Handbook for the Spirit


Richard Carlson - 1990
    Michael Beckwith, Barbara De Angelis, and Marianne Williamson, celebrate their personal experiences of the divine. Previously published as For the Love of God, the book features the Dalai Lama on the central importance of kindness; Sue Bender on the small miracles of everyday life; Brooke Medicine Eagle on the Great Spirit; and Joseph Goldstein on the Dharma. Included are Rabbi Harold Kushner on how God appears in relationships, Brother David Steindl-Rast on perceiving the divine through the senses, and 19 other contributors. Each author shares what it is like to have a personal relationship with a higher spirit, how this relationship developed, and how it manifests in his or her life, relationships, and career. Most significantly, the authors offer insight into how readers can enhance their connections with a higher source. Handbook for the Spirit offers both hope and purpose in a world deeply in need of both.

Ego Is the Enemy


Ryan Holiday - 2016
    In fact, the most common enemy lies within: our ego. Early in our careers, it impedes learning and the cultivation of talent. With success, it can blind us to our faults and sow future problems. In failure, it magnifies each blow and makes recovery more difficult. At every stage, ego holds us back.The Ego is the Enemy draws on a vast array of stories and examples, from literature to philosophy to history. We meet fascinating figures like Howard Hughes, Katharine Graham, Bill Belichick, and Eleanor Roosevelt, all of whom reached the highest levels of power and success by conquering their own egos. Their strategies and tactics can be ours as well.But why should we bother fighting ego in an era that glorifies social media, reality TV, and other forms of shameless self-promotion?  Armed with the lessons in this book, as Holiday writes, “you will be less invested in the story you tell about your own specialness, and as a result, you will be liberated to accomplish the world-changing work you’ve set out to achieve.”

Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work


Steven Kotler - 2017
    Over the past decade, Silicon Valley executives like Eric Schmidt and Elon Musk, Special Operators like the Navy SEALs and the Green Berets, and maverick scientists like Sasha Shulgin and Amy Cuddy have turned everything we thought we knew about high performance upside down. Instead of grit, better habits, or 10,000 hours, these trailblazers have found a surprising short cut. They're harnessing rare and controversial states of consciousness to solve critical challenges and outperform the competition.New York Times bestselling author Steven Kotler and high performance expert Jamie Wheal spent four years investigating the leading edges of this revolution—from the home of SEAL Team Six to the Googleplex, the Burning Man festival, Richard Branson’s Necker Island, Red Bull’s training center, Nike’s innovation team, and the United Nations’ Headquarters. And what they learned was stunning: In their own ways, with differing languages, techniques, and applications, every one of these groups has been quietly seeking the same thing: the boost in information and inspiration that altered states provide.Today, this revolution is spreading to the mainstream, fueling a trillion dollar underground economy and forcing us to rethink how we can all lead richer, more productive, more satisfying lives. Driven by four accelerating forces—psychology, neurobiology, technology and pharmacology—we are gaining access to and insights about some of the most contested and misunderstood terrain in history. Stealing Fire is a provocative examination of what’s actually possible; a guidebook for anyone who wants to radically upgrade their life.

The Voice of Knowledge: A Practical Guide to Inner Peace


Miguel Ruiz - 2000
    Based on ancient Toltec wisdom, this breakthrough book shows us how to recover our faith in the truth and return to our own common sense.Ruiz changes the way we perceive ourselves, and the way we perceive other people. Then he opens the door to a reality that we once perceived when we were one and two years old - a reality of truth, love, and joy.

The Path of Prosperity


James Allen - 1996
    In this book you will learn how to change your life through the way you think. This book will guide you to an understanding of how to find peace and prosperity by changing your attitudes and reactions to life's challenges. "By your own thoughts you make or mar your life, your world, your universe. As you build within by the power of thought, so will your outward life and circumstances shape themselves accordingly." -James Allen

Spiritual Liberation: Fulfilling Your Soul's Potential


Michael Bernard Beckwith - 2008
    He draws on a wide spectrum of ancient wisdom teachers such as Jesus the Christ and Gautama the Buddha; contemporary spiritual luminaries Thich Nhat Hanh, Sri Aurobindo, and the Dalai Lama; and Western contributors to the New Thought tradition of spirituality such as Emanuel Swedenborg, Walter Russell, and Dr. Howard Thurman to create a profound new belief synthesis.Either read silently or aloud, Spiritual Liberation can be included during meditation or prayer. Each chapter includes an affirmation that distills its core concepts into a sentence or two for the reader to easily practice throughout the day. Beckwith's personal and touching accounts guide the practitioner to integrate and activate the intrinsic gifts of divinity into everyday life.The core concepts of Beckwith's teachings are cohesively conceived and convincingly stated in the provocative chapters of "Spiritual Liberation." Topics covering "Evolved People," "Transportation to Trans-formation," "Transcending the Tyranny of Trends," and "Inner Ecology" are some of his foundational teachings that bring together insights from a range of spiritual paths to form a coherent practice that is neither Eastern nor Western but truly spiritually global.Regardless of their belief system, readers will find it impossible to finish this book without at least a few "Aha!" moments.

Transforming Your Dragons: How to Turn Fear Patterns into Personal Power


José Luis Stevens - 1994
    Stevens describes the core source of human fear--inner dragons that consume power through greed, self-deprecation, arrogance, impatience, martyrdom, self-destruction, and just plain stubbornness.

Mantra Meditation: Change Your Karma with the Power of Sacred Sound


Thomas Ashley-Farrand - 2004
    Mantras are sacred sound syllables that can effect changes to your inner psyche and the external world. Today, Thomas Ashley-Farrand—one of the foremost authorities on Vedic and Buddhist Sanskrit mantras in the West—makes these sacred sounds widely available.According to traditional practice, "When you begin to chant these ancient formulas," teaches Ashley-Farrand, "the petals on the chakras begin to resonate, and they begin to pull in minute amounts of spiritual energy." Over days, weeks, and months, larger and larger amounts of energy accumulate bringing health, radiance, and eliminating karma, which allows desires to be fulfilled. Mantra Meditation teaches: How to use mantras for feng shui to create healing energy flow in your home and workplace Ways to integrate the powers of Kubera—guardian of wealth and keeper of mantras—into your own life

Carpe Diem: Seizing the Day in a Distracted World


Roman Alexander Krznaric - 2017
    One of those rare books that forces you to ask what the hell you're doing with your life. --George Monbiot, The Guardian**One of Forbes' 13 Best Books for Summer 2017**We've all heard the saying seize the day. But what does it really mean--and how can we use it to jumpstart our lives? In the age of distraction, carpe diem is more essential than ever, and yet many of us simply don't employ it in our lives.In this thought-provoking and empowering book, cultural writer Roman Krznaric unpacks the history, philosophy, and modern-day applications of seizing the day and delivers a rousing call to action for anyone who wants to improve their lives--or our world.Carpe Diem is a far-ranging read, drawing on everything from the neuropsychology of regret to the anthropology of play, from medieval carnival rites to religious conceptions of the afterlife and early Japanese cinema. Offering food for thought as well as inspiring takeaways, the book examines not just the contributions of great thinkers throughout history, but also reveals insights from the lives of great seize-the-day practitioners including nightclub dancers, war photographers, bored housewives, and committed revolutionaries--offering a wide range of solutions to the daunting challenge of leading a meaningful life.

The Hidden Spirituality of Men: Ten Metaphors to Awaken the Sacred Masculine


Matthew Fox - 2008
    From war to ecological collapse, most of the world’s critical problems stem from a distorted masculinity out of control. Yet our culture rewards the very dysfunctions responsible for those problems.To Matthew Fox, our crucial task is to open our minds to a deeper understanding of the healthy masculine than we receive from our media, culture, and religions. Popular religion forces the punitive imagery of fundamentalism on us, pushing most men away from their natural yearning for spirituality and toward intolerance and domination. Meanwhile, many men, particularly young men, are looking for images of healthy masculinity to emulate and finding nothing.To awaken what Fox calls “the sacred masculine,” he unearths ten metaphors, or archetypes, ranging from the Green Man, an ancient pagan symbol of our fundamental relationship with nature, to the Grandfatherly Heart to the Spiritual Warrior. He explores archetypes of sacred marriage, showing how partnership becomes the ultimate expression of healthy masculinity. By stirring our natural yearning for healthy spirituality, Fox argues, these timeless archetypes can inspire men to pursue their higher calling to reinvent the world.

Surrender! The Life Changing Power of Doing God's Will


Larry Richards - 2011
    But Scripture and Father Larry Richards can be equally as compelling as he challenges you to go against the grain and do what few are willing to do.A gifted and captivating speaker, preacher, and retreat master... inner city pastor Father Richard's infectious enthusiasm, in-your-face realism and solid teaching will help you see how surrendering to the will of God paves the way to obtaining the peace which surpasses all understanding, that will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus (see Phil 4:7).Following in the footsteps of his best-selling "Be a Man" book, Surrender outlines concrete steps you can take to dwell in peace. Simply put, God wants every one of us to be a saint which is a lot of work! It requires developing a plan for your life, in accordance with the Lord's will.

You Are the Placebo Meditation 1: Changing Two Beliefs and Perceptions


Joe Dispenza - 2014
    Joe Dispenza has created two meditation CDs—featuring different music—to accompany his book You Are the Placebo.     On this longer 56-minutedisc, Dr. Joe walks you through Meditation 1: Changing Two Beliefs and Perceptions. After introducing the open-focus technique, he then moves you into the practice of finding the present moment. When you discover the sweet spot of the present moment and you forget about yourself as the personality you have always been, you have access to other possibilities that already exist in the quantum field. That’s because you are no longer connected to the same body-mind, to the same identification with the environment, and to the same predictable timeline. In the present moment, the familiar past and the future literally no longer exist, and you become pure consciousness—a thought alone. That is the moment that you can change your body, change your environment, and even create a new timeline for your life!

Anxious for Nothing: Finding Calm in a Chaotic World


Max Lucado - 2017
    Max Lucado, provides a roadmap for battling with and healing from anxiety. Does the uncertainty and chaos of life keep you up at night? Is irrational worry your constant companion? Could you use some calm? If the answer is yes, you are not alone. According to one research program, anxiety-related issues are the number one mental health problem among women and are second only to alcohol and drug abuse among men. Stress-related ailments cost the nation $300 billion every year in medical bills and lost productivity. And use of sedative drugs like Xanax and Valium have skyrocketed in the last 15 years. Even students are feeling it. One psychologist reports that the average high school kid today has the same level of anxiety as the average psychiatric patient in the early 1950s. Chances are, you or someone you know seriously struggles with anxiety. Max writes, "The news about our anxiety is enough to make us anxious.” He knows what it feels like to be overcome by the worries and fear of life, which is why he is dedicated to helping millions of readers take back control of their minds and, as a result, their lives.Anxious for Nothing invites readers to delve into Philippians 4:6-7. After all, it is the most highlighted passage of any book on the planet, according to Amazon: Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

The Five Love Languages for Singles


Gary Chapman - 2001
    The core message has hit home with over 5 million people as it focuses on the need to "feel" loved. This need is felt by married and singles alike. Dr. Chapman now tackles the unique circumstances that singles face, and integrates how the same five love languages apply in their relationships. For example, in a business environment, when and how is physical touch appropriate? Take the love language test included.

Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life


Karen Armstrong - 2010
    Here, in this straightforward, thoughtful, and thought-provoking book, she sets out a program that can lead us toward a more compassionate life.The twelve steps Armstrong suggests begin with “Learn About Compassion” and close with “Love Your Enemies.” In between, she takes up “compassion for yourself,” mindfulness, suffering, sympathetic joy, the limits of our knowledge of others, and “concern for everybody.” She suggests concrete ways of enhancing our compassion and putting it into action in our everyday lives, and provides, as well, a reading list to encourage us to “hear one another’s narratives.” Throughout, Armstrong makes clear that a compassionate life is not a matter of only heart or mind but a deliberate and often life-altering commingling of the two.From the Hardcover edition.