Books

Zen Baggage
A Pilgrimage to China
Author: Bill Porter
Publisher: Counterpoint

China's achievements in the recent years are amazing, yet this great civilization birthed and nurtured one of the greatest philosophical and spiritual movements more than a thousand years ago: Zen.

Bill Porter (aka, Red Pine) is an American translator and scholar of the Chinese classics, especially those related to Zen. Beyond that, he is a student of Zen who lived in Taiwan and Hong Kong and has traveled extensively in China, leading tour groups as well. His special interest is visiting Zen historical sites, communities, and hermits.

In the spring of 2006, he went on his own personal pilgrimage to the sites of the first six Chinese Zen patriarchs. This book is his story of that adventure.

The book is filled with amusing anecdotes as well as reflections on every aspect of his journey. One gets the feeling of reading his journal but filled with detailed tidbits of history come to life.

This book is a clear explication of the saying: the journey is the destination.

Philosophers Without Gods
Meditations on Atheism and the Secular Life
Editor: Louise M. Antony
Publisher: Oxford

Breath is the root of the English word, "spirit", and this book of atheist meditations breathes spiritual sensitivity. One need not be a theist to be spiritual.

The first half of the book carries the heading, "Journeys", and tells the personal stories of what led ten individuals along the path to atheism. In most cases, the pointers along the way were the inconsistencies and failures of reason and even common sense. Each story is well-told, with individuals from various religious traditions represented.

The second half of the book, headed "Reflections", presents ten essays on a variety of relevant topics, such as the relationship of reason to religion, the presence of evil, fanaticism, and experiencing transcendence.

The unique thing about this book is that all the contributors are professional philosophers at a wide variety of colleges and universities. Their writing is not strident but clear, well-reasoned, understandable, and personally engaging.

Zen Wrapped in Karma Dipped in Chocolate:
A Trip Through Death, Sex, Divorce, and Spiritual Celebrity in Search of the True Dharma
Author: Brad Warner
Publisher: New World Library

You don't have to be interested in Zen or Buddhism of any flavor to be drawn in by this book. Brad's earlier two books: Hardcore Zen and Sit Down and Shut Up are on-base hits, but this -- his latest -- hits a home run in many ways.

So often we tend to think that some high and mighty Poo-bah has all the spiritual answers. If only I could become like that guru or master or priest or pastor or mullah, then I'd be saved, or enlightened, or delivered, or have some sort of mystical experience that would rid me of myself and all my problems. Bullshit! And that's basically the idea behind this book, odd as that may sound.

This is definitely a rubber-meets-the-read kind of book that, if you're anything like me, will keep you turning pages even if you're trying to watch CSI on TV, as I was when I first picked it up the first time. Hey, I actually turned off the TV because the book was that good.

OK, Brad is not your typical Zen teacher. In fact, I'm not really sure that he's comfortable with the idea of being a teacher. Yet, his story itself teaches a lot more than most of the sutras, koans, and sermons I've heard.

So, if you're ready to face, as they say, the unvarnished truth about the spiritual life, or whatever you prefer to call it (or not call it), then read this book.

Maybe enlightenment really is through that pile of crap you've been stumbling through all your life.

Wake Up Now
Author: Stephen Bodian
Publisher: McGraw-Hill

Breaking up may be hard to do, but waking up is just a matter of opening your eyes. Do big deal, right? And yet, a lot of people spend a lot of time and hours of effort, it seems, trying. Who would have thought that a book would be needed to explain something so simple.

But sometimes, even simple things benefit from a few words. Of course, I'm not talking about waking up in the usual sense ... or am I?

Stephen Bodian spent a lot of time and effort figuring out what enlightenment is all about. He shares the result of his journey in this very well-written book designed as a guide for your own path. It's like having a companion beside you, pointing out some pitfalls and offering advice based on his own similar journey.  The language is plain and ordinary and doesn't get in the way of the message. He helps take the mysticism out of the matter and offers up the fact that awakening is as natural and normal as a bowl of hot oatmeal in the morning.

An excellent read!

Consciousness is All
Author: Peter Francis Dziuban
Publisher: Blue Dolphin

 You aren't just conscious, but, in fact, you are Consciousness, with a Big C.

The author keeps looking at Consciousness from many different angles, helping the reader become aware by using words to sort of paint a picture, where words by themselves fail otherwise.

Here, in his own words, is Peter Dziuban's description of his book. To read his full description, click the "Read more" link below.

Consciousness Is All is a book on Absolute Reality, also called Infinite Reality.

This is not a book about human experience, or how to attain a higher consciousness in order to improve a human experience.  It is a book that is concerned with the Allness, the “only-ness” or the Absoluteness of One Self, the Divine, Pure Consciousness, or what some call “God.”  It shows why there never has been a lesser or secondary Self or Life—and that the only Life there is, is 100 percent divine.  It is a book of what Consciousness is to Pure Consciousness—not how Consciousness can be related to a human mind or experience. Read more...

If you want to read a little of the actual book to get a better idea, you can do so by clicking on the Amazon link above, then "Look Inside".

Gay Spirituality
Author: Toby Johnson
Publisher: White Crane Books

Toby Johnson, PhD., was a Catholic monk and scholar of comparative religion. He is now a psychotherapist and author of several books, as well as editor of White Crane Journal. In addition, he happens to be gay. He is at the forefront of the Gay spirituality movement.

Many gay men and Lesbians turn away from all religion due to the widespread oppression and condemnation they suffer at the hands of religious people. This book points out that spiritual experience is not limited to formal, organized religion, which also happens to be the primary purpose of Lotus and Rose.

This book is descriptive but also suggestive, in the sense that it describes the current situation and suggests practical alternatives for living spiritually as a gay person.

Back to the Truth: 5000 Years of Advaita
Author: Dennis Waite
Publisher: O Books

This is a BIG book (620 pages) of almost encyclopedic proportions. It provides information on many aspects of the ancient yet ever new path of Advaita -- non-dualism.

The author covers the more traditional approaches, such as those found in traditional Hinduism and Vedanta, as well as what is often described as "neo-Advaita", a more recent westernized way of understanding non-dualism that typically sheds the eastern cultural traditions.

The book is heavily peppered with relevant quotations from well-known and lesser known figures, both past and contemporary, eastern and western.

Chapters include the following topics:

• Discovering who we are not
• Action, karma and free will
• Meaning, purpose and happiness
• Knowledge and ignorance
• Spiritual paths and practices
• Who I really am
• The nature of reality
• The teaching method

Also included are appendices on such matters as transliteration of Sanskrit, an Advaita timeline, charts of teacher lineages (both ancient and modern), as well as an extensive appendix of valuable Internet resources and recommended reading.

The author presents the various viewpoints as objectively as the topic allows, and that in itself is saying a lot. A fascinating swim in the deep water.

Doubt: a History
Author: Jennifer Michael Hecht
Publisher: Harper

Although an historical account, this book has no resemblance to the stereotypically dry tomes labeled as "history". The author approaches the subject with wit and a refreshing warmth that brings the story of history's thoughtful doubters to life!

She begins the story in ancient Greece and traces the story of those who questioned authority down to the present day.

Living as we do in an age of fundamentalist resurgence, it behooves us to revisit the time-honored folk who have been unwilling to accept the easy answers of those who back up their opinions with quotations from so-called inspired texts or all-knowing teachers.

Can real truth stand up to serious questioning? If not, perhaps we would be better off with far less of it.

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Zen Living
Authors: Gary R. McClain and Eve Adamson
Publisher: Alpha (Penguin)

If you're interested in Zen but live some distance from a Zen center or temple, consider this book, despite, or perhaps because of, its title.

The authors take their time with you. They don't throw a lot of obtuse stuff at you to try to make an already supposedly "wordless transmission" more complicated than it was ever meant to be. Instead, they approach Zen from where most of us are -- right smack in the middle of typical day-to-day living, which actually is pretty much where Zen rubber meets pathless path at the entrance to the gateless gate anyway.

Even if you're not particularly interested in becoming a full-fledged Zen student, you'll find a great deal of extremely helpful guidance for developing your own particular spiritual outlook from this book.

What's Wrong With Right Now Unless You Think About It?
and
Presence-Awareness
Author: "Sailor" Bob Adamson
Publisher: Non-Duality Press

These two books are composed of conversations, primarily in a question/answer format, between Bob Adamson and those attending his meetings.
Bob is an Australian who spent years of searching only to discover that what he sought was closer than his next breath.

Bob is one of those rare persons who can speak as simply and clearly as anyone can about the most profound topics.
"You are the timeless. Thought is time appearing on the timeless."

"You are being lived. You are that livingness itself."
These are relatively short books (each is less than 150 pages), and you are apt to read them several times.

From Queer to Eternity
Author: Peter Sweasey
Publisher: Diane Publishing Co.

Spirituality in the lives of queer people -- the term the author uses to group Lesbian, gay, and bisexual people -- is in general, more likely to be open and faith-filled but less likely to be faithful. He means this to their credit, in the sense that they are not bound completely by the strictures of a particular organized religious outlook.

The author describes the reasons for this, as well as its features, benefits and implications, not only for gay people but for all people. Perhaps gay people have discovered something extremely valuable in the spiritual adventure of living by virtue of their experiences -- discovered something that could benefit everyone.

After laying the foundation, the author expands in detail three main categories of queer spirituality: (1) outside any formalized framework; (2) within traditions that permit or encourage practitioners to retain a substantial amount of freedom and authority; (3) the more orthodox categories of religion where the individual is more likely to face conflict.

This book offers strong encouragement to anyone seeking within or outside the usual spiritual traditions. Standing outside, by choice or otherwise, offers unique viewpoints.

There's an article by Peter Sweasey on the Dewdrops page: Queer Spirit: On Sexual Identity as Help and Hindrance.

Road to Heaven: Encounters with Chinese Hermits
Author: Bill Porter
Publisher: Mercury House

After Chinese Communist Cultural Revolution, people wondered what happened to the ancient tradition of solitary spiritual questing in China. When China opened its doors to visitors, Bill Porter journeyed there in 1989 in search of men and women who might still be living the hermit life. This book is the story of his search and fascinating discoveries.

The adventure, the conversations, and some photographs along with background material about the Chinese hermit traditions, both Taoist and Buddhist, make fascinating reading for the armchair traveler, as well as providing insight into the human spirit.

Check out Red Pine's dance moves on the Dewdrops page: Dancing With the Dead.

Hardcore Zen: Punk Rock, Monster Movies and the Truth About Reality
Author: Brad Warner
Publisher: Wisdom Publications

Here's a guy who makes no bones about being a punk rocker infatuated with Godzilla and, oh yeah, a Zen teacher. Well, I suppose we all have similar stories of various combinations of things that we define as who we are.

This was one book I could hardly put down once I opened it. The author has a disarming way of presenting some profound thoughts in plain wrappers, often using autobiographical details to illustrate.

If you ever were a kid, and I'd be scared to admit I wasn't, and if you ever more or less grew up, and most of us have, more or less, and if you ever wondered about who you really might be under all the monster make-up, then I think Brad Warner's story will interest you, too.

There's an article by Brad Warner on the Dewdrops page: Zen is Boring. There are also links to his Web site and related items there.

Bare-Bones Meditation: Waking Up from the Story of My Life
Author: Joan Tollifson
Publisher: Bell Tower

This is the story of a woman with lots of stuff to deal with -- born with only one hand, discovering that she's a Lesbian, becoming alcoholic and drug addicted. Eventually, she finds Zen and then realizes it fits like a tight shoe. It was then that she opted for a "bare-bones" approach. This witty, insightful book is a narrative of that discovery.

The author tells her messy but inspiring story right from the heart, openly, honestly. The circumstances of one's life -- regardless of what they are -- set off the alarm clock that awakens.

It isn't necessary to belong to any formal spiritual tradition to wake up. You just have to open your eyes.

Click here to visit Joan Tollifson's Web site.
An essay, The Perfection of Imperfection, by Joan Tollifson, appears on the Dewdrops page.

Awake in the Heartland: The Ecstasy of What Is
Author: Joan Tollifson
Publisher: Trafford

This book describes the continuing discoveries begun in Bare-Bones Meditation (above).

If you are chasing enlightenment like some night phantom, hoping and even expecting to "find it" or "experience it" sometime when you are "worthy" or have "practiced more" or find the right teacher or join the true movement, then perhaps the author's experience will shed a little light on your poor unenlightened self.

Click on the links below to read excerpts from Awake in the Heartland.

• What is a Teacher?
• The Zone

Inner Christianity: A Guide to the Esoteric Tradition
Author: Richard Smoley
Publisher: Shambhala

Have you ever wondered whether there could possibly be more to Christianity than what's portrayed on cable church channels or even in the local church you attend, or attended? There are a lot of us who gave up on anything remotely Christian because we were either bored out of our skulls or had our intellect insulted so frequently we couldn't take it any more. Beyond that, however, there also seemed to be little or no reality to what passed for spirituality. Empty rituals and formal informality just didn't cut it any longer.

Nevertheless, we still have that dim hope, like a tiny flickering inner flame that won't be put out, that there's more to the Christian message than meets the eye. Something beyond all the trappings and arguments; something deeper; something genuine.

This book effectively informs us that there have always been, and continue to be, those who discovered that deep, genuine, inner core of Christianity. The author not only presents the history of these teachings -- teachings not often taught in most churches -- but offers practical encouragement for the reader to verify them by personal experience.

Click to read: an interview with the author, Richard Smoley.

Think on These Things
Author: Jiddu Krishnamurti
Publisher: HarperPerennial

Krishnamurti was the messianic figure announced as the "world teacher" in the 1920s who renounced his supposed status as a guru and eventually espoused the idea that there was no one outside ourselves truly capable of bringing us to full awareness. It's really a "do-it-yourself" (or perhaps an "undo-it-yourself") project.

This book is one of many compiled by his listeners over the years. It consists of brief comments followed by questions from listeners and Krishnamurti's often profound responses.

When the interior movement of any soul toward happiness, God, and truth is blocked in any manner by authority, tradition, or fear then decay follows.

"When you are really learning you are learning throughout your life and there is no one special teacher to learn from. Then everything teaches you -- a dead leaf, a bird in flight, a smell, a tear, the rich and the poor, those who are crying, the smile of a woman, the haughtiness of a man. You learn from everything, therefore there is no guide, no philosopher, no guru. Life itself is your teacher, and you are in a state of constant learning." -- Krishnamurti

Sacred Journey
    Now and Then
      Telling Secrets
        The Eyes of the Heart
Author: Frederick Buechner
Publisher: Harper

Frederick Buechner is the acclaimed author of thirty novels and inspirational works, including several memoirs.
The books featured here are a series of his memoirs whose primary focus is the honest disclosure of pivotal events in one person's life. You'll wonder, laugh and cry with the author because you'll find similarities in your own experience. As memoirs go, these are gems of the rarest kind.

Here is a quotation from Telling Secrets that applies to them all --

"I have called this book Telling Secrets because I have come to believe that by and large the human family all has the same secrets, which are both very telling and very important to tell. They are telling in the sense that they tell what is perhaps the central paradox of our condition -- that what we hunger for perhaps more than anything else is to be known in our full humanness, and yet that is often just what we also fear more than anything else. It is important to tell at least from time to time the secret of who we truly and fully are -- even if we tell it only to ourselves -- because otherwise we run the risk of losing track of who we truly and fully are and little by little come to accept instead the highly edited version which we put forth in hope that the world will find it more acceptable than the real thing. It is important to tell our secrets too because it makes it easier that way to see where we have been in our lives and where we are going. It also makes it easier for other people to tell us a secret or two of their own, and exchanges like that have a lot to do with what being a family is all about and what being human is all about. Finally, I suspect that it is by entering that deep place inside us where our secrets are kept that we come perhaps closer than we do anywhere else to the One who, whether we realize it or not, is of all our secrets the most telling and the most precious we have to tell."

On Having No Head
    Face to No-Face
        Look for Yourself
Author: Douglas E. Harding
Publisher: Inner Directions

The author helps us toward "headlessness" -- experiencing for oneself what mystics try to describe as the Self that's no-self. Confused? This book uses some practical experiments to help you figure out who you point to when you point your finger at your face.

The first book, On Having No Head, is an introduction to the "headless way". The author suggests that we need to get on with the job of not losing touch with our Absence. Seeing into Nothingness is the beginning of the spiritual walk.

 The second book, Face to No-Face, written in a conversational question and answer style, addresses the likely situation that you may still have questions similar to those others have asked.

The third book, Look for Yourself, subtitled "The Science and Art of Self-Realization," is a collection of essays dealing with a wide variety of topics all generally related to the "headless way."

Some of the topics include:

• Self-inquiry: Some Questions Answered
• The Near End: the Science of Liberation and the Liberation of Science
• The Nature of the Physical World
• How to Surrender
• A Jesus for Our Time
• ...and others

Between God and Man
    God in Search of Man 
        The Sabbath
Author: Abraham Joshua Heschel
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux

These three books are by a man with deep spiritual insight.

Abraham Heschel was, without doubt, one of the greatest spiritual leaders of the 20th century. In addition, his ability to express spiritual experience in understandable prose is unmatched.

Each of these books radiates.

Between God and Man is considered one of the spiritual classics and certainly one of the best books on the spiritual life written in the past hundred years. It is divided into five main parts, each containing multiple chapters covering the topic:

• Ways to His Presence
• The God of the Prophets
• Man and His Needs
• Religious Observance
• The Meaning of This Hour

Consider the opening paragraph of God in Search of Man:

"It is customary to blame secular science and anti-religious philosophy for the eclipse of religion in modern society. It would be more honest to blame religion for its own defeats. Religion declined not because it was refuted, but because it became irrelevant, dull, oppressive, insipid. When faith is completely replaced by creed, worship by discipline, love by habit; when the crisis of today is ignored because of the splendor of the past; when faith becomes an heirloom rather than a living fountain; when religion speaks only in the name of authority rather than with the voice of compassion -- its message becomes meaningless."
(p. 3)

God in Search of Man is divided into three major sections:

• God
• Revelation
• Response

Instead of people seeking God, God seeks people. "Seek my face," God calls.

The Sabbath reflects on God's creation of a Palace in Time. The Sabbaths are our cathedrals. Holy spaces are known to many but not many, these days, enjoy Holy Time.

"Something happens to a man on the Sabbath day."
(p. 87)

Ann the Word
Author: Richard Francis
Publisher: Arcade Publishing

This is the fascinating story of Ann Lee, the intrepid messianic figure of early American history, and leader of the unusual group known as the Shakers, or the United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing. Indeed, the Shakers believed that Christ appeared among them in Ann Lee.

You can find out more about Shaker ideas by clicking here.

This book tells the story of Mother Ann, as she was known among Shakers, from the earliest known records of her life in England to her departure for America and her remarkable influence over thousands of people.

Finding Your Religion
Author: Scotty McLennan
Publisher: Harper

Many of us grew up in a faith that has lost all meaning for us as adults. As a result, we abandoned all religious associations, feeling as though we outgrew the need. Yet, an empty feeling remains that we don't know quite how to fill.

This book offers suggestions for the person in such a situation without pressing any particular viewpoint, which is a welcome relief for a genuine seeker. There are helpful introductions to various spiritual paths: Judaism, Buddhism, Bahá'í, Hinduism, Islam, various Christian traditions, and Unitarian-Universalism.

The presentation is particularly helpful in the sense that it's not simply a chapter-by-chapter rehearsal of each separate path, but rather by looking at various aspects of spiritual life from these differing viewpoints. As a result, chapters are presented on topics: Thinking, Experiencing, Walking, Joining, Crossing, Sitting, Suffering, and Rejoicing with consideration for how each path approaches these aspects of life.

The Heart of Sufism
Author: Hazrat Inayat Khan
Publisher: Shambhala

This book is a collection of the essential writings of a modern interpreter of Sufism. Sufi thought surrounds and interpenetrates Islam. Some think it preceded it. Hazrat Inayat Khan was an Indian-born mystic and musician who brought Sufi thought to the western world. This compilation of some of Khan's teachings is a ruby treasure.
Read a selection from this book entitled, The God Ideal, in which the author compares two different, yet complementary, ways of thinking about God.

Click on this link to read a selection from:
The Heart of Sufism.

There is a illuminated sense about this book. One quickly realizes that the author knows. There is no sense of urgency, but rather quiet waiting and expectancy. There is acknowledgement that the One Who Is may be found via many paths, unique yet reflecting the same light, like the multiple facets of a single gem.

Stealing Jesus: How Fundamentalism Betrays Christianity
Author: Bruce Bawer
Publisher: Three Rivers Press

Over the past hundred years, there has been a noisy resurgence of legalistic religion among followers of many of the world faiths, including Christianity. The author of this book exposes the fundamentalist movement in the Christian faith by presenting the story of this development and the people who gave it life and those who continue to nurture it.

Most often, followers of this path assert strong claims to being the only true Christians and dismiss all others as heretics and turncoats with strong denunciations and condemnation. Perhaps their assertions shouldn't be so easily accepted.

Is the Jesus of the Gospels the same Jesus of the fundamentalists? This author doesn't think so. Find out why by reading this book.

Yoga and the Quest for the True Self    
Author: Stephen Cope
Publisher: Bantam

This unusual book is not a yoga manual. Instead, the author tells the tale of his experience with yoga. It is unusual because of its refreshingly stark honesty. In the process of story-telling, Stephen Cope exposes the heart of yoga, as well as the techniques. He exposes the dark side of spiritual experience, from personal experience, as well as the clear light. This book is a fascinating read, more like a novel than non-fiction.

The book is divided into five parts:

• The Discovery of the Royal Secret
• The Self in Exile
• Encounters With the Mother and the Seer
• The Spontaneous Wisdom of the Body
• The Royal Road Home

Also included is a wonderful Appendix, "Yoga Metaphysics With A Light Touch," in which the author summarizes the major streams of yogic thought.

Stephen Cope, the author, is Scholar-in-Residence at the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health in Lenox, Massachusetts.

Leaves

Thankfully, people who have gained spiritual insight share their discoveries. Oral and written transmissions of spiritual experience are among humanity's greatest treasures.

On this page, some of these currently available treasures, recommended by Lotus and Rose, are described.

The content of this page will be updated regularly.

Book-sharing Idea!

Do you have books you've read and found truly helpful in your spiritual quest that you'd like to pass along to someone else?

If so, there's a helpful free tool for book-sharing on the Internet. It's called BookCrossing, a Web site dedicated to the proposition that a book is meant to live after being read, to bring pleasure and help to others rather than just sit on a shelf unread. Everything is clearly explained at the site.

The idea is that you register the book at BookCrossing. Then, you print out a note that you paste inside the book. Next, you leave the book in some conspicuous place as a free gift to the finder. The note you paste inside the book tells the finder that they may freely take the book. It also provides instructions to the finder to register their find at BookCrossing as an interesting follow-up on the life of the book you've shared.

There is no charge for this service. The site is located at www.bookcrossing.com. Check it out!