Quick Start Guide:
(NOTE: FOR TAKES ON THIS MATERIAL BY OTHER PEOPLE,
SEE ALSO: closely related external resources
[this note is repeated in like three places])
(ANOTHER NOTE: I've tried to assemble a "popular introduction or alternative" to my stuff, comprised of books by other people. Some of these books I haven't read, but they seem to get at the vibe or spirit of what I'm going for in this big document. I will disagree with lots of what's in them or even think they're almost net-misleading, but also they're pointing vaguely in the direction that I'm trying to point, like vaguely in the direction of the "'deepest', most important stuff, and collectively, comprehensively so":
- Slingerland, Edward. Trying not to try: Ancient China, modern science, and the power of spontaneity. Crown, 2015. [Mark comment: I haven't read this, and I don't know if Slingerland is a meditative practitioner, so this may be too wordy and totally miss the point, BUT my whole deal, which asymptotically includes many of the early and tibetan buddhist classical attainments, may also be exactly equivalent to the asymptotic "perfection" of wu wei. not sure yet, but it's sure looking like it at the time of this writing]
- Siff, Jason. Unlearning meditation: What to do when the instructions get in the way. Shambhala Publications, 2010. [not the best-organized book and maybe a lot of filler for "our" purposes, but deep alignment on narrowband core ethos]
- Awbery, Charlie. Opening Awareness: A guide to finding vividness in spacious clarity. Evolving Ground Ltd, 2023. [not identical but pretty closely related pith instructions to some of my pith instructions; also similar ethos in general in a lot of ways]
- Burns, David. Feeling good together: The secret to making troubled relationships work. Random House, 2010. [Mark comment: subtly hyperanalytical and brilliant, though imperfect. I don't recommend any of other Burns' stuff, fwiw.]
- Grant, Adam. Give and take: A revolutionary approach to success. Penguin, 2013. [Mark comment: cf. buddhist "interdependence"]
- Kay, John, and Shiva Kumar Srinivasan. "Obliquity: Why Our Goals are Best Achieved Indirectly."
[Mark comment: cf. meditation as as-needed maximally indirect ultimately-concrete problem-solving]
- Kenneth O. O. Stanley, Kenneth O. O. and Joel Lehman. Why Greatness Cannot Be Planned: The Myth of the Objective. Springer, 2015 edition. [hat-tip: JC]
- Wilber, Ken. The religion of tomorrow: a vision for the future of the great traditions-more inclusive, more comprehensive, more complete. Shambhala Publications, 2017. [maybe very overly-reifying and I'm aware there's a ton of Wilber-criticism, but the maps really do loosely correlate with the "real thing" with hard-to-beat comprehensiveness, and infrequently-but-usefully come in handy, practice-wise; and sometimes good for interpersonal bridge-building between different systems]