Read

BOOKS

• Violence and the Sacred - Rene Girard - discusses why ritual is important among other things
• The Hero with A Thousand Faces - Joseph Campbell - helpful to understand the composition of most stories and one’s life
• Tantra Unveiled: Seducing the Forces of Matter and Spirit - Pandit Rajmani Tigunait - helpful to get some bearings if interested in tantra
• The Blind Owl Sadegh Hedayat - ☠️
• The Temporary Autonomous Zone - Hakim Bey - how to build a society for a short period of time
• Play of Consciousness - Swami Muktananda - a sadhaka’s journey into meditation
• 48 Laws of Power - Robert Greene - helpful guide for accumulating power
• Living with the Himalayan Masters - Swami Rama - teaches about spirituality through stories
• The Profound Treasury of the Ocean of the Dharma - Chongyam Trungpa - 3 part series that lays out the Hinayana, Mahayana and Vajrayana vehicles of Tibetan Buddhism
• 100 to 1 in the Stock Market - Thomas Phelps - how to make a lot of money in the stock market
• In Search of the Miraculous - P.D. Ouspensky - A great way to learn about the teachings of G.I Gurdjieff
• Asana Pranayama Mudra Bandha - Swami Satyananda Saraswati - useful for one seeking to deepen their Raja Yoga practice
• Love - Stendahl - How to think about love. How love works.
• Moola Bandha: The Master Key - Deep dive into one of the most important energy centers
• Aghora: At the Left Hand of God - Robert Svoboda - An Aghori and his pupil sharing lessons on aghora and tantra through dialogue
• Marcel Duchamp: The Afternoon Interviews - Calvin Tomkins - Interview with artist Marcel Duchamp about art.
• Vigyan Bhairav Tantra Vol. 1-5 - Osho - An interesting lens on Tantra from Osho who is a genius.
• Battle of Bretton Woods - Benn Steil - An overview of the conference that determined what international monetary system would look like after WW2
• The Giving Tree - Shel Silverstein - the problem with capitalism and humans
• Stalking the Wild Pendulum - Itzhak Bentov - On the mechanics of consciousness
• History of Sexuality Vol. 1-3 - Michel Foucault - Why we are so fucked up as a culture in the west
• The Breakdown of Nations - Leopold Kohr - Smaller is better
• Denationalization of Money - Frederick Hayek - Smaller economies
• Akbar and Birbal: Tales of Wit and Wisdom - Amita Sarin - Great short stories with big lessons
• Encyclopedia of Tibetan Symbols and Motifs - Robert Beer - If you like Tibetan art a lot and drawing, this is for you.
• Mysticism of the Ramayana - Swami Jyotirmayananda - Great insights and synopsis of the epic tale.
• The Secret Teachings of All Ages - Manly P. Hall - Lots of esoteric knowledge about a huge number of topics
• Drug Use for Grown Ups - Dr. Carl Hart - A tenured professor explaining how fucked up the drug war is and why adults should be free to recreationally use any drugs they want to
• Supercapitalism - Robert Reich - How capitalism with megacorps purely focused on the bottom line is unsustainable and what we can do about it as consumers

ARTICLES AND ESSAYS

• Tantra: Theory and Practice - overview of Tantra understandable by a Western anglophone reader
• Guide to the Elements - how do the elements affect us
• Proposal for a Decentralized Alternative Monetary System - Robert Swann’s proposal for a community-backed currency system
• Rethinking Our Centralized Monetary System - The Case for a System of Local Currencies
• The Politics of Money - Hazel Henderson
• The Crack Up - F. Scott Fitzgerald - What happens when we crack up (like break down)
• Cybernetics and Entheogenics - Peter Lamborn Wilson - A great take on the relationship between tech and psychedelics
• Mystical Interpretation of the Hanuman Chalisa - Swami Jyotirmayananda - 🐒
• The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction - Walter Benjamin - How art has evolved through history
• Vajrayogini Overview and Sacred Sites in Nepal

WEBSITES

• Crystalinks - great spiritual encyclopedia
• Sacred Texts - basically every religious/spiritual text ever
• Music Map - classification of music genres shown in a cool visualization
• Schumacher Center - best resource for learning about local economies
• Universal Yoga - most comprehensive system of yoga imo
• Charles Fourier Archive - catalogue of some of the works of Charles Fourier