Books for the Journey
Here are some titles that I consider foundational for attuning to the Infinite and realizing the truth in oneself:
This seminal work, whose authors include Wali Ali Meyer and Pir Shabda Khan of the Sufi Ruhaniat International, gives a comprehensive view of how to use the 99 names of Allah given in the Holy Quran as healing mantras. But it’s much, much more than that! It presents an incredibly deep insight into the Sufi path from the spiritual and psychological perspectives. Basically, this book is about turning to attributes of the divine Absolute flowing through our being from the divine ground as remedies for our neuroses, entrenchments and fearful conditions. Truth and the timeless all-pervading Reality are the cure for our ills, and the wisdom in this book continues to inform, inspire and surprise. A basic text for life and learning on the Sufi path!
John Prendergast, a depth psychologist and student of Adyashanti, has created a fascinating and insightful guide to embracing your deepest self in the ground of being. Most people live from a “false ground,“ a felt sense of limitation or barrier behind the heart and below the physical body. This false ground impedes a confident, felt sense of being held by the universe. Through reflections, examples from working with patients, and practices of inquiry and meditation, the author takes us on a progressive journey of discovery beyond all limiting beliefs and trauma. Highly recommended.
Rupert Spira of the UK has emerged as one of the 21st century’s most articulate, brilliant and heartful exponents of the nondual understanding. Rupert’s stepfather was a Mevlevi Sufi and he is steeped from many years of study in Vedanta, Tantra, Kashmir Shaivism and mystical Christianity. He was a was a professional potter and so also carries a deep appreciation of beauty as perception without the limitations of the finite mind.
In this volume he explores the direct path as a process of “sinking the mind into the heart” in order to realize the nature and limitations of the finite mind, then afterward “returning” to objects and the apparent world with a new understanding rooted in being.
The Heart of Prayer is also an excellent title that presents Rupert Spira’s timeless wisdom from meditations he has led over the years.
Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj was an East Indian shopkeeper and cigarette vender who believed his teacher’s instruction that he was the Absolute and eventually realized this fact through devotion and practicing timeless awareness. His biting and often humorous teaching, written down by devotees, never fails to astonish and confound the limited mind.
The short chapters are excellent for contemplation…place a copy of this on your night stand and read one chapter before sleep every night.
Adyashanti, a present-day realized sage and exponent of Advaita, gives a penetrating teaching on the ending of suffering, and on grace as that which brings the human being out of the limited into the perfection of the truth. Adyashanti speaks eloquently in the vernacular of our time and his teaching is given with compassion and searing insight. Other books by Adya that are wonderful are Emptiness Dancing (a series of dharma talks), The End of Your World: Life After Awakening, The Most Important Question, and My Secret is Silence (poetry and reflections).
A great soul and teacher, Hazrat Inayat Khan was one of the most amazing and dynamic spiritual figures of the 20th century. A world-class Indian classical musician and schooled in several Sufi lineages, Inayat Khan gave up music to follow his teacher’s directive to bring Sufism to the west.
Though his language may seem somewhat archaic today, he brought a deep Sufi wisdom and a nondual teaching to the bewildered Americans and Europeans who experienced his talks, satsangs and practices. This little book is a good overview of his teaching.
I also very much love the book Complete Sayings of Hazrat Inayat Khan, which is a compilation of aphorisms and short sayings of the master. This work alone, apart from the breadth and depth of his other teachings, is a testament to the depth of his realization and insight into the human condition. The Sayings is another book for your bedside table…. This book will cultivate your own love of Hazrat Inayat Khan as a great, great soul and teacher who is still available to us today on the inner planes as guide and support.
A modern-day Rumi, Dorothy Hunt has created a magnificent work in Only This!, a compendium of the wonder, paradox, beauty, pain and ultimate awakening that accompany a true inquiry into Life and Self. These poems and reflections speak to the heart in a way that straight prose or dharma talk cannot. A jewel of creativity, insight and love! Highly recommended!
The Untethered Soul is a unique work in many ways. In plain-spoken, and uncompromising language, Michael Singer presents truth straight from the Hindu vedas on seeing yourself clearly, taking responsibility, giving up suffering, letting go of reactivity, deciding to be happy, and many other subjects. He gives an especially clear insight into how sanskaras, our inner accumulation of incomplete experiences, confounds and complicates our path of awakening. The only way to clear this stuff is to “relax, release, and repeat as necessary!!” Another book to be read and re-read anytime forgetfulness comes!
Loren Roche’s The Radiance Sutras is a translation from the Sanskrit of the 112 practices of the Vignana Bhairava Tantra. Roche has spent many years with these practices as a translator and as a practitioner. The result is a supremely beautiful text with rich images and a very clear dynamic. These are truly exquisite jewels to work with in your spiritual practice, as they all point to the limitless, nondual context that is the real domain of the atman, or soul, and that awakening flows from realizing what is already present.
If you’ve been struggling with the “shadow” side of life, this may be just the book for you!
In Taming Your Gremlin therapist and yogi Rick Carsen offers a refreshing and very creative approach to getting out of your own way. The primary practice is “just noticing” the activity of your “gremlin”, his playful euphemism for the ego. Giving any more attention that this to your gremlin will no doubt “feed” him!
This sideways look at what’s happening allows the truth of one’s behavior to be observed more clearly, which activates a deeper, freeing element in us. With humor, insight and even brilliance the author describes simple ways to step down the gremlin’s hold on us. Full of hilarious illustrations and clear writing, Rick Carson’s classic succeeds in putting spiritual development into a more accessible framework than we often encounter.
This free ebook from Adyashanti (it can also be obtained in print form from Open Gate Sangha) is a short summary of his teaching and his approach to meditation, contemplation and inquiry. He also gives the flavor of what he means by the “dream state”, the everyday, consensual consciousness of being hypnotized by concepts and beliefs.
As an overview of the key elements of the spiritual path, I feel that it is truly foundational. We have used it in our esoteric class and in-body retreats, and I often refer to it.
If you’re looking for a primer on the path to awakening, this is it!