Any books that serve a good introduction to Hinduism and/or to

Read the Bhagavad Gita, plenty of annotated ones

>>8502873
siddhartha

westerners understand easterners better than easterners do

Read the Gita (I recommend the norton critical edition) and the Upanisads (Olivelle translation, available as a Oxford World's Classics)

>>8502873
The Bhagavad-Gita, the Vedas, the Upanishads.
Read them in chronological order.

>>8502886
>>8502946
>>8502961
Thanks guys

Any non-fiction, non-ancient works to learn more? Like any good books that discuss Indian history or commentaries on Hinduism/Buddhism/Jainism in general?

>>8503002
Literally dozens, but nobody here actually knows anything about literature, and the ones that actually do, like me, don't spoon feed.

Hope that helps.

>>8503648
ayyyyy

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>>8502873
Pic related is an excellent history, and for a more critical look at India in the modern era, VS Naipaul has three travelogue/anecdote collections that are really wonderful.

>>8503648
Dont try to improve the board or anything.

>>8502873
https://www.amazon.com/Home-Plumbing-Manual-Step-Step/dp/085733817X/

>>8503665
Improve how? By posting meme books like the shit you posted?

You wouldn't know improvement on this board if it pooed in your loo.

>>8503698
>Naipaul and Keay are memes
>That are never posted, and get no response if you posted a thread on them

New here arent you chum

The true meaning behind the Hindu religious symbolism can only be experienced through daily and year-long meditation. Most of their philosophies posit a realm of higher consciousness, a realm and state of consciousness that anybody can attain and tune into through diligent practice and mastery over one's nervous system (a secularised and western way of speaking of Chakras and all that jazz). Without first-hand subjective experience, merely reading about it can be pointless and overwhelming, since they have their own terminology and most of it denotes inner happenings and not something you can verify externally.

>>8503702
They aren't memes exactly like someone's diary, but they're still memes.

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>>8502873
This introduction to Indian Philosophy by Bina Gupta I find to be one of the best, it approaches the tradition from both a historical perspective and is very perscient about displaying the ideas in terminology of Western tradition

>>8503702
>>8503718
Adding to this, btw, I'm probably in the handful of the most well read on Indian literature (mostly literary and religious) here.

Indian literature isn't bad in itself, but Westerners who have an interest tend to be ugly, dumb, losers, like OP and his poorly written request obviously is. Hence my refusal to spoon feed.

If you want to spout meme books at them, fine by me.

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>>8502873

Introduction to the Study of the Hindu Doctrines by René Guénon

It was written in 1921 but is probably still the best intro for someone new to Hinduism or eastern philosophy in general. The book is mostly about acquainting the reader with the understanding and background knowledge needed to understand Hinduism well when coming from a western background. The book focuses mostly on the metaphysics of Hinduism/eastern thought although it really helps to understand this before studying the religious texts themselves. A quarter of the book is about the actual religious teachings of Hinduism itself and another quarter is about explaining common mistakes and inaccuracies made by westerns in their publications on Hinduism and how its often greatly distorted in their works.

You could dive right into the religious texts or an academic work explaining Hinduism but in my opinion you would be way better off if you read this first and then moved onto the actual stuff because it will help prepare so that you have a good understanding of what you are reading and are on the lookout for any inaccuracies/mistakes made if you read anything by a western author. Despite being a westerner Guénon spoke and could read many languages including Sanskrit and all of the accounts that we have show eastern religious figures praising his work and saying he understood it better then any other westerner.

>The most eminent recognition of value came from oriental authorities. Marco Pallis tells us of the perfect orthodoxy of Guénon’s explanations verified by Tibetans priests; Ramana Maharshi named Guénon the "The Great Sufi"; the true Taoists masters in unison designated Guénon as the only Westerner in the last centuries that was able to capture and to transmit the true spirit of Taoism.

>But, what does Guénon himself have to say? "The whole merit of this work is in the authentic oriental doctrine it contains; my work is just to transmit it in the clearest and most exact manner that I can".

>>8503736
Nobody gives a fuck you autistic weirdo

>>8504113
I enjoy not helping idiots like you, and watching as you choke and meander on your own stupidity.

>>8504126
POO

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>>8504126
>I enjoy not helping idiots like you, and watching as you choke and meander on your own stupidity.

>>8504131
>>8504126
IN

>>8504133
LOO

>>8504132
>>8504138
Not even Indian.

>>8502946
> Translations.

Simply learn Sanskrit.