# Spiritual books you'd recommend- **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 11, 2007, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spiritual-books-youd-recommend/407567 "2007-06-11T15:26:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2007, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spiritual-books-youd-recommend/407567/1 "2007-06-11T15:26:16Z")
Paris Hilton is reportedly reading _The Secret_, _The Power of Now_, and _The Bible_ while in jail. Granted, one of these things is not like the other. Anyway, if you knew someone was trying to turn their life around, become a deeper more spiritual person, or whatever, what half-dozen books would you recommend? And to make this a bit more challenging- add a worthwhile book that you disagree with but would recommend anyway? ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2007, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spiritual-books-youd-recommend/407567/2 "2007-06-11T15:28:06Z")
The Demon Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark, by Carl Sagan. It would help someone to stop depending on fairy stories and start depending on themself. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2007, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spiritual-books-youd-recommend/407567/3 "2007-06-11T15:30:17Z")
The Road Less Traveled, by Scott Peck. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2007, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spiritual-books-youd-recommend/407567/4 "2007-06-11T15:38:55Z")
I wanted my list to be separate from the challenge- If I’m going all religious- of course, The Bible, preferably New King James version, maybe the NIV or the New Jerusalem Bible; C.S. Lewis- either Narnia, Till We Have Faces, or The Problem of Pain/A Grief Observed (they go together too well to separate) Father Kallistos Ware- The Orthodox Way (a good personal intro to Eastern Orthodox Christian faith) Rick Warren’s The Purpose-Driven Life, just a decent how-to primer of practical Christianity any basic compilation of Bishop Fulton J. Sheen Billy Graham’s Peace with God If I wanted to add in something non-religious but inspirational, I’d add Ayn Rand’s Anthem Now for the one I differ with… The only non-Judeo-C’tian Scripture I’ve read most of the way through is The Bhagavad-Gita, so I might recommend that. Or if I wanted to recommend a book promoting skepticism but somewhat respectfully, I might go with Carl Sagan’s The Demon-Haunted World, though I admit I have not read it but I am going by what I have read by him. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2007, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spiritual-books-youd-recommend/407567/5 "2007-06-11T15:41:26Z")
[QUOTE=twickster] The Road Less Traveled, by Scott Peck. [/QUOTE] That’s a good one, I was into Peck in the early 1980s. I’d add People of the Lie also. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2007, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spiritual-books-youd-recommend/407567/6 "2007-06-11T15:53:10Z")
[Modern Magick](http://www.amazon.com/Modern-Magick-Lessons-Magickal-Llewellyns/dp/0875423248/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/102-3726372-0803316?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1181576976&sr=1-1) , by Donald Michael Kraig. This was my first, and it was such a relief to know I didn’t have to ditch all rational and scientific thought to pursue this weird thing called “magick”. It’s your basic Golden Dawnesque Ceremonial Magick primer. [Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner](http://www.amazon.com/Wicca-Solitary-Practitioner-Scott-Cunningham/dp/0875421180/ref=pd_bbs_2/102-3726372-0803316?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1181576334&sr=8-2) by Scott Cunningham. It’s such a classic, and still hold up over time. [Buckland’s Complete Book of Witchcraft](http://www.amazon.com/Bucklands-Complete-Witchcraft-Llewellyns-Practical/dp/0875420508/ref=pd_sim_b_1/102-3726372-0803316?ie=UTF8&qid=1181576334&sr=8-2) by Ray Buckland. Even if you don’t end up going Gardnerian, it’s good solid info, and a book that will be referenced by everyone else for the rest of your life. [My Life With the Spirits: The Adventures of a Modern Magician](http://www.amazon.com/My-Life-Spirits-Adventures-Magician/dp/1578631203) by Lon Milo DuQuette (And anything else by him.) Funny, illuminating - gives a good taste of the follies and triumphs of a magickal life. [Book of Shadows](http://www.amazon.com/Book-Shadows-Phyllis-Curott/dp/0749919698/ref=sr_1_2/102-3726372-0803316?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1181576811&sr=1-2) by Phyllis Currot. A great memoir which is “accidentally” educational as well. Easy read, and, again, a relief to find a level headed “normal” person who believe in these “weird” things. [Circle Round](http://www.amazon.com/Circle-Round-Raising-Children-Traditions/dp/0553378058/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/102-3726372-0803316?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1181576512&sr=1-1) by Starhawk, et al. Aimed at Goddess worshiping parents to include their children, it’s also good for newbies, solitary seekers or Priest(esse)s looking for new ideas for their community rituals. And, the one I don’t personally agree with but think should be read anyway: [The Holy Bible](http://www.amazon.com/Holy-Bible-King-James-Version/dp/1565633253/ref=sr_1_4/102-3726372-0803316?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1181577136&sr=1-4) . Great book. Stirring stories, good life lessons. Skip the begats. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2007, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spiritual-books-youd-recommend/407567/7 "2007-06-11T16:02:28Z")
Plato: Apology, Republic, Phaedo, Symposium, Phaedrus Aristotle: Physics, Metaphysics, Nichomachean Ethics St. Augustine: The Confessions Thomas Aquinas: Summa Theologiae Pascal: Pensees Dante: Divine Comedy Lao Tse: Tao te Ching. The Bible, The Koran, The Baghvad Gita, Buddhist Scriptures. Should get her through her sentence. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2007, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spiritual-books-youd-recommend/407567/8 "2007-06-11T16:03:32Z")
_The Perennial Philosophy_ by Aldous Huxley: [http://www.amazon.ca/Perennial-Philosophy-Aldous-Huxley/dp/006057058X/ref=sr\_1\_1/702-6633307-7620021?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1181577475&sr=8-1](http://www.amazon.ca/Perennial-Philosophy-Aldous-Huxley/dp/006057058X/ref=sr_1_1/702-6633307-7620021?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1181577475&sr=8-1) The central role of mysticism and the mystic experience (properly understood) which underlies religions. The experience is the same, how it is interpreted is not, as the experience is viewed through the lens of culture. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2007, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spiritual-books-youd-recommend/407567/9 "2007-06-11T16:14:23Z")
My SIL, gorblesh her, gave me _The Porpoise Driven Life_ and _Who Moved My Jesus._. I haven’t gotten into _Porpoise Driven_ yet. I did _Who Moved My Jesus_ on audio, twice. It’s not about Jesus at all. It’s a fable about losing your job, getting a different one, working harder for less reward, and somehow seeing it all as a great gift. No wonder my company gave a copy to every manager before closing down the plant. :rolleyes: The _Tao Te Ching_ can be helpful in adjusting one’s list of things that bring anger. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2007, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spiritual-books-youd-recommend/407567/10 "2007-06-11T16:23:22Z")
[QUOTE=RikWriter] The Demon Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark, by Carl Sagan. It would help someone to stop depending on fairy stories and start depending on themself. [/QUOTE] I love how whenever anyone mentions books and spirituality in the same post, someone else has to come in and mention Sagan’s book with a postscript about how stupid spiritual people are. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2007, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spiritual-books-youd-recommend/407567/11 "2007-06-11T16:27:08Z")
[QUOTE=Lord Ashtar] I love how whenever anyone mentions books and spirituality in the same post, someone else has to come in and mention Sagan’s book with a postscript about how stupid spiritual people are. [/QUOTE] Indeed. Moreover, I’ve read the book and like it quite a lot and am still religious. As Sagan himself says, “Honest religion, more familiar than its critics with the distortions and absurdities perpetuated in its name, has an active interest in encouraging a healthy skepticism for its own purposes.” ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2007, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spiritual-books-youd-recommend/407567/12 "2007-06-11T16:29:17Z")
[QUOTE=Lord Ashtar] I love how whenever anyone mentions books and spirituality in the same post, someone else has to come in and mention Sagan’s book with a postscript about how stupid spiritual people are. [/QUOTE] The irony is that it was posted while I was including Sagan’s book on my own list. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2007, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spiritual-books-youd-recommend/407567/13 "2007-06-11T16:45:07Z")
[QUOTE=FriarTed] Anyway, if you knew someone was trying to turn their life around, become a deeper more spiritual person, or whatever, what half-dozen books would you recommend? [/QUOTE] This would depend somewhat on who they were, where they were in their life, and what they were ready for. (For someone like Paris, I might recommend _Nickel and Dimed_ by Barbara Ehrenreich.) **twickster** already took my #1 choice. _The Road Less Traveled_ absolutely belongs on such a list. (Peck has written other books that have good things to say, but if you read only one, TRLT is definitely the one I’d recommend.) _Man’s Search for Meaning_ by Victor Frankl is a good choice as well. For someone from a Christian background looking to deepen their faith, something by Philip Yancey (_Disappointment With God_) or Larry Crabb (_Finding God_). I don’t know if I agree or disagree with this one, and it is somewhat dated, but for the right person, who needs the right kind of shot-in-the-arm/kick-in-the-pants: Norman Vincent Peale (_The Power of Positive Thinking_). And, while no one in particular springs to mind right now, I’d certainly recommend reading autobiographical works by people with some spiritual depth to them. I might add a good introduction to religion (e.g. Huston Smith’s _The Religions of Man_) and one to philosophy. Classics, like those on **Larry Borgia** ’s list, are good, but might be a bit rough going for someone who isn’t used to reading that kind of thing. Still, I’m glad they were mentioned! ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2007, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spiritual-books-youd-recommend/407567/14 "2007-06-11T16:45:21Z")
I really like [this particular version of the **Tao Te Ching**](http://www.amazon.com/Tao-Ching-25th-Anniversary-Lao-Tsu/dp/0679776192). ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2007, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spiritual-books-youd-recommend/407567/15 "2007-06-11T16:48:48Z")
I’ve read literally hundreds of books that would in some way qualify as “spiritual”. And of all these, after all is said and done, none to me was greater than Kahlil Gibran’s [Jesus the Son of Man](http://www.kahlil.org/jesuspf). I often recommend it over the Bible. ---
**Author:** ![Bobotheoptimist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/919ad9/32.png) [@Bobotheoptimist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bobotheoptimist)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2007, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spiritual-books-youd-recommend/407567/16 "2007-06-11T16:50:52Z")
Can’t come up with a half-dozen, most of mine would be of little value to someone looking to turn their life around, but here’s what I came up with - _The Druid Way_ by Philip Carr-Gomm. Has very little to do (directly) with Druidry, and the Druidry taught by Carr-Gomm’s OBOD is non-religious (IMHO) anyway, but this one is pretty good. Hard to explain, but it reads like his grief cut away the pretentious BS so he wrote as a Bard rather than a Druid (which will probably make sense to no one) _Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance_ - don’t know if this should be considered spiritual or not, and maybe it’s not as deep as it seemed back in 1984 _The Tao of Pooh_ - But not _The Te of Piglet_ I don’t agree with the Zen or Tao books, but recommend them anyway. And, as a special bonus, as far as I remember none of these require anyone to depend on faerie tales. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2007, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spiritual-books-youd-recommend/407567/17 "2007-06-11T16:51:04Z")
> [@Thudlow Boink](#): > > Classics, like those on Larry Borgia’s list, are good, but might be a bit rough going for someone who isn’t used to reading that kind of thing. Still, I’m glad they were mentioned! I mis-read the OP slightly and was making a bit of a Paris Hilton joke. But I’d stand by my list regardless. You’re right though that outside of a college context they might be a bit daunting for someone unused to that type of material. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2007, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spiritual-books-youd-recommend/407567/18 "2007-06-11T16:59:21Z")
[QUOTE=Bobotheoptimist] And, as a special bonus, as far as I remember none of these require anyone to depend on faerie tales. [/QUOTE] I’m not sure that sets anything apart. From the point of view of any materialist, the spiritual itself is a fairy tale. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2007, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spiritual-books-youd-recommend/407567/19 "2007-06-11T17:10:56Z")
[QUOTE=WhyNot] Indeed. Moreover, I’ve read the book and like it quite a lot and am still religious. As Sagan himself says, “Honest religion, more familiar than its critics with the distortions and absurdities perpetuated in its name, has an active interest in encouraging a healthy skepticism for its own purposes.” [/QUOTE] For what it’s worth, there’s a separate thread for recommendations of [Books promoting a healthy skepticism](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=424065). ---
**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2007, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spiritual-books-youd-recommend/407567/20 "2007-06-11T17:25:59Z")
_The Servile State_, by Hilaire Belloc. _The Abolition of Man_, by C. S. Lewis. _A Guide for the Perplexed_, by E. F. Schumaker. _Orthodoxy_, by G. K. Chesterton. _Confessions of a Guilty Bystander_, by Thomas Merton. _The Bible_. Narrowing down my entire reading experience to half a dozen books is difficult and the result will necessarily leave large gaps in the coverage of such a vast field. This is merely the best attempt I can come up with. _The Servile State_ explains the problems with modern society and places them in a larger historical context. _The Abolition of Man_ looks at the philosophical trends underlying modern society. _A Guide for the Perplexed_ introduces the reader to spiritual thought. _Orthodoxy_ explains how Christianity answers the spiritual needs of modern man. _Confessions of a Guilty Bystander_ explains where God stands in the political and economic mess of the late 20th century. And _The Bible_ explains everything. If anyone reading this thread does decide to read all six of them, I highly recommend reading them in the order listed. A worthwhile book that I disagree with: _The Interpretation of Dreams_, by Sigmund Freud. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spiritual-books-youd-recommend/407567.md?page=2)