Johnstein
12-26-2007, 10:58 AM
Judaism/Old Testament -
Tanach/Stone Edition (http://www.amazon.com/Tanach-Stone-Student-Size-Black/dp/1578191122/ref=pd_bbs_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1194941433&sr=8-2)
Original Hebrew w/nikud (vowel marks) side by side with up to date English translation. Fully annotated with Rashi (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rashi)'s commentary.
Christianity/Apocrypha/New Testament -
Revised Standard Version (http://www.amazon.com/Revised-Standard-Version-Bible-Apocrypha/dp/0195288084/ref=pd_bbs_7?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1194941634&sr=8-7) - OT/Apocrypha-Deuterocanon (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deuterocanon)/NT.
Up to date English translation, used by Catholic/Orthodox/non-KJV worshipping Protestants. Avoid the NewRSV - it's universally criticized for "inclusive" speech, ie politically correct (often arbitrarily chosen) gender language. Christian bible commentary is undesirable for obvious reasons. This means Mary was a virgin her whole life! This clearly means Mary wasn't a virgin her whole life! etc, etc.
Islam -
The Message Of The Qur'an (http://www.amazon.com/Message-Quran-Muhammad-Asad/dp/1904510000/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1194942081&sr=8-1) - M. Asad
The Meaning Of The Holy Qur'an (http://www.amazon.com/Meaning-Holy-Quran/dp/1590080254/ref=pd_bbs_sr_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1194941985&sr=8-3) - A. Yusuf Ali
Message - Original Arabic/transliteration/English translation with commentary. Asad was a convert and offers some interesting insight from that perspective. That book can be described as "deluxe." It's enormous, it's illustrated, quite expensive and not practical to lug around. But if you're gonna read the Qur'an, you need good commentary.
Meaning - A small green book with very tiny print - but with original Arabic, English translation, and full commentary from a born and raised Muslim. A. Yusuf Ali's English translation is officially endorsed by Saudi Arabia and is the most common translation found in the mass market. The version I'm referencing is nearly pocket sized and is portable. You can also get paperbacks of this translation sans commentary just for reading, but Islam should not be studied out of context. It's just too easy to read without background and misconstrue the meaning.
Due to the relative controversy behind translating the Qur'an (since they believe Allah revealed it in Arabic, the original text is considered to be the word of God verbatim, hence "meaning of" or "message of" - a translation can never be a "true" Qur'an) the language in both of these editions is up there with the KJV 1699. It's archaic, it's hard to read, and whether it's more 'accurate' than an up to date translation is an issue that won't be solved any time soon. But they're the best out there. Avoid Pickthal, etc. Asad uses more familiar "Judeo-Christian" Western wording (1:1 In the name of God, The Most Gracious, The Dispenser of Grace); Ali uses more familiar "Islamic English" terminology (1:1 In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.) The latter "feels" more "authentic."
Buddhism - The Dhammapada (http://www.amazon.com/Dhammapada-Thich-Nhat-Hanh/dp/0938077872/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1194942981&sr=1-2)
1) The Dhammapada (sayings attributed to the Buddha) has been said to be a distillation of every Buddhist text and teaching, the only book on the subject that one needs to understand the philosophy.
2) It's short. 100 pages, something like that.
3) Not annotated. Buddhist texts are better that way. You get 'scholars' going on about the 20 meanings of each Pali word. Buddhism is open for interpretation.
4) Pocket sized. Cheap.
5) Thich blah blah and Ananda blah blah are two of the most respected Buddhist monks and scholars.
Numerical Discourses of the Buddha (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0742504050/ref=wl_it_dp?ie=UTF8&coliid=I2W58WVMZSL6JI&colid=3DYADN12JOQAJ)
The Long Discourses of the Buddha (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0861711033/ref=wl_it_dp?ie=UTF8&coliid=I3C5Y9MQ7Y4CFZ&colid=3DYADN12JOQAJ)
The Connected Discourses of the Buddha (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0861713311/ref=wl_it_dp?ie=UTF8&coliid=I1EDSZXCMGAVFY&colid=3DYADN12JOQAJ)
The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/086171072X/ref=wl_it_dp?ie=UTF8&coliid=I2JWXOZIEAOF6O&colid=3DYADN12JOQAJ)
Wild Ways: Zen Poems of Ikkyu (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1893996654/ref=wl_it_dp?ie=UTF8&coliid=I2FUJEPW1OO55I&colid=3DYADN12JOQAJ)
Here's a sample of Ikkyu (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ikkyu)
Eight inches strong, it is my favorite thing;
If I'm alone at night, I embrace it fully -
A beautiful woman hasn't touched it for ages.
Within my loincloth there is an entire universe!
But he was also capable of conventional wisdom:
From the world of passions
Returning to the world of passions:
There is a moment's pause.
If it rains, let it rain, if the wind blows, let it blow.
Satanism -
The Satanic Bible (http://www.amazon.com/Satanic-Bible-Anton-Szandor-Lavey/dp/0380015390/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1195286743&sr=8-1) - Anton LaVey
Satan Speaks (http://www.amazon.com/Satan-Speaks-LaVey-Anton-Szandor/dp/0922915660/ref=pd_bbs_7?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1195286743&sr=8-7) - Anton LaVey
SB - Quintessential Satanic text. 1/3 plagiarism of Might Is Right, 1/3 essays, 1/3 neo-pagan religious babble pretending not to be. It's a good read anyway, if for nothing else but the essay about "psychic vampirism" - "Not All Vampires Suck Blood" and the good old fashioned anti-Christian rhetoric. If you want to learn about the Church of Satan, start here.
SS - LaVey's essays, mainly criticisms of society. Nothing "religious" about this per se, but it's a great book. Helps put the CoS philosophy into context, I guess.
Avoid "The Satanic Rituals." It's more plagiarism (Lovecraft, this time) and goofy neo-pagan rites written up by LaVey and company. Doesn't take much to create your own "Satanic ritual" if you're into that type of thing. "The Devil's Notebook" is another collection of LaVey's writings, but it isn't as good as Satan Speaks. "Duck Billed Platitudes" contains some interesting insights, but probably plagiarized from elsewhere.
The Satanic Witch sucks. Peter Gilmore (current head of CoS) recently released a book of his essays called "The Satanic Scriptures" but I imagine they are intended to be as much like LaVey's as possible. Blanche Barton's "The Church of Satan" is hard to find and full of shit.
Avoid "theistic Satanism." We all know and hate that "Windex" aka Harry Potter dick. Satanism is an atheistic, individualistic philosophy/justification for painting your room black similar to Rand's Objectivism. Contrary to popular belief, the Satanic Bible did not plagiarize Atlas Shrugged.
14HAIL NORDS88 -
The Sagas are long and boring. The Eddas are short and boring. The Havamal is sort of interesting, but not really. Contains some actual wisdom, not just mythology. If you're into moral syncretism I suppose you could glean a bit.
I've been meaning to get the Tao Te Ching, Bhagavad Gita, and Book of Mormon just to round out the collection but I doubt I'll get around to reading them. Taoism is dumb, the Gita is obnoxious, and Mormonism, well, is Mormonism. None the less, all three are easily found for free online [sacred-texts.com], as is the holy book of Sikhism, the Sri Guru Granth Sahib.
Tanach/Stone Edition (http://www.amazon.com/Tanach-Stone-Student-Size-Black/dp/1578191122/ref=pd_bbs_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1194941433&sr=8-2)
Original Hebrew w/nikud (vowel marks) side by side with up to date English translation. Fully annotated with Rashi (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rashi)'s commentary.
Christianity/Apocrypha/New Testament -
Revised Standard Version (http://www.amazon.com/Revised-Standard-Version-Bible-Apocrypha/dp/0195288084/ref=pd_bbs_7?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1194941634&sr=8-7) - OT/Apocrypha-Deuterocanon (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deuterocanon)/NT.
Up to date English translation, used by Catholic/Orthodox/non-KJV worshipping Protestants. Avoid the NewRSV - it's universally criticized for "inclusive" speech, ie politically correct (often arbitrarily chosen) gender language. Christian bible commentary is undesirable for obvious reasons. This means Mary was a virgin her whole life! This clearly means Mary wasn't a virgin her whole life! etc, etc.
Islam -
The Message Of The Qur'an (http://www.amazon.com/Message-Quran-Muhammad-Asad/dp/1904510000/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1194942081&sr=8-1) - M. Asad
The Meaning Of The Holy Qur'an (http://www.amazon.com/Meaning-Holy-Quran/dp/1590080254/ref=pd_bbs_sr_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1194941985&sr=8-3) - A. Yusuf Ali
Message - Original Arabic/transliteration/English translation with commentary. Asad was a convert and offers some interesting insight from that perspective. That book can be described as "deluxe." It's enormous, it's illustrated, quite expensive and not practical to lug around. But if you're gonna read the Qur'an, you need good commentary.
Meaning - A small green book with very tiny print - but with original Arabic, English translation, and full commentary from a born and raised Muslim. A. Yusuf Ali's English translation is officially endorsed by Saudi Arabia and is the most common translation found in the mass market. The version I'm referencing is nearly pocket sized and is portable. You can also get paperbacks of this translation sans commentary just for reading, but Islam should not be studied out of context. It's just too easy to read without background and misconstrue the meaning.
Due to the relative controversy behind translating the Qur'an (since they believe Allah revealed it in Arabic, the original text is considered to be the word of God verbatim, hence "meaning of" or "message of" - a translation can never be a "true" Qur'an) the language in both of these editions is up there with the KJV 1699. It's archaic, it's hard to read, and whether it's more 'accurate' than an up to date translation is an issue that won't be solved any time soon. But they're the best out there. Avoid Pickthal, etc. Asad uses more familiar "Judeo-Christian" Western wording (1:1 In the name of God, The Most Gracious, The Dispenser of Grace); Ali uses more familiar "Islamic English" terminology (1:1 In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.) The latter "feels" more "authentic."
Buddhism - The Dhammapada (http://www.amazon.com/Dhammapada-Thich-Nhat-Hanh/dp/0938077872/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1194942981&sr=1-2)
1) The Dhammapada (sayings attributed to the Buddha) has been said to be a distillation of every Buddhist text and teaching, the only book on the subject that one needs to understand the philosophy.
2) It's short. 100 pages, something like that.
3) Not annotated. Buddhist texts are better that way. You get 'scholars' going on about the 20 meanings of each Pali word. Buddhism is open for interpretation.
4) Pocket sized. Cheap.
5) Thich blah blah and Ananda blah blah are two of the most respected Buddhist monks and scholars.
Numerical Discourses of the Buddha (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0742504050/ref=wl_it_dp?ie=UTF8&coliid=I2W58WVMZSL6JI&colid=3DYADN12JOQAJ)
The Long Discourses of the Buddha (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0861711033/ref=wl_it_dp?ie=UTF8&coliid=I3C5Y9MQ7Y4CFZ&colid=3DYADN12JOQAJ)
The Connected Discourses of the Buddha (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0861713311/ref=wl_it_dp?ie=UTF8&coliid=I1EDSZXCMGAVFY&colid=3DYADN12JOQAJ)
The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/086171072X/ref=wl_it_dp?ie=UTF8&coliid=I2JWXOZIEAOF6O&colid=3DYADN12JOQAJ)
Wild Ways: Zen Poems of Ikkyu (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1893996654/ref=wl_it_dp?ie=UTF8&coliid=I2FUJEPW1OO55I&colid=3DYADN12JOQAJ)
Here's a sample of Ikkyu (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ikkyu)
Eight inches strong, it is my favorite thing;
If I'm alone at night, I embrace it fully -
A beautiful woman hasn't touched it for ages.
Within my loincloth there is an entire universe!
But he was also capable of conventional wisdom:
From the world of passions
Returning to the world of passions:
There is a moment's pause.
If it rains, let it rain, if the wind blows, let it blow.
Satanism -
The Satanic Bible (http://www.amazon.com/Satanic-Bible-Anton-Szandor-Lavey/dp/0380015390/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1195286743&sr=8-1) - Anton LaVey
Satan Speaks (http://www.amazon.com/Satan-Speaks-LaVey-Anton-Szandor/dp/0922915660/ref=pd_bbs_7?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1195286743&sr=8-7) - Anton LaVey
SB - Quintessential Satanic text. 1/3 plagiarism of Might Is Right, 1/3 essays, 1/3 neo-pagan religious babble pretending not to be. It's a good read anyway, if for nothing else but the essay about "psychic vampirism" - "Not All Vampires Suck Blood" and the good old fashioned anti-Christian rhetoric. If you want to learn about the Church of Satan, start here.
SS - LaVey's essays, mainly criticisms of society. Nothing "religious" about this per se, but it's a great book. Helps put the CoS philosophy into context, I guess.
Avoid "The Satanic Rituals." It's more plagiarism (Lovecraft, this time) and goofy neo-pagan rites written up by LaVey and company. Doesn't take much to create your own "Satanic ritual" if you're into that type of thing. "The Devil's Notebook" is another collection of LaVey's writings, but it isn't as good as Satan Speaks. "Duck Billed Platitudes" contains some interesting insights, but probably plagiarized from elsewhere.
The Satanic Witch sucks. Peter Gilmore (current head of CoS) recently released a book of his essays called "The Satanic Scriptures" but I imagine they are intended to be as much like LaVey's as possible. Blanche Barton's "The Church of Satan" is hard to find and full of shit.
Avoid "theistic Satanism." We all know and hate that "Windex" aka Harry Potter dick. Satanism is an atheistic, individualistic philosophy/justification for painting your room black similar to Rand's Objectivism. Contrary to popular belief, the Satanic Bible did not plagiarize Atlas Shrugged.
14HAIL NORDS88 -
The Sagas are long and boring. The Eddas are short and boring. The Havamal is sort of interesting, but not really. Contains some actual wisdom, not just mythology. If you're into moral syncretism I suppose you could glean a bit.
I've been meaning to get the Tao Te Ching, Bhagavad Gita, and Book of Mormon just to round out the collection but I doubt I'll get around to reading them. Taoism is dumb, the Gita is obnoxious, and Mormonism, well, is Mormonism. None the less, all three are easily found for free online [sacred-texts.com], as is the holy book of Sikhism, the Sri Guru Granth Sahib.