Born into an atheist family and a psychiatrist by background, I identified as a Christian in mid-life then became an interfaith minister. I believe everyone has a birthright to discover their own personal nature and purpose and although religion can help, it’s probably only a phase through which a properly evolved consciousness passes. You can read all the non-fiction and sacred texts you like, but I find spiritual fiction to be the best medium to explore and share fundamentals like this.
Alongside a generation of boomers totally fed up with politics and religion, I fell in love with Hesse’s poetic 1922 masterpiece charting the spiritual journey of a young man in ancient India, Siddhartha, whose quest for freedom and independence timelessly mirrors my own struggle to break free from convention and control.
This novella is on every list you’ll find of the best spiritual fiction books ever, and it tops mine because it speaks to me like no other and inspired me to write The Sannyasin.
Here the spirituality of the East and the West have met in a novel that enfigures deep human wisdom with a rich and colorful imagination.
Written in a prose of almost biblical simplicity and beauty, it is the story of a soul's long quest in search of he ultimate answer to the enigma of man's role on this earth. As a youth, the young Indian Siddhartha meets the Buddha but cannot be content with a disciple's role: he must work out his own destiny and solve his own doubt-a tortuous road that carries him through the sensuality of a love…
A cynical and brilliant exposé of an apparent holy man who goes from tour guide to guru in a way that, although a work of fiction, reminds me of so many religious people I’ve come across who pretend to be something they’re not. It also has a big sense of humor and made me laugh out loud several times.
Published in 1959, it was very ahead of its time and is still the best spiritual fiction novel to come out of India.
Raju's first stop after his release from prison is the barber's shop Then he decides to take refuge in an abandoned temple. Raju used to be India's most corrupt tourist guide - but now a peasant mistakes him for a holy man. Gradually, almost grudgingly, he begins to play the part. He succeeds so well that God himself intervenes to put Raju's new holiness to the test.
A complete classic from 1923, it contains so much wisdom that I almost use it as a reference book. There’s no plot as such, the central character forming a mouthpiece for short bursts of poetic prose that cover many of life’s biggest issues.
I adore the beauty of the metaphors and the whimsical nature of the advice, and I’ve quoted it in both formal and informal moments more times than I can remember.
One of the most beloved classics of our time—a collection of poetic essays that are philosophical, spiritual, and, above all, inspirational. Published in 1923, Gibran's masterpiece has been translated into more than twenty languages.
Gibran’s musings are divided into twenty-eight chapters covering such sprawling topics as love, marriage, children, giving, eating and drinking, work, joy and sorrow, housing, clothes, buying and selling, crime and punishment, laws, freedom, reason and passion, pain, self-knowledge, teaching, friendship, talking, time, good and evil, prayer, pleasure, beauty, religion, and death.
Each essay reveals deep insights into the impulses of the human heart and mind. The…
I know everyone expects Celestine Prophecy, Buddha of Suburbia, and at least something by Paulo Coelho to be on list but, honestly, I don’t find Celestine to be a very well-written book. Hanif Kureishi’s poignant semi-autobiography has more to do with psychosocial issues than spiritual fulfillment, and I could never really immerse myself in Coelho’s allegories without stifling a quiet yawn.
I prefer Merullo’s 2007 book; in this road trip, the characters of the narrator/driver and his unexpected passenger are well developed and feel honest, and the spiritual wisdom is nicely contextualized within an immediately engaging story rather than the story just being an excuse for a sermon.
When his sister tricks him into taking her guru on a trip to their childhood home, Otto Ringling, a confirmed skeptic, is not amused. Six days on the road with an enigmatic holy man who answers every question with a riddle is not what he'd planned. But in an effort to westernize his passenger--and amuse himself--he decides to show the monk some "American fun" along the way. From a chocolate factory in Hershey to a bowling alley in South Bend, from a Cubs game at Wrigley field to his family farm near Bismarck, Otto is given the remarkable opportunity to…
This 1970 novella transported me into a world of seagulls, how they live and how they fly, and one, Jonathan, who decides to be different, to defy conformity, to go further and faster, like my own striving for something more, for experiences beyond the mundane.
I never thought I’d identify with a seagull, but this wonderful bird’s world view is exactly the same as that of anyone who sees more than what’s just in front of them.
This classic work is now available for the first time in paperback. Since 1951, when the last of the Witchcraft Acts was repealed, many books have been written about the reappearance of witchcraft and the development of a pagan theology. Churchmen have denounced it. Sociologists have wondered at it. Journalists have penned sensational stories about it. But until the publication of this book, no one had told the real story of it from the inside as frankly as it is told here.
Doreen Valiente, one of witchcraft's most widely known figures, was a close friend of the late Gerald Gardner,…
This novel follows British surgeon Fin Carter, both in the present and with flashbacks from his past, as he looks for meaning in his life and his death during a pilgrimage in India. The narrative contains themes of mental health, addictions, religion, meditation, old age, and death.
The novel is a retelling of Hermann Hesse’s classic novella, Siddhartha. It unfolds during the global COVID-19 pandemic of 2020, and, like Siddhartha, the central narrative is Fin’s journey towards enlightenment and becoming ready to die.
