Books on the Inner Life

by Gregory Allen Butler

Chances are, if you are on this site, you enjoy reading literature and books on the inner life. As a writer who focuses frequently on that subject, I get asked what books I read or recommend. Below is a list of books that have impacted me more than most; that have made their way into my permanent library. Some of these have had such an impact that I would call them life shaking, that have caused revolutions in the way my mind works; books that while reading keep me up all night lost in contemplation, pondering the mysteries of the infinite.

Each of these books serves as a meditation on Oneness. Oneness is the doorway to pure consciousness. The more we can identify with our eternal nature of consciousness, the more completely we can dissociate from our limited past, and progress on our inner journey.

God Speaks -- The Themes of Creation and Its Purpose, by Meher Baba. A detailed and authoritative explanation of consciousness and oneness by a spiritual master who is one with God. No one else could have written it.
Devotional Nonduality (Discovery of the Presence of God), by Dr. David Hawkins. A priceless manual for traversing the inner path.
Power vs. Force, by Dr. David R. Hawkins. A detailed look at Attractor Energy Patterns and the continuum of consciousness.
The Power of Now, by Eckhart Tolle. The most detailed treatise on the present moment I have ever seen. A great primer for understanding consciousness.
A New Earth, by Eckhart Tolle. A thoughtful analysis of the ego's structure and how it obstructs access to consciousness with plenty of information and examples of how to overcome the obstruction.
Stay with God, by Francis Brabazon. Food for the mind and a feast for the soul.
The Bhagavad Gita This great Hindu text of Krishna talking to his disciple Arjuna is one of the most powerful revelations of God to man you will ever read.
Wholeness and the Implicate Order, by David Bohm. One of the first books to cross the chasmbetween science and mysticism. A detailed look at the dangers of fragmentation and the understanding of the universe as an explicate manifestation of an unmanifested and all pervasive implicate order.
The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, by Swami Nikhilananda. An intimate look at life with a Perfect Master. Helps to understand how Ramakrishna's disciple Vivekananda could raise 7,000 souls in Chicago to their feet with the simple words, "Sisters and Brothers of America."
Handbook to Higher Consciousness, by Ken Keyes, Jr. An easy to read and helpful step-by-step manual for entering the inner realms of consciousness.
Tao Te Ching, by Lao Tsu. A timeless classic of mystical wisdom.
The Power of Myth, by Joseph Campbell with Bill Moyers. A great exploration about the underlying universality of truth behind myth and religion from around the world.
Essays of Ralph Waldo Emerson. Timeless writings from America's most famous and prolific mystic.
The Holographic Universe, by Michael Talbot. An important in-depth look at oneness, illusion and science, put together in a layman's language. A great way to defragment your consciousness.
Autobiography of a Yogi, by Paramahansa Yogananda An intimate look at one of the great spiritual masters of the modern era.
The Spiritual Teaching of Ramana Maharshi, by Ramana Maharshi. Another intimate look at a great spiritual master, with Q&A.
The Tao of Physics, by Fritjof Capra. A pioneering book showing the common ground of Eastern mysticism and quantum physics.

This list of books on the inner life comprises those that have most shaped my thinking and understanding of consciousness and the nature of wholeness. Your comments on what books have most influenced you would be welcomed.