The Tao te ching by Lao tzu.  There are many versions but the Stephen Mitchell is the one that appeals to me the most but as I gave my road copy to a friend who had given hers to another friend I'll have to settle for Witter Bynners' 1944 version where he translates the title as The Way of Life;

1)

"Existence is beyone the power of words

To define:

Terms may be used

But are none of them absolute.

In the beginning of heaven and  earth there were no words,

Words came out of the womb of matter;

And whether a man dispassionately

Sees to the core of life

Or passionately

Sees the surface,

The core and the surface

are essentially the same,

Words making them seem different

Only to express appearance.

If name be needed, wonder names them both:

From wonder into wonder

Existence opens."

That is one version of what some commentators would call the essence of Taoism. Eighty 'chapters' follow, all of the same approximate length,  expanding on themes contained in this first chapter. This edition is a little wordy for me.  He seems to be going for a prose translation of what is a poetic work but 'the name which can be named is not the eternal name.'

rb

"It's not so bad as long as you can keep the fear from your mind." - D. Cooper

"I must not fear. Fear is the mind killer." - P. Atreides

"Whoever can see through all fear will always be safe" - L. tzu

1)

"The way that becomes a way

is not the Immortal Way

the name that becomes a  name

is not the Immortal Name

the maiden of Heaven and Earth has no name

the mother of all things has a name

thus in innocence we see the beginning

in passion we see the end

two different names

for one and the same

the one we call dark

the dark beyond dark

the door to all beginnings"

From Lao-tzu's Taoteching as translated by Red Pine

Much more poetic and more to my liking but again the name which...

rb

"It's not so bad as long as you can keep the fear from your mind." - D. Cooper

"I must not fear. Fear is the mind killer." - P. Atreides

"Whoever can see through all fear will always be safe" - L. tzu

"Harry, I'm going to let you in on a little secret. Every day, once a day, give yourself a present. Don't plan it, don't wait for it, just let it happen. Could be a new shirt at the men's store, a catnap in your office chair, or two cups of good, hot, black coffee. Like this."  -Dale Cooper

~ Amanda

"Just fear me, love me, do as I say and I will be your slave..."

Eckhart Tolle's  The Power of Now.  In my 20 odd years on a spiritual path, I have studied dozens of books from Sufism to Christianity to Taoism to Buddhism, and formed my own eclectic practice.  A friend gave me The Power of Now, and I am amazed at how Tolle gets to the essence of all these teachings, sharing a practice that will enable anyone to go deeper into whatever belief they already hold.

 I have also been reading The Gospel of Mary Magdalene, translated by Jean-Yves Leloup, a text found in Cairo in 1896, 50 years before the discovery in Nag Hammadi, Egypt of what now are called the Gnostic Gospels.  These are texts that early Church patriarchs refused to include in what came to be the Bible.  All of these texts are much more metaphysical and mysterious than the texts included in the Bible, and give a much deeper understanding of Jesus' teachings.  The Gospel of Mary shows the quality of her special relationship with Jesus, and gives the teachings imparted only to Mary, ones the men were not ready to hear.  Also profound are the Gospels of Thomas and Judas.  Elaine Pagels is the author to look for for translations and commentairies.

"Mere Christianity" by CS Lewis is a gem.  He doesn't totally take me over into the Christianity camp but the God logic worked for me.

Susan

     
“Half a truth is often a great lie.”

Ben Franklin

The Dark Side of Christian History - Helen Ellerbe

so, well, one suave folk. it is because i sought you before (answering to your post about jesus and stuff). i, back then, was very fond of you. but this has changed now. i somehow, with my original post here, wanted to abstain from my former appreciation of you, i wanted to tell, that i don't like you that much any longer. i wanted to point out that you were only using that teresa-banks-avatar as an excuse for not caring about laura and that the minute everybody would care for teresa banks would be the minute you'd change your avatar for something else instead (saying: if you care so much for X, why don't you care for Y instead?). that's the point i was trying to make. now i said it, easily apprehendable, so you could answer or not, just as you please. i felt like i needed to publicly say: i was wrong with my appreciation of one suave folk. that's what i wanted to say, and i said it awkward and hostile (post i erased), because i was drunk. hope, this is clear now. i don't mean to follow you around, one suave folk, any longer. i said i liked you but now i feel like i had to say: i abstain from this. that's everything. it, in the end, has nothing to do with you. i'm just a bird. i came for you and now i go away, it's merely intrinsical. this is a fucked-up-post. i'll post it anyway.

and my favorite religious book, not because it is it now, but because it's the one that influenced me the most, would be "thus spoke zarathustra".