/lit/ - Literature

>>21358052
>We Shall See Him As He Is by Saint Sophrony Sakharov
>The Saviors of God by Nikos Kazantzakis
>Way to Wisdom by Karl Jaspers
>The Philosophy of Existentialism by Gabriel Marcel
>The Biocentric Worldview by Ludwig Klages
>The Inward Morning by Henry Bugbee
>The Religion of Man by Rabindranath Tagore
>Understanding Islam by Frithjof Schuon
>The Tao Te Ching (I'm gonna get shit on for this, but I was earnestly captivated by Jonathan Star's translation in high school, and I still appreciate it)
>The Ring of the Way by Taisen Deshimaru
>A Flash of Lightning in the Dark of Night by the Dalai Lama
>The Way of Response by Martin Buber
>Hoping Against Hope by John Caputo
>Purity of Heart is to Will One Thing by Soren Kierkegaard
>The Meaning of Man by Jean Mouroux
>Making All Things New by Ilia Delio
>Master Thich Nhat Hanh's commentary on The Admonitions and Encouraging Words of Master Guishan

That would be a good place to start if you want life-affirming explorations of the meaning and direction of existence, exhortations to discipline and adventure, and whatever else might fall into the "philosophical self-help genre". They all helped me.

>>21358147
Also I'd add that all of those authors have many more works, and some of them entire schools of thought built upon the foundation they made by generations of students, and almost all of them are writing from within a pre-existing tradition, so if you read one and are captivated by it, dive more deeply into it. If you like Sophrony, read the Sayings of the Desert Fathers, and read his writings on prayer, and study his contemporaries, and then study the Church Fathers, etc. If you like Kazantzakis, read his telling of the story of Saint Francis, read his Odyssey, read his letters, study his influences and those inspired by him, etc. If you like Thich Nhat Hanh, read his commentaries on the Sutras, read his story of the Buddha's life, etc. No book will solve the pressures of existence, but many of them can serve as invitations into a broader and more deeply interrogative relationship with them, enriching the struggle and giving you direction. They can situate you within a human community, a community of people struggling to find your way, and that is how you will find meaning. No one exists in a vacuum. Search for community, fight to earn a place within that community, learn humility and respect for all of its members, and pay attention to how that process changes you.

Study determinism

>>21358052
>help me deal with stresses of life
On Shortness of Life, Seneca

>>21358052
picrel is interesting.

>>21358192
I have mentioned i don't want books written for sub 110 IQ morons, haven't I?

>>21358210
sorry smart ass. forgot u knew all about this mortal experience.

>>21358192
Quick rundown?

"On Providence" by Seneca. You can find a public domain translation in Project Gutenberg.

>>21358291
>Ancient hebrews made up a fantasy and projected it to the world with the help of greek writers they commissioned. Those who oversee this world attempted to use these fantasies to get humans to be nice to each other. The Mormon religion is a recent attempt by these overseers to get people to be nice to each other(More detail is in the book if interested and in another they publish called New American Scripture How and Why the Real Illuminati created the Book of Mormon). This earth experience is nothing more than a dream taking place in the minds of our true selves and all religion/philosophies are basically the imaginations of consciousness inhabiting a decrepit flesh suit.

>Also the authors are supposed to be individuals that have lived on this earth since the mortal experience first began and recently committed suicide because they realised that humanity was fucked and will destroy itself like we have 5 different times in our past

>verification not required

>>21358147
Note Soren and the Tao Te Ching from this lest, you can safely disregard the rest OP.

>>21358052
>>21358210
If you are so smart you shouldnt need recommendations. Go to the library, reading books should take no time for a superior intellect walking among us cretins the way you do. A keen, sharp mind that is definitly more mature than your sub 22 years should be able to sniff out the genius you are looking for in no time.

>>21358052
The Bible.

>>21358052
Zhuang Zhi

>>21358339
I'd add Carl Jung, Erich Neumann, and Erich Fromm.

>>21358052
In my case, it was not philosophy in general that helped me, but instead reading about the umwelten of various animals. Through it, I learned there are more ways to be than the mundane, destructive way of humans. There may be some animals that you will appreciate more than others. I found deepening my knowledge of ornithology to be the most helpful for me.
Whenever I feel depressed or angry, I think about birds and feel vicarious pleasure knowing that there are some out there singing happily away.
All kinds of animals can be interesting, such as rodents, cetaceans, trees, octopi, fungi, horses, cats, dogs, etc.

>>21359444
Based animal appreciator
Also checked

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91gT68xeDMM