RECOMMENDED READING
A short list of resources that have helped me on my own journey.
Practical spirituality:
Psychology of the Future: Lessons from Modern Consciousness Research by Stanislav Grof
Summarizes Grof's experiences and observations from more than forty years of research into non-ordinary states of consciousness.
A Healing Space: Befriending Ourselves in Difficult Times by Matt Licata
What does healing mean to you? For many of us, to “heal” is to solve a problem―to remove an illness, put a trauma behind us, or change something we don’t like in our life so we never have to deal with it again. Yet does that idea of healing serve us … or does it cut us off from life’s gifts? “True healing is not a state where we become liberated from feeling, but freer and flexible to experience it more fully,” writes Dr. Matt Licata. “When we experience our suffering consciously, it reveals sacredness and beauty we might not expect. Healing will always surprise us.”
David R. Hawkins
David R. Hawkins, MD., Phd., a widely known authority within the fields of consciousness reearch and spirituality, has written and taught from the unique perspective of an experienced clinician, scientist, and mystic. He has been knighted and honored world wide with titles such as "Foremost Teacher of Enlightenment" and Bodhisativa." His background is detailed in Who's Who in the World. Dr. Hawkins has lectured widely at universities and institutions, and to spiritual groups, from Westminster Abbey to Catholic, Protestant, and Buddhist monasteries. His life was devoted to the spiritual evolution of mankind.
Sandra Ingerman
Sandra Ingerman, MA, is an award winning author of twelve books, including Soul Retrieval: Mending the Fragmented Self, Medicine for the Earth, Walking in Light, and The Book of Ceremony: Shamanic Wisdom for Invoking the Sacred in Everyday Life. She is the presenter of eight audio programs produced by Sounds True. Sandra is a world renowned teacher of shamanism and has been teaching for close to 40 years. She has taught workshops internationally on shamanic journeying, healing, and reversing environmental pollution using spiritual methods. Sandra is recognized for bridging ancient cross-cultural healing methods into our modern culture addressing the needs of our times.
Sandra is known for gathering the global spiritual community together to perform powerful transformative ceremonies as well as inspiring us to stand strong in unity so we do our own spiritual and social activism work while keeping a vision of hope and being a light in the world.
Carl Jung
Carl Gustav Jung, was a Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who founded analytical psychology. Jung's work has been influential in the fields of psychiatry, anthropology, archaeology, literature, philosophy, psychology and religious studies.
Loving What Is by Byron Katie
In 2003, Byron Katie first introduced the world to The Work with the publication of Loving What Is. Nearly twenty years later, Loving What Is continues to inspire people all over the world to do The Work; to listen to the answers they find inside themselves; and to open their minds to profound, spacious, and life-transforming insights. The Work is simply four questions that, when applied to a specific problem, enable you to see what is troubling you in an entirely different light.
Loving What Is shows you step by step, through clear and vivid examples, exactly how to use this revolutionary process for yourself. In this revised edition, readers will enjoy seven new dialogues, or real examples of Katie doing The Work with people to discover the root cause of their suffering. You will observe people work their way through a broad range of human problems, learning freedom through the very thoughts that had caused their suffering—thoughts such as “my husband betrayed me” or “my mother doesn’t love me enough.”
If you continue to do The Work, you may discover that the questioning flows into every aspect of your life, effortlessly undoing the stressful thoughts that keep you from experiencing peace. Loving What Is offers everything you need to learn and live this remarkable process, and to find happiness as what Katie calls “a lover of reality.”
I Am That by Nisargadatta Maharaj
This collection of the timeless teachings of one of the greatest sages of India, Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj, is a testament to the uniqueness of the seer's life and work and is regarded by many as a modern spiritual classic. Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj was a teacher who did not propound any ideology or religion, but gently unwrapped the mystery of the self. His message was simple, direct, and sublime. I Am That preserves his dialogs with the followers who came from around the world seeking guidance in destroying false identities. The sage's sole concern was with the human suffering and the ending of suffering. It was his mission to guide the individual to an understanding of his true nature and the timelessness of being. He taught that the mind must recognize and penetrate its own state of being—not "being this or that, here or there, then or now," but just timeless being.
Men’s work:
Iron John: A Book about Men by Robert Bly
Considered to be the founder of the men’s movement, poet and translator Robert Bly offers a new vision of what it means to be a man
No More Mr Nice Guy: A Proven Plan for Getting What You Want in Love, Sex, and Life
Dr. Robert Glover has dubbed the "Nice Guy Syndrome" trying too hard to please others while neglecting one's own needs, thus causing unhappiness and resentfulness. It's no wonder that unfulfilled Nice Guys lash out in frustration at their loved ones, claims Dr. Glover. He explains how they can stop seeking approval and start getting what they want in life, by presenting the information and tools to help them ensure their needs are met, to express their emotions, to have a satisfying sex life, to embrace their masculinity and form meaningful relationships with other men, and to live up to their creative potential.
The Way of the Superior Man: A Spiritual Guide to Mastering the Challenges of Women, Work, and Sexual Desire
In The Way of the Superior Man, Deida explores the most important issues in men’s lives―from career and family to women and intimacy to love and spirituality―to offer a practical guidebook for living a masculine life of integrity, authenticity, and freedom. Join this bestselling author and internationally renowned expert on sexual spirituality for straightforward advice, empowering skills, body practices, and more to help you realize a life of fulfillment, immediately and without compromise.
The Enlightened Sex Manual: Sexual Skills for the Superior Lover
David Deida was trained for decades in the art of spiritual and sexual awakening. Now he presents the ultimate collection of skills for opening to the physical, emotional, and spiritual rewards of intimate embrace.
Provocative and direct, The Enlightened Sex Manual teaches you how to transform simple "skin friction" into the depths and embodiment of ecstasy; how to develop sexual abilities as gifts of heart rapture and bodily surrender; how to achieve the principal types of orgasm and all their varieties; and much more.
To Be a Man: A Guide to True Masculine Power
Many men―despite achieving great jobs and lifestyles―find themselves burdened with dissatisfaction, disconnection, and self-doubt. Robert Augustus Masters has helped thousands of men work through such issues, by facing their unresolved wounds and shame, bringing their head, heart, and guts into full-blooded alignment.
With To Be a Man, this acclaimed psychotherapist and relationship expert offers a groundbreaking and deeply insightful guide to masculine power and fulfillment.
From the Core: A New Masculine Paradigm for Leading with Love, Living Your Truth, and Healing the World
Men today face a crisis of identity. While we can see how the old paradigm of patriarchal dominance needs to go, is the solution really to deconstruct the very idea of masculinity out of existence? No―that’s not the answer. As John Wineland writes, “We need a generation of conscious men who can provide guidance and direction in their communities, just as we need to support and encourage women to do the same.” With From the Core, Wineland sets out a clear roadmap for men who want to live, love, and lead from the most profound places within them.