Here is an ever evolving list of books that I strongly recommend for those interested in religion, spirituality, mysticism and other topics I like to discuss on the blog.
I’d love to hear suggestions, so please comment with a little description and I’d like to add them to the list!
On General Mysticism and the Perennial Philosophy:
Huxley, Aldous – The Perennial Philosophy: I’ve mentioned this one a few times in previous blog posts and I absolutely love it. One of the intellectual giants of the mid-twentieth century (writer of A Brave New World), he had a keen interest on the mystical traditions of the world. This book explores key concepts of mysticism and is littered throughout with quotes and passages from mystical figures across time and culture, from Lao Tzu, to Meister Eckhart, to Rumi and many more. It’s a dense read, and difficult at times, but it blew my mind away.
Smith, Huston – The World’s Religions: Dying at 97 years only in 2016, Huston Smith was a giant of spirituality who traveled the world exploring and participating in different religious traditions. This book is one of the most important books on comparative religion, and is often used as a university textbook on the subject. It highlights the beauty of religion, it’s rituals, doctrines and practices, and also delves into the mystical traditions to highlight the common source among them all. Look for a more recent addition, if interested, because it includes a chapter on the native/indigenous spiritualities of the Americas and Australia.
Teasdale, Wayne – The Mystic Heart: A Catholic monk who was a great promoter of inter-faith dialogue and spiritually-based environmentalism, this is one of my favourites as he provides and easy access approach to mysticism and the commonality found among the world’s religions at their core. Much easier to read than Aldous Huxley’s aforementioned work, it delves into the mystical dimensions of all of the world’s major religious traditions. I also personally love the stuff he writes about environmental spirituality and how to find God in nature.
Watts, Alan – The Book, On the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are: Alan Watts is one of my favourite spiritual authors and was my main introduction to Eastern religions. I could list many books of his, all I’ve come across so far are fantastic. This one is the book that kicked off my love of his writing though, so I’ll have this as my main recommendation. In The Book, Watts outlines his main philosophy and spirituality of the world, largely based on Advaita Vedanta, Taoism and Zen Buddhism. He discusses (and for me shatters) the illusion of not only our society and modern civilisation, but our entire conception of reality, and advocates the timeless, infinite and interconnected Ultimate Reality that is so frequently recorded in the writings of mystics. A rather short book, I highly suggest getting a hold of this one.
On Christianity
Meister Eckhart – Selections from His Essential Writings: Meister Eckhart was a 13-14th century Christian mystic, controversial during his life, but later gained a much more praised reputation. Still a relatively unknown figure, he is one of the most profound theologians and thinkers of this period whose main focuses were around detachment and working towards union with God. This book is a short collection of his sermons and counsels during his career. Recommended for anyone who is interested in a rather radical understanding of Catholicism that incredibly came from the Middle Ages.
Geoffrey Blainey – A Short History of Christianity: In my early days of discovering spirituality, this book really shone out. It purposely and explicitly sets out to show the positives of Christianity’s impact on the world, it’s beautiful teaching and it’s ever evolving history. Beginning with the history of the Jews (if my memory serves me correctly) to Christs birth and the early church. It then goes over the next two thousand years showing how it’s flourished and developed over the centuries. It really changed my mind all those years ago towards having a lot more positive attitude towards this incredibly important yet often misperceived religion.
On Hinduism
Parahamsa Yogananda – Autobiography of a Yogi: As my blog post sums up here, the book is an incredible inspiring journey into the life of one of the most important Hindu communicators to a western audience in modern history. His life journey is a journey of searching for God and most importantly, trusting in God. The man is a truly authentic yogi and is really a must read for anyone looking for a bit of inspiration on the spiritual path.
On Islam
Seyyed Hossein Nasr – The Garden of Truth: This one completely blew my mind when I first read it. Not only does it show perhaps the most profound path of Islam, one that is nowadays all too hidden beneath headlines in the news, but it is written in such a beautiful way that it manages to truly convey the essence of Sufism (despite being a rather academic work). Not a particularly long book, it is nevertheless a densely packed introduction to Sufism, detailing the beliefs, practices, major figures and the role of the little known mystical sect of Islam in Muslim society. I really recommend this for anyone interested in gaining a fresh perspective on Islam.
On Religion and Science
Karen Armstrong – The Case for God: This book was perhaps the single biggest influence on my change from atheism to a belief in something greater than the material world. She tackles the arguments made by prominent atheists, showcasing a great knowledge of religions. To me it revealed a much greater depth to religion than is often portrayed in popular culture and by atheists in general. The book is also a soft introduction to the mystical traditions, particular in how God is generally conceived, and she provides a somewhat unifying theory of the great mysterious unknown that has been found across time, culture and religion. She traces how our conception of faith and religion has changed over the years and how religious fundamentalism emerged (surprisingly quite distinct from historical religion). Amazing book for lovers of religion, spirituality and history.
Reza Aslan – God: A Human History: A sweeping historical and scientific look at the history of religion and belief over time. In some ways, not too different to the above mentioned book, but perhaps a little more accessible and looks much deeper into the evolutionary and neurological origins of belief and religion. What I particularly enjoy about this book is the wealth of perspectives offered particularly when it comes to understanding how exactly religion and faith arose in the first place. Perhaps a challenging read for those who hold conventional beliefs in religion and God, but his thesis on conceptions of divine being ultimately reflected by who we are as people is quite profound.
Fritjof Capra – The Tao of Physics: Very famous book that was one of the first to highlight the similarities between the findings of quantum physics and eastern religions, particularly the mystical dimension. Quite thought provoking. A fascinating but very difficult book (for me at least) when it goes into some of the details of quantum physics, but I came out with a stronger sense of the beauty of the world, the mystery of quantum physics and the potential for what these findings have for our understanding of the universe.
John Lennox – God’s Undertaker: Has Science Buried God? This short but dense book is by an Oxford professor of mathematics and philosopher of science. He argues against the Four Horseman of New Atheism and reveals that modern science has done nothing to disprove the existence of God. Instead, he shows how science may actually point towards a creator. From a Christian perspective, he critiques the philosophical groundings of atheism and the idea that science necessarily equates to materialism, and then goes through each major field of science, exploring its implications for faith and belief in God. Excellent read, but can be a bit tough to take in all at once.
Jordan Peterson – Maps of Meaning: The Architecture of Belief, If you’re up for a much deeper (albeit sometimes academically overwhelming in jargon) look into what may be the root of Jordan Peterson’s thinking, this is the book. It juggles with similar themes as his more famous 12 Rules for Life, but goes much further into the evolutionary and Jungian psychology, neuroscience and comparative mythology. The book demonstrates the importance of myth in our cultures by looking at how they have shaped our behaviour by providing us with guides on how to navigate the balance in life between all out chaos and tyrannical order. Traditional wisdom developed over the millennia has value for us today, and we shouldn’t simply dismiss because it’s old and looks useless.
Ruper Sheldrake – The Science Delusion: This book is not an anti-science, or anti-New Atheist book like the title suggests. Sheldrake wanted to name it something different, but his publisher insisted “The Science Delusion” would catch more eyes. The book is more about the state of the scientific establishment and the damage the overriding assumption of physical materialism is doing. The entire book is intended for people to recognise that materialism is not science, but rather little more than a philosophical interpretation of science, wanting its readers to question scientific orthodoxies rather than dogmatically adhere to them. The overwhelming acceptance of materialism as the orthodox perspective in scientific institutions across the world is consequently hampering research in potentially fruitful fields of research such as traditional medicine, and paranormal phenomena. Dismissing these areas as pseudoscience leads to the restriction of research, and unfortunately stifling of getting to the truth of the matter.
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A Perennial Follower 