I’ve loved reading since I was small and have parents who both read extensively so I guess it runs in the genes.
Here’s a few of my favourite books, not necessarily in any particular order:
The Snow Leopard – Peter Matthiessen:
A beautiful book that I bought a long time ago and for some reason couldn’t get into. I picked it up at a later stage and was bowled over. The books tells the story of Peter Matthiessen and a biologist, George Schaller, who visit a remote area of the Himalaya to study the Himalayan Blue sheep and also hope for a glimpse of the elusive snow leopard. They travel to Shey Gompa, a monastery in a remote area of Nepal, a country that continues to fascinate me. The story of their travels is full of detail about the region itself, the people of this remote region and also the author’s grief at his wife’s death. There are numerous references to Buddhism and this area has been home to many Buddhists and people of Tibetan origin for many years. In addition there are also references to the ancient Bon religion which preceded Buddhism in this area. The story of the journey is beautiful, reminding me also of my travels in India and dreams of places I still wish to experience, such as Leh.
Siddhartha – Herman Hesse:
I read this book when I was at a personal low and felt inspired by Siddhartha and his unceasing quest. The books tells the story of Siddhartha and Govinda, two boys living in comfort and privilege who decide to leave it all behind to find some more in life. They become shramana, living in the forest with other ascetics, until their paths split when Govinda decides to stay with the Buddha and Siddhartha heads off on his own. The story took me back to my time in India and stirred up the desire in me to learn more about the Buddha and Buddhism.
The Great Game – Peter Hopkirk:
An amazing book covering the tensions between Great Britain and Russia in Central Asia and close to the borders of India and the period leading up to this period. Peter Hopkirk gives a fascinating insight into the struggles, espionage and scheming in this area with descriptions of the often colorful characters involved. For me, the book talks about some places that I have visited or come close and others that remains as places of my dreams. Peter Hopkirk’s other books are also just as wonderful.
The Way of the Boddhisatva – Shantideva:
There is nothing that I could write that could do justice to this book. Visiting Nalanda in India and seeing the ruins of where Shantideva gave his discourse was awe-inspiring. I tried to imagine Nalanda as it once was teeming with monks and filled with energy and this desire to learn. I tried also to imagine what it could be like to have so much compassion that you would choose to remain in this world as a boddhisatva even though you had the chance of full enlightenment.
Als jouw leven een cirkel is, waar sta je dan? – Inez van Oord
I never used to read much in Dutch but have started to read in Dutch more often lately. I saw this book on the shelf at a yoga studio and after leafing through, decided to buy it (probably the fact that there were lots of pictures was also some encouragement too). I took this book with me on a business trip that I was not looking forwards to as a sort of way to prop myself up and read this book avidly – so much of it seemed to resonate with me. The author has a way of expressing things in a really human way and I loved the fact that she continued to pick herself up and deal with change. I followed her method and drew my own circle and somehow felt that I could make some sense of my current situation.