Death, Dying, and the Afterlife by Mark Berkson

Death, Dying, and the Afterlife: Lessons from World Cultures by Mark Berkson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This covered a variety of topics about death without going into a great deal of depth on any of the topics. For example, Berkson gave an entire lecture each to the Christian, Jewish, Islamic, Hindu, and Buddhist, and Confucian concept of death and death rituals (6 lectures total). I see why that's important but the course is already a summary of the concept and experience of death in human society. Throwing in summaries of all the world's religions - mostly information of which I was already aware- didn't leave a lot of time for everything else about death. I also felt like the lecture on vegetarianism- again, something I've read about at length in other more through sources- was really not to the point.

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The Upanishads by Anonymous

The Upanishads: Translations from the Sanskrit by Anonymous


As a rule, I don't rate Holy Books. I will say this is more the sort of thing one would expect from a holy book if you were imagining the concept from scratch. The philosophy here overlaps a bit with Buddhism. It also does not depend purely on reasoning, as the philosophy can be better understood through the practical application of meditation. Not all of it makes great sense to me, but I'm not a great Yogi, so I wouldn't expect it to anyway.

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Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Pirsig

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values by Robert M. Pirsig
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Ever want to experience the mental illness/breakdown of a philosopher? Also need a few motorcycle maintenance tips? This is the book for you. Some talk about mindfulness and zen as well but not the main topic in my opinion.

Spoiler alert. My hard copy is an original copy. My digital loan from the library had a 10-year anniversary edition Afterword that totally devastated me.

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The Book by Alan W. Watts

The Book on the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are by Alan W. Watts
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I think I got more from The Doors of Perception by Aldous Huxley and from some modern similar books, Waking Up by Sam Harris, and The Happiness Hypothesis by Jonathan Haidt. This is a good companion book though and it goes in its own very unique direction. Plus I always give bonus points for brevity.

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The Tao of Physics by Fritjof Capra

The Tao of Physics: An Exploration of the Parallels between Modern Physics and Eastern Mysticism by Fritjof Capra
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Cute idea comparing physics and Eastern mysticism but it's not a great book about either topic and the links he draws are also not that interesting.

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