The Steemit Christmas Book Challenge - recommend a favorite to the Steem community!
I was recently challenged by @honeydue to write about a book that's had in impact on me. Click here to see her original post.
Autobiography of a Yogi, by Paramahansa Yogananda, was the first book that came to mind and I'll tell you why.
Teen years are challenging naturally but growing up in a gang-ridden inner city neighborhood took things to a whole new level. I never got to enjoy things like prom and cut classes whenever I could. Students, and sometimes teachers, at our school were beaten up on a regular basis. Kids had their shoes and jackets, and whatever else gang members wanted, taken right off of them.
I was a skinny, shy kid with thick glasses who got good grades and may as well have had a target on my back and a neon arrow above my head. By the end of the tenth grade I had reinvented myself in an effort to survive. I lifted weights at least two hours per day, got contact lenses, gained 70lbs of muscle. Suddenly, I had a whole new group of friends and we were really good at getting into trouble. I was like a rudderless ship. The real trouble was, this person I became wasn't me and my soul began to tell me this through increasingly crippling bouts of anxiety and depression.
As a result of this, after graduation (I still think it's a miracle that I received my diploma), I spent the first few years of my young adult life processing and releasing trauma.
During my early college years I found a haven in a small corner of Columbus, Ohio called German Village. A book store The Bookloft. became my home away from home and I spent many Sundays in this place browsing and reading whatever jumped out at me. One day in 1993 I found this book, the picture on the cover seemed so strangely familiar but I had no idea why.
As I read it, it transformed me. I felt as though I found my way home and began a regular meditation practice. A few months later I enrolled in advanced kriya yoga training, and could feel myself start to heal from the inside out. I've reread the book every few years since and always come away with a different lesson each time. Without going into all of the sorted details, I can honestly say the book probably saved my life and, undoubtedly, set me on the path to where I am today.
I've heard several other stories from people (Steve Jobs and George Harrison among them) whose lives have been transformed in similar ways after reading the book. There's a certain magic in it.
Borrowing from @honeydue's post......
Now, let's keep this going.
Tell us why you love your favorite book.
Let that be your gift to the Steemit community this Christmas.
A book can change lives. A book can save lives.
Words are immensely powerful, so who knows what may happen? Someone might be so touched by your recommendation that they quit their jobs and move away, start a new life altogether. It could be an eye-opener. It could make them fall in love with life all over again. It could change everything.
I'm sure you know such a book, that you have one book that completely changed the way you view things. Or maybe just a book you really really like.
Write about it.
I nominate: @luckyfellow, @dougkarr, @sultnpapper, @lizelle, @clio, @opheliafu, @natureofbeing, @rea, @ballinconscious, @hilarksi, @roelandp, @dreemit, @ezzy, @exyle, @jlufer, @rubenalexander, and @sgtechservices.
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What a great book and great to read about your high school years pumping iron ;-)), was a brilliant survival move at the time but understandable why you needed to recover afterwards.
Yogananda had a profound affect on my life as well. I was first introduced to him when a friend gave me his book " In the Sanctuary of the Soul" which was full of excerpts from larger writings and words of wisdom and resonated powerfully with me. I was already practicing yoga and meditation but I've always needed fresh and wise guidance along the way. I still turn to this tiny book for inspiration.
And thanks for the nomination :-), this will be a fun one!
Hello @natureofbeing! That's a wonderful book. When I was an active member of the SRF's Minneapolis meditation group they have issues of the Self Realization magazine going back to the 50+ years. I used to really like paging through them. They were filled with so many simple and practical tips. I'm looking forward to your post! Happy Holidays to you and yours, my friend.
thanks Eric!! I'll bet it's really fun to see the past 50 years of SRF and how things were presented back then and now.
Wow, I am so glad you decided to take part, @ericvancewalton!! I was really looking forward to your recommend - and as expected, it seems like a great read. I'm just beginning to see the powers of yoga and how much it can help and heal and I have a feeling I will enjoy this book a lot!
And I love that there is such a personal story - and that you shared it with us <3 - it makes the book that much more interesting. :) It's obvious how much you care about it.
Thank you so much for participating and for the support! And of course, thank you for the recommendation!!
Thank you for creating this challenge! It was a really good idea! I can't wait to hear about the books that have had an impact on others.
I'm glad you feel that way!! I hope to see a lot of recommendations too :)
Great story, my friend and it was interesting to learn about your life and how you found yourself again after reading this book. Now, to be honest, I don’t remember which book influenced me, but I always liked the fiction genre and therefore everything new and unknown has always attracted me! Thank you Eric
Thanks! Yes, fiction can have a HUGE impact on us. If you can think of a specific book please write about it!
I read this a long time ago and have met a person when I first came to California who had known him well. A very good recommendation!
Thanks! I'd like to hear more about what the person said who knew Yogananda @freewritehouse! Anything you can share?
This is good book . Nice to read you are following the teachings of indians yog teacher .
Thanks, @manishkalia. Is this book still popular in India?
Can not say absolutely
It is great to see that you interest in yoga, if your looking for inner journey then I can recommend some more books which may help you. Read this book Yoga vasishta Sara. Recommend only for those who looking for inner- truth and there are many more there.
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Thanks @crytiblock! I'm always looking for recommendations.
I like the one and only book " The bijak of Kabir ". This book is an ocean of spiritual knowledge . And I am follower of Kabir .
I've never heard of this but will look it up! Please feel free to do a post about the book and mention @honeydue's challenge. Thanks!
The biography of an indian yogi. This is really good book for whos who like yog kiriyas.
Skin in the Game - Nassim Taleb
I've heard this is awesome.
Though I haven't read this before but your review of it makes me want to have a read, though am a little bit reluctant to pick books on meditation, they sometimes teach the wrong things and open the mental path into doom.
As for me, am not sure I've met my favorite book yet, everyday I read a new one and it's better than the last one, though the Holy Bible kind of started doing straight out of them all
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I hope you check it out! This book doesn't teach specific techniques at all, it's just an autobiography of Yogananda's life.