BootsnAll Travel Community

Roight, let's get metaphysical.

Is there a book that you look to as a guide? A motivator? Or a text - other than your LP! - that you always make room for? Could be 'On the Road', could be the Bible; whatever fuels you.

For me it's my Tao Te Ching - it's something that has always helped me on my travels, by making me be more open to the 'unexpectedness' of life and being on the road.

quote:

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Is there a difference between yes and no?
Is there a difference between good and evil?
Must I fear what others fear? What nonsense!
- Chap. 20, Tao Te Ching

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[This message was edited by Ant on 26 April 2001 at 18:22.]

Ant, you clever little bugger, I didn't realise you could speak Chinese!

Personally some of my favourite reading material that inspires me when travelling are as follows.

The Alchemist : Paulo Cuelho
This is a simple story of a boy, Santiago, that follows his calling. I think letting go of your safety blanket is an important thing and in this story he's always having to move on and take leaps of faith.

The Prophet : Kahlil Gibran
Gibran understands human nature and comes up with some very poetic descriptions of how people interact. I like the section on giving and how people give, some with gladness, some grudingly, some expecting a return.

The Hero With A Thousand Faces : Joseph Campbell
Campbell talks about some of the common mythological symbols and ideas that seem to repeat in almost every culture. His extensive knowledge of the subject and excitment really bring this subject alive.

-nick

The Sheltering Sky by Paul Bowles

The hero is a seeker and, like most of us when we travel, we are never quite sure what he is seeking, and we are not quite sure in the end if he found it. In fact, we are pretty sure that he didn't, but, like us, he had to make that journey and would make the same journey again.

The Snow Leopard by Peter Mathiesen

The author is trekking in Dolpo looking for a glimpse of the snow leopard, but he is also on a spiritual journey trying to reach the point where as he puts it "when I take this blue tin cup into my hand, that is all that I do".

The Vision, by Tom Brown Jr.

Brown is an outdoorsman and spiritualist, who grew up with a native american medicine man. His book is absolutely beautiful. He talks about opening your eyes and really seeing the world around you, and about consciously avoiding the routine that saps the world of wonder.

"The Dolphin: Story of a dreamer" by Sergio Bambaren is a wonderfully inspirational book.

Telling the story of Daniel, a dolphin following his dreams and looking for his destiny, it opens your eyes and reminds you of the magic of self-discovery.

Highly recommended!

Kat

Curiosity never killed anything except perhaps a few hours!

...and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, by Robert Pirsig.

It depends on what kind of adventure, but there's always a chunk of Pirsig's discussion of Quality which will put anything into perspective for me...

And Ant---glad to hear of other Tao-carry-er's... beautiful.

-jer

by Paul Bowles... And this really sticks with me:

"because we don't know [when we will die], we get to think of life as an inexhaustible well. Yet everything happens only a certain number of times, and a very small number, really. How many more times will you remember a certain afternoon of your childhood, some afternoon that's so deeply a part of your being that you can't even conceive of your life without it? Perhaps four or five times more. Perhaps not even that. Hw many more times will you watch the full moon rise? Perhaps twenty. And yet it all seems limitless."

First time I saw this was actually on the grave of Brandon Lee (Bruce Lee's son) in Seattle. Those words have stuck with me ever since - a reminder to cherish, not to take for granted, and to fully.

this one's from Rumi:

"Respond to every call that excites your spirit."

I don't think that needs any comment or elaboration...

You guys are really making me want to read the copy of "The Sheltering Sky" that I have sitting on my shelf. I bought it at Powell's a few months ago, and it just fell to the wayside.

It's an amazing book, Cheesepuppet; I read it just a couple of months ago, and it's one that I may well have to read again, which doesn't happen too often

Hi Yall:

I found this book by Alan Cohen at the thrift store and bought it for 50 cents. Reading it transformed my life....I've quit my job and am going out to see the world, create a new world for myself. I have no destination or resources and am relying on the grace of the God/Goddess to light my way.

Exciting!! Frightening (a bit)....it's a chance to really follow a path that I've talked about for years. We'll see what happens?

Anyway, The Dragon Doesn't Live Here Anymore gave me such inspiration! Highly recommended.

Peace out,
Karen

Sorry, none of these spiritual books or whatever for me, I like to read books about what's going on in the world. I am a huge fan of the book 'No Logo' from Naomi Klein. Anyone who hasn't read it before should do so.

I've got to agree with Nicks post from last year about Kahlil Gibran's 'The Prophet'- Its amazing. One of only a handful of books you can read over and over again. Beautiful poetic writing and the most quotable thing I've ever read.

Id recommend Hermann Hesse's 'Siddartha' - search for self stuff in a quasi-buddhist way. An unbelievably calming book.

Laters

I'll back Margie up on No Logo! It's an amazing book, very readable.

can't say there's a book or text that guides me. countries and people stimulate me but in the end I'm my own yin yang

Bob marley- in this grey future you cant escape your past. { but you can choose not to be stuck in the hole that made your past such a shitty place by just picking a country and going, new memories are made and bad memories replaced.}

Albert Einstein-Imagination is more important then knowledge. { Our dreams fuel our need to explore, my brothers a very smart and educated guy but hell I have to fuel his lawn mower for him. Its our imaginations that make us who we are.

Jared {the nomad} Sasek

I'll probably get laughed off the boards all together....

But I have to say, "The Littlest Hobo" had a serious effect on me when growing up. So maybe that (at some subconscious level) is what has fueled my wanderlust....

And yeah, you all remember the song...

"Into the Wild" by Jon Krakaeur

This is something that Christopher McCandless aka Alexander Supertramp wrote to a friend: "...I think you really should make a radical change in your lifestyle and begin to boldly do things which you may previously never have thought of doing., or been to hesitant to attempt. So many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation because they are conditioned to a life of security, conformity and conservatism, all of which may appear to give one peace of mind, but in reality nothing is more damaging to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure future. The very basic core of a man's living spirit is his passion for adventure. The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun" - Alexander Supertramp,told in Krakauer's "Into the Wild". This was from a 21 year old who gave away his $25,000 trust fund to charity and dumped most of his belongings on his path to discovery in Alaska. A true story about a fascinating man whose life ended too soon but whose spirit remains.

When I start thinking about books my mind goes speeding away from me so fast that I'm instantly flooded with quotes, authors, books, ideas...it's a workout just to think right now but I feel like I have to throw some things out to you all like here's one that could possibly spin your mind around a few times, try
C.S Lewis' Mere Christianity, and don't let the title discourage you from this book, from the same author that brought us the Chronicles of Narnia, a book most of will remember from our childhood but are, as well, a mirror into Lewis' battle with beliefs in faith and hope, good and evil....Mere Christianity rocked my young mind when I was 18 and still today challenges the very core of what I hold to be true in my life. It's awsome! Please pick up a copy and open your mind to his.
"Out of a dream encompassing the world of universes, the life or death of the psyche to live or to go mad and to know the truth."
cheers,
andie

First and formost...

On The Road, by Jack Keroac

Anything and everything by Herman Hesse...Very east/west on the conciousness issues, with
Narcissus and Goldman, one of my favorites.

The Power Of Thinking Big...a personal self help guide.

"I used to just think I was big...now I truly am!!!!"