Suggested Books

Here is a collection of books on beauty, creativity, spirituality, right action, meditation, and nothing in particular. "Words can only be the finger pointing at the moon, when they're not getting in the way."

See also CDs, Videos.

Philosophy and Spirituality and Science

James V Hardt, Ph.D., "The Art of Smart Thinking"

Mikkel Aalund, "The Sword of Heaven "

Bohm, "Wholeness and the Implicate Order ", Ark. Physics placed in a metaphysical context.

Jean Shinoda Bolan, "Goddesses in Every Woman "

Kathleen A. Brehony, "Ordinary Grace ".

• Breton and Largent, "The Paradigm Conspiracy".
• Alexander Carmichael, "Carmina Gadelica", charms, prayers, incantations from Scottish Highlands.
• Robert van de Castle, "Our Dreaming Mind".
• Jon Carter Covell, Abbot Sobin Yamada, "Unraveling Zen's Red Thread, Ikkyu's Controversial Way", 1980, Hollym International, Elizabeth, New Jersey, Seoul, Korea.
• Conversations with the Dalai Lama, "Consciousness at the Crossroads".
• The Dalai Lama, "Kindness, Clarity and Insight", Snow Lion.
• Roy Eugene Davies, "Life Surrendered in God".
• Paul Davies, "The Mind of God: The Scientific Basis for a Rational World", Touchstone (Simon & Schuster).
• Peter Ellis, "The Druids".
• Fields and Taylor, "Chop Wood, Carry Water".
• Forte, "Entheogens and the Future of Religion".
• Buckminster Fuller, "Critical Path".
• Daniel Goleman, "Emotional Intelligence".
• Stanislov Grof, "Beyond the Brain".
• Godfrey Higgins, "The Celtic Druids". Tibetan comparisons.
• Hofstadter, "Godel, Escher, Bach". Wide ranging fugues on mind and consciousness.
• Thomas Hoover, "The Zen Experience", 1980, Plume (New American Library). History of Ch'an and Zen by focusing on 18 Chinese and Japanese Masters. Easily readable yet deep. Out of print as of 2000.
• Housden, "Sacred America".
• Jung, "Psychology and Religion".
• Howard Kahane, "Logic and Philosophy, A Modern Introduction", Aristotelian and Pythagorean.
• Tom Kenyon, "Brain States"
• Lama Anaganika Govinda, "Foundations of Tibetan Mysticism". Mantras, comparison of Hindu and Tibetan traditions.
• Lama Surya Das, "Awakening the Buddha Within".
• Laszlo, Grof, and Russell, "The Consciousness Revolution".
• Erynn Laurie, "A Circle of Stones".
• John Lennon, "Imagine", Macmillan. A very modern philosopher.
• Caitlin and John Matthews, "Encyclopedia of Celtic Wisdom"
• Arthur I. Miller, "Insights of Genius".
• Robert Ornstein, "Evolution of Consciousness".
• Marvin Minsky, "The Society of Mind".
• Adam Powell, "Living Buddhism".
• Michael Poynder, "Pi in the Sky".
• Martin Rees, "Just Six Numbers".
• Leonard Shlain, "The Alphabet vs. the Goddess"
• Leonard Shlain, "Art and Physics"
• Shunryu Suzuki (Suzuki Roshi), "Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind", 1970, Weatherhill, New York, Tokyo, subtitled "Informal talks on Zen meditation and practice", by the first master of the San Francisco Zen Center. Still in print and possibly the best place to begin and continue.
• Chögyam Trungpa, "The Myth of Freedom", 1976, Shambhala.
• Norman Waddell, "The Essential Teachings of Zen Master Hakuin; A Translation of the Sikko-Roku", 1994, Kaien-Fusetsu, Shambhala.
• Ken Wilber, "A Brief History of Everything".
• Philip B. Yampolsky, "The Zen Master Hakuin".
• "The Tao of Pooh".
• 1999 Zen Bestsellers

Meditation and BioFeedback

• James H. Austin, "Zen and the Brain: Toward an Understanding of Meditation and Consciousness", 1998, MIT Press.
• Roy Eugene Davies, "Master Guide to Meditation and Spiritual Growth".
• Mariella Fischer-Williams, M.D., Alfred J. Nigl, David L. Sovine, M.D., "Textbook of Biological Feedback", paperback.
• Frager, "Heart, Self and Soul. The Sufi Psychology of Growth, Balance, and Harmony".
• Fuerstein, "The Yoga Tradition".
• Tomio Hirai, "Zen Meditation and Psychotherapy".
• Christmas Humphreys, "Concentration and Meditation: A Manual of Mind Development", 3rd edition 1968, Shambhala, Pelican. Previous editions 1935 and 1941. Practical and philosophical. ISBN 1862042608 (April 1998, paperback).
• Rob Kall, Joe Kamiya, and Gary Schartz, "Applied Neurophysiology and Brain Biofeedback", expected 2000, Advance orders. Chapter by James V. Hardt, Ph.D., "Explorations in Awareness: A technology for Mind Development and Spiritual Awakening".
• Mark Schwartz & Associates, "Biofeedback; A Practitioner's Guide", 2nd Edition, hardcover. "This is another must-have book if you are a professional working with biofeedback. It is over 900 pages packed with detailed discussion of different modalities and approaches. "
• John Stevens, "Aikido", and "Abundant Peace".
• Chögyam Trungpa, "Meditation in Action", 1969, Shambhala.
• "Autobiography of a Yogi".
• J. Allan Hobson, "The Dreaming Brain".

Health and Self-Actualization

For example, Stress Reduction and Management

• Pierce J. Howard, Ph.D., "The Owner's Manual for the Brain".
• Roy Eugene Davies, "An Easy Guide to Ayurveda".
• Gerry Maguire Thompson, "Atlas of the New Age".
• Dharma Singh Khalsa, "Brain Longevity".
• Vernon H. Mark, M.D., Jeffrey P. Mark, "Brain Power", Houghton Mifflin. Nutrition and exercise for the brain.
• Madison and Brown, "The Greens Cookbook".
• Musashi, "Book of Five Rings".
• Paul Pitchford, "Healing with Whole Foods".
• Evelyn Roehl, "Whole Food Facts".
• Madison and Brown, "The Greens Cookbook".
• Andrew Weil, "The Natural Mind", 1972 and later, Houghton Mifflin.

Creativity

• James Burke, "Connections", Little, Brown. Discovery and invention. See also the video series.
• James Burke, "The Day the Universe Changed", Little Brown. Discovery and invention. See also the video series.
• Howard Gardner, "Art, Mind & Brain", Basic Books. "In this fascinating and informative book, Gardner explores all aspects of creativity. A scholar of extraordinary breadth, Gardner here brings together insights from developmental psychology, neuropsychology, philosophy, and other areas in cognitive science."
• G. Polya, "How to Solve It", Dover. The classic catalog of heuristics, always in print. It focuses on mathematics, but has wide applicability.

Think Globally, Act Locally

• Robert Axelrod, "The Evolution of Cooperation", 1984, Basic Books, NY. Computer simulations of conflict and cooperation.
• Rosalind Creasy, "Cooking from the Garden", Sierra Club Books. How to combine the benefits of many kinds of gardening with delicious cuisine.
• Jean Giono (1895-1970), "The Man Who Planted Trees", 1985, Chelsea Green. Originally published in 1954 in Vogue as "The Man Who Planted Hope and Grew Happiness". See also the animated film and spoken word CD and cassette.
• Paul Hawken, "The Ecology of Commerce: A Declaration of Sustainability", 1993, Harper Business, Basic Books.
• "The Edible Landscape". Why shouldn't beauty be delicious? Gardening is a meditative activity and there's nothing like good food for health.
• Donald Woods, "Biko", the revised edition, 1987, 1979, Henry Holt. A biography of an enlightened being who stands as a towering example of personal courage speaking truth to power. See also the movie "Cry Freedom" starring Denzel Washington and Kevin Kline.
• "The Book of Tea", Flammarion (publisher).

Fiction and Beauty

• Mickey Hart
• Herman Hesse, "Siddhartha".
• Yasunari Kawabata, "The Master of Go", 1951, 1972. Nobel prize winner Kawabata considers this his finest novel.
• Sarah McLaughlan, book of recipes.
• Carl Sagan, "The Demon Haunted World".
• A. Zee, "Fearful Symmetry". Physics.
• "Mathematics: the Science of Pattern", Scientific American.
• "Hokusai" (2).
• "Encyclopedia of the Butterfly World", Crescent. Too beautiful for words.
• "The Encyclopedia of Tibetan Symbols and Motifs".

Scriptures and Classical Tracts

• "The Tibetan Book of the Dead", Freemantle and Trungpa, Shambhala.
• Alan Alexander Milne, "Winnie-the-Pooh", 1926, illustrated by Ernest H. Shepard. A Taoist philosophy, all the better for being unintentional.
• Shinyo Suguro, "Introduction to the Lotus Sutra".
• Lao Tzu, "The Tao Te-Ching", new translation. The classic poetic insight into Taoism.
• Wu Cheng'en, "Journey to the West", 3 volumes. Classic Chinese allegory.
• "Bhagavad Gita"
• "Bible"
• "Qu'ran" (Koran)
• "Ramayana", ex. version by Krishna Dharma