Books for conversion and enlightenment?

[Nitro99]

Someone asked a question about The Da Vinci Code earlier, and how it changed their view of Christianity. The Da Vinci Code is just another myth surrounding Christianity, and didn't impact me one way or the other.

But there have been a few seminal books which helped my philosophical and intellectual growth, and which led me away from Christianity or any other religion as a guiding principle. Wonder if any of you read them. Did these books, or others, help you in your growth?

The Stranger, Albert Camus

Demian, Herman Hesse

The Over Soul, RW Emerson (essay)

The Hero With A Thousand Faces, Joseph Campbell

[lickLicious]

The Buddhist Bible by Dwight Goddard is very good. It has a lot of Buddhist sutras, edited in such a way to make them more digestible for the layman.

Also check out Dan Millman's work. He's written The Way of the Peaceful Warrior, The Live You Were Born to Live, The Secret of the Peaceful Warrior, The Journey of Socrates, and many more.

You might also want to look into the Beat Generation. Jack Kerouac wrote a lot of books on the topics of spirituality and enlightenment. The downside of the Beat Generation is that they were heavily into drugs. I still think that the literature has some value from a spiritual perspective. Take a look at The Dharma Bums, for example.