What is zen?

What Hacker News says

1. yialMar 2015
   I would recommend " What is Zen" by Alan Watts,

   Siddhartha.

   "Ready Player One".

   I would also suggest, "Snow Crash" by Neal Stephenson, and would echo "Cyptonomicon".

   Approaching Zero: The Extraordinary Underworld of Hackers, Phreakers, Virus Writers, and Keyboard Criminals by Paul Mungo and Bryan Clough is excellent.

   The American Boy's Handy Book: What to Do and How to Do It, Centennial Edition Daniel Carter Beard

   Skunk Works: A Personal Memoir of My Years at Lockheed Rich, Ben R.

   and finally, which is hard to stomach sometimes.

   Applied Cryptography: Protocols, Algorithms, and Source Code by Bruce Schneier

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2. hluskaJun 2014
   I love Alan Watts and I'm glad you mentioned him. "What is Zen" was extremely influential on me when I was young and I've been obsessing over his writing ever since.

   I've only read "The Book..." once, but you remind me that it's a book I seriously need to read again. Thanks for that reminder and taking the time to write out this comment.

   On the topic of the bible, I know I need to read "The Book..." again because I'm drawing a blank on Watts' reasoning. Personally, when I was a kid, my Mom encouraged me to think critically about Christian scriptures and our Catholicism. In that sense, the bible was a teaching tool and my Mom played the role of the guiding teacher. In retrospect, I think this helped me, though likely not in the way she intended. :)

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3. iN7h33nDApr 2015
   Audiobooks I have Read Recently: (Sanderson is Awesome)

     * The Reckoners #1/#2
     * Stormlight Archive #1/#2
     * Mistborn #1/#2/#3
     * Ghost in the Wires: My Adventures As the World's Most Wanted Hacker
   

   Digital Books:

     * How to Win Friends and Influence People
     * Malazon Book #1
     * The Forever War
     * The Martian
   

   Things on my List:

     * Think and Grow Rich
     * Watership Down
     * Rainbows End
     * Snow Crash
     * What is Zen
     * Wool: Silo
     * Founders at Work
     * Light Bringer
     * Hyperion
     * The War of Art
     * Atlas Shrugged
     * The Demon Haunted World
     * Code: The Hidden Language of Computer Hardware and Software
     * Joe Abercrombie's books
     * Rich Dad Poor Dad
     * Founders at Work
     * Fear the Sky
     * Daemon -- EDIT ADDED
   
   

   Things I recommend:

     * All of Brandon Sanderson's Books
     * The Kingkiller Chronicles
     * How to Win Friends and Influence People
     * Issac Asimov's short stories and Foundation series
     * The Forever War
     * Gentleman Bastards
     * Ready Player One
     * The Martian
     * A Wizard of Earthsea
   

   EDIT: Short Reading I Recommend:

     * http://www.multivax.com/last_question.html

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