Cover of Awareness
This is from my handout for the Study Year in October. For various reasons, we didn't actually meet to study but I circulated this short reading list.
In my last handout I wrote: “Whilst much of the information and ideas might seem technical, this section of the course leads naturally into prayer and contemplation. It is profoundly about how we perceive the world. The Christian faith does not take us out of the world but leads us into deeper commitment. As our faith deepens we learn to see more and how to respond to what we see.”
The following are books I have found helpful in understanding perception and of observing reality. Some take a spiritual approach, whilst others are more philosophical or theological. Let me know if you read any of these books so that I can find time later in the course to discuss some of the issues.
This first book, I would identify as essential reading:
Awareness by Anthony de Mello, on Amazon £6.28 new and a lot less second hand.
De Mello was a Jesuit Priest who lived in India and studied other religions. He is well known for his collections of short stories, eg The Song of the Bird and The Prayer of the Frog. This book comprises notes from his retreats. He takes a psychological approach to spiritual direction and you will find from the start that he takes a different approach to most other spiritual writers. He shows how easy it is for us to deceive ourselves through our dependency on the things we cling to in order to keep ourselves happy.
The following are all helpful:
Finding Sanctuary: Monastic Steps for Everyday Life by Christopher Jamison. This book is written for secular people, based on Benedictine spirituality. Father Jamison is the Abbot of Worth Abbey and he wrote this book as a response to the interest in the BBC TV programme ‘The Monastery’.
The Human Touch: Our Part in the Creation of a Universe by Michael Frayn. This is a philosophical book about the nature of reality and how it is based upon the way we perceive it.
Does It Matter?: The Unsustainable World of the Materialists by Graham Dunstan Martin. An exploration of the nature of consciousness.
Naming the Powers: Language of Power in the New Testament (The Powers : Volume One); Unmasking the Powers: The Invisible Forces That Determine Human Existence; Engaging the Powers: Discernment and Resistance in a World of Domination by Walter Wink. These three volumes are included here because they develop a theme found in the other books about how our illusions ensnare us. These books are a more sustained theological approach to perception.
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