Book Recommendations: Getting Oriented
Ivan M. Granger January 11th, 2009
Where did my interest in the world’s spiritual traditions come from? Which religious tradition was I raised in? I’m asked these questions all the time.
Well, I’ll let you in on a secret about myself…
I was raised by single mother, an ex-Catholic hippie turned social worker and secret New Ager who told me I should choose my own religion when I was old enough, but who also couldn’t hide her distaste for most organized religion.
By college age, I had a strong interior life and my own motley spiritual practice, but virtually no understanding of what most people call “religion.” While formally studying history and biology, I started sneaking into Bible as literature classes – that was when I read the Bible for the first time.
At eighteen, I became a voracious reader on religion and spirituality in my spare time, often jumping right to the source material without any context. I read the Quran. I read the Bhagavad Gita and Buddhist texts. I read books on shamanism. I was fascinated and lost amidst everything.
Those were dazzling, bumpy years of searching.
You know what would have saved me a lot of confusion? Discovering one of the following books. Each of these books is a good, highly readable introduction to the deeper spiritual dimensions of a particular religious tradition. Check them out…
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Christian Mystics: Their Lives and Legacies throughout the Ages by Ursula King |
This is not a book of poetry, but highly recommended if you want a brief survey of important visionaries and trends within the sometimes hidden history of Christian mysticism. Francis of Assisi, Hildegard von Bingen, the Beguines, Meister Eckhart, Teresa of Avila, John of the Cross, Brother Lawrence, Jacob Boehme, Symeon the New Theologian, and many others. The author of this book has done a nice job of balancing history with spirituality. This little book makes an excellent introduction to depths of the Christian tradition that are too often overlooked. Even if you were raised within the Christian tradition, my guess is that much of your own spiritual history was not handed down to you. Here is a good place to start to regain that connection.
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The Shambhala Guide to Sufism by Carl W. Ernst PhD |
It’s been a couple of years since I last read this book, but I remember it as an intelligent, insightful look at the history, practices, philosophies, schools, and even politics of Sufism. If you’ve loved the poetry of Rumi but only have a vague idea of how Sufism fits within the Islamic faith, this book is an excellent place to start.
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The Yoga Tradition: Its History, Literature, Philosophy and Practice by Georg Feuerstein |
Unlike the other two books, which are relatively brief introductions to their subjects, The Yoga Tradition is truly encyclopedic. This book will free you from the misconception that yoga is just an elaborate form of stretching. It introduces us to ancient and modern yogic philosophies and practices. The many expressions of Hindu yoga, Jain yoga, Buddhist yoga, Sikh yoga, saints, philosophers, and reformers… This book helps us to get oriented amidst thousands of years of complex history with a refreshingly coherent approach. Very highly recommended.
For even more book recommendations, click here.
I hope these books inspire some good exploration (minus the bumps)…
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Have you read Osho’s BOOK OF SECRETS?
It is an amazing (and large) book containing his talks on over 112 meditation techniques, mentioning numerous references to tantra, where both ends of duality are inclusive in life.
I highly recommend it as it is so freeing. Great for reading chapter per day upon waking or retiring. Very relaxing and insightful. Eloquent!
My own searching similar, but having been raised an Episcopalean I was very influenced by Alan Watts–I’m hap to start a curious student off with THE BOOK which I think is a great introduction–Lao Tzu is at the moment the center of my spiritual practice–even if he doesn’t perscribe one.
Thank you for sharing this.
I’ve had a similar experience with being bewildered by religion and I’m always curious as to other people’s experiences with this Tabooed subject.
Sadly, I wasn’t so fortunate as to have parents who didn’t believe in the absolute necessity of organized religion.
(I could never figure out why it was so necessary for me to get on the Sunday School bus while they stayed home . . .)
Anyway, I would suggest adding the following books to your list:
~The Sacred and the Profane: The Nature of Religion, by Mircea Eliade
~Biblical Religion and the Search for Ultimate Reality, by Paul Tillich
and (people may scoff at this, but it is an excellent probe into morals, ethics, and taboos)
~Erotism, by Georges Bataille
Thanks again for the post!
~Lee
Thank you Ivan,
I will check these books out.
My spiritual journey began at 14 in 1972. A childhood Nanny came to visit us in Maine and it was a major turning point for me. She began teaching Yoga on the beach that soon became singing Hare Krishna and other Hindu spiritual song. Her name was Ellafern Poindexter, who that summer became Mataji. I meet Baba Ram Dass in New Hampshire that summer.
That Fall, a book was given to me by a family friends who ran a new age book store in Kennebunkport. It was Eckankar: Keys to Secret Worlds. After reading it I became a member of Eckankar via mailorder discourses with my Mother’s blessings. The person who gave me the book, my Mother, or any family member every joined Eckankar. I was a member until December of 2000.
During my time in Eckankar I explored Taoism and Chinese herbology, Eastern teachings relating to the Chakras, Native American and indigenous teachings, Sufi, and many more. Always looking for for that golden thread that holds all spiritual teachings together. The core truths that are hidden within lost to literal interpretations of the words and a lack of personal experience with the divine.
That core for me is unconditional love. That each of of is an internal past of God. Just as drops of water can not be separated from the ocean from which it came, we can not be separate from God. Soul is the golden drop in the ocean of God. So, we are God and God is us. We in the human body are living expressions of God; the living truth. So, it is our personal relationship with God that is important. This takes place in the Heart. The heart is far more than an organ that pumps blood through our body. It is our divine center. The place of sacred marriage between God/divine and Mother Earth. In Chinese medicine and Taoism humankind is between heaven and earth.
The Divine Love flows into the body through the crown chakra, down through the chakras, the feet into the earth. The energies of the earth flow up through our feet, up our legs into the root chakra, up the central core and out the crown returning to God. The heart is in the middle. Three chakras above and three below. Is relational to the trinity of divine. The Heart is the perceptual center of the body. So, living from the Heart in the key to our relationship not only with the divine but the earth too. All things are divine.
Thank you for you poetry emails
Blessings,
Richasu
Thank you for sharing
My thirst for knowing more about God started at a very young age. Like you was my mum Catholic. Growing up and attending a catholic primary and secondary school intensified my quest. Within me grew questions which neither my mum, my relatives, the priests nor reading the bible could answer satisfactory.
I seriously started searching for the meaning/reasons of all existence. This took me to explore the philosophy and teachings of Theosophy, Buddhism, Hinduism and Judaism…. Many pieces of my puzzle have since then fallen into place.
Six years ago, I met a guy here in Scotland, who introduced me to Maharaji’s Knowledge/message of peace. Everything Maharaji (Prem Rawat) says in his speeches makes sense. And yes, what I have been looking for is within me
I discovered recently the Gnostic Radio, which lectures have opened more doors to my better understanding of the bible, the book of genesis, the kabbalah….
I am very grateful to all these teachings.
I have read books by Mme Blavatsky, Annie Besant, Rudolf Steiner, Dalai Lama, John O’Donohue, Deepak Chopra. Krishnamurti…. and I read the Bhagavad-Gita from time to time.
I like the poems by Kabir, Rumi and others. I find many Sufi poems very profound. My favorite poem so far is “My dear Soul” by Rumi.
Yes, I am grateful to life, grateful to my journey and grateful to have discovered this site,
Thank you so much, Ivan
vincent - Scotland
Bright Blessings! I came across your information while “surfing” and wanted to share with you. I too was at Ram Dass’ in New Hampshire. My husband, baby girl and I had been camping on his dad’s estate that summer. We were part of Hilda Charlton’s group from NYC. I clearly remember standing alone while I watched a group of people leaving the structure that Ram Dass held darshan in. One person in particular, a slim, tanned woman with extremely long hair wearing a beautiful blue caftan came walking toward me. She seemed to be floating. She was like an angel! I stood transfixed. As she came closer to me, an incredible, overwhelming emotion began forming in my heart. I had never felt that way before. I began crying - not sad, not happy, but an incredible outpouring of healing tears. She approached me, embraced me and held me as the tears streamed down my face. No words were ever exchanged but I felt lighter, cleansed and healed when we parted. I traveled to Kennebunkport Beach a few times after that meeting. I remember bringing Ellafern to a university for her to give a talk. At the time she was living with some people in a lovely house in Kennebunkport Beach. We sat on an outside deck as she blessed my unborn baby son. I’m going to do some research on Ellafern. Is she still with us? Are you in touch with her? It would be really nice to know. Thank you for allowing me to relive one of the most important parts of my spiritual life.
Eta
Phoenix, AZ
I also was at Ram Dass’ farewell. Ellafern/Mataji is still with us. She has written/published a memoir, books of poetry, and now resides in an assisted living center in Thunder Bay Ontario. After Ram Dass’s good-bye party prior to his return to India to see is Guru, Ellafern was doing Yoga on the beach in Kennebunkport that summer. A group formed-later known as the ‘I Am Ashram’. They stayed in Branford, CT that winter and later went to Fla- next to Sperryville, VA, on to London, Ont.; Toronto and finally settled in Thunder Bay, Ont., on a square mile of land they purchased. Eventually, the ashram broke up, but those involved still connect, and occ. have reunions in Thunder Bay. This movement grew directly out of the spirit and energy of Ram Dass, I feel.