100 books like On the Mystery of Being

By Zaya Benazzo, Maurizio Benazzo,

Here are 100 books that On the Mystery of Being fans have personally recommended if you like On the Mystery of Being. Shepherd is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of Science Set Free: 10 Paths to New Discovery

Paul J. Mills Author Of Science, Being, & Becoming: The Spiritual Lives of Scientists

From my list on bridging the science and spirituality gap.

Why am I passionate about this?

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.

Paul's book list on bridging the science and spirituality gap

Paul J. Mills Why did Paul love this book?

For several decades Dr. Rupert Sheldrake has been prodding us to awaken beyond the limitations of western science as we know it.

Trained as a scientist at some of the world’s top institutions, he began to understand that science itself needed to be set free from its own dogma that has accumulated over the centuries. He shows the ways in which science is being constricted by its own assumptions that are not only limiting but dangerous for the future of humanity.

Should science be a belief system or simply a method of inquiry? In the skeptical spirit of true science, Dr. Sheldrake turns the 10 fundamental dogmas of materialism into exciting questions and shows how all of them open to startling new possibilities for discovery.

By Rupert Sheldrake,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Science Set Free as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The bestselling author of Dogs That Know When Their Owners Are Coming Home offers an intriguing new assessment of modern day science that will radically change the way we view what is possible.

In Science Set Free (originally published to acclaim in the UK as The Science Delusion), Dr. Rupert Sheldrake, one of the world's most innovative scientists, shows the ways in which science is being constricted by assumptions that have, over the years, hardened into dogmas. Such dogmas are not only limiting, but dangerous for the future of humanity.
 
According to these principles, all of reality is material or…


Book cover of Infinite Awareness: The Awakening of a Scientific Mind

Paul J. Mills Author Of Science, Being, & Becoming: The Spiritual Lives of Scientists

From my list on bridging the science and spirituality gap.

Why am I passionate about this?

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.

Paul's book list on bridging the science and spirituality gap

Paul J. Mills Why did Paul love this book?

Marjorie Woollacott is a top-tier neuroscientist who started her scientific career believing that our minds, the brain, was a purely physical entity controlled by chemicals and electrical pulses. That all changed one day when she experimented with meditation for the first time - her world changed.

Over the years, as she continued with her meditation practice, she was faced with changing her belief about the mind, about what human consciousness really is. Her book pairs her research as a neuroscientist with her self-revelations about the mind’s spiritual power. Between the scientific and spiritual worlds, Dr. Woollacott investigates the existence of a non-physical and infinitely powerful mind.

By Marjorie Hines Woollacott,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Infinite Awareness as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Book Award of the Parapsychological Association, 2017
Winner of the Eric Hoffer Book Awards 2017 (Spiritual)
First Place, Nautilus Book Awards 2017 (Science, Cosmology and Expanding Consciousness)
First Place, International Excellence Mind, Body Spirit Book Awards, 2017 (Human Consciousness)
Bronze Medal, Feathered Quill Book Awards, 2017 (Best Religious/Spiritual)
First Place, Great Northwest Book Festival, 2017 (Spiritual Books)
First Place, New England Book Festival, 2016 (Spiritual Books)

As a neuroscientist, Marjorie Woollacott had no doubts that the brain was a purely physical entity controlled by chemicals and electrical pulses. When she experimented with meditation for the first time, however, her entire…


Book cover of The Biology of Transformation: The Physiology of Presence and Spiritual Transcendence

Paul J. Mills Author Of Science, Being, & Becoming: The Spiritual Lives of Scientists

From my list on bridging the science and spirituality gap.

Why am I passionate about this?

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.

Paul's book list on bridging the science and spirituality gap

Paul J. Mills Why did Paul love this book?

While there have been many books written about the spiritual side of the human being, few books have proposed the specific ways in which the spiritual interfaces with the human body.

In this book Dr. Tiffany Jean Barsotti proposes a new axis in human anatomy, the Reticular Activating System-Vagus Nerve-Alta Major Chakra Axis as the nexus of communication from higher consciousness to the physical and subtle energy bodies of the human being. She draws extensively on existing neuroscience research as well as the teachings of esoteric traditions, including Tibetan.

With the goal of creating a foundation and stimulating thought regarding energy physiology, the body-mind connection, and how our intention shapes our health and environment, this provides a new perspective on awakening awareness and consciousness.

By Tiffany J Barsotti,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Biology of Transformation as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

There are many important axes in human anatomy, including the Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal Axis, the Liver Triad Axis, and the Gut-Brain Axis. Less well known to Western medical scientists is a parallel system that can develop in the subtle energy body of the human being. This energy body, while not visible with our current technology, is well known in esoteric healing traditions. In The Biology of Transformation, author Tiffany Jean Barsotti proposes a new axis in human anatomy, the Reticular Activating System-Vagus Nerve-Alta Major Chakra Axis as the nexus of communication from Higher Consciousness to the physical and subtle energy bodies of…


Book cover of Notes on Complexity: A Scientific Theory of Connection, Consciousness, and Being

Paul J. Mills Author Of Science, Being, & Becoming: The Spiritual Lives of Scientists

From my list on bridging the science and spirituality gap.

Why am I passionate about this?

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.

Paul's book list on bridging the science and spirituality gap

Paul J. Mills Why did Paul love this book?

Dr. Neil Theise is a physician scientist whose been on a spiritual journey since childhood. A constant part of his explorations has been to understand how complex systems behave that illuminate the very nature of life itself, from quantum foam to single-celled organisms, to human beings, to entire ecosystems, and beyond.

In this book, Neil elegantly illuminates in clear and accessible prose the many surprising underlying connections within a universe that is itself one vast complex system. He takes us to the frontiers of human knowledge, where science meets philosophy and beyond.

He restores wonder to our experience of the every day, allowing us to approach the world with greater understanding and a renewed sense of meaning.

By Neil Theise,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Notes on Complexity as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

An electrifying introduction to complexity theory, the science of how complex systems behave, that explains the interconnectedness of all things and that Deepak Chopra says, "will change the way you understand yourself and the universe."

Nothing in the universe is more complex than life. Throughout the skies, in oceans, and across lands, life is endlessly on the move. In its myriad forms-from cells to human beings, social structures, and ecosystems-life is open-ended, evolving, unpredictable, yet adaptive and self-sustaining. Complexity theory addresses the mysteries that animate science, philosophy, and metaphysics: how this teeming array of existence, from the infinitesimal to the…


Book cover of Celtic Myth in the 21st Century: The Gods and their Stories in a Global Perspective

Sharon Paice MacLeod Author Of Celtic Cosmology and the Otherworld: Mythic Origins, Sovereignty and Liminality

From my list on authentic Celtic mythology, religion, and cosmology.

Why am I passionate about this?

My passion for Celtic cultures, languages, and traditions comes from my family, where singing and storytelling were common. I worked as a singer and musician, and trained in Celtic Studies through Harvard University. That was an amazing experience, and research in Scotland and Ireland expanded my knowledge tremendously. I taught Celtic literature, mythology, and folklore at numerous colleges, and am Expert Contributor in Iron Age Pagan Celtic Religion for the Database of Religious History at the University of British Columbia, and invited Old Irish translator for the upcoming Global Medieval Sourcebook at Stanford University. I wake up every day excited to share the historical realities of these amazing cultures and beliefs!

Sharon's book list on authentic Celtic mythology, religion, and cosmology

Sharon Paice MacLeod Why did Sharon love this book?

This recent and very unique release from University of Wales Press presents a wide range of academic studies about different aspects of Celtic mythology, showcasing what kinds of perspectives and methodologies are being used these days at the cutting edge of the study of Celtic mythology.

It also provides readers and students with an introduction to some important topics, and well-grounded and insightful interpretations, as well as the work and approaches of a wide range of Celticists from a variety of countries.

Some of my favourite mentors and colleagues are in the book, as well as an essay by yours truly about the possible use of entheogens in early Ireland. This is a shorter version of a larger body of research I'm currently editing for publication, but it shows how a knowledge of Old Irish and the wide range of early Irish literature can provide a deep pathway into topics…

By Emily Lyle (editor),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Celtic Myth in the 21st Century as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This wide-ranging book contains twelve chapters by scholars who explore aspects of the fascinating field of Celtic mythology - from myth and the medieval to comparative mythology, and the new cosmological approach. Examples of the innovative research represented here lead the reader into an exploration of the possible use of hallucinogenic mushrooms in Celtic Ireland, to mental mapping in the interpretation of the Irish legend Tain Bo Cuailgne, and to the integration of established perspectives with broader findings now emerging at the Indo-European level and its potential to open up the whole field of mythology in a new way.


Book cover of A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose

Elizabeth Reninger Author Of When Therapy Doesn't Work: A Mindfulness Guide to Emotional Repair

From my list on psychological healing and spiritual inquiry.

Why am I passionate about this?

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. 

Elizabeth's book list on psychological healing and spiritual inquiry

Elizabeth Reninger Why did Elizabeth love this book?

While I adore Eckart Tolle’s playfully impish and relaxed personality, I most appreciate his unflinching clarity about why we suffer and what liberation looks like. He invites me to realize that my mind’s inner dialogue—that perpetually comments, critiques, judges, compares, or tries to figure it all out—is not who I am, essentially. Who am I, then? The witnessing awareness which can simply observe that mental chatter, without identifying with it.

When facing a challenging situation, I rely upon Eckhart’s advice, which is to notice that I have three (and only three) sane choices: (1) to leave the situation, (2) to do something to change it, or (3) to accept it completely. So often this has helped to clarify things; and resurrect my inherent sanity. 

By Eckhart Tolle,

Why should I read it?

7 authors picked A New Earth as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 14, 15, 16, and 17.

What is this book about?

LOVED THE POWER OF NOW? DISCOVER THE LIFE-CHANGING FOLLOW-UP FROM THE MULTI-MILLION COPY BESTSELLER

'A wake-up call for the entire planet. A New Earth helps us to stop creating our own suffering and obsessing over the past and what the future might be and to put ourselves in the now' OPRAH WINFREY

'My No. 1 guru will always be Eckhart Tolle' CHRIS EVANS

THE BOOK THAT INSPIRED THE CHART-TOPPING PODCAST OPRAH & ECKHART TOLLE: A NEW EARTH
_________

Are you ready to change your life?

In Eckhart Tolle's ground-breaking book, he gives you the spiritual framework to:
- Understand yourself…


Book cover of You Are the Happiness You Seek: Uncovering the Awareness of Being

Caverly Morgan Author Of A Kids Book About Mindfulness

From my list on finding happiness.

Why am I passionate about this?

The question “Who are you?” has been central to my practice over the last 30 years. This inquiry led me to live in a silent monastery for eight years. If we aren’t who we have been conditioned to see ourselves to be, then who are we? Who are we truly? This inquiry has led to happiness in my own life, it’s led to happiness in the lives of thousands of teens who have been served through the nonprofit I founded–Peace in Schools, and it’s led to happiness with the adults who have come to my workshops and retreats.  

Caverly's book list on finding happiness

Caverly Morgan Why did Caverly love this book?

I found this book to be deeply enlightening because it reshaped my understanding of true happiness. I appreciate how Spira’s teachings challenge conventional views by revealing the inherent joy within each of us. The way he guides readers to see beyond transient emotions and connect with their true nature really resonated with me.

I think this book should be on the bookshelf of any sincere spiritual seeker who wants to find lasting fulfillment and peace. It’s a profound read for anyone seeking to uncover a deeper sense of contentment and spiritual clarity.

By Rupert Spira,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked You Are the Happiness You Seek as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

How may we find happiness and peace?

In this book, Rupert Spira distils the message of all the great religious and spiritual traditions into two essential truths: happiness is the very nature of our self or being, and we share our being with everyone and everything.

Drawing on numerous examples from his own experience, Spira demonstrates that to seek lasting happiness through objects, situations and relationships is destined for failure and disappointment, and skilfully guides the reader to recognise that we are already the happiness we seek.

This book is for anyone who yearns for lasting happiness and is open…


Book cover of The End of Your World: Uncensored Straight Talk on the Nature of Enlightenment

Neal Allen Author Of Better Days: Tame Your Inner Critic

From my list on books on spirituality for people who hate books on spirituality.

Why am I passionate about this?

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.

Neal's book list on books on spirituality for people who hate books on spirituality

Neal Allen Why did Neal love this book?

Adyashanti is a firestarter, and he got my spiritual adventure going at the beginning. I entered a one-day retreat he gave at a nearby spiritual center as an atheist, a rationalist, a relatively happy corporate executive, a non-meditator, and a scorner of spirituality.

I believed all religions to be ridiculous superstitions with some nice life lessons mixed in. I came out of the one-day session fascinated by the idea of spirituality as a world of its own that could be explored scientifically.

That’s what Adya does, with plain language and easy-to-believe examples: He encourages people, me included, to become aware of the possibility of greater awareness. 

By Adyashanti,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked The End of Your World as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

More and more people are "waking up" spiritually. And for most of them, the question becomes: now what? "Information about life after awakening is usually not made public," explains Adyashanti. "It's most often shared only between teachers and their students." The End of Your World is his response to a growing need for direction on the spiritual path. Consider the book you hold in your hands Adyashanti's personal welcome to "a new world, a state of oneness."

Adyashanti begins by describing the "I got it/I lost it" phenomenon that perplexes so many of his students-the fluctuation between what he calls…


Book cover of Waking Up: A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion

Seth J. Gillihan Author Of Mindful Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: A Simple Path to Healing, Hope, and Peace

From my list on how to find true peace through mindful awareness.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am a clinical psychologist and psychotherapist. For years I had been interested in mindfulness as a way to help my therapy clients, and had dabbled in it myself. But the practice took on new urgency for me in my mid-forties when I developed a long-term illness that led to depression. I was lost and didn’t know how to re-find my equilibrium. Every day felt like an enormous battle as I struggled to keep going, and often thought of ending my life. I’m so thankful that I found relief through mindful connection to myself, to a deeper awareness in which all of our experience unfolds, and through connection to the people I love. 

Seth's book list on how to find true peace through mindful awareness

Seth J. Gillihan Why did Seth love this book?

This book was my first introduction to the mind-altering experience of nondual awareness. I had had fleeting glimpses of nonduality during meditation without having a frame or a name for it. With characteristic humor and acumen, Sam Harris explains both the benefits of dropping the illusion of separateness and the specific technique for entering into the vast field of open awareness. Prepare to have your mind blown—and transformed. 

By Sam Harris,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Waking Up as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

'An extraordinary book . . . It will shake up your most fundamental beliefs about everyday experience, and it just might change your life.' Paul Bloom
___

For the millions of people who want spirituality without religion, Sam Harris's new book is a guide to meditation as a rational spiritual practice informed by neuroscience and psychology.

Throughout the book, Harris argues that there are important truths to be found in the experience of contemplatives such as Jesus, Buddha and other saints and sages of history-and, therefore, that there is more to understanding reality than science and secular culture generally allow.…


Book cover of The Divine Conspiracy: Rediscovering Our Hidden Life in God

Malinda Fugate Author Of The Other Three Sixteens

From my list on for Christians to revive a stalled faith journey.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m just an everyday person. I don’t have a fancy title or lots of degrees, but I do have experience being close to God and a never-ending quest to know Him more. His love is so good that it absolutely must be shared. So if I, in all of my ordinariness, can learn extraordinary sacred things, then I can bring others along the journey, too. His presence in my heartaches, struggles, joy, and adventures has sustained my life, and I don’t know any credential that could testify any clearer that a journey with God is worth taking.

Malinda's book list on for Christians to revive a stalled faith journey

Malinda Fugate Why did Malinda love this book?

After reading The Divine Conspiracy twice, I’m ready to dive in again. So many treasures are packed into these pages, waiting to be absorbed.

Anchored in the Sermon on the Mount, the author discusses our discipleship and how we related to Christ. Sometimes, we miss the life that’s in biblical text, but this book offers perspective that makes us take a second look and inspires our hearts.

By Dallas Willard,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked The Divine Conspiracy as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

First published in 1998, The Divine Conspiracy captured the attention of Christians across the world, by offering a timely and challenging call back to the true meaning of Christian discipleship.

Gracefully weaving biblical teaching, popular culture, science and scholarship together, Dallas Willard refuted the view that Christianity is solely about gaining admittance to heaven when we die, and taught that, as disciples, we have access now to the life of the kingdom.

Equally relevant today as it was on publication, The Divine Conspiracy challenges us to step aside from the pieties of contemporary Christian practice and offers instead a practical…


Book cover of Science Set Free: 10 Paths to New Discovery
Book cover of Infinite Awareness: The Awakening of a Scientific Mind
Book cover of The Biology of Transformation: The Physiology of Presence and Spiritual Transcendence

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