- Vivekananda’s Speeches - The readings that inspired me as a child
- AYP Online Lessons - The writings that really got me to practice
- Byron Katie, the Work - Made me question my beliefs
- The Power of Now, Ekhart Tolle - Good read
- Autobiography of a Yogi, Paramahamsa Yogananda - Good read
I just remembered another little book that I actually read before all the other books that I wrote about on this thread and that was very influential… Raja Yoga by Vivekananda.
ODYSSEY OF THE SOUL
Book One – Apocatastasis
Available for free online reading here:
http://www.odysseyofthesoul.org/b1/index.htm
1.In search of the miraculous by Ouspensky, a book I recently read that is still helping me to do valuable cleaning up. Provocative and essential.
2.The I Ching, book of changes (translated by Wilhelm), a precious campanion on the path
3.Zen mind, beginners mind by Shunryu Suzuki, the first spiritual book I ever read also managed to spark deeply my interest in self transformation, thank you Suzuki Roshi !
4.The mustard seed (commentary on the Gospel of Thomas) by Osho, opened up my eyes and heart to the teachings of Jesus, and to the spiritual genius of Osho
5.Bagavad Gita, my favorite scripture
6.Gospel of Ramakrishna, I find Ramakrishna just irresistible and a spiritual giant
7.“Memories, dreams, reflections” by C.G. Jung, helped me get back to my senses after I crashed in the aftermath of my awakening. Very grateful to Jung.
8. “Pathway to God consciousness” by Goswami Kriyananda, I love all his books, most of them based on esoteric astrology. High class style and intellectual integrity
9. “Self inquiry, dawn of the witness and the end of suffering” by Yogani is my favorite in the list of his remarkable book series. Also love the book title.
10. Autobiography of a Yogi by Yogananda, even if I am quite turned off by miracles and extraordinary magical achievements I like the sweetness (bakhti) of Yogananda in the book
Jalamanta (Rudolfo Anaya) is another gem I’ve overlooked…
Thanks, I’ll look into it. I’ve read some of his other works and found them to be enjoyable and valuable.
The books which probably had the biggest impact on my life have been:
1 The Gospel of John
2 Bhagavad Gita
3/4 Thomas Merton’s ‘Seven-Storey Mountain’ and ‘Asian Journal’
5 Da Love-Ananda’s ‘Knee of Listening’ (nb first edition)
6 The Gospel According to Ramakrishna
7 Lex Hixon’s ‘Mother of the Universe - Tantric Hymns of Enlightenment’
8 Ramana Maharshi’s ‘Collected Works’
9 Sivananda’s ‘Kundalini Yoga’
10 Nisargadatta’s ‘I Am That’.
The late Lex Hixon is worth a look for those who don’t know him. Like Merton a shapeshifting teacher of the creative word, rooted in inner silence and light. Like Merton, capable of inhabiting one tradition after another and presenting each inspiringly so that their sages endorse his texts with admiration. Hixon’s other texts include ‘Living Buddha Zen’ and ‘Great Swan’.
The Desert Island Book would have to be Nisargadatta.
The Jewel Ornament of Liberation - Gampopa
Ganga Mahamudra Upadesha - Tilopa
The Hundred Thousand Songs of Milarepa
Mahamudra - Dakpo Tashi Namgyal
Clarifying the Natural State - Dakpo Tashi Namgyal
Ösel Dorje