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Re: [pct-l] Reading for the Trail



:I would be happy to preach but this forum is for backpackers. There are
:plenty of religious forums if one wants to argue religions. The NIV is an
:excellent choice for trail reading because exceptionally small, lightweight
:versions exist and the work is germain to Christians, Moslems and Jews and
:is the foundation of belief for most of Western civilization.

Personally, I don't like to preach. But when I'm hiking I do like to read
philosophically-inclined works. Must be kind of a balancing of spending all
day in the physical world (rain, wind, food, sweat--wonderful! but, there's
more! :-)   ).

So I do want to recommend a series of books called "Shambhala Pocket
Classics". These are exceptionally small, lightweight versions of books on
many subjects. I took two on my hike last summer. These works are germaine
to human beings. Some of the titles are:

Backwoods & along the Seashore; Walden: both by Henry David Thoreau
The Path of Insight Meditation: Goldstein & Kornfield
Thoughts in Solitude: Thomas Merton
Song of Myself: Walt Whitman (abridged)
Teachings of the Buddha: Kornfield
Mount Analogue: Rene Daumal
The Zen Teaching of Huang Po: John Blofeld (trans.)
The Way of the Jewish Mystics: Pearl Besserman

Many more--probably all available through amazon.com--I try to buy mine from
the local half-price bookstore.  :-)  Get twice as many that way...

Karen



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