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Book
Recommendations
for
Studying with Others
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Reading is one thing, studying and doing and exploring topics
with others, such as through reading, is a whole n'other
world. This is a list of books I would love to study with
others methodically, experientially, doing the exercises or
trying the suggestions, sharing experiences, troubleshooting
together, imagining together. I also want to encourage
others to do just that with these recommendations, online
[eventually there will be study groups set up within the web
structure], and even better: offline in each others'
homes!
Consequently, the titles you find here are mostly focused on the
experiential -- wonderful options for how and what to focus on
to nurture one's inner life and journey .. Some are for
content and the vicarious benefit we may derive from others'
experiences. All of them are here because they were and
still are each a THRILL to me, treasures that have continued to
feed my journey. Maybe you will discover in this list your
own past and future THRILLS to multiply in the sharing, such as
in study groups.
The only reason you see some titles here and not others [and
thus far, not many] is, these simply are lately living within my
consciousness more than others. Send me your favorites
[include title, author/s, publisher, city of publication, and
year] and a brief description of the book/medium and explanation
about why you recommend them. I can't promise to add
everything that is sent, but they all will be appreciated and
considered. Grow deeper, grow deeper together, and have
fun!
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Brink,
Margarete von den, and Stolp, Hans. A
Christian Book of the Dead: Accompanying their journey after death.
Hawthorn Press, Stroud, Gloucestershire, UK, 2004. This
is one of the most insightful and important books of our time about what
happens to us after death, born out of astute scholarship and rich in
EHEerly experiences from past and contemporary sources.
This highly readable and surprisingly short text [for all that it
covers so well!] developed out of a classic spiritual quest initiated by an
out-of-body experience Hans Stolp had as a seminary student.
He had been taught that, given the predominant Western materialistic
scientific sensibilities, belief in a soul as something separate from the
body is 'outdated'. But here he
was, obviously as himself, personality and consciousness fully intact,
floating up near the ceiling looking down at his body on the bed below.
Stolp says, “This, and subsequent experiences, inspired me to look
for an answer. …
Incidentally, many people have out of body experiences like mine
these days. There is nothing
special about it. And many
people seek a new direction in life as a result.
They want to understand what has happened to them, in order to be
able to place it in context in their lives.”
We live in this bizarre situation in which, on the one hand, traditional
Christian belief as we know it today espouses everything “from pragmatic
humanism [basically, there is no god] to literal belief in the virgin birth
and the Resurrection.” And
certainly this depth of disparity in beliefs is by no means confined to the
Christianity. Oh
the other hand, a similar spectrum of beliefs [philosophies] could also be
said to apply to Western science, but particularly the materialistic view
has influenced and eroded religious beliefs,
especially over the last couple of centuries. On a positive note to my
mind, is that a substantial number of scientists are now moving in the other
direction, toward where science and spirituality actually meet.
Nevertheless, this kind of confusion has led Stolp and van den Brink to
suggest something many of us feel today: “.. [S]urely, we are
no longer satisfied by knowledge imparted from on high:
we want to know things for ourselves.” And the burgeoning
numbers of people who are having spiritual / paranormal experiences
In essence, Stolp and van den Brink, take us on this journey toward an
understanding of our lives within this larger-life context, based upon
religious hirstory [such as the
gradual loss of the teachings from the early Christian era, which led to the
declaration of the Council of Constantinople in 869 AD that we have a body
and soul, but no spirit (Ladies, not to worry; this unfortunate
pronouncement only concerned the male half of our race – ‘o, man’!)];
also upon insights from an array of sources including Paul the apostle, the
early 20th century seer, Rudolf Steiner, and the recovered Nag
Hammadi find of gnostic texts from the first two centuries, AD, discovered
in 1945; and finally upon the growing wealth of corroborative experiences of
those who have, like Stolp, experienced the larger-life reality firsthand.
There's so much more to this book that can't be mentioned here, like what we
can do to help those who have passed on -- and they, us. My
recommendation: don't miss this book!
Davies, Stevan (Foreward by Andrew
Harvey). The Gospel of Thomas Annotated
& Explained. Skylight Paths Pub., Woodstock, VT,
2002. [Beyond anything else you will find on this
listing of books, and no matter how extensive the list becomes, and without
hesitation, I most highly recommend this book. It is the
Wake-Up in the cosmic coffee for those who are interested in and disciples
of Jesus. Also see Davies'
website.]
Fezler, William.
Creative
Imagery: How to Visualize in All Five Senses.
Fireside, New York, 1989.
Fezler, William.
Imagery for Healing, Knowledge, and Power.
Simon & Schuster, NYC, 1990.
Greaves, Helen.
Testimony of Light. Neville
Spearman Publishers, Essex, England, [reprint from 1969, Churches'
Fellowship for Psychical & Spiritual Studies, England] 1991.
Heron, John. Spiritual Science: Person-centred Inquiry into
the Spiritual and the Subtle. PCCS Books, Ross-on-Wye, England,
1998.
Heron, John. Co-operative
Inquiry: Research into the Human Condition. Sage,
London, 1996.
Hicks, Esther and Jerry [and Abraham]. A
New Beginning I: Handbook For Joyous Survival.
Jerry and Esther Hicks, San Antonio, TX, 2002.
Hicks, Esther and Jerry [and Abraham].
The
Amazing Power of Deliberate Intent: Living the Art of Allowing.
Jerry and Esther Hicks, San Antonio, TX, 2005.
Ingerman, Sandra. Soul Retrieval: Mending the Fragmented
Self. HarperSan Francisco, San Francisco, 1991.
Lievegoed,
Bernard [transl. by Jakob M. Cornelius]. Man
on the Threshold. Hawthorn Press, Stroud, UK, 1985.
Lipton, Bruce H.
The
Biology Of Belief: Unleashing The Power Of Consciousness, Matter And
Miracles. Mountain of Love, ___? 2005.
Longaker, Christine. Facing
Death and Finding Hope: A Guide to the Emotional and Spiritual
Care of the Dying. Doubleday, NYC and London, 1997.
Mallasz,
Gitta [Transcriber; English rendition by Robert Hinshaw]. Talking
with Angels. Daimon Verlag, Einsiedeln,
Switzerland, 1988. [Such a heart-rending
treasure! On the back cover: "The true story of four
young Hungarians in search of inner meaning at a time of outer upheaval
-- the holocaust -- who encountered luminous forces that helped them
find new direction and hope in their shattered lives. These
forces, which came to be known as angels, accompanied them for
seventeen perilous months, until three of them met their deaths in Nazi
concentration camps. Only Gitta Mallasz survived to bring
their story and these remarkable dialogues to the world."]
Mindell, Arnold. Coma:
The Dreambody Near Death. Arkana/Penguin, London,
1989. [This book left a haunting, yet
exciting imprint on me. Quote from back cover: "Dying
to live: This is a book about what happens to us when we are close
to death. And far from being the horrific experience many assume
it must be, coma can be a time of ecstasy, understanding and remarkable
transformation, preparing us for what lies ahead whether we live or
die. Using his celebrated process work with body signals and
dreams, Process oriented and Jungian analyst Arnold Mindell illustrates
how we can communicate with comatose individuals and reveals that they
are not 'vegetables', but very much alive -- like shamans or mythical
heroes venturing into unknown realms, returning with powerful messages
and prophetic insights. .."]
Morrissey, Dianne. Anyone
Can See the Light. Stillpoint Publishing, Walpole,
NH, 1996.
Moss, Robert. Conscious
Dreaming: A Spiritual Path for Everyday Life. Three
Rivers Press/Crown Pub., NYC, 1996.
Moss, Robert. Dreamgates:
An Explorer's Guide to the Worlds of Soul, Imagination, and Life
Beyond Death. Three Rivers Press/Crown Pub., NYC,
1998.
Mozumdar, A. K. The
Triumphant Spirit. DeVorss & Company, Marina
del Ray, CA, 1931, 1978.
Neville. The
Power of Awareness. DeVorss Pub., Marina del Rey,
CA, 1952 [Revised by Victoria Goddard, 1992].
Norbu, Namkhai [Translated by John Myrdhin
Reynolds]. The Cycle of Day and Night.
Station Hill Press, Barrytown, NY, 1984.
Norbu, Namkhai [Ed., Michael Katz]. Dream
Yoga and the Practice of Natural Light. Snow Lion
Press, Ithaca, New York, 1992.
Pagels, Elaine.
Beyond Belief: The Secret Gospel of
Thomas. Vantage/Random House, NYC, 2003.
Peterson, Robert. Out-of-Body
Experiences: How to Have them and What to Expect.
Hampton Roads, Charlottesville, VA, 1997.
Poer, Nancy Jewel. Living
Into Dying: A Journal of Spiritual and Practical Deathcare for
Family and Community. White Feather Publ.,
Placerville, CA, 2002.
Rasha
(received and transcribed by). Oneness.
Earthstar Press, Santa FE, NM, 2003. [This
book thrills me and speaks to me like almost no other. It is one
of the most important and enlightening resources I have.]
Rilke, Ranier Maria [translators: Anita
Barrows and Joanna Macy]. Rilke's Book of
Hours. Riverhead Books, NY, 1996.
Rinpoche,
Sogyal. The Tibetan Book of Living
and Dying. Rigpa
Fellowship, NYC, 1993; HarperCollins, NYC, 1994.
Roberts,
Jane. [[ Anything -- all of
her books are great study group material! ]].
Prentice-Hall, NYC.
Schwarz, Jack. Voluntary
Controls: Exercises for Creative Meditation and for Activating the
Potential of the Chakras. E. P. Dutton, NYC, 1978.
Simonton, O. Carl, MD, Henson, Reid, with
Brenda Hampton. The Healing Journey:
The Simonton Center Program for Achieving Physical, Mental, and
Spiritual Health. Bantam Books, NYC, 1992.
Snow, Tiffany. Psychic
Gifts in the Christian life: Tools to Connect. Spirit
Journey Books, San Diego, CA, 2003.
Spangler, David. The
Call. Riverhead Books, New York, 1996.
Spangler, David.
Everyday
Miracles: The Inner Art of Manifestation.
Bantam, NYC, 1996.
Stack, Rick. Out-of-Body
Adventures: 30 Days to the Most Exciting Experience of Your Life.
Contemporary Books, Chicago, 1988.
Steinem, Gloria. Revolution
from Within: A Book of Self-Esteem. Little,
Brown and Company, Boston, 1992.
Steiner, Rudolf. How
to Know Higher Worlds: A Modern Path of Initiation. Anthroposophic
Press, Hudson, NY, [English Transl.] 1994.
Steiner, Rudolf.
The Philosophy of Freedom. You
can freely read
this publication online through the great good graces of James
Stewart's Rudolf Steiner Archive, a magnificent online collection of
many of Steiner's writings. By the way, if you want to donate
to a fantastic cause, the Rudolf Steiner Archive is one
important piece of www.eLib.org,
James Stewart's heroic commitment to make available for reading online
many treasures of great, classical literature. It is optionally
free, but James Stewart and his equally devoted cohort, Marilyn Kraker,
work hard to keep this online with merely donations. [The
Philosophy of Freedom was Rudolf Steiner's first book, the one he
often referred to as the underpinnings of all his subsequent
work. He wrote it while still in his young 20s, and it is
obviously an important and unique work of genius and inner
knowing from one whose sole desire was to pass on what he was
experiencing in other-dimensional reality to those in this world, in
order to help and encourage others to discover this "higher
knowledge" for themselves. It is also not an easy
work to understand and readers could benefit much from studying this
with others.]
Steiner, Rudolf. Spiritual
Research: Methods and Results. Steinerbooks,
Blauvelt, NY, [English transl.] 1981.
Steiner, Rudolf [Edited and introduced by
Christopher Bamford]. Staying Connected:
How to Continue Your Relationships with Those Who Have Died
[Selected Talks and Meditations, 1905-1924]. Anthroposophic
Press, Hudson, NY, 1999.
Targ, Russell. Limitless
Mind: A Guide to Remote Viewing and Transformation of
Consciousness. New World Library, Novato, CA, 2004.
Tart, Charles T. Waking
Up: Overcoming the Obstacles to Human Potential. New
Science Library, Boston, 1986.
Tulku,
Tarthang. Time, Space, and Knowledge: A New
Vision of Reality. Dharma Publishing, Berkeley, CA,
1977.
Vallee, Jacques. Forbidden
Science. North Atlantic Books, Berkeley, CA, 1992.
Vaughan
, F. E. Awakening
Intuition. Anchor Press/Doubleday, Garden City, NY, 1979.
Wetzel, Joseph [translator]. The
Bridge Over the River: Communications fro the Life After Death of
a Young Artist Who Died in World War I. The
Anthrophsophic Press, Spring Valley, NY, 1974.
Watts, Alan. The
Book: On the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are. Vintage
Press, New York, 1966.
White, John.
A
Practical Guide to Death and Dying.
Paraview Special Editions,
NYC, 2004.
White, Rhea A. EVERYTHING!
see
her website--a great
place to start.
Wolf, Fred Alan. The
Dreaming Universe: A Mind-Expanding Journey into the Realm Where
Psyche and Physics Meet. Simon & Schuster, New
York, 1994.
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