Spiritual reading list.

This has been compiled by a friend of Prof Fenn. It seems extremely
comprehensive to me.

-----Original Message-----
From: Dr. Mathai Baker Fenn, XLRI

Sometime Ago I was asked to send out my spiritual reading list. My
friend collected results from many respondents like me and made this
list. I think its a wonderful exercise and would like to share it all
with you.

Mathai

Spiritual Read List:
Navaratri 2004

One day I was asked, ‘What are the best books to read on spirituality?’
I did not know how to answer this question forthwith. I said I would get
back. Then, for a start, I made a list of all the books that had made an
impact on me spiritually. I also discussed this with several people:
among them were my friends and fellow seekers, and people from all walks
of life; artists and littérateurs, scholars and philosophers, priests
and religious heads,
office-goers and men of commerce.

There was much deliberation about the criterion and inclusions to such a
list. Several opinions emerged, starting from ‘what is spirituality?’ to
‘what is the literature that can ennoble, initiate, start, transform and
convert one towards the felicity of the Spirit and benediction of the
Divine. Spirituality appeared to find its allies in varied kinds of
literature. I have edited the titles, which came up in this search in
the hope that they will benefit one and all.

So here are the books that have helped my spiritual journey and also
those dear to me.
The list has predominantly titles from Hinduism but it is in no way
limiting to one faith or belief. You may be surprised at the eclectic
list that has emerged.

A. BEGINNERÂ’S LIST

METAPHYSICAL POETRY
1.Sudha Dhara: Sitaramdas Omkarnath
2.Gitanjali: Rabindranath Tagore
3.Works of Kabir(Kabir Padavali, Bijak, Songs of Kabir: Rabindranath
Tagore)
4.Tulasidas(Ramcharitmanas, Gitavali, Kavitavali, Vinaya Patrika, Barvai
Ramayana,
Hanuman Chalisa)
5.The Essential Rumi: Jalaluddin Rumi
6.Songs of Ramprasad
7.Duino Elegies: Rainer Maria Rilke
8.Paradise Lost/ Paradise Regain: John Milton
9.A Book of Luminous Things (Anthology): Czeslaw Milosz
10.Religious Poems: John Donne

SPIRITUAL PROSE/ FICTION
11.Siddhartha: Herman Hesse
12.The Prophet: Khalil Gibran
13.Resurrection: Lev Tolstoy
14.The Plague: Albert Camus
15.The Outsider: Albert Camus
16.RazorÂ’s Edge: W. Saumerset Maugham
17.The Age of Reason: Jean Paul Sartre
18.Illusions: Richard Bach
19.The Way of All The Earth: John S Dunne
20.Stepenwolf: Herman Hesse
21.Demian: Herman Hesse
22.Night: Wiesel, Elie
23.Silence: Shusaku Endo
24.Care of the Soul: Thomas Moore
25.Potrait of An Artist As A Young Man: James Joyce
26.The Alchemist: Paulo Coelho
27.The Pilgimage: Pulo Coelho
28.By The River Of Madeira I Sat Down And Wept

BIOGRAPHICAL
29.The Autobiography/ My Experiments With Truth: M K Gandhi
30.My Guru & His Disciple: Christopher Isherwood
31."Leela Prashanga" - Life of Shri Ramakrishna: Swami Sharadananda
32.Among The Great: Conversations with Sri Aurobindo, Mahatma Gandhi,
Rabindranath Tagore, Romain Roland, Bertrand Russel. Dilip Kumar Roy.
33.Meetings With Remarkable Men: Gurdjieff, G.I.
34.Notes to myself: Hugh Prather

EXPLORATORY
35.The Eternal Festival: Kinkar Bitthal Ramanuja
36.Autobiography of a Yogi: Yogananda, Paramahansa
37.Living With The Himalayan Masters: Swami Rama
38.Search In Secret India: Paul Brunton
39.Hermit In The Himalayas: Paul Brunton
40.Teaching Beyond Yoga: Paul Brunton
41.Toward The Silver Crests Of The Himalayas: G P Pradhan
42.Many lives, many masters: Brian L Weiss
43.Wisdom of the Ancient Sages: Swami Rama
44.New Discovery - Swami Vivekananda in the West: Mary Louis Buck (Vol.
I - VI)

BASIC SPIRITUALITY
45.Amar Chitra Katha
46.Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna: Vol I & II. Swami Nikhilananda
47.Sai Sat Charitra
48.The Spiritual Teachings of Ramana Maharshi
49.Commentaries On The Bible: William Barclay
50.Prayers for the common man: William Barclay
51.The Good Heart: Dalai Lama
52.The Song Celestial: Edwin Arnold
53.Bhagwat Gita: Swami Chinmayananda
54.Bhagawat Gita: Dr. Radhakrishnan
55.The Message of the Upanishads (Ramakarishan Mission)
56.Krinshnavatara : C. Rajagopalacharya
57.Anashakti Yoga:MK Gandhi
58.Works of Vinoba Bhave
59.Am I a Hindu: Ed Vishwanathan(Gita Pravachane, Ahimsa Ki Khoj, Maha
Gufa Mein Pravesh)

CONTEMPLATIVE TREATISES
60.The Road Less Traveled: Peck, M. Scott.
61.Light On The Path: Mabel Collins
62.Wise Blood: O'Connor, Flannery
63.Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism: Chogyam Trungpa
64.The Seven Storey Mountain: Merton, Thomas.
65.Thoughts in Solitude: Merton, Thomas.
66.The Power of Now: A Guide To Spiritual Enlightenment: Eckhart Tolle
67.Stillness Speaks: Eckhart Tolle
68.The Inner Look: Silo (Mario Rodriguez)
69.Living Enlightenmment: Andrew Cohen
70.Embracing Heaven & Earth: Andrew Cohen
71.Works of Thich Nhat Nanh(Being Peace, The Blooming of Lotus, Breath!
You Are Alive)


B. ADVANCED LIST

TIMELESS CLASSICS
72.The Vedas
73.Upanishads
74.The Puranas
75.The Bible
76.The Kuran
77.Guru Granth Sahib
78.Mahabharata
79.Ramayana(Tulasi Ramayana, Valmiki Ramayana, Adhyatma Ramayana, Anand
Ramayana)
80.Works of Adi Shankara(Saundarya Lahiri, Vivekachudamani, Bhaja
Govindam, Adi Giri Nandini)
81.Manu Smriti
82.Patanjali Yoga Sutras (Aphorisms of Patanjali)
83.Imitation of Christ: Thomas aÂ’ Kempis
84.The Cloud of Unknowing and the Book of Privy Counselling: Author
Unknown, edited by William Johnston
85.The Gospel of Thomas: Anonymous; Marvin Meyer
86.The Sayings of Confucius
87.Tao Te Ching: Lao Tsu

GITAS
88.Avadhuta Gita: Dattatreya
89.Guru Gita
90.Ram Gita
91.Ashtavakra Gita
92.Uddhav Gita

WORKS OF/ ON SAINTS/ SEERS
93.Works of Sri Sri Sitaramdas Omkarnath:(Andhare Alo: Light in
Darkness, Maharasayana: The Great Elixir, Sudha Dhara:: Streams of
Nectar, Abhay Vani: Hope Abounding, Sri Sri Mahamantyra
Samkirtana: Chanting of the Name, Tri Ratna: Triple Gem, Amrit Bindu: A
Drop of Nectar, Birahinir Abhisar: The Maid In Quest of Her Beloved,
Naad Leelamrit, Naamamrit Lahari, Guru Puja, Bhakta Leela, Guru
Mahimamrit)
94.Chaitanya Charitamrit (Life of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu)
95.Sadhak Sanjeevani (On Bhagawat Gita): Swami Ramsukhdas
96.I Am That: Nisargadutt Maharaj
97.Chitshaktivilas: Play of Consciousness: Swami Muktananada, Paul Zweig
98.Churning of the Heart, Introduction to Spiritual Life (Vol. I-III):
Swami Shivom Tirth
99.A Guide to Shaktipath: Swami Shivom Tirth
100.Trek of Spirituality (Sadhan Path): Swami Shivom Tirth
101.Essays On The Gita: Sri Aurobindo
102.Hindu Dharma: Chandrashekharendra Saraswati Mahaswamiji
103.Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda Vol I Vol X
104.Works of Madhusudan Saraswati(Commentary on Gita, siddhaantabindu,
vedaantakalpalatika and bhakti rasaayana)
105.Sri Amritanandmayir Jibani
106.Mind, Its Mystery & Control: Swami Sivananda
107.Bharatiya Sanskriti Aur Sadhana: Mahamahopadhyaya Pandit Gopinathji
Kaviraj
108.Deeksha: Mahamahopadhyaya Pandit Gopinathji Kaviraj
109.Sadhu Darshan Evam Satprasanga: Mahamahopadhyaya Pandit Gopinathji
Kaviraj
110.Tapobhumi Narmada: Shailendra Narayan Ghoshal
111.Be Here Now: Ram Dass
112.Yoga Darshana (commentaries by Acharya Sharma)
113.Surya Namaskara by Appa Pant
114.The Holy Kural: Saint Tiruvalluvar
115.Works of Bhartrihari(vairagya satakam (hundred verses on
renunciation), niti-satakam and
sringara-satakam (hundred verses on worldly wisdom and love)
100.Periyapuranam compiled by Sekkizhar (life of 63 saints [nayanmars])
101.Ekanathi Bhagawat: Sant Ekanath
102.Jnaneshwari: Sant Jnaneshwar
103.Zero Experience: Swami Agehananda
104.The Truth Is: HWL Poonja
105.Purana Purush Yogiraj Sri Shama Churn Lahiree: Dr. Ashok Kumar
Chaterjee
106.The Eternal Sage: VR Prabhu (On Akkalkot Swami)

OTHERS
107.Hindu Shastra: Rameshchandra Dutta
108.Ved Vichinta: Vil I & II: Mahanaamvrata Brahmachari
109.Vaishnav Vedanta: Mahanaamvrata Brahmachari
110.Glimpses of Indian Culture: Dr. Dhyanesh Narayana Chakravarti
111.Dev Devi Udbhav Kramvikas: Hansanarayana Bhattacharya

SUFI
112.Caravan of Dreams: Idries Shah
113.The Way Of The Sufi: Idries Shah
114.Sufi Teachings: Hazrat Inayat Khan

CONTEMPLATIVE TREATISES
115.Pensees: Blaise Pascal
116.Meditations: Marcus Aurelius
117.The Varieties of Religious Experience: William James
118.Modern Man In Search of A Soul: Carl Jung
119.Memories, Dreams, Reflections: Carl Jung
120.Self Reliance & Other Essays: Ralph Waldo Emerson
121.The Nature & Destiny of Man: Niebuhr, Reinhold.
122.Mysticism: Underhill, Evelyn

PHILOSOPHIC
123.Perennial Philosophy: Aldous Huxley
124.Think on These Things: Jiddu Krishnamurthi
125.Freedom from the Known: Jiddu Krishnamurthi
126.In Search of Miraculous: Ouspensky, P.D.
127.The Fourth Way: Ouspensky, P.D.
128.The Idea of the Holy: Otto, Rudolf
129.Art of Loving: Erich Fromm
130.You Shall Be As Gods: Erich Fromm

ZEN THOUGHT/ BUDDHISM
131.The Way of Zen: Alan Watts
132.Behold The Spirit: Alan Watts
133.Feeling Buddha: David Frazer
134.Zen Mind, BeginnerÂ’s Mind: Suzuki, Shunryu
135.Zen Flesh, Zen Bones: Reps, Paul and Senzaki, Nyogan.
136.Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: Robert Pirsig
137.Guide to Bodhisattva Way of Life: Shantideva
138.The Way of The White Clouds: Lama Govinda
139.Essays In Zen Buddhism: Suzuki D.T
140.Awakening The Buddha Within: Lama Surya Das

BIHAR SCHOOL OF YOGA
(Kundalini Tantra, Prana Vidya, Yoga Nidra, Kriya Yoga, Swara Yoga,
Surya Namaskara, Asana, Mudra Bandha, Pranayama, Meditation and the
Tantras)

Thus ends the first Spiritual Read List edited by Raj Supe. This one is
Navratri 2004 edition and it will be revised and published every year.
Inclusions and comments to this list are kindly solicited from the host
of spiritual aspirants, practitioners and adepts from all quarters.

*****