50 Spiritual Classics First published by Nicholas Brealey Publishing in 2005 3–5 Spafield Street 100 City Hall Plaza, Suite 501 Clerkenwell, London Boston EC1R 4QB, UK MA 02108, USA Tel: +44 (0)20 7239 0360 Tel: (888) BREALEY Fax: +44 (0)20 7239 0370 Fax: (617) 523 3708 http://www.nbrealey-books.com http://www.butler-bowdon.com © Tom Butler-Bowdon 2005 The right of Tom Butler-Bowdon to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. ISBN 1-85788-349-7 British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording and/or otherwise without the prior written permission of the publishers. This book may not be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise disposed of by way of trade in any form, binding or cover other than that in which it is published, without the prior consent of the publishers. Printed in Finland by WS Bookwell. 50 Spiritual Classics Timeless wisdom from 50 great books of inner discovery, enlightenment, and purpose Tom Butler-Bowdon NI C H O L A S BR E A L E Y PU B L I S H I N G L O N D O N B O S T O N Muhammad Asad Chuang Tzu Hermann Hesse Chögyam Trungpa St. Augustine Ram Dass Aldous Huxley W. Somerset Maugham Neale Donald Walsch Richard Bach Epictetus William James Dan Millman Rick Warren Black Elk Mohandas Gandhi Carl Gustav Jung Michael Newton Simone Weil Richard Maurice Bucke Ghazzali Margery Kempe Thich Nhat Hanh Ken Wilber Fritjof Capra Kahlil Gibran J. Krishnamurti John O’Donohue Paramahansa Yogananda Carlos Castaneda G. I. Gurdjieff C. S. Lewis Robert M. Pirsig Gary Zukav G. K. Chesterton Dag Hammarskjöld Malcolm X James Redfield Pema Chödrön Abraham Joshua Heschel Daniel C. Matt Miguel Ruiz Idries Shah Starhawk Shunryu Suzuki EmanuelSwedenborg Teresa of Avila Mother Teresa Eckhart Tolle Contents Introduction 1 1 Muhammad Asad The Road to Mecca(1954) 14 2 St.Augustine Confessions(400) 20 3 Richard Bach Jonathan Livingston Seagull(1970) 26 4 Black Elk Black Elk Speaks (1932) 30 5 Richard Maurice Bucke Cosmic Consciousness(1901) 36 6 Fritjof Capra The Tao of Physics: An Exploration of the Parallels betweenModern Physics andEastern Mysticism(1976) 42 7 Carlos Castaneda Journey to Ixtlan(1972) 48 8 G.K.Chesterton St Francis of Assisi(1922) 54 9 Pema Chödrön The Places That Scare You: AGuide to Fearlessness in Difficult Times(2001) 60 10 Chuang Tzu The Book of Chuang Tzu(4th century) 66 11 RamDass Be Here Now(1971) 72 12 Epictetus Enchiridion(1st century) 78 13 Mohandas Gandhi An Autobiography:The Story of My Experiments with Truth(1927) 84 14 Ghazzali The Alchemy of Happiness(1097) 90 15 Kahlil Gibran The Prophet(1923) 96 16 G.I.Gurdjieff Meetings with Remarkable Men(1960) 102 17 Dag Hammarskjöld Markings(1963) 108 18 Abraham Joshua Heschel The Sabbath:Its Meaning for Modern Man(1951) 112 19 Hermann Hesse Siddartha (1922) 118 20 Aldous Huxley The Doors of Perception(1954) 124 21 William James The Varieties of Religious Experience (1902) 130 22 Carl Gustav Jung Memories,Dreams,Reflections (1955) 136 23 Margery Kempe The Book of Margery Kempe(1436) 142 24 J.Krishnamurti Think on These Things(1964) 148 25 C.S.Lewis The Screwtape Letters(1942) 154 26 Malcolm X The Autobiography of Malcolm X(1964) 160 27 Daniel C.Matt The Essential Kabbalah:The Heart of Jewish Mysticism(1994) 168 28 W.Somerset Maugham The Razor’s Edge (1944) 174 29 Dan Millman The Way of the PeacefulWarrior: ABook that Changes Lives(1989) 180 30 Michael Newton Journey of Souls:Case Studies of Life between Lives(1994) 186 50 SPIRITUAL CLASSICS 31 Thich Nhat Hanh The Miracle of Mindfulness:An Introduction to the Practice of Meditation(1975) 192 32 John O’Donohue Anam Cara:Spiritual Wisdom from the Celtic World (1998) 198 33 Robert M.Pirsig Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance(1974) 204 34 James Redfield The Celestine Prophecy:An Adventure(1994) 210 35 Miguel Ruiz The Four Agreements:A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom(1997) 216 36 Helen Schucman & WilliamThetford A Course inMiracles(1976) 222 37 Idries Shah The Way of theSufi(1968) 228 38 Starhawk The Spiral Dance: ARebirth of the Ancient Religion of the Great Goddess(1979) 234 39 Shunryu Suzuki Zen Mind,Beginner’s Mind:Informal Talks on Zen Meditation and Practice(1970) 240 40 Emanuel Swedenborg Heaven and Hell(1758) 246 41 Teresa of Avila Interior Castle(1570) 252 42 Mother Teresa A Simple Path(1994) 258 43 Eckhart Tolle The Power of Now:AGuide to Spiritual Enlightenment(1998) 264 44 Chögyam Trungpa Cutting through Spiritual Materialism(1973) 270 45 Neale Donald Walsch Conversations withGod:An Uncommon Dialogue(1998) 276 46 RickWarren The Purpose-Driven Life(2002) 282 47 Simone Weil Waiting for God(1979) 288 48 Ken Wilber A Theory of Everything:An Integral Vision for Business,Politics,Science and Spirituality(2000) 294 49 Paramahansa Yogananda Autobiography of a Yogi(1946) 300 50 Gary Zukav The Seat of the Soul:An Inspiring Vision of Humanity’s Spiritual Destiny(1990) 306 50 More Spiritual Classics 312 Chronological list of titles Credits Acknowledgments vi Introduction 50 Spiritual Classics is the third work in a personal development trilogy that began with 50 Self-Help Classics. That first book explored many of the landmarks of the personal development literature, including the “original” self-help books such as the Bible, Tao Te Ching, the Dhammapada and the Bhagavad-Gita, plus the best of contemporary writings by, for instance, Deepak Chopra, Wayne Dyer, Susan Jeffers, Thomas Moore, and The Dalai Lama. This was followed by 50 Success Classics, which highlighted key titles in the fields of leadership, motivation, and prosperity, and focused more on worldly success. 50 Spiritual Classics is based on the premise that the quest for material security alone does not ultimately satisfy, and that not even emotional security or great knowledge is enough to sustain us—we were built to seek answers to larger questions. The paradox of personal development is that, taken to its logical end, it takes us beyond the self. Meaning is found outside the perimeter of our small concerns. The word “spiritual” comes from the Latin word for breathing—our most commonplace and natural function. If nothing else, this book aims to dispel the idea that there is anything outlandish about spiritual experience; on the contrary, it is what makes us human. If you feel an absence of sacred worship or mystery in your life, some of the ideas presented here may provide a key to the greater richness you crave. If you have achieved a level of success but then found that it did not satisfy you, this book may get you thinking about whether or not you have some deeper purpose to fulfill. 50 Spiritual Classics is less about religion or theology than personal spiritual awakening and the expansion of awareness. Consequently, it focuses on the life stories of many well-known spiritual figures, including dramatic conversions or increases in faith, but also the slow discovery of purpose over a lifetime. By finding out what it was that transformed these people, we can begin to understand our own spiritual potential. There are inevitably many great authors and books that by rights should be included in the list of spiritual classics. However, the list is INTRODUCTION not meant to be a survey of the world’s religions, only to give an idea of the great variety of spiritual points of view spanning time and place. Some readers will be surprised by the juxtaposition of old or ancient writings next to bestsellers of modern times, but the book is less concerned with when a title was written than with the force of its ideas. The last 20 years have seen a renaissance in popular spiritual writing and the selection aims to give some idea of the prominent titles, even if the jury is still out on whether they will become firm classics, or even whether they are “good” writing. At the beginning of each commentary is a mention of other books from the list of a similar nature or connected theme (“In a similar vein”). As there is some overlap with titles chosen for 50 Self-Help Classics (50SHC), a few of those titles will also be suggested for further reading, as will some from 50 Success Classics (50SC). The spiritual literature is a treasury of collective wisdom, at least equal to the great libraries of science, philosophy, poetry, or fiction. The commentaries here are only a glimpse into that great heritage, but I hope they will increase your awareness of its breadth and depth. Below I outline some themes in the literature, as a guide to the commentaries you may wish to read. This is followed by a brief exposition of some of the key spiritual realizations that these books can provoke. Great spiritual lives Muhammad Asad The Road to Mecca (1954) St. Augustine Confessions (400) G. K. Chesterton St Francis of Assisi (1922) Ram Dass Be Here Now (1971) Hermann Hesse Siddartha (1922) Margery Kempe The Book of Margery Kempe (1436) Malcolm X The Autobiography of Malcolm X (1964) W. Somerset Maugham The Razor’s Edge (1944) What is the purpose of spirituality if not to transform our lives? Consider the following examples: ❖ Malcolm X was a petty criminal whose religious conversion turned him into a voice for black empowerment. 2 50 SPIRITUAL CLASSICS ❖ Muhammad Asad grew up a Viennese Jew but left Europe behind to become a champion of Islam. ❖ St. Augustine lived for cheap entertainments and sex, but after great soul searching became a father of the Catholic church. ❖ Richard Alpert, professor of psychology, gave up his Harvard career to become Ram Dass, master meditator and guru. ❖ Francis of Assisi was the son of a well-off businessman who threw away his inheritance in order to restore ruined churches and commune with nature. ❖ Margery Kempe was a prideful harridan whose visions of Jesus made her into a woman of God. ❖ In Somerset Maugham’s novel based on fact, Larry Darrell turns his back on material comforts in favor of a life-long spiritual search. While most people are content to raise their standard of living and carry on a program of incremental self-improvement, none of these figures was content with the values that their original lives had given them. Each came to the realization that nothing less than a complete change of identity would suffice in order for them to shift from psychological fragmentation to spiritual wholeness. Their stories are inspirational because they demonstrate the possibility of utter transformation in the human character. While skeptics view a conversion experience as taking away the person they knew, for the convert just the opposite occurs—now existing for some higher purpose and not only themselves, their potential as a person is finally realized. Practical spirituality Pema Chödrön The Places that Scare You (2001) Mohandas Gandhi An Autobiography (1927) Kahlil Gibran The Prophet (1923) Dan Millman The Way of the Peaceful Warrior (1989) Thich Nhat Hanh Miracle of Mindfulness (1975) Miguel Ruiz The Four Agreements (1997) Shunryu Suzuki Zen Mind,Beginner’s Mind (1970) Eckhart Tolle The Power of Now (1998) Chögyam Trungpa Cutting through Spiritual Materialism (1973) 3