Awareness: The Perils and Opportunities of Reality


Anthony de Mello - 1990
    Mixing Christian spirituality, Buddhist parables, Hindu breathing exercises, and psychological insight, de Mello's words of hope come together in Awareness in a grand synthesis.In short chapters for reading in quiet moments at home or at the office, he cajoles and challenges: We must leave this go-go-go world of illusion and become aware. And this only happens, he insists, by becoming alive to the needs and potential of others, whether at home or in the workplace.Here, then, is a masterful book of the spirit, challenging us to wake up in every aspect of our lives.

Freedom from the Known


Jiddu Krishnamurti - 1969
    Krishnamurti shows how people can free themselves radically and immediately from the tyranny of the expected, no matter what their age--opening the door to transforming society and their relationships.

Lovingkindness: The Revolutionary Art of Happiness


Sharon Salzberg - 1995
    Our fear of intimacy—both with others and with ourselves—creates feelings of pain and longing. But these feelings can also awaken in us the desire for freedom and the willingness to take up the spiritual path. In this inspiring book, Sharon Salzberg, one of America's leading spiritual teachers, shows us how the Buddhist path of lovingkindness ( metta in Pali), can help us discover the radiant, joyful heart within each of us. This practice of lovingkindness is revolutionary because it has the power to radically change our lives, helping us create true happiness in ourselves and genuine compassion for others. The Buddha described the nature of such a spiritual path as "the liberation of the heart, which is love." The author draws on simple Buddhist teachings, wisdom stories from various traditions, guided meditation practices, and her own experience from twenty-five years of practice and teaching to illustrate how each one of us can cultivate love, compassion, joy, and equanimity—the four "heavenly abodes" of traditional Buddhism.

Way of the Peaceful Warrior: A Book That Changes Lives


Dan Millman - 1980
    Guided by a powerful old warrior named Socrates and tempted by an elusive, playful woman named Joy, Dan is led toward a final confrontation that will deliver or destroy him. Readers join Dan as he learns to live as a peaceful warrior. This international bestseller conveys piercing truths and humorous wisdom, speaking directly to the universal quest for happiness.

DMT: The Spirit Molecule


Rick Strassman - 2000
    Rick Strassman conducted US DEA-approved clinical research at the University of New Mexico in which he injected 60 volunteers with DMT, one of the most powerful psychedelics known. His detailed account of those sessions is an inquiry into the nature of the human mind and the therapeutic potential of psychedelics. DMT, a plant-derived chemical that is also manufactured by the human brain, consistently produced near-death and mystical experiences. Many volunteers reported convincing encounters with intelligent nonhuman presences, especially "aliens." Nearly all felt that the sessions were among the most profound experiences of their lives.Strassman's research connects DMT with the pineal gland, considered by Hindus to be the site of the seventh chakra and by René Descartes to be the seat of the soul. DMT: The Spirit Molecule makes the case that DMT, naturally released by the pineal gland, facilitates the soul's movement in and out of the body and is an integral part of the birth and death experiences, as well as the highest states of meditation and even sexual transcendence. Strassman also believes that alien abduction experiences are brought on by accidental releases of DMT. If used wisely, DMT could trigger a period of remarkable progress in the scientific exploration of the most mystical regions of the human mind and soul.

You Can Heal Your Life


Louise L. Hay - 1984
    Louise’s key message in this powerful work is: “If we are willing to do the mental work, almost anything can be healed.” Louise explains how limiting beliefs and ideas are often the cause of illness, and how you can change your thinking…and improve the quality of your life.

Becoming Supernatural: How Common People Are Doing the Uncommon


Joe Dispenza - 2017
    Becoming Supernatural marries the some of the most profound scientific information with ancient wisdom to show how people like you and me can experience a more mystical life.Readers will learn that we are, quite literally supernatural by nature if given the proper knowledge and instruction, and when we learn how to apply that information through various meditations, we should experience a greater expression of our creative abilities; that we have the capacity to tune in to frequencies beyond our material world and receive more orderly coherent streams of consciousness and energy; that we can intentionally change our brain chemistry to initiate profoundly mystical transcendental experiences; and how, if we do this enough times, we can develop the skill of creating a more efficient, balanced, healthy body, a more unlimited mind, and greater access to the realms of spiritual truth. Topics include: • Demystifying the body’s 7 energy centers and how you can balance them to heal • How to free yourself from the past by reconditioning your body to a new mind • How you can create reality in the generous present moment by changing your energy • The difference between third-dimension creation and fifth-dimension creation • The secret science of the pineal gland and its role in accessing mystical realms of reality • The distinction between Space-Time vs. Time-Space realitiesAnd much more...

Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom: A Book of Tarot


Rachel Pollack - 1980
    Described by many as ‘the Bible of Tarot readers’, the books brought awareness of myth and modern psychology to the Tarot’s ancient esoteric symbolism. Now, for the first time, the texts for 'The Major Arcana' and 'The Minor Arcana' appear in one volume. To mark this special occasion, Rachel Pollack has revised and updated the book in the light of her thirty years’ teaching, reading, and writing about Tarot cards. She has also written a new preface describing her own journey through the Tarot’s world of symbols.The Tarot is an eternally fascinating set of strange and beautiful pictures. But beyond this lies a world of potent symbols granting access to a path of self knowledge, personal growth and freedom. These symbols connect us to the great stories of world mythology and the eternal truths of the soul. 'Seventy Eight Degrees of Wisdom'shows you how to use Tarot as an effective and accessible means of self-enlightenment. The book includes a complete section on how to give Tarot readings, as well as an analysis of the origins, meaning and psychological aspects of Tarot divination.

The Universe Has Your Back: Transform Fear to Faith


Gabrielle Bernstein - 2016
    Each story and lesson in the book guides readers to release the blocks to what they most long for: happiness, security and clear direction. The lessons help readers relinquish the need to control so they can relax into a sense of certainty and freedom. Readers will learn to stop chasing life and truly live.Making the shift from fear to faith will give readers a sense of power in a world that all too often makes them feel utterly powerless. When the tragedies of the world seem overwhelming, this book will help guide them back to their true power.Gabrielle says, My commitment with this book is to wake up as many people as possible to their connection to faith and joy. In that connection, we can be guided to our true purpose: to be love and spread love. These words can no longer be cute buzz phrases that we merely post on social media. Rather, these words must be our mission. The happiness, safety, and security we long for lies in our commitment to love.When readers follow this path, they’ll begin to feel a swell of energy move through them. They will find strength when they are down, synchronicity and support when they’re lost, safety in the face of uncertainty, and joy when they are otherwise in pain. Follow the secrets revealed in this book to unleash the presence of your power and know always that The Universe Has Your Back.

Search Inside Yourself: The Unexpected Path to Achieving Success, Happiness (And World Peace)


Chade-Meng Tan - 2012
    With Search Inside Yourself, Chade-Meng Tan, one of Google’s earliest engineers and personal growth pioneer, offers a proven method for enhancing mindfulness and emotional intelligence in life and work.Meng’s job is to teach Google’s best and brightest how to apply mindfulness techniques in the office and beyond; now, readers everywhere can get insider access to one of the most sought after classes in the country, a course in health, happiness and creativity that is improving the livelihood and productivity of those responsible for one of the most successful businesses in the world.With forewords by Daniel Goleman, author of the international bestseller Emotional Intelligence, and Jon Kabat-Zinn, renowned mindfulness expert and author of Coming To Our Senses, Meng’s Search Inside Yourself is an invaluable guide to achieving your own best potential.

The Five Invitations: Discovering What Death Can Teach Us About Living Fully


Frank Ostaseski - 2017
    Death is always with us, in the marrow of every passing moment. She is the secret teacher hiding in plain sight, helping us to discover what matters most in life.Life and death are a package deal. They cannot be pulled apart and we cannot truly live unless we are aware of death. The Five Invitations is an exhilarating meditation on the meaning of life and how maintaining and ever-present consciousness of death can bring us closer to our truest selves. As a renowned teacher of compassionate care-giving and the cofounder of the Zen Hospice Project, Frank Ostaseski has sat on the precipice of death with more than a thousand people. In The Five Invitations, he distills the lessons gleaned over the course of his career, offering an evocative and stirring guide that points a radical path to transformation.The Five Invitations:-Don’t Wait-Welcome Everything, Push Away Nothing-Bring Your Whole Self to the Experience-Find a Place of Rest in the Middle of Things-Cultivate Don’t Know MindThese invitations show us how to wake up fully to our lives. They can be understood as best practices for anyone coping with death or navigating any sort of transition or crisis; they guide us toward appreciating life’s preciousness. Death can be a valuable companion on the road to living well, forging a rich and meaningful life, and letting go of regret. The Five Invitations is a powerful and inspiring exploration of the essential wisdom dying has to impart to all of us.

The Way of the Bodhisattva


Śāntideva
    Presented in the form of a personal meditation in verse, it outlines the path of the bodhisattvas--those beings who renounce the peace of an individual salvation and vow to work for the deliverance of all beings, and to attain enlightenment for their sake. The text is beloved by Buddhists of all traditions.Originally written in India in Sanskrit, the text first appeared in Tibetan translation in the eighth century. The fact that it has been expounded, studied, and practiced in Tibet in an unbroken tradition lends the Tibetan version of the Bodhicharyavatara a particular authority. The present version has therefore been translated from the Tibetan, following a commentary by the Nyingma master Kunzang Pelden, renowned for its thoroughness, clarity, and accessibility.

How Things Exist: Teachings on Emptiness


Thubten Zopa - 2008
    This book begins with a general talk on universal responsibility and compassion that is followed by four chapters detailing the Prasangika Madhyamaka view of emptiness, or ultimate reality, as taught in the Gelug tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, and how to meditate on it, according to the author's personal experience.

The Celestine Prophecy


James Redfield - 1993
    They told their friends about it, and friends in turn told their friends. By word of mouth alone, news of this magical, moving work spread throughout the country, until -- within months of its first printing -- over hundred thousand readers had become excited by its predictions and touched by the way it made sense of what was happening in their lives.Now you can discover for yourself the insights, the vision, and the uncanny accuracy of "The Celestine Prophecy". A parable filled with vital truth that reads like a gripping adventure-tale, it begins with the disappearance of an ancient Peruvian manuscript. Although few Westerners know of its existence and a government wants to suppress it, this precious document contains an important secret: the 9 insights the human race is predicted to grasp as we enter an era of true spiritual awareness.To find the manuscript -- and its hidden treasures -- you will join one person's search. It is a quest that will carry you high into the Andes mountains, to ancient ruins deep in old-growth forest, and to a startling discovery. You will quickly recognize the truth of the First Insight: in each of our lives occur mysterious coincidences -- sudden, synchronistic events that, once interpreted, lead us into our true destiny.When you find and understand all 9 of the insights, you will have an exciting new image of human life, and a positive vision of how we will save this planet, its creatures, and its beauty. "The Celestine Prophecy" will give you hope…and chills…as you begin to perceive its predictions unfolding all around you in intimate relationships and international affairs. And you will suddenly recognize the quantum leap forward humankind is preparing to make as we approach the new millennium. Important works such as Carlos Castaneda's "The Teachings of Don Juan" and the prophecies of Nostradamus have helped prepare the way for the revelations you will find in James Redfield's life-changing words. The time is right to hear them, and to discover the personal journey that is opening in your life.

The Dhammapada


Anonymous
    The original version of the Dhammapada is in the Khuddaka Nikaya, a division of the Pali Canon of Theravada Buddhism.The Buddhist scholar and commentator Buddhaghosa explains that each saying recorded in the collection was made on a different occasion in response to a unique situation that had arisen in the life of the Buddha and his monastic community. His commentary, the Dhammapada Atthakatha, presents the details of these events and is a rich source of legend for the life and times of the Buddha.