Sometimes one has to read something so interesting, so arresting, that one is no longer in a hurry to rush on to the next statement.  If one can receive a powerfully unique insight that has developed itself to the point of expression in a truly intelligent mind, that very act of mental appreciation becomes timeless, like a ship anchoring in the harbour of a strange island in an uncharted ocean.  Thoughtful reading, to put it simply, is not in order to memorize on the one hand nor to get things read and done with on the other hand.  Neither memorization nor rapid finishing with the material can savour its essence.  To savour the essence and allow it to creatively combine with one's own deepest and most persistent discoveries is the real voyage of profoundly satisfying philosophy and meditation. 

          One reads the way one lives.  Look carefully at how you read and you will awaken to the truth of how you live.  The more delicious the meal, the less hurry to eat it.  To consume a book renders it tasteless; it shreds the true meaning of the work and packs it into dead sausages that add only bulk to the diet without nutrition.

          To feed one's intelligence is not an unpleasant, onerous task to get done to have more time for other things; to feed one's intelligence is one of the more important other things. 

          To read a thoughtful work in a thoughtless manner is worse than crude:  It is a self-defeating action of a self-defeating life.  It is the equivalent to setting off on a sight-seeing tour through a wondrous new country but remain asleep in the backseat of the car, as if one is too tired to be truly alive and conscious.  It is like saying, "wake me up when we get there", when in fact the whole point of awakening is for the growth that comes with movement, not the rubber stamp that seals the ending of a journey one has not really been on.  Those who wish to remain asleep in a rushing vehicle of life are the same as dead already.  The death of the average human being is like the announcement of a train conductor that they are at the end of a journey they have not been on. 

          Now, if we have understood the issue of how we read, there still remains the further issue of what to read.  Many people will read all kinds of books on all sorts of subjects without a real ability to learn.  Learning requires a correct orientation.  Without right orientation there is no foundation for the reader to say, "This is profound" or "That is superficial".  So even though one might aspire to get into deep savouring of something, the right something is a decisive factor. 

          The most deeply important books are written for individuals who have a certain kind of intention or aspiration.  They are not written for just anyone even if just anyone is free to purchase a book and try to read it.  There has to be a certain kind of attunement or resonance with the material of knowledge if we really expect to profit from it.  Hence, those who read something merely to "check it out" and "see if it has something" are usually left out of the very thing they imagine they have "read".  If we read a book on Zen without an aspiration to have an awakening of extraordinary consciousness, why are we bothering?  If we read a book on the Sufi way but are not interested in developing telepathic receptivity or psychic learning ability, why are we bothering?  If we are reading philosophy books of Martin Heidegger but we are not trying to learn how to do genuine original thinking about the meaning of being, why are we bothering? 

          Reading only connects to our learning and self-development if we are coming to it from an authentic centre of learning and development within ourselves.  If we are reading merely out of idle curiosity or a spurious desire to show off to others that we have read this or that impressive work, we are not going to get very far.  A donkey stabled in a library does not become educated. 

          Reading certain crucial books from various traditions and philosophies is indispensable for our learning and development, but our choices must not be superficially random, such as when we automatically read something because a friend recommends it.  If the friend is not on a real personal path of effective learning and development, what are their recommendations really worth? 

          There is a pattern of original thinking and higher consciousness on our planet, but those who nose about in pieces of the pattern without concern for the total way the pieces of the pattern are actually interacting with one another are creating a recipe for confusion and pretence.  We are either  seeking total truth or we are not seeking truth at all, but are just consuming books in the same way we consume foods, clothing or equipment.  We can put books in our cart from Amazon.com in the same state from which we order music CDs of the world's music.  We read a lecture by Chögyam Trungpa the same way we listen to a CD with Tibetan chanting and trumpeting.  It gets us in an exotic occult mood.  We thus reduce our spiritual aspiration to consumerist entertainment.  And if we keep this up, we may never register that we are never hearing thoughts or receiving vibratory energy to any developmental degree.  Consumers do not develop—they just consume.  It does not matter much what books or websites we like or do not like when all we are doing is shopping.  To get clear about this is our most important next step on our journey through human life.