30 Best Spiritual Books For Spiritual Awakening, Enlightenment And Self Realization
Embarking upon a spiritual journey? Whether you’re an absolute beginner or an adept, these books are the best resources you can find to explore what spirituality is all about.
Spirituality is not about one religion, but all religions in their pure essence are about spirituality. So I recommend you cut to the chase and take the direct path to what you are seeking – call it God, Creator, Source, Absolute, Truth, Universe, or whatever.
Not many people are conscious enough to explore their true nature. So if you have the seeking impulse, don’t ignore it. I can assure you from my personal experience that it is absolutely worth it to grow spiritually.
Related: Higher Consciousness: The Five Levels of Consciousness and Spiritual Guidance: How To Find And Follow A Spiritual Path
So without further ado, here is the list of the best spiritual books of all time that will help you with spiritual awakening, enlightenment, and self-realization:
1. I Am That by Nisargadatta Maharaj
“Love says ‘I am everything.’ Wisdom says ‘I am nothing.’ Between the two, my life flows.”
Nisargadatta Maharaj
Related: I Am Not the Body: Discovering the Truth Beyond Bondage by Nisargadatta Maharaj and Amrut Laya: The Stateless State by Shri Siddharameshwar Maharaj
2. Be As You Are: The Teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi
“If the idea ‘I am the body’ is accepted, the selves are multiple. The state in which this idea vanishes is the Self since in that state there are no other objects.”
Ramana Maharashi
Related: Who Am I?: The Teachings of Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi
3. The Book of Secrets: 112 Meditations to Discover the Mystery Within by Osho
“When the ego is not, you are for the first time encountering your being. That being is void. Then you can surrender; then you have surrendered.”
Osho
Related: Meditation: The First And Last Freedom (A Practical Guide To Meditation) by Osho
4. The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment by Eckhart Tolle
“Realize deeply that the present moment is all you have. Make the NOW the primary focus of your life.”
Eckhart Tolle
Related: A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose by Eckhart Tolle
5. The Untethered Soul: The Journey Beyond Yourself by Michael Alan Singer
“Only you can take inner freedom away from yourself, or give it to yourself. Nobody else can.”
Michael A. Singer
Related: The Surrender Experiment: My Journey into Life’s Perfection by Michael Alan Singer
6. Letting Go: The Pathway of Surrender by Dr. David R. Hawkins
“The person who suffers from inner poverty is relentlessly driven to accumulate on the material level.”
David R. Hawkins
7. Awareness: The Perils and Opportunities of Reality by Anthony de Mello
“Perfect love casts out fear. Where there is love there are no demands, no expectations, no dependency. I do not demand that you make me happy; my happiness does not lie in you. If you were to leave me, I will not feel sorry for myself; I enjoy your company immensely, but I do not cling.”
Anthony de Mello
Related: The Way to Love: The Last Meditations of Anthony de Mello
8. Freedom from the Known by Jiddu Krishnamurti
“Thought is so cunning, so clever, that it distorts everything for its own convenience.”
Jiddu Krishnamurti
Related: The Awakening of Intelligence by Jiddu Krishnamurti
9. The Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu
“Knowing others is intelligence;
Lao Tzu
knowing yourself is true wisdom.
Mastering others is strength;
mastering yourself is true power.”
Related: The Book of Chuang Tzu by Martin Palmer
10. The Essential Rumi by Mawlana Jalal-al-Din Rumi
“Be empty of worrying.
Mawlana Jalal-al-Din Rumi
Think of who created thought!
Why do you stay in prison
When the door is so wide open?”
Related: Secrets of Divine Love: A Spiritual Journey into the Heart of Islam by A. Helwa
11. Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse
“Wisdom cannot be imparted. Wisdom that a wise man attempts to impart always sounds like foolishness to someone else … Knowledge can be communicated, but not wisdom. One can find it, live it, do wonders through it, but one cannot communicate and teach it.”
Hermann Hesse
Related: The Dhammapada by Eknath Easwaran
12. Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda
“Live quietly in the moment and see the beauty of all before you. The future will take care of itself.”
Paramahansa Yogananda
Related: The Bhagavad Gita by Eknath Easwaran
13. The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali by Satchidananda
“Truth is the same always. Whoever ponders it will get the same answer. Buddha got it. Patanjali got it. Jesus got it. Mohammed got it. The answer is the same, but the method of working it out may vary this way or that.”
Sri S. Satchidananda
Related: The Upanishads by Eknath Easwaran
14. The Science of Enlightenment: How Meditation Works by Shinzen Young
“You can dramatically extend life—not by multiplying the number of your years, but by expanding the fullness of your moments.”
Shinzen Young
Related: Introduction to Tantra: The Transformation of Desire by Lama Thubten Yeshe and Shift into Freedom: The Science and Practice of Open-Hearted Awareness by Loch Kelly
[mailerlite_form form_id=12]15. How Enlightenment Changes Your Brain: The New Science of Transformation by Andrew Newberg and Mark Robert Waldman
“The simple act of watching your own consciousness actually improves your mood, your self-esteem, and your overall satisfaction with life. Research also shows that self-reflective observation and awareness activates structures in the brain directly associated with Enlightenment and transformation.”
Andrew Newberg and Mark Robert Waldman
16. The Awakened Brain: The New Science of Spirituality and Our Quest for an Inspired Life by Dr. Lisa Miller
“When we become spiritually aware—through synchronicity, for example—it’s a sign that despite the uncertainty, we are aligned with the force of life.”
Lisa Miller
Related: Sacred Pathways: The Brain’s Role in Religious and Mystic Experiences and The Leap: The Psychology of Spiritual Awakening by Steve Taylor
17. Why Buddhism is True: The Science and Philosophy of Meditation and Enlightenment by Robert Wright
“Ultimately, happiness comes down to choosing between the discomfort of becoming aware of your mental afflictions and the discomfort of being ruled by them.”
Robert Wright
Related: Siddhartha’s Brain: Unlocking the Ancient Science of Enlightenment by James Kingsland and Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha: An Unusually Hardcore Dharma Book by Daniel M Ingram
18. The Mind Illuminated: A Complete Meditation Guide Integrating Buddhist Wisdom and Brain Science for Greater Mindfulness by Dr. John Yates
“True happiness comes from within, which means we can always find joy, in both good times and bad. Although pain and pleasure are an inevitable part of human life, suffering and happiness are entirely optional. The choice is ours.”
John Yates
19. Being Aware of Being Aware by Rupert Spira
“It is the self-aware screen of awareness, upon which the drama of experience is playing and out of which it is made, that becomes so intimately involved with the objective content of its experience that it seems to lose itself in it and, as a result, overlooks or forgets its own presence, just as a dreamer’s mind loses itself in its own dream at night.”
Rupert Spira
Related: Being Myself by Rupert Spira
20. The End of Your World: Uncensored Straight Talk on the Nature of Enlightenment by Adyashanti
“We realize–often quite suddenly–that our sense of self, which has been formed and constructed out of our ideas, beliefs and images, is not really who we are. It doesn’t define us, it has no center.”
Adyashanti
Related: The Direct Way: Thirty Practices to Evoke Awakening by Adyashanti and The Way of Liberation: A Practical Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment by Adyashanti
21. Spiritual Enlightenment: The Damnedest Thing by Jed McKenna
“All fear is ultimately fear of no-self.”
Jed McKenna
Related: Spiritually Incorrect Enlightenment by Jed McKenna and Spiritual Warfare by Jed McKenna
22. A Course in Miracles by Helen Schucman
“Nothing real can be threatened. Nothing unreal exists. Herein lies the peace of God.”
Helen Schucman
Related: A Return to Love: Reflections on the Principles of “A Course in Miracles” by Marianne Williamson and A Course in Miracles Made Easy: Mastering the Journey from Fear to Love by Alan Cohen
23. Conversations with God by Neale Donald Walsch
“Be a gift to everyone who enters your life, and to everyone whose life you enter. Be careful not to enter another’s life if you cannot be a gift.”
Neale Donald Walsch
24. Be Here Now by Ram Dass
“Early in the journey you wonder how long the journey will take and whether you will make it in this lifetime. Later you will see that where you are going is HERE and you will arrive NOW…so you stop asking.”
Ram Dass
Related: Being Ram Dass by Ram Dass
25. The Book: On the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are by Alan Watts
“Problems that remain persistently insoluble should always be suspected as questions asked in the wrong way.”
Alan Wilson Watts
Related: The Way of Zen by Alan Watts
26. The Heart of the Buddha’s Teaching: Transforming Suffering into Peace, Joy, and Liberation by Thich Nhat Hanh
“Letting go gives us freedom, and freedom is the only condition for happiness. If, in our heart, we still cling to anything – anger, anxiety, or possessions – we cannot be free.”
Thich Nhat Hanh
Related: Peace Is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life by Thich Nhat Hanh
27. The Art of Happiness: A Handbook for Living by Dalai Lama
“Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them, humanity cannot survive.”
Dalai Lama
28. The Ra Material: Law of One by Jim McCarty, Don Elkins, Carla L. Rueckert
“You are every thing, every being, every emotion, every event, every situation. You are unity. You are infinity. You are love/light, light/love. You are. This is the Law of One.”
Ra
Related: Living the Law of One 101: The Choice by Carla L. Rueckert and The Aaron/Q’uo Dialogues: An Extraordinary Conversation between Two Spiritual Guides by Barbara Brodsky and Carla L. Rueckert
29. Journey of Souls: Case Studies of Life Between Lives by Dr. Michael Newton
“We are divine but imperfect beings who exist in two worlds, material and spiritual. It is our destiny to shuttle back and forth between these universes through space and time while we learn to master ourselves and acquire knowledge.”
Michael Newton
Related: Destiny of Souls: New Case Studies of Life Between Lives by Dr. Michael Newton
30. Three Waves of Volunteers and the New Earth by Dolores Cannon
“People can’t help other people if they have too many of their own problems. They can’t do what’s right for the planet if they can’t do what’s right for themselves.”
Dolores Cannon
Related: A Wanderer’s Handbook by Carla L. Rueckert and Awakening in the Dream: Contact with the Divine by David Wilcock
So there you have it – the top books on spirituality. Some of the books give you the direct methods for spiritual awakening/enlightenment, some focus on the latest science behind it, and some are more esoteric or new agey.
You don’t have to take my recommendation, nor do you have to believe what the authors have to say. All I ask you is to keep an open mind and inquire within yourself what the teachings have to offer. You don’t have much to lose, but you have everything to gain.
What can you gain, you may ask? How about pure bliss, peace, and freedom? Or how about a greater capacity to attract/manifest what you desire (which you can learn more from these books on manifestation)? The best part is that you don’t have to renounce the world to be enlightened. I say you master both, your inner and outer world, which is the core of my self-mastery coaching.
Ready For A Radical Transformation, Healing And Awakening?
If you want in-depth training for healing and awakening, get the online course Enlightened Living: A Radical Self Transformation or listen to the short audio Beyond Fear: On Living a Bold Life course for free.
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