100 books like The Direct Path

By Andrew Harvey,

Here are 100 books that The Direct Path fans have personally recommended if you like The Direct Path. Shepherd is a community of 11,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

Shepherd is reader supported. When you buy books, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Book cover of The Perennial Philosophy

Peter Occhiogrosso Author Of Circles of Belief: The World’s Spiritual Traditions and Beyond

From my list on spiritual path alternative to institutional religion.

Why am I passionate about this?

I feel strongly that large segments of the population—young and old alike—have thrown out the baby of spirituality with the bathwater of organized religion. Given the current level of interreligious hatred and misunderstanding in today’s world, two things have to change. First, we need to know the basics of the world’s major religious traditions and how they evolved so that we are not making value judgments based on erroneous information and lack of understanding. Then, we have to look through the external dogmas and rituals to the spiritual principles and experiences that are of most value and that may not be reliant on any one institutional religion. 

Peter's book list on spiritual path alternative to institutional religion

Peter Occhiogrosso Why did Peter love this book?

Renowned for brilliant visionary novels like Brave New World and Island, Huxley also wrote one of the most insightful books about the underlying truth running through the great mystics of the world’s spiritual traditions.

By quoting mostly from the mystics of both East and West themselves rather than the Bible, Huxley focused on the common essence of the experience of divine union. Along with many unsung Christian mystics, he also quotes from Eastern masters and sacred scriptures, including Rumi, Lao Tzu, Shankara, and from scriptures like the Bhagavad Gita, Tibetan Book of the Dead, Diamond Sutra, and the Upanishads, by way of showing that the universal Reality both transcends and is embodied in individual traditions. 

By Aldous Huxley (editor),

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

An inspired gathering of religious writings that reveals the "divine reality" common to all faiths, collected by Aldous Huxley

"The Perennial Philosophy," Aldous Huxley writes, "may be found among the traditional lore of peoples in every region of the world, and in its fully developed forms it has a place in every one of the higher religions."

With great wit and stunning intellect—drawing on a diverse array of faiths, including Zen Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, Christian mysticism, and Islam—Huxley examines the spiritual beliefs of various religious traditions and explains how they are united by a common human yearning to experience the…


Book cover of In My Time of Dying: How I Came Face to Face with the Idea of an Afterlife

Peter Occhiogrosso Author Of Circles of Belief: The World’s Spiritual Traditions and Beyond

From my list on spiritual path alternative to institutional religion.

Why am I passionate about this?

I feel strongly that large segments of the population—young and old alike—have thrown out the baby of spirituality with the bathwater of organized religion. Given the current level of interreligious hatred and misunderstanding in today’s world, two things have to change. First, we need to know the basics of the world’s major religious traditions and how they evolved so that we are not making value judgments based on erroneous information and lack of understanding. Then, we have to look through the external dogmas and rituals to the spiritual principles and experiences that are of most value and that may not be reliant on any one institutional religion. 

Peter's book list on spiritual path alternative to institutional religion

Peter Occhiogrosso Why did Peter love this book?

Bestselling author Sebastian Junger is known for reporting on dangerous and demanding occupations and for embedding with American soldiers in Afghanistan as a war correspondent. But his most recent book describes his encounter with perhaps the most deadly situation he has ever faced.

A burst aneurysm lands him in the emergency room, and while fighting for his life, Junger becomes aware that his father—who had died eight years ago—is “communicating” to him that everything will be all right. The appealing slant is that Junger, raised by his physicist father as an atheist and materialist, has to try to make sense of a near-death experience.

In a recent interview by the New York Times, Junger is asked how the NDE changed the way he thinks about death and God. “It never crossed my mind to start believing in God,” Junger responds. "But what did happen was I was like, maybe…

By Sebastian Junger,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked In My Time of Dying as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A near-fatal health emergency leads to this powerful reflection on death—and what might follow—by the bestselling author of Tribe and The Perfect Storm.

For years as an award-winning war reporter, Sebastian Junger traveled to many front lines and frequently put his life at risk. And yet the closest he ever came to death was the summer of 2020 while spending a quiet afternoon at the New England home he shared with his wife and two young children. Crippled by abdominal pain, Junger was rushed to the hospital by ambulance. Once there, he began slipping away. As blackness encroached, he was…


Book cover of Soul Boom: Why We Need a Spiritual Revolution

Peter Occhiogrosso Author Of Circles of Belief: The World’s Spiritual Traditions and Beyond

From my list on spiritual path alternative to institutional religion.

Why am I passionate about this?

I feel strongly that large segments of the population—young and old alike—have thrown out the baby of spirituality with the bathwater of organized religion. Given the current level of interreligious hatred and misunderstanding in today’s world, two things have to change. First, we need to know the basics of the world’s major religious traditions and how they evolved so that we are not making value judgments based on erroneous information and lack of understanding. Then, we have to look through the external dogmas and rituals to the spiritual principles and experiences that are of most value and that may not be reliant on any one institutional religion. 

Peter's book list on spiritual path alternative to institutional religion

Peter Occhiogrosso Why did Peter love this book?

You may know Rainn Wilson as the actor who played goofy Dwight Schrute on The Office. But he’s also a gifted writer with much spiritual wisdom to share. In this book, he brings his loopy comic appeal to the serious business of explaining why most institutional religions fail to scratch the spiritual itch. And why one putative answer to the anomie and mounting depression sweeping younger generations around the world is to undertake a “spiritual revolution.”

While effortlessly invoking the universal appeal of genuine spirituality, Wilson makes you laugh out loud along the way. Who else could convince you that their own spiritual growth was spurred not by the universalist Bahai Faith in which he was raised but by those linchpins of ‘70s TV culture, Kung Fu (starring David Carradine as “Grasshopper”) and the original Star Trek (in syndication, with William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy)?

He uses these unlikely…

By Rainn Wilson,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

**New York Times Bestseller**

Comedic actor, producer, and writer Rainn Wilson, cofounder of the media company SoulPancake, explores the problem-solving benefits that spirituality gives us to create solutions for an increasingly challenging world.

The trauma that our struggling species has experienced in recent years-because of both the pandemic and societal tensions that threaten to overwhelm us-is not going away anytime soon. Existing political and economic systems are not enough to bring the change that the world needs. In this book, Rainn Wilson explores the possibility and hope for a spiritual revolution, a "Soul Boom," to find a healing transformation on…


Book cover of The Luminous Landscape of the Afterlife: Jordan's Message to the Living on What to Expect after Death

Peter Occhiogrosso Author Of Circles of Belief: The World’s Spiritual Traditions and Beyond

From my list on spiritual path alternative to institutional religion.

Why am I passionate about this?

I feel strongly that large segments of the population—young and old alike—have thrown out the baby of spirituality with the bathwater of organized religion. Given the current level of interreligious hatred and misunderstanding in today’s world, two things have to change. First, we need to know the basics of the world’s major religious traditions and how they evolved so that we are not making value judgments based on erroneous information and lack of understanding. Then, we have to look through the external dogmas and rituals to the spiritual principles and experiences that are of most value and that may not be reliant on any one institutional religion. 

Peter's book list on spiritual path alternative to institutional religion

Peter Occhiogrosso Why did Peter love this book?

When psychologist Matthew McKay’s son, Jordan, was killed by bike thieves at age 23, McKay learned how to channel him from the other side, as recounted in his touching book Seeking Jordan. In this later book, Jordan communicates in vivid detail the stages he went through after he died.

In what amounts to a modern-day secular Book of the Dead, McKay/Jordan describes how to navigate each stage without a body, how we learn and grow in the spirit world, and how to release anxiety about the end of life and instead view it as another stage of our ongoing consciousness.

Most notably, he reveals that there is no institutional or doctrinal “religion” on the other side and that the driving force of continued consciousness is love and a willingness to keep learning and growing spiritually. 

By Matthew McKay,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Luminous Landscape of the Afterlife as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A channeled guide to the life-death transition experience and how to prepare for the wonders of the afterlife

* Reveals the afterlife as a fluid realm of imagination and invention, a luminous landscape created entirely of consciousness

* Explains how to navigate the early stages of the afterlife, how we learn and grow in the spirit world, and how to release anxiety about the end of life

* Includes exercises and meditations to prepare you for navigating and communicating in spirit

There is no better source of information on death and the afterlife than someone who has died and lives…


Book cover of The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason

Maren Showkeir Author Of Yoga Wisdom at Work: Finding Sanity Off the Mat and On the Job

From my list on godless heathens seeking spiritual enlightenment.

Why am I passionate about this?

Like many people who consciously decided to leave the constrictive religion to which they were randomly born (and raised), I see retrospectively that the decision was an essential act of self-preservation and self-actualization. I abandoned the transactional relationship with a Judging God, including its barter of mindless obedience in exchange for a heavenly eternity after death. In doing so, I discovered my true soul. Through “godless” practices and continual seeking, I have discovered a profound, meaningful spirituality. The books on this list are among so many that have expanded my thinking and helped me become, I hope, a better human along the way. It is my pleasure to recommend them to you.

Maren's book list on godless heathens seeking spiritual enlightenment

Maren Showkeir Why did Maren love this book?

I dithered ferociously about including this title, because Harris’s tone can be off-putting and because he uses sexist language — just like the scriptures do! He should know better. Even so, I loved this book for its science-based arguments that skewer organized religion, and for his articulation of vague questions that had been tumbling in my mind without coming into focus enough to ask them. A few big takeaways for me: The “sacred” texts embraced by major world religions can, and are, used to defend almost any atrocity toward other humans. Harris also makes what should be an obvious point about the oft-touted benefits of religion: Universal love, good works, community, teaching values, etc. can be achieved without dogma or belief in a Supreme Deity. Finally, Harris allows for and honors the “mystical,” connecting human experiences that cannot (yet) be explained by science.

By Sam Harris,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

In The End of Faith, Sam Harris delivers a startling analysis of the clash between reason and religion in the modern world. He offers a vivid, historical tour of our willingness to suspend reason in favor of religious beliefs-even when these beliefs inspire the worst human atrocities. While warning against the encroachment of organized religion into world politics, Harris draws on insights from neuroscience, philosophy, and Eastern mysticism to deliver a call for a truly modern foundation for ethics and spirituality that is both secular and humanistic. Winner of the 2005 PEN/Martha Albrand Award for Nonfiction.


Book cover of The Case for God

John Loughery Author Of Dorothy Day: Dissenting Voice of the American Century

From my list on religion in an age of doubt.

Why am I passionate about this?

Like many Americans, I consider myself uncertain about religion, though that may be less true now that I have come to know the life of Dorothy Day, the radical Catholic activist. She has that effect. Along with the writers below, Dorothy Day has brought me back to thinking of faith in terms that I could find meaningful, to a sense of religion that is about something other than a set of rules and doctrines based on narrow readings of the Bible and the rigidity of men (yes, always men) in positions of power. I grew up a deeply religious child, became a confirmed atheist for decades, but now, in part because of this book, find myself in a different if still uncertain place.

John's book list on religion in an age of doubt

John Loughery Why did John love this book?

Armstrong has written brilliant histories of Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, and Chinese spirituality, biographies of Buddha and Mohammed, and a memoir of her own spiritual struggles as a nun who left the Catholic Church. Her reputation as the foremost scholar in our time of the history of religions is well-earned. The Case for God is an erudite account of a human need that has existed through all of recorded history and the thwarting of that need, especially in our own polarized time, by fundamentalism, arrogant misreadings of spiritual texts, and notions of God at odds with the selflessness, creativity, and compassion faith is meant to inspire.

By Karen Armstrong,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

There is widespread confusion about the nature of religious truth. For the first time in history, a significantly large number of people want nothing to do with God. Militant atheists preach a gospel of godlessness with the zeal of missionaries and find an eager audience.

Tracing the history of faith from the Palaeolithic Age to the present, Karen Armstrong shows that meaning of words such as 'belief', 'faith', and 'mystery' has been entirely altered, so that atheists and theists alike now think and speak about God - and, indeed, reason itself - in a way that our ancestors would have…


Book cover of Who Believes What? Exploring the World’s Major Religions

Steven Clark Cunningham Author Of It's Considerate to Be Literate about Religion: Poetry and Prose about Religion, Conflict, and Peace in Our World

From my list on religion and spirituality for younger readers.

Why am I passionate about this?

My passion for studying religion started decades ago, now culminating in a master's degree from Harvard in religion. My main interest is religious literacy, and my master's thesis is on religious literacy among healthcare providers, which is not surprising since I myself work in healthcare. I am particularly interested in interfaith approaches that unite people of diverse religious and nonreligious backgrounds in a common goal of doing some good in the world.

Steven's book list on religion and spirituality for younger readers

Steven Clark Cunningham Why did Steven love this book?

What I really like about this book is that the one-page introduction, "What is Religion?" mentions several important tenets of religious literacy as described by the American Academy of Religion, such as the fact that religions are internally diverse, and that religion is deeply embedded in most or all aspects of human culture and life. The latter of these underscores the importance for all to be religiously literate, even people who self-identify as nonreligious. The book covers only five major religions (Hinduism, Judaism, Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam), and doesn’t seem biased towards any one of them, giving the usual general description of each. The full-spread illustrations showing many different aspects of life within each religious tradition are engaging for kids (and adults!).

By Wills, Nora Tomm (illustrator),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Who Believes What? Exploring the World’s Major Religions as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 7, 8, 9, and 10.

What is this book about?

In today’s multicultural cities and interconnected world, understanding different belief systems can help kids appreciate the differences of people they see every day, or people who live on the other side of the globe. This book introduces readers to the five major world religions by population: Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, and Judaism.

Each mini-section opens with a fully illustrated spread representing one religion. Designed in a search-and-find style, the illustrated spreads are busy, bright, and jam-packed with details that show people worshipping among symbolic places, rituals, and objects. A text spread follows, pulling out details from the illustrated page and…


Book cover of Hindu, Buddhist and Tantric Gods and Goddesses, Ritual Objects and Religious Symbols

Alan Mercel-Sanca Author Of Nepal - Culture Smart!: The Essential Guide to Customs & Culture

From my list on people learning about each other's cultures.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am an intercultural educationalist, having many years of direct Prime Ministers, Culture Ministers, Ambassador of Nepal to the UK/Ireland/Malta, experts, and grassroots community organizations relationships with Nepal and Nepali diasporas (UK and Ireland) regarding research, reports, and major intercultural projects, as well as a published writer on Nepali culture and editor and lead content contributor for internationally respected online Nepal culture information resources (see Nepali Cultural Heritage and Foods of Nepal). An active member of the decolonization movement, I have provided live BBC TV News interviews on the UK Government–Gurkha dispute and led the enablement of a historically important Nepal–England football match. 

Alan's book list on people learning about each other's cultures

Alan Mercel-Sanca Why did Alan love this book?

In late 2013, during one of my many visits to Kathmandu as the lead of the UK Nepal Friendship Society, I was privileged to be engaged and presented with a copy of this just-published book.

For any non-South Asian person with a passion for learning about the esoteric and spiritual heritages of South Asia, this book is a true, precious treasure of the rarest and highest kind for students of those precious and vibrant heritages in which the spiritual concepts of profound ethical, personal self-development, and respect for the unique role in both of the latter regarding Nature in all her profound manifestations (including sexual love) and of global value and significance! 

By Trilok Chandra Majupuria,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Hindu, Buddhist and Tantric Gods and Goddesses, Ritual Objects and Religious Symbols as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

English 130 (Throughout B/W Illustrations)Why This Book?This book has been written for those who would like to know about gods and goddesses in Hinduism, Buddhism and Tantrism, in a nutshell. Tibetan deities as well as those associated with sutras (esoteric discourses) are also dealt with in detail. It would be of special interest to visitors who come to Nepal for a short visit. Since most of the sculptures, paintings are based on religious mythologies; therefore, basic facts about religions are also necessary.Authors have been interacting for 56 years with visitors of Nepal and giving them lectures mainly about religions and…


Book cover of Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy

Bryan S. Turner Author Of The Body in Asia

From my list on making you wish you lived in Asia.

Why am I passionate about this?

As an undergraduate at the University of Leeds in the 1960s the principal influence on my life and thinking was Trevor Ling an Anglican Priest and Buddhist who eventually became a Professor of comparative religion at the University of Manchester. He was the start of my research on Islam and Asia and my peripatetic career having lived in Scotland, Germany, Holland, America, Australia and Singapore. I became a professor of the sociology of religion in the Asia Research Center at the National University of Singapore. I have published two books on Singapore, a handbook of religions in Asia, and several works on the body, medicine, ageing and human vulnerability.

Bryan's book list on making you wish you lived in Asia

Bryan S. Turner Why did Bryan love this book?

When I say to you ‘Religions of Asia’ you will automatically think of the usual suspects: Buddhism, Confucianism, Hinduism, and so on. Here is something different from Prof Eliade one of the great scholars of his generation. Shamanism is a major influence across the whole of the northern hemisphere from Canada through Siberia and into eastern and central Asia. The cover of the paperback has an Eskimo ceremonial mask. The shaman is medicine man, magician, miracle worker, priest, mystic and poet. We immediately think of the drum and the ecstatic body, but think also of eagle feathers, rattle, and robe of an animal. Shamanism is still practiced but has suffered from commercial exploitation and the general erosion of native cultures. As a religion of fire and ice, climate change may be its final blow.

By Mircea Eliade,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

The foundational work on shamanism now available as a Princeton Classics paperback

Shamanism is an essential work on the study of this mysterious and fascinating phenomenon. The founder of the modern study of the history of religion, Mircea Eliade surveys the tradition through two and a half millennia of human history, moving from the shamanic traditions of Siberia and Central Asia-where shamanism was first observed-to North and South America, Indonesia, Tibet, China, and beyond. In this authoritative survey, Eliade illuminates the magico-religious life of societies that give primacy of place to the figure of the shaman-at once magician and medicine…


Book cover of Ashoka, The Visionary

Sylvia Vetta Author Of Sculpting the Elephant

From my list on India recovering its past.

Why am I passionate about this?

Thanks to access to a good community library, I developed an interest in history from the age of seven. My interest in India grew when I married Indian-born Atam Vetta. After teaching, I set up a business and was director of Oxford Antiques Centre. In 1998, while chair of the Thames Valley Art and Antique Dealers Association, I was invited to become the art and antiques writer for The Oxford Times. That was how my freelance writing career began but since 2016 I have concentrated on writing fiction and poetry but make occasional contributions to The Madras Courier.

Sylvia's book list on India recovering its past

Sylvia Vetta Why did Sylvia love this book?

To understand India it is important to know that it was the birthplace of four great religions, Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, and Sikhism. The Buddha was a Vedic teacher with a following in North East India. The emperor Ashoka was responsible for spreading the religion we know as Buddhism. Ashok Khanna’s account of Ashoka, the ruler of the Indian subcontinent for 37 years from 269 BCE traces the important influences Greek and Persian philosophy had on Indian society and the origins of Buddhism. Khanna describes Ashoka’s carved edicts on pillars and rocks extolling justice based on equal treatment for all. Ashoka is a much-needed example of good governance and Khanna’s account is assessable. You don’t need to know anything about Ashoka to read this book.  

5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in Buddhism, the Kabbalah, and Hinduism?

Buddhism 294 books
The Kabbalah 26 books
Hinduism 27 books