book pickings

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religion

  1. The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark Carl Sagan “Science is not only compatible with spirituality; it is a profound source of spirituality. When we recognize our place in an immensity of light years and in the passage of ages, when we grasp the intricacy, beauty and subtlety of life, then that soaring feeling, that sense of elation and humility combined, is surely spiritual. … The notion that science and spirituality are somehow mutually exclusive does a disservice to both.” Carl Sagan on science and spirituality, a timelessly fantastic read:

    The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark

    Carl Sagan

    “Science is not only compatible with spirituality; it is a profound source of spirituality. When we recognize our place in an immensity of light years and in the passage of ages, when we grasp the intricacy, beauty and subtlety of life, then that soaring feeling, that sense of elation and humility combined, is surely spiritual. … The notion that science and spirituality are somehow mutually exclusive does a disservice to both.”

    Carl Sagan on science and spirituality, a timelessly fantastic read:
  2. Mortality Christopher Hitchens “To the dumb question ‘Why me?’ the cosmos barely bothers to return the reply: Why not?”

    Mortality

    Christopher Hitchens

    “To the dumb question ‘Why me?’ the cosmos barely bothers to return the reply: Why not?”
  3. Where the Heart Beats: John Cage, Zen Buddhism, and the Inner Life of Artists Kay Larson “What can be analyzed in my work, or criticized, are the questions.” ~ John Cage A remarkable new intellectual, creative, and spiritual biography of Cage — one of the most influential composers in modern history, whose impact reaches beyond the realm of music and into art, literature, cinema, and just about every other aesthetic and conceptual expression of curiosity about the world, yet also one of history’s most misunderstood artists — fifteen years in the making.

    Where the Heart Beats: John Cage, Zen Buddhism, and the Inner Life of Artists

    Kay Larson

    “What can be analyzed in my work, or criticized, are the questions.” ~ John Cage

    A remarkable new intellectual, creative, and spiritual biography of Cage — one of the most influential composers in modern history, whose impact reaches beyond the realm of music and into art, literature, cinema, and just about every other aesthetic and conceptual expression of curiosity about the world, yet also one of history’s most misunderstood artists — fifteen years in the making.
  4. The Spirituality of Imperfection: Storytelling and the Search for Meaning Ernest Kurtz & Katherine Ketcham “If a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing badly.” Originally published in 1993, this gem explores what’s arguably the most important dimension of what it means to be human — our inherent imperfection — and the many ways in which we violate it daily, delivering a constellation of wisdom and practical insight on how to live in a way that enables, rather than disempowers, our humanity.

    The Spirituality of Imperfection: Storytelling and the Search for Meaning

    Ernest Kurtz & Katherine Ketcham

    “If a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing badly.”

    Originally published in 1993, this gem explores what’s arguably the most important dimension of what it means to be human — our inherent imperfection — and the many ways in which we violate it daily, delivering a constellation of wisdom and practical insight on how to live in a way that enables, rather than disempowers, our humanity.
  5. Gentle Bridges: Conversations with the Dalai Lama on the Sciences of Mind Jeremy W. Hayward “Western civilization’s science and technology bring society tremendous benefit. Yet, due to highly developed technology, we also have more anxiety and more fear. I always feel that mental development and material development must be well-balanced, so that together they may make a more human world. If we lose human values and human beings become part of a machine, there is no freedom from pain and pleasure. Without freedom from pain and pleasure, it is very difficult to demarcate between right and wrong. The subjects of pain and pleasure naturally involve feeling, mind, and consciousness.” The Dalai Lama and leading Western scientists explore the essence of mind.

    Gentle Bridges: Conversations with the Dalai Lama on the Sciences of Mind

    Jeremy W. Hayward

    “Western civilization’s science and technology bring society tremendous benefit. Yet, due to highly developed technology, we also have more anxiety and more fear. I always feel that mental development and material development must be well-balanced, so that together they may make a more human world. If we lose human values and human beings become part of a machine, there is no freedom from pain and pleasure. Without freedom from pain and pleasure, it is very difficult to demarcate between right and wrong. The subjects of pain and pleasure naturally involve feeling, mind, and consciousness.”

    The Dalai Lama and leading Western scientists explore the essence of mind.
  6. Ideas And Opinions Albert Einstein The definitive collection of the great thinker’s essays on everything from science and religion to government to human nature, gathered under the supervision of Einstein himself.

    Ideas And Opinions

    Albert Einstein

    The definitive collection of the great thinker’s essays on everything from science and religion to government to human nature, gathered under the supervision of Einstein himself.
  7. Religion for Atheists: A Non-believer’s Guide to the Uses of Religion Alain De Botton Writer and philosopher Alain de Botton on what education and the arts can learn from faith and how to glean secular models for engagement and inspiration from religious rituals. His excellent TED talk at the link.

    Religion for Atheists: A Non-believer’s Guide to the Uses of Religion

    Alain De Botton

    Writer and philosopher Alain de Botton on what education and the arts can learn from faith and how to glean secular models for engagement and inspiration from religious rituals.

    His excellent TED talk at the link.
  8. The Big Poster Book of Hindu Deities: 12 Removable Prints Sanjay Patel Pixar animator Sanjay Patel’s The Big Poster Book of Hindu Deities is not so much a “book” per se as a stunning large-format portfolio of 12 removable full-color posters, each bringing a revered ancient deity into the modern Technicolor world in Sanjay’s signature anime-inspired vibrant graphic style. Equal parts playful, iconic, and irreverently subversive, the prints are less about reinforcing religious ideology — okay, they’re actually not about that at all — than they are about exploring cultural storytelling and tradition from a fresh, unusual angel meant to delight and inspire.

    The Big Poster Book of Hindu Deities: 12 Removable Prints

    Sanjay Patel

    Pixar animator Sanjay Patel’s The Big Poster Book of Hindu Deities is not so much a “book” per se as a stunning large-format portfolio of 12 removable full-color posters, each bringing a revered ancient deity into the modern Technicolor world in Sanjay’s signature anime-inspired vibrant graphic style. Equal parts playful, iconic, and irreverently subversive, the prints are less about reinforcing religious ideology — okay, they’re actually not about that at all — than they are about exploring cultural storytelling and tradition from a fresh, unusual angel meant to delight and inspire.
  9. The Magic of Reality: How We Know What’s Really True Richard Dawkins Evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins — who in 1976 famously coined the term “meme” in his seminal, must-read book The Selfish Gene — is nowadays best-known as the world’s most celebrated atheist. This week, Dawkins brings us his first sort-of-children’s book, The Magic of Reality: How We Know What’s Really True — a scientific primer for the world, its magic, and its origin, an antidote to the creationism mythology teaching young readers how to replace myth with science, and a fine addition to our favorite soft-of-children’s nonfiction.

    The Magic of Reality: How We Know What’s Really True

    Richard Dawkins

    Evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins — who in 1976 famously coined the term “meme” in his seminal, must-read book The Selfish Gene — is nowadays best-known as the world’s most celebrated atheist. This week, Dawkins brings us his first sort-of-children’s book, The Magic of Reality: How We Know What’s Really True — a scientific primer for the world, its magic, and its origin, an antidote to the creationism mythology teaching young readers how to replace myth with science, and a fine addition to our favorite soft-of-children’s nonfiction.