Here are 100 books that Spiritual Enlightenment fans have personally recommended if you like
Spiritual Enlightenment.
Shepherd is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.
Until my early 50s, I detested all things spiritual. These books showed up practically on their own, without dogma or jargon, mainly to convince me that the divine existed. They’re easy to read and open to interpretation. They tricked me into a spiritual life by making it seem logical and simply a place to explore at my leisure. I try to write things that are clear and simple, and these books persuaded me that the ineffable isn’t so hard to write about. Also, I could return to these books years later, and they still speak to me. Each is capable of opening something new to me later in life.
Most ancient wisdom texts require a lot of effort. I love the Bible, the Bhagavad Gita, the Buddhist Discourses, Dogen, Plato, Krishnamurti, and so on. But to read them, I have to take some time out of my day.
This book is a scroll of 81 aphorisms. I can pick any one, spend a little time with it, and get on with my day.
Plus, it starts with a bang: “The Way that you hear about is not the real Way.” I am invited to be confused! That takes all the pressure off me to figure it out.
For nearly two generations, this bestselling translation of the Tao Te Ching has been the standard for those seeking access to the wisdom of Taoist thought. Now Jane English and her long-time editor, Toinette Lippe, have refreshed and revised the translation, so that it more faithfully reflects the Classical Chinese in which it was first written, while taking into account changes in our own language and eliminating any lingering infelicities. This beautiful oversized edition features over a hundred new photographs by Jane English that help express the vast spirit of the Tao. Also included is an introduction by the well-known…
The Victorian mansion, Evenmere, is the mechanism that runs the universe.
The lamps must be lit, or the stars die. The clocks must be wound, or Time ceases. The Balance between Order and Chaos must be preserved, or Existence crumbles.
Appointed the Steward of Evenmere, Carter Anderson must learn the…
Until my early 50s, I detested all things spiritual. These books showed up practically on their own, without dogma or jargon, mainly to convince me that the divine existed. They’re easy to read and open to interpretation. They tricked me into a spiritual life by making it seem logical and simply a place to explore at my leisure. I try to write things that are clear and simple, and these books persuaded me that the ineffable isn’t so hard to write about. Also, I could return to these books years later, and they still speak to me. Each is capable of opening something new to me later in life.
Poetry is supposed to be difficult, right? The erudite poets like Milton, Shakespeare, Yeats, and Dickinson blend insight, psychology, philosophy, wisdom, meter, and magic sauce into a puzzle to suss out. Eliot is like that most of the time, but not in this book, where he is so direct, plain and simple, amazed and amazing, that I am not once tempted to apply critical theory.
If there is a possibility of divine inspiration, this has always felt like Exhibit 1 to me. Every time I think I might have to figure out what he’s saying, he says, “Don’t bother,” by taking me into a picture that is so concrete and full of the everyday that it paradoxically shines the divine out at me. This book can be opened anywhere, started anywhere, and it will bring me comfort and joy.
Four Quartets is the culminating achievement of T.S. Eliot's career as a poet. While containing some of the most musical and unforgettable passages in twentieth-century poetry, its four parts, 'Burnt Norton', 'East Coker', 'The Dry Salvages' and 'Little Gidding', present a rigorous meditation on the spiritual, philosophical and personal themes which preoccupied the author. It was the way in which a private voice was heard to speak for the concerns of an entire generation, in the midst of war and doubt, that confirmed it as an enduring masterpiece.
The world as we know it is coming to an end, so humanity can take a quantum leap into a new consciousness. The books we recommend offer information on why this is happening and how to become part of the change to a New Earth. Humanity is living in an amazing time. We feel we have something to say on this based on our combined experiences as psychologists, therapists, trainers, and authors, and giving new consciousness workshops internationally since 2012.
Eckart Tolle is well known for offering inspirational and simple ways of helping people. This is perhaps his most enlightening book and defines the ego's games better than anyone.
One of his main messages is that emotional issues like anxiety and depression are not our natural states and are reflective of too much identification with the ego. And letting go of our ego is needed for a new consciousness.
What we value is that his writing is powerful and really drives home his points.
LOVED THE POWER OF NOW? DISCOVER THE LIFE-CHANGING FOLLOW-UP FROM THE MULTI-MILLION COPY BESTSELLER
'A wake-up call for the entire planet. A New Earth helps us to stop creating our own suffering and obsessing over the past and what the future might be and to put ourselves in the now' OPRAH WINFREY
'My No. 1 guru will always be Eckhart Tolle' CHRIS EVANS
THE BOOK THAT INSPIRED THE CHART-TOPPING PODCAST OPRAH & ECKHART TOLLE: A NEW EARTH _________
Are you ready to change your life?
In Eckhart Tolle's ground-breaking book, he gives you the spiritual framework to: - Understand yourself…
Magical realism meets the magic of Christmas in this mix of Jewish, New Testament, and Santa stories–all reenacted in an urban psychiatric hospital!
On locked ward 5C4, Josh, a patient with many similarities to Jesus, is hospitalized concurrently with Nick, a patient with many similarities to Santa. The two argue…
Until my early 50s, I detested all things spiritual. These books showed up practically on their own, without dogma or jargon, mainly to convince me that the divine existed. They’re easy to read and open to interpretation. They tricked me into a spiritual life by making it seem logical and simply a place to explore at my leisure. I try to write things that are clear and simple, and these books persuaded me that the ineffable isn’t so hard to write about. Also, I could return to these books years later, and they still speak to me. Each is capable of opening something new to me later in life.
Adyashanti is a firestarter, and he got my spiritual adventure going at the beginning. I entered a one-day retreat he gave at a nearby spiritual center as an atheist, a rationalist, a relatively happy corporate executive, a non-meditator, and a scorner of spirituality.
I believed all religions to be ridiculous superstitions with some nice life lessons mixed in. I came out of the one-day session fascinated by the idea of spirituality as a world of its own that could be explored scientifically.
That’s what Adya does, with plain language and easy-to-believe examples: He encourages people, me included, to become aware of the possibility of greater awareness.
More and more people are "waking up" spiritually. And for most of them, the question becomes: now what? "Information about life after awakening is usually not made public," explains Adyashanti. "It's most often shared only between teachers and their students." The End of Your World is his response to a growing need for direction on the spiritual path. Consider the book you hold in your hands Adyashanti's personal welcome to "a new world, a state of oneness."
Adyashanti begins by describing the "I got it/I lost it" phenomenon that perplexes so many of his students-the fluctuation between what he calls…
I’m an award-winning author of novels and magazine articles. You can find my articles—many on mind-body and spiritual topics—in Oprah magazine, Prevention, National Geographic, and more. I started doing yoga back in my twenties when a woman almost-literally floated by me at the gym. When someone said she was the yoga teacher, I got off the spin bike and followed her into the class. I’m now a certified yoga teacher and longtime meditator. I’ve studied many classic yoga treatises, but it’s so much more fun to read—and to write—books that deliver yoga’s deep philosophies in a lighthearted, easily digestible way.
This spunky yoga memoir came out more than a decade ago (the same time as my first women’s yoga novel), and it remains my all-time favorite fun yoga read.
When 25-year-old, death-obsessed, cigarette-smoking Morrison follows her beloved yoga teacher on a Bali retreat, she’s too cynical to believe everything she’s learning. Still, she gives it her best shot (even while occasionally feeling called to wine, brownies, and “the prana of the Prada”).
When Morrison finally stops trying to reach her unattainable ideal of enlightenment, she comes to understand that self-acceptance is a key yoga aim. If you haven’t read this laugh-out-loud book, do so now!
What happens when a coffee-drinking, cigarette-smoking, steak-eating twenty-five-year-old atheist decides it is time to get in touch with her spiritual side? Not what you’d expect . . .
When Suzanne Morrison decides to travel to Bali for a two-month yoga retreat, she wants nothing more than to be transformed from a twenty-five-year-old with a crippling fear of death into her enchanting yoga teacher, Indra—a woman who seems to have found it all: love, self, and God.
But things don’t go quite as expected. Once in Bali, she finds that her beloved yoga teacher and all of her yogamates wake up…
Arriving home from school at age 8 with a story I had written called The Mystery Artist, my mother asked, “Do you want to be a writer?” “Oh yes, and I want to be an actor too and travel all over the world!” Mom smiled and said, “Honey, I believe you will.” I’m now 79, healthy, and happy. Telling traditional and true stories on stages in schools, theatres, and churches, traveling to more than 40 countries, and writing multiple multicultural collections of tellable tales is a dream come true. And along the way, I’ve searched for Light and Life. The journey isn’t finished. There is always more to come.
An excellent and easy-to-read introduction to the brilliance of Ken Wilber. During our current times of distractions and divisiveness, I found this brief missive a place of reason and calm. His ability to explore the inner connectedness of our world by combining knowledge and human experience is most satisfying. This work led me to his Brief History of Everything, and I'm forever grateful.
This pop culture presentation of Ken Wilber’s Integral Approach—an inclusive, visionary framework for understanding human potential—is as an easy introduction to his work
What if we attempted to create an all-inclusive map that touches the most important factors from all the world’s great traditions? Using all the known systems and models of human growth—from the ancient sages to the latest breakthroughs in cognitive science—Ken Wilber distills their major components into five simple elements, ones that readers can relate to their own experience right now.
With clear explanations, practical exercises, and familiar examples, The…
A Duke with rigid opinions, a Lady whose beliefs conflict with his, a long disputed parcel of land, a conniving neighbour, a desperate collaboration, a failure of trust, a love found despite it all.
Alexander Cavendish, Duke of Ravensworth, returned from war to find that his father and brother had…
As a software developer who discovered Zen, I am not a master, but rather a humble student. Embracing Zen has transformed my perspective on work and life, providing me with invaluable tools to manage stress and maintain balance. Through this book, I hope to share these insights and empower others to experience the profound benefits of Zen in their own lives.
I discovered the profound connection between Zen practice and the art of cooking in this insightful work by the revered Zen master, Dogen.
Through a series of engaging teachings, Dogen explores how the simple act of preparing and sharing food can become a transformative spiritual practice, fostering mindfulness, gratitude, and connection. I read this book before attending a long period of meditation, and it changed my view on day-to-day work completely.
How to Cook Your Life offers a unique perspective on the integration of Zen wisdom into daily life, inviting readers to cultivate a deeper sense of presence and harmony through the nourishment of body and soul.
After reading this book, I learned to love cooking again and in addition consider it spiritual practice.
This modern-day commentary on Dogen’s Instructions for a Zen Cook reveals how everyday activities—like cooking—can be incorporated into our spiritual practice
In the thirteenth century, Zen master Dogen—perhaps the most significant of all Japanese philosophers, and the founder of the Japanese Soto Zen sect—wrote a practical manual of Instructions for the Zen Cook. In drawing parallels between preparing meals for the Zen monastery and spiritual training, he reveals far more than simply the rules and manners of the Zen kitchen; he teaches us how to "cook," or refine our lives.
In this volume Kosho Uchiyama Roshi undertakes the task of…
As the co-author of Broken But Healing, I know firsthand what it means to survive emotional, physical, and psychological trauma—and to slowly piece yourself back together. Books were a lifeline during my healing journey. They offered comfort, clarity, and the reminder that I wasn’t alone. These five books helped shape my own recovery and inspired me to share my story so others could find the strength to rebuild, too.
A powerful guide for anyone struggling to release emotional pain, anger, heartbreak, or long-standing resentment.
Hawkins explains how holding onto old emotions can affect your health, relationships, and sense of self.
For men who grew up believing emotions should be controlled or hidden, this book offers a practical method to process feelings rather than store them. The teachings are simple but profound, helping readers move from tension to peace. It is especially helpful during transitions—divorce, loss, career changes, or the slow rebuilding of a wounded heart.
A powerful mechanism to help you surrender anything holding you back on your path to Enlightenment and find fulfilment, truth and spiritual growth.
Letting Go describes a simple and effective means by which to let go of the obstacles to Enlightenment and become free of negativity. During the many decades of the author's clinical psychiatric practice, the primary aim was to seek the most effective ways to relieve human suffering in all of its many forms.
The inner mechanism of surrender was found to be of great practical benefit and is described in this book. Dr Hawkins's previous books focused…
I'm Carmen F. Vlasceanu, PhD, FIH, hospitality executive, mentor, and author who believes in leading with a good heart and living with purpose. Through my book Dare to C.A.R.E. and the life coaching I offer, I help people reconnect with their inner power, serve others authentically, and grow in every area of life. As a single mom, global citizen, and lifelong learner, I’ve walked through burnout, reinvention, and bold dreaming. These books have helped me rediscover my voice, redefine my mission, and remember what really matters. They helped ground me in faith, encouraged my evolution, and reminded me why meaningful connection always comes first.
This book helped me shift my mindset, and I first picked it up during a stressful phase of my life. I gave myself some time to simply breathe and take it in. It reminded me that the “now” is not just a passing second, but a sacred space where peace and clarity live.
I love how it helped me stop living in the echo of yesterday or the fear of tomorrow. I remember closing my eyes and whispering, “This moment is enough,” and feeling my shoulders relax for the first time in weeks. It helped me feel more connected with myself, my son, my clients, and in doing so, intentionally live every moment with more compassion, stillness, and supremacy.
**CHOSEN BY OPRAH AS ONE OF HER 'BOOKS THAT HELP ME THROUGH'**
The international bestselling spiritual book, now with a new look for its 20th anniversary. Eckhart Tolle demonstrates how to live a healthier, happier, mindful life by living in the present moment.
************
'I keep Eckhart's book at my bedside. I think it's essential spiritual teaching. It's one of the most valuable books I've ever read.' Oprah Winfrey
To make the journey into The Power of Now we will need to leave our analytical mind and its false created self, the ego, behind. Although the journey is challenging, Eckhart…
It is April 1st, 2038. Day 60 of China's blockade of the rebel island of Taiwan.
The US government has agreed to provide Taiwan with a weapons system so advanced that it can disrupt the balance of power in the region. But what pilot would be crazy enough to run…
In 2013, my father–an amazing man who was the picture of health–died suddenly and unexpectedly while at the gym. At the time, I was miserable and unfulfilled. My father’s passing sent me down a path of deep self-exploration, where I realized that life is simply too short and unpredictable to settle for less than what you truly want. As I endeavored to change my life, I became a certified life coach, relationship coach, and happiness trainer, initially to help myself, but soon discovered a passion for helping others. I've been lucky to have incredible mentors like Dr. Robert Glover. My unconventional brand of self-help has been featured in numerous publications.
Whenever I recommend meditation to other men, they all ask the same questions I once asked: How the hell do I meditate? What exactly am I supposed to do? So, I’m supposed to sit there for how long? And think about nothing?
All the answers are in this book. Yogani is the author of the Advanced Yoga Practices (AYP) system, covering all aspects of Full-Scope Yoga Practice.
Unlike other books, this book actually offers concise step-by-step instructions for a method of meditation that has allowed me to experience more inner peace, creativity, and energy in my daily life.
Deep Meditation is a concise step-by-step instruction book for a simple yet powerful method of daily meditation that will systematically unfold inner peace, creativity and energy in daily life. Whether you are seeking an effective tool for reducing stress, improving your relationships, achieving more success in your career, or for revealing the ultimate truth of life within yourself, Deep Meditation can be a vital resource for cultivating your personal freedom and enlightenment.
Yogani is the author of groundbreaking books on highly effective spiritual practices, including: Advanced Yoga Practices - Easy Lessons for Ecstatic Living (two comprehensive user-friendly textbooks) and The…
