Fans pick 28 books like Collision with the Infinite

I remember experiencing a true nervous breakdown once in high school. I had to leave campus in tears, filled with familiar sorrows and emotions I didn’t recognize as my own. Something was happening and I couldn’t put my finger on it, and it was utterly disorienting. Luckily, a spiritual mentor lived right down the street. She was quickly able to diagnose my experience. “You’re a very strong empath,” she said. I had to learn what that meant, so I devoted many years to learning as much as I could about the empathic experience from psychological, physiological, anthropological, and metaphysical lenses alike. 

I have spent the last 50 years exploring the intersection of Eastern and Western thought and spirituality. Along the way, I experientially learned the details of three of my former lifetimes: as a rabbi in 3rd-century Alexandria, as a tantric yogini and follower of Achi Chokyi Nyima in China, and as the legendary courtesan Lady Mori, who became the disciple and lover of the Zen master Ikkyu in 15th-century Japan. Studying the ways my previous incarnations are interconnected has taught me much about how the principles of karma and reincarnation function in real-time in the actual world, and I treasure the opportunity to share these insights with you.

I am Srikumar Rao – best selling author, TED speaker, and elite coach. I have spent more than five decades studying the teachings of the world’s greatest masters and distilling them into exercises that enable successful individuals to reach entirely new orbits of accomplishment while remaining serene as a Zen monk. My course, Creativity and Personal Mastery, was among the highest-rated and most popular at many of the world’s top business schools and is the only one to have its own alumni association. My work has been covered by major media worldwide and my talks have been viewed by tens of millions on all six continents.

I am a transformational teacher and author based in San Diego, California. I am a being just like you, the very same in essence. Born with an unstoppable yearning for Truth. Through an unwavering quest for the ultimate, I came to a profound realization. Of our infinite nature. You can too! Books played an important part in this quest, especially in the beginning. We are blessed with great teachers speaking to us across time and across dimensions through their words as they transmit their blessings for our enlightenment.

I started practicing meditation while I was in high school and within 2 months of starting I had a metaphysical experience. That experience led me to become a scientist, I wanted to learn ways to study the spiritual using the methodologies of science. I've had a successful career with over 400 scientific publications and have had my work featured in the media and presented at hundreds of conferences and workshops around the world, including at the United Nations. Many scientists today are working to bridge the so-called gap between science and spirit and the positive effects they are having on increasing our understanding of what it is to be human.

Until my early 50s, I detested all things spiritual. These books showed up practically on their own, without dogma or jargon, mainly to convince me that the divine existed. They’re easy to read and open to interpretation. They tricked me into a spiritual life by making it seem logical and simply a place to explore at my leisure. I try to write things that are clear and simple, and these books persuaded me that the ineffable isn’t so hard to write about. Also, I could return to these books years later, and they still speak to me. Each is capable of opening something new to me later in life.

I’ve long been fascinated by the relationship between non-dual spiritual inquiry and the resolution of mental-emotional imbalances. On the one hand, our non-dual essence (the being-awareness that is aware of these words right now) remains wholly independent of and untouched by any phenomenal circumstances. It is non-phenomenal, unconditioned, causeless peace and joy. And yet, the human body-mind almost inevitably manifests physical and/or psychological imbalances that can be skillfully resolved. So, what’s the relationship between the enjoyment of our primordial perfection and the cultivation of this ephemeral yet still precious human body-mind? This is the question that I very much enjoy exploring. 

I’ve long been fascinated by the relationship between non-dual spiritual inquiry and the resolution of mental-emotional imbalances. On the one hand, our non-dual essence (the being-awareness that is aware of these words right now) remains wholly independent of and untouched by any phenomenal circumstances. It is non-phenomenal, unconditioned, causeless peace and joy. And yet, the human body-mind almost inevitably manifests physical and/or psychological imbalances that can be skillfully resolved. So, what’s the relationship between the enjoyment of our primordial perfection and the cultivation of this ephemeral yet still precious human body-mind? This is the question that I very much enjoy exploring. 

I’ve long been fascinated by how we know what we know, how objective knowledge differs from subjective knowing, and how we can validate knowledge as reliable vs. deceptive or distorted. These questions eventually led to encounters with nondual spiritual traditions such as Advaita Vedanta, Taoism, and the Dzogchen and Mahamudra lineages of Tibetan Buddhism. These teachings bring feelings of happiness and joyful contentment—a sense of “coming home.” I love how they fiercely and compassionately challenge some of my most cherished assumptions about myself and the world. Like a skilled surgeon expertly repairing a broken bone, the nondual teachings dissolve mistaken beliefs and reveal my unbounded wholeness. 

I’ve long been fascinated by how we know what we know, how objective knowledge differs from subjective knowing, and how we can validate knowledge as reliable vs. deceptive or distorted. These questions eventually led to encounters with nondual spiritual traditions such as Advaita Vedanta, Taoism, and the Dzogchen and Mahamudra lineages of Tibetan Buddhism. These teachings bring feelings of happiness and joyful contentment—a sense of “coming home.” I love how they fiercely and compassionately challenge some of my most cherished assumptions about myself and the world. Like a skilled surgeon expertly repairing a broken bone, the nondual teachings dissolve mistaken beliefs and reveal my unbounded wholeness.