I've given Alan Watts The Book to at least five people I thought could use it. Four of them never mentioned it again. I'm marrying the fifth next month.
heh. I tried to get my friends into Jiddu Krishnamurthi but unfortunately people in the west seem to have a pavlovian revulsion to eastern 'guru's from the east nowadays.
There seems to be some sort of strange obsession with applying the scientific method to psychological issues. Bunch of my friends started meditating because it is 'scientifically proven' to make them happy, make them rich, make them have good sex or whatever . Nevermind that all those "studies" are pure nonsense[1]. But people will buy anything with the stamp of science on it, they are not joking when they claim 'I believe in science not god' .
Congratulations on your wedding and for finding a compatible partner. That's really great!!
I am glad to see somebody mentioning Jiddu Krishnamurti here.
He is the most underrated and forgotten person, mainly due to his own insistence, but he made a tremendous difference to some lives. I've come across his books almost twenty years ago, I haven't read any of his books in years now, but his teachings(insights he shared, because he wouldn't like to be called a teacher ) are so well ingrained that I am reminded of them every day.
Similar to the OP of this thread, I didn't marry a person who said he finds his teachings dry :), I am now happily married to my spouse for twelve years who humbly says it is too difficult to really understand Jiddu.
Fantastic book! I got my copy from my grandmother and have given away multiple copies since.
My favorite concepts from "The Book" are the Wiggles and the Net, exploring the idea that so many modern pressures and stresses are human created and are therefore open to change.
There seems to be some sort of strange obsession with applying the scientific method to psychological issues. Bunch of my friends started meditating because it is 'scientifically proven' to make them happy, make them rich, make them have good sex or whatever . Nevermind that all those "studies" are pure nonsense[1]. But people will buy anything with the stamp of science on it, they are not joking when they claim 'I believe in science not god' .
Congratulations on your wedding and for finding a compatible partner. That's really great!!
1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19123875