/lit/ - Literature

>>16773573
Fuck, this might be a gay ass recc but unironically "Be Here Now"
Made me have that effect

>>16773573
I dunno but maybe read Oscar Wilde's De Profundis? Skip the first half which is basically a long hate letter to his boyfriend. His thoughts on the individualist, artistic Jesus are worth keeping on hand and reviewing every so often. Good luck

Makes me think of the doctor Zosima talks about in The Brothers Karamazov

>“That’s exactly what a doctor told me quite some time ago,” the elder remarked. “He was not a young man and he was certainly intelligent. He was just as sincere as you are, although he spoke in an amused tone, with a sort of bitter humor. ‘I love mankind,’ he said, ‘but I find to my amazement that the more I love mankind as a whole, the less I love individual people. In my thoughts,’ the doctor told me, ‘I often visualize ecstatically the sacrifices I could make for mankind and, indeed, I might even accept martyrdom for my fellow men if circumstances suddenly demanded it of me. In actual fact, however, I cannot bear to spend two days in the same room with another person. And this I know from personal experience. Whenever someone is too close to me, I feel my personal dignity and freedom are being infringed upon. Within twenty-four hours I can come to hate the best of men, perhaps because he eats too slowly or because he has a cold and keeps blowing his nose. I become a man’s enemy,’ he said, ‘as soon as he touches me. But to make up for it, the more I hate individual people, the more ardent is my general love for mankind.’”

>“But what’s the answer then? What’s to be done in such a case? Is it completely hopeless?”

>“No, because the very fact that it worries you is enough in itself. Do the best you can and it will stand you in good stead. As it is, you have done a great deal, for you have come to know yourself deeply and sincerely. However, if you have spoken to me so frankly only to make me praise you for your sincerity, then, of course, you will fail to accomplish true acts of love; all your good intentions will remain mere daydreams, and your whole life will slip by like a shadow. In that case, you will certainly forget all about the future life as well, and in the end you will somehow or other stop worrying altogether.”

>>16773573
>>16773573
i guess i would be classified as a good soul,
and i do say this not intending to jerk myself off or make myself seem like a pretentious cockwaffle.
i do everything i can to help and love others because it makes me feel good. it makes me feel im making small differences in my life to improve the lives around me.
i think its how you're raised and conditioned in the world
i saw evil in my home life and school life and how it changed me made me want to bring nothing to the table of existence but love to mostly all people.

i began reading from the stoics like epictetus and marcus. among others very recently and this has only reinforced my views on loving one another. and also accepting and controlling of how i react when i feel someone has done me wrong, and forgiving them.

but if you truly want to spiritual revolution inside you
look up any of these books by

Jiddu Khrisnamurti:
>you are the world- very good one for you
>awakening of intelligence
>the revolution within oneself- very good one for you
>on fear
>beyond violence
>the flight of the eagle - very good one for you
>meeting life - very good one for you
>on mind and thought
>this light in oneself - very good one for you

pic related is how i was introduced to his work.

i wouldnt start with this one unless you can work through all several hundred pages.

god speed anon. i love you and hope you are able to put yourself on this path of love.

>>16773573
Siddartha by Hesse, desu
Hesse in general is pretty good.

I'll add Tao Te Ching.

>>16773573
Being good is overrated and there is no one who is only interested in giving. Follow your own path and stop trying to fulfill this idea of goodness that you got secondhand

>>16773573
Personal philosophy aside, all you have to do is practice being mindful of others needs before your own needs. You don't need a book OP.

Then General Sīha went to the Blessed One and, on arrival, having bowed down to him, sat to one side. As he was sitting there he said to the Blessed One: “Is it possible, lord, to point out a fruit of giving visible in the here & now?”

“It is possible, Sīha. One who is generous, a master of giving, is dear & charming to people at large. And the fact that who is generous, a master of giving, is dear & charming to people at large: This is a fruit of giving visible in the here & now.

“And further, good people, people of integrity, admire one who is generous, a master of giving. And the fact that good people, people of integrity, admire one who is generous, a master of giving: This, too, is a fruit of giving visible in the here & now.

“And further, the fine reputation of one who is generous, a master of giving, is spread far & wide. And the fact that the fine reputation of one who is generous, a master of giving, is spread far & wide: This, too, is a fruit of giving visible in the here & now.

“And further, when one who is generous, a master of giving, approaches any assembly of people—noble warriors, brahmans, householders, or contemplatives—he/she does so confidently & without embarrassment. And the fact that when one who is generous, a master of giving, approaches any assembly of people—noble warriors, brahmans, householders, or contemplatives—he/she does so confidently & without embarrassment: This, too, is a fruit of giving visible in the here & now.

“And further, at the break-up of the body, after death, one who is generous, a master of giving, reappears in a good destination, a heavenly world. And the fact that at the break-up of the body, after death, one who is generous, a master of giving, reappears in a good destination, a heavenly world: This is a fruit of giving in the next life.”

When this was said, General Sīha said to the Blessed One: “As for the four fruits of giving visible in the here & now that have been pointed out by the Blessed One, it’s not the case that I go by conviction in the Blessed One with regard to them. I know them, too. I am generous, a master of giving, dear & charming to people at large. I am generous, a master of giving; good people, people of integrity, admire me. I am generous, a master of giving, and my fine reputation is spread far & wide: ‘Sīha is generous, a doer, a supporter of the Saṅgha.’ I am generous, a master of giving, and when I approach any assembly of people—noble warriors, brahmans, householders, or contemplatives—I do so confidently & without embarrassment.

“But when the Blessed One says to me, ‘At the break-up of the body, after death, one who is generous, a master of giving, reappears in a good destination, a heavenly world,’ that I do not know. That is where I go by conviction in the Blessed One.”

“So it is, Sīha. So it is. At the break-up of the body, after death, one who is generous, a master of giving, reappears in a good destination, a heavenly world.”

>>16774658
One who gives is dear.

People at large admire him.

He gains honor. His status grows.

He enters an assembly unembarrassed.

He is confident—the unmiserly man.

Therefore the wise give gifts.

Seeking bliss, they would subdue the stain of miserliness.

Established in the three-fold heavenly world,

they enjoy themselves long

in fellowship with the devas.

Having made the opportunity for themselves,

having done what is skillful,

then when they fall from here

they fare on, self-radiant, in Nandana

[the garden of the devas].

There they delight, enjoy, are joyful,

replete with the five sensuality strands.

Having followed the words of the sage who is Such,

they enjoy themselves in heaven—

disciples of the One Well-Gone.

>>16773573
Hesse more like scheisse

>>16773573
Gandhi's biography, I was never a fan of the man until I read this thing. The prose is somewhat wooden, but you can't help but really admire the guy.

>>16773573
Diary of a Country Priest is a great one.

>>16773573
Not a book but 5g of mushrooms

>>16773573
>kraut thinks the statue (buddha) is good
no no no
study pure land Buddhism

>>16773661
Literally me.

>>16773573
It's not a moment of understanding that changes who you fundamentally are. It's a continuous fight against your own nature, always modifying and improving, until you die.

You need be:
1. Attractive
2. Traumatised

>>16778311
It still helps to have models to strive towards and reminders of what you are trying to do.
When you live surrounded by businesses which are interested only in getting maximum value out of you you can become quite defensive and disillusioned with humanity.

>>16773573
>Which books capture that?
There are so many, it would be better to just let the books you seek find you. But tao te ching and some mind altering drugs (or lots of meditation) would be a good start.

>>16778373
Gotta get over it, doesn't matter what's happening to you or in your head.

>>16779666
Nice try satan.

>>16778587
bump

>>16778345
pretty much this. you need to have the fundamentals to consider humanity a non-hostile force, and you also need the compulsion to understand them
the only thing i'd add is intelligence helps the whole effect not be perceived as schizophrenic nonsense

>>16776791
>>study pure land Buddhism
that's wrong view