full well that you did not earn them. Your (our) accomplishments themselves are still God's gift to you (us). What if your (my) opponent had been stronger? What if you (I) had gotten sick? What if you (I) had been distracted, or stupid, or hadn't been able to work as hard? All of these factors were gifts from God, not your (our) hard work.
>In that same vein, what exactly does it mean to be humble, in God's eyes?
To think of and treat yourself as a worthless sinner, and everyone else as though they were Christ Himself walking around you.
>What does it really mean to be modest or meek?
Side note: I hate modesty. It's not a virtue. At best, it's a fortunate byproduct of humility and chastity (with regards to dress).
Here's a great book on humility:
http://www.amazon.com/A-Spiritual-Psalter-Reflections-God/dp/0912927402
Here's an okay one:
http://www.amazon.com/Way-Ascetics-Ancient-Tradition-Discipline/dp/0881410497
Way of the Ascetics by Tito Colliander.
Christian content aside, it's a beautifully written book that should give you some food for thought.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0881410497
My Elder Joseph the Hesychast
https://www.amazon.com/My-Elder-Joseph-Hesychast-Ephraim/dp/0966700082
Monastic Wisdom: The Letters of Elder Joseph the Hesychast
https://www.amazon.com/Monastic-Wisdom-Letters-Joseph-Hesychast/dp/0966700015
Ascetic Figures Before & in Early Buddhism: The Emergence of Gautama as the Buddha
<Blind faith is un-Buddhist.
I don't disagree, but I'm an academic. The understanding of Buddhism I have is academic and my arguments are based in issues of history as I understand it.
<I quote scholars and you quote yourself, as if you are an authority. State your name and your credentials then.
This tells me that my arguments alone are insufficient to identify me as an authority to you- really I wouldn't claim to be on this topic. As I said, I study mostly American Buddhism today- no I will not provide my name because I like to preserve some anonymity on the internet. I have a M.A and am doing PhD coursework. The problem that you are having is that you are not taking an academic view of the discussion.
>Your faith is greater than your wisdom
This is an ad-hominem fallacy at its best. I'm not Buddhist at all. I have no faith because I study the topic. I respect the tradition but I certainly don't worship in it. This is a discussion about historical understanding- something that you have garnered from questionable scholars. Here is a brief reading list of real scholars you can take and read to see what actual authorities in the field are saying.
Don Lopez: Elaborations on Emptiness
Don Lopez: The Heart Sutra Explained this is a series of translated commentaries on the Heart Sutra. Though it uses the long version, which is problematic.
J.L Austin: How to Do Things With Words This will tell you a lot about the linguistic empiricists and how words function in religious settings.
If you want to read the theory that I do you might also read
Alfred North Whitehead: Process and Reality
Also:Whithead's Symbolism: It's meaning and Effect
And
Bruce Lincoln's Authority
For Buddhist histories that are not popularist:
Peter N. Gregory: Tsung-Mi and the Sinification of Buddhism
Gimello's Paths to Liberation
or his Studies in Ch'an and Hua-yen
For modern philosophical takes on Buddhism Nancy Frankenberry's Religion and Radical Empiricism though to understand her you need a wider knowledge base than you probably have. Here, let me suggest something for you to read first:
James: The Varieties of Religious Experience
James: The Will to Believe
James: Pragmatism
Rorty: Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature
Rorty: Consequences of Pragmatism
This one is particularly important for you:
Rorty: Objectivity, Relativism, and Truth
You want to know about the origins of Buddhism? How about Vajrayana?
Snellgrove: Indo-Tibetan Buddhism
Pollock (a great book): The Language of the Gods in the World of Men
For a modern take: Wedemeyer: Making Sense of Tantric Buddhism
Davidson: Indian Esoteric Buddhism
Bhattacharyya: An Introduction to Buddhist Esoterism These last few present conflicting views on the nature of Tantrism, particularly the last one that might fit your "fundamentalist" category.
TO understand American Buddhism better:
Merton: Zen and the Birds of Appetite
Eck: A New Religious America
Tweed (this is one of my favorite books ever) The American Encounter with Buddhism 1844-1912
Neusner (ed) World Religions in America
on individuals: Sterling: Zen Pioneer
Hotz: Holding the Lotus to the Rock Sokei-an was a traditionalist and a near mirror of Thich Nhat Hanh, yet his teachings never took off.
Since you Love Thich Nhat Hanh: Fragrant Palm Leaves: Journals 1962-1966 and the companion to that, Merton's journals
Another of Hanh's Vietnam: Lotus in a Sea of Fire This is before he was popular and so is much more interesting than some of his later works.
Also Mcmahan: The Making of Buddhist Modernism
Doh. In that case I've heard good reviews of this.