Best Spiritual Books of All Time

This is my list of the best spiritual books of all time. Some are spiritual enlightenment books, some are spiritual self-help books but they've all made my top spiritual books list for one reason - they're important spiritual readings and/or have moved me in some way.

I've read almost all of the books, some many times, some I'm still reading and some I've yet to read but have been told over and over again that it's a must-read, so they're sitting on my bookshelf waiting for just the right time to call out to me. ( Books are amazing messengers that way!)

As you read the list - pay attention to what book calls out to you - that's the one you should read next!

 

I broke the spiritual books down into three main categories - they're in no particular order. 

• Ancient times to 1939

• 1940 to 1989

• 1990 - to Present

• Bonus section: NDE's and Reincarnation. 

 

My New Favorite Spiritual Book: 

I highly recommend this book by Dr. Joe Dispenza! It's on energy, manifesting, and aligning with your true self. It goes deep into the power of the brain, frequencies, and tapping into Universal Energies to become supernatural. 

 

Best Spiritual Books of All Time - 2018  

* The Best Spiritual Books from Ancient times to 1939

 

Bhagavad - Gita (written between 5th and 2nd Centuries B.C.)

The Bhagavad Gita, meaning "the Song of God," is an epic poem written in Sanskrit that's both scripture and theology. The Gita is an exposition of Vedanta philosophy, it's also prophetic and a gospel in poetic expression that's message is timeless. It recounts the conversation between Arjuna the warrior and his charioteer Krishna, the manifestation of God, who reveals to the warrior his true cosmic form, counseling him to search for the universal perfection of life.

 

Tao Te Ching - Lao Tzu (written more than two thousand years ago.)

Tao Te Ching or "the Way" is composed of 81 verses - Many scholars consider this Chinese classic the ultimate commentary on the nature of existence. The book describes a way of living that's balanced, moral, and spiritual, and offers advice and guidance on integrity, joy, peace, and balance. "The master observes the world but trusts his inner vision."

 

Siddhartha - Hermann Hesse  1921

A man on a spiritual journey of self-discovery during the time of Buddha. Siddhartha is the son of a wealthy Brahmin family who decides to leave his home in the hopes of gaining spiritual illumination. Siddhartha discovers that true knowledge is guided from within. "What could I say to you that would be of value, except that perhaps you seek too much, that as a result of your seeking you cannot find."

 

Story of a Soul: The Autobiography of St. Therese of Lisieux - Thérèse de Lisieux

Two and a half years before her death in 1897 at the age of 24 Thérèse Martin began writing down her childhood memories. It was first published in 1898 and quickly became a modern spiritual classic, read by millions and translated into dozens of languages around the world.

 

Yoga Sutras of Patanjali (the text dates are unknown, scholars estimate the 2nd - 3rd century A.D. or 2nd century B.C.) 

This is the classical text on yoga and meditation. "Patanjali is to Yoga what Buddha is to Buddhism. The Sutras - defined as "the path to transcendence" - guide readers through the path of enlightenment from the stages of mindfulness to communion with your True Self. "Yoga is experienced in that mind which has ceased to identify with its vacillating waves of perception. When this happens, then the Seer is revealed, resting in its own essential nature, and one realizes the True Self."

 

The Prophet - Kahlil Gibran 1923

Kahlil Gibran is a poet, philosopher, and artist with The Prophet being is his most mystical and powerful work. The book is a collection of essays in prose as well as poetry, exploring the meaning of life and the condition of man. "And he alone is great who turns the voice of the wind into a song made sweeter by his own loving... And when you work with love you bind yourself to yourself, and to one another, and to God."

 

The Wisdom of Wallace D. Wattles Including The Science of Getting Rich, The Science of Being Great & The Science of Being Well 1808

One of the most influential authors of New Thought, who inspired modern books like “The Secret.” Wallace taught of a complete human being, healthy, purposeful, living in harmony, and rich enough to enjoy all that's good in life. "The Principle of Power gives us just what we ask of it; if we only undertake little things, it only gives us power for little things; but if we try to do great things in a great way it gives us all the power there is."

 

Thoughts are Things - Prentice Mulford 1908

Prentice Mulford was instrumental in the founding of the popular philosophy, New Thought, along with other notable writers including Ralph Waldo Emerson. Mulford's book, Thoughts are Things served as a guide to this new belief system and is still popular today.

 

The Science of Mind - Ernest Holmes 1938

Ernest Holmes, the founder of the United Church of Religious Science, combines the sacred teachings of Eastern and Western traditions, the nature of science, insights from psychology, and the wisdom from the great philosophers for a comprehensive guide to the limitless potential of the human. He explains the Universal principles that surround us and how we can use them to live a life with purpose and meaning. "The Spirit can do for us only what It can do through us. Unless we are able to provide the consciousness, It cannot make the gift."

 

The Master Key System - Charles F Haanel  1917

Thought is the powerful catalyst towards making any idea a reality. Based upon the principle of using thought as the manifestation of creative energy, The Master Key System shows you how to use the power of thought to realize your dreams and attract everything you need to achieve what you desire. "If you wish harmonious conditions in your life, you must develop a harmonious mental attitude. Your world without will be a reflection of your world within."

  

* The Best Spiritual Books from 1940 to 1989

 

Autobiography of a Yogi - Yogananda, Paramahansa  1946

Paramahansa Yogananda is widely revered as the father of Yoga in the West and founder of the Self-Realization Fellowship. This book is a beautifully written account of an exceptional life and a profound introduction to the ancient science of Yoga and its time-honored tradition of meditation. Profoundly inspiring, it is at the same time vastly entertaining, warmly humorous, and filled with extraordinary personages. "His unusual life-document is certainly one of the most revealing of the depths of the Hindu mind and heart and of the spiritual wealth of India, ever to be published in the West." - W.Y. Evans-Wentz  

 

The Magic of Believing - Claude M. Bristol 1948

"Belief - with its strange power, miracles happen and peculiar phenomena occur for which there appears to be no known explanation... Call it a phase of emotion, a spiritual force, a type of electrical vibration - but that's the force that brings outstanding results, sets the law of attraction into operation... Belief changes the tempo of the mind or thought-frequency."

 

The Power of Awareness - Neville Goddard 1952

Neville Goddard was known as one of the most influential teachers in the New Thought movement for many years. "While the I AM is infinite, you, by your concept of yourself, are displaying only a limited aspect of the infinite I AM... It is your destiny to rise to higher and higher states of consciousness, and to bring into manifestation more and more of creations infinite wonders."

 

Awakened Imagination - Neville Goddard 1946

"By imagination, we have the power to be anything we desire to be... Man becomes what he imagines. Imagination is the way, the truth, the life revealed. We cannot get hold of truth with the logical mind...every man must become conscious of this inner activity and see the relationship between the inner casual world of imagination and the outer world of effects."

 

Seth Speaks - The  Eternal Validity of the Oversoul  - Jane Roberts 1972

 Jane Roberts was one of the first to document and share her channeling sessions with the personality Seth through a number of books. "This book is Seth's way of demonstrating that human personality is multidimensional, that we exist in many realities at once, that the soul or inner self is not something apart from us, but the very medium in which we exist... consciousness is a state of becoming... you create far more environments than you realize." (I love all the Seth books!) 

 

Man's Search for Meaning - Viktor E. Frankl  1959

Psychiatrist Viktor Frankl's memoir has riveted generations of readers with its descriptions of life in Nazi death camps and its lessons for spiritual survival. Frankl argues that we cannot avoid suffering but we can choose how to cope with it, find meaning in it, and move forward with renewed purpose.

 

Think and Grow Rich - Napoleon Hill  1960

In Think and Grow Rich, Hill draws on stories of Andrew Carnegie, Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, and other millionaires of his generation to illustrate his principles. Money and material things are essential for freedom of body and mind, but there are some who will feel that the greatest of all riches can be evaluated only in terms of lasting friendships, loving family relationships, understanding, and introspective harmony which brings one true peace of mind! All who read, understand, and apply this philosophy will be better prepared to attract and enjoy these spiritual values.

 

The Wisdom of Florence Scovel Shinn - 4 complete books 1940

You can create anything you want simply by aligning your thoughts and words with the perfect good that resides divinely within you. With powerful stories, affirmations, and guidance she teaches us how to turn defeat into victory, lack into prosperity, fear into faith, and resentment into love. "Man receives only that which he gives...Man's thoughts, deeds, and words, return to him sooner or later, with astounding accuracy.”

 

The Power of Positive Thinking - Norman Vincent Peale 1952

Peale’s powerful message of faith and inspiration - "written with the sole objective of helping the reader achieve a happy, satisfying, and worthwhile life." Dr. Peale demonstrates the power of faith in action. With the practical techniques outlined in this book, you can energize your life—and give yourself the initiative needed to carry out your ambitions and hopes.

 

Be Here Now - Ram Dass 1971

Professor Richard Alpert – later renamed Ram Dass – left his life at Harvard with the nice car and Caribbean vacations behind because he couldn’t escape the feeling that something was missing. During a period of experimentation, Alpert peeled away each layer of his identity, disassociating from himself as a professor, a social cosmopolite, and lastly, as a physical being. Fear turned into exaltation upon the realization that at his truest, he was just his inner-self: a luminous being that he could trust indefinitely and love infinitely. And thus, a spiritual journey commenced.

Jonathan Livingston Seagull - Richard Bach 1970

This book is about, "People who make their own rules when they know they're right ... people who know there's more to this whole living thing than meets the eye..." In the book, Johnathan says, "Your whole body, from wingtip to wingtip is nothing more than your thought itself, in a form you can see. Break the chains of your thought, and you break the chains of the body too." 

 

The Teaching of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge - Carlos Castaneda 1968

The teachings of Don Juan is the story of a remarkable journey, the first awesome steps on the road to becoming a man of knowledge. "For me, there is only the traveling on paths that have heart, on any path that may have a heart. There I travel, and the only worthwhile challenge is to traverse its full length. And there I travel, looking, looking, breathlessly." (I enjoyed all of the Castaneda books.)

 

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance - Robert M. Pirsig 1974

A breathtaking meditation on how to live that transformed a generation: an unforgettable narration of a summer motorcycle trip across America's Northwest, undertaken by a father and his young son. "It is at once the story of a motorcycle journey across the country; a meditation on values and the concept of Quality; and an allegorical tale of a man coming to terms with his past.”

 

The Road Less Traveled - M. Scott Peck 1978

"Life is difficult and that the journey to spiritual growth is a long one." The Road Less Traveled continues to enable us to explore the nature of loving relationships and leads us toward a new serenity and fullness of life. It helps us determine how to distinguish dependency from love; how to become a more sensitive parent; and ultimately how to become one's own true self.

 

The Seat of The Soul - Gary Zukav 1989

The Seat of the Soul is about human perception past the five senses, it's about the values of the soul -  harmony, cooperation, sharing and reverence for Life. It's about authentic power - the alignment of the personality with the soul. One of Oprah's favorite quotes: "When the personality comes fully to serve the energy of its soul, that is authentic empowerment."

 

The Tao of Pooh - Benjamin Hoff 1982

One of the world's great Taoist masters is in fact, the effortlessly calm, still, reflective bear - Winnie-the-Pooh. "The masters of life know the Way, for they listen to the voice within them, the voice of wisdom and simplicity, the voice that reasons beyond Cleverness and knows beyond Knowledge."

 

The Abundance Book - John Randolph Price 1987

This classic book introduces readers to a 40-day prosperity plan which points out to readers what "money" really is and teaches a six-step program which shows them how to free their minds from limiting beliefs. The perfect pocket book to keep you aligned! "Your only Source is the God Presence within you. If your mind is on the Source, the Cause, the supply flow freely."

  

* The Best Spiritual Books from 1990 to Present

 

The Art of Happiness: A Handbook for Living - Dalai Lama 1998

The Dalai Lama will tell you that happiness is the purpose of life but how to get there has always been the question. Through conversations, stories, and meditations, the Dalai Lama shows us how to defeat day-to-day anxiety, insecurity, anger, and discouragement. This book has touched countless lives and uplifted spirits around the world.

 

The Book of Joy - Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu 2016

Archbishop Tutu traveled to the Dalai Lama's home in Dharamsala, India, to celebrate His Holiness's eightieth birthday and to create what they hoped would be a gift for others. They looked back on their long lives to answer a single burning question: How do we find joy in the face of life's inevitable suffering? We get to listen as they explore the Nature of True Joy and confront each of the Obstacles of Joy—from fear, stress, and anger to grief, illness, and death.

 

The 7 Spiritual Laws of Success: A Practical Guide to the Fulfillment of Your Dreams - Deepak Chopra  1994

"These are the same principles that nature uses to create everything in material existence - everything we can see, hear, smell, taste, or touch...We need a more spiritual approach to success and to affluence, which is the abundant flow of all good things to you. With the knowledge and practice of spiritual law, we put ourselves in harmony with nature and create with carefreeness, joy, and love."

 

A Course in Miracles - Dr. Helen Schucman  2007

The Course is a complete self-study spiritual thought system that teaches forgiveness as the road to inner peace and the remembrance of God. "When you have been caught in the world of perception you are caught in a dream. You cannot escape without help, because everything your senses show merely witness to the reality of the dream. God has provided the Answer, the only Way out the true Helper."

 

Living Buddha, Living Christ - Thich Nhat Hanh 1995

Thich Nhat Hanh has been part of a decades-long dialogue between two great contemplative traditions and brings to Christianity an appreciation of its beauty that could be conveyed only by an outsider. In lucid, meditative prose, he explores the crossroads of compassion and holiness at which the two traditions meet, and he reawakens our understanding of both. "On the altar in my hermitage," he says, "are images of Buddha and Jesus, and I touch both of them as my spiritual ancestors."

 

A Return to Love - Marianne Williamson 1992

A bestselling spiritual guide in which Marianne Williamson shares her reflections on A Course in Miracles and her insights on the application of love in the search for inner peace. "Love is what we were born with. Fear is what we have learned here. The spiritual journey is the relinquishment - or unlearning - of fear and the acceptance of love back into our hearts."

 

The Law of Divine Compensation - On Work, Money, and Miracles - Marianne Williamson 2012

"The Universe is the handwriting of God, and it is both self-organizing and self-correcting. Where there is lack, the Universe is already planning to remove it from your circumstances. That is the Law of Divine Compensation. The only thing that can deactivate the Law is if you have more faith in the reality of lack than in the reality of Law."

 

 

Life Visioning: A Transformative Process for Activating Your Unique Gifts and Highest Potential - Michael Bernard Beckwith 2012

Spiritual leader and founder of the Agape International Spiritual Center in Los Angeles, Michael Beckwith is passionate about teaching us how to connect with God, our Higher-Self and live on purpose. This book is the perfect guide to help you on your journey.  "Why have you been given this singular treasure that is your life―and how will you use it? What is the purpose of the unique blend of gifts, skills, experiences, and perspectives that you alone possess?"

 

Spiritual Liberation: Fulfilling Your Soul's Potential - Michael Bernard Beckwith 

"My central message is not about religiosity or churchianity. It is about aspiring toward spiritual liberation, which I define as becoming free from the narrow confines of fear, doubt, worry, and lack, and living instead from a conscious awareness of one's Authentic Self, one's true nature of wholeness... "   

 

The Untethered Soul - Michael Singer 2007

This book is an inward journey and journey of the soul - how to live in the present moment and free yourself from habitual thoughts, emotions, and energy patterns that limit your consciousness. "Deep within us, there is a direct connection to the Divine... Spiritual growth can be experienced just like anything else."

 

A New Earth - Eckhart Tolle

Discover the freedom and joy of a life lived “in the now” - awaken to a new state of consciousness and follow the path to a truly fulfilling existence. A New Earth is a profoundly spiritual manifesto for a better way of life—and for building a better world.

 

Inspiration - Your Ultimate Calling - Wayne Dyer 2006

The benefits of living an inspired life: Your mind transcends all limitations, Your consciousness expands in every direction, Dormant forces, faculties, and talents come alive. Connect with Spirit and discover yourself to be a greater person by far than you ever dreamed yourself to be. 

 

The Power of Intention  - Wayne Dyer 2004

We are all one with the Universal mind of intention, which is creative, loving, expansive, abundant, and receptive - we can live in harmony and co-create with the Universal life force to live an abundant, and inspired life. "We can find spiritual solutions to problems by living at higher levels and calling upon faster energies."

 

The Great Work of Your Life: A Guide for the Journey to Your True Calling - Stephen Cope 2012

"Stephen Cope - the founder of Kripalu - says that in order to have a fulfilling life, you must discover the deep purpose hidden at the very core of your self. In this book, he describes the process of unlocking the unique possibility harbored within every human soul...The secret can be found in the pages of a two-thousand-year-old spiritual classic called the Bhagavad Gita. In order to make this tale relevant today, he shares stories from those who have embodied such principles."

 

Radical Acceptance: Embracing Your Life with the Heart of a Buddha - Tara Brach 2004

“Believing that something is wrong with us is deep and tenacious suffering...This suffering emerges in crippling self-judgments and conflicts in our relationships, in addictions and perfectionism, in loneliness and overwork--all the forces that keep our lives constricted and unfulfilled." Includes day-to-day practical guidance developed over Dr. Brach’s twenty years of work.

 

Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself - Dr. Joe Dispenza

A new science is emerging that empowers all human beings to create the reality they choose. Dr. Joe Dispenza combines the fields of quantum physics, neuroscience, biology, and genetics to show you what is truly possible with step-by-step tools to make changes in any area of your life - he bridges the gap between science and spirituality. "The quantum field responds not to what we want; it responds to who we are being."

 

Peace Is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life - Thich Nhat Hanh

World-renowned Zen master and spiritual leader teach us the practice of mindfulness and being conscious in the everyday moments of life - he offers methods for continuing the quest for spiritual fulfillment amid daily modern life.

 

Conversations with God - Neale Donald Walsch 1995

"God talks to everybody. The good and the bad. The saint and the scoundrel...When the student is ready, the teacher will appear. This book is our teacher... This book was not written by me, it happened to me... This book addresses most of the questions we have ever asked."

 

The Alchemist - Paulo Coelho 1993

This is the mystical story of Santiago, an Andalusian shepherd boy who yearns to travel in search of a worldly treasure. His quest leads him to riches far different than he ever imagined, but far more satisfying. His journey teaches us to listen to our heart, how to recognize opportunity, how to read the omens strewn along life's path, and to follow our dreams.

 

The Way: Using the Wisdom of Kabbalah for Spiritual Transformation and Fulfillment - Michael Berg 2002

Michael Berg shows you how to recognize and understand the key spiritual laws in order to improve your life and the lives of everyone around you. The Way will teach you meditation and prayer techniques and how to reduce emotional chaos and increase personal harmony - The Way provides the spiritual power tools to attain true fulfillment and happiness.

 

The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying - Sogyal Rinpoche 2012

The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, written by Sogyal Rinpoche, is the ultimate introduction to Tibetan Buddhist wisdom. An enlightening, inspiring, and comforting manual for life and death that the New York Times calls, “The Tibetan equivalent of [Dante’s] The Divine Comedy.”

 

Frequency - The Power of Personal Vibration - Penny Peirce  2009

"As we move from the Information Age to the Intuition Age, we need new methods for navigating in an accelerating world. Inside us and everywhere around us, life is vibrating - each of us has a personal vibration that accurately communicates who we are to the world and helps shape our reality. Learning to manage our own energy state can put us on track with our destiny."

 

The Book of Awakening: Having the Life You Want by Being Present to the Life You Have - Mark Nepo 2000

Poet and teacher Mark Nepo provides small doses of what really matters, simple truths and stories from everyday lives, plus inspiration from the great wisdom traditions. Each day’s entry is accompanied by simple, yet profound, practices designed to help us live the life we want by being present to the life we have.

 

The Celestine Prophecy by James Redfield

 A story that draws on ancient wisdom telling you how to make connections among the events happening in your life right now and the future. It's an adventure, discovery, and guidebook that has the power to crystallize your perceptions of why you're where you are in life and how to direct your steps with a new energy and optimism as you head into tomorrow.

 

The Law of Attraction: The Basics of the Teachings of Abraham by Esther and Jerry Hicks 2006

This book presents the powerful basics of the original Teachings of Abraham. Within these pages, you’ll learn how all things, wanted and unwanted, are brought to you by this most powerful law of the universe, the Law of Attraction.

 

T

The Secret - Rhonda Byrne 2006

"Fragments of a Great Secret have been found in the oral traditions, in literature, in religions and philosophies throughout the centuries. You’ll begin to understand the hidden, untapped power that’s within you, and this revelation can bring joy to every aspect of your life."

 

The Power - Rhonda Byrne 2010

"Every discovery, invention, and human creation comes from The Power. Perfect health, incredible relationships, a career you love, a life filled with happiness, and the money you need to be, do and have everything you want, all come from The Power."

 

The Universe Has Your Back: Transform Fear to Faith - Gabrielle Bernstein 2016

Gabrielle Bernstein teaches readers how to transform their fear into faith in order to live a divinely guided life. "My commitment with this book is to wake up as many people as possible to their connection to faith and joy. In that connection, we can be guided to our true purpose: to be love and spread love."

 

Power vs. Force - David R. Hawkins 1995

"We think we live by forces we control, but in fact, we are governed by power from unrevealed sources, power over which we have no control. The universe holds its breath as we choose, instant by instant, which pathway to follow; for the universe, the very essence of life itself is highly conscious... Our decisions ripple through the universe of consciousness to affect the lives of all."

 

Quantum Success - The Astonishing Science of Wealth and Happiness - Sandra Anne Taylor 2006

Quantum Success is based on the principles of quantum physics, and you can actually tap into these powerful forces to make your dreams come true. By understanding the science of attraction and manifestation, you can take a quantum leap into a life of unparalleled prosperity and happiness.

 

Your Best Life Now: 7 Steps to Living at Your Full Potential - Joel Osteen 2004

"We become what we believe - Our beliefs will prove either a barrier or vehicle as we strive to go higher, rise above our obstacles, and to live in health, abundance, and victory ...our self-image should mirror exactly what God says about us, not what we feel or think... for if you can see the invisible, God will do the impossible." 

 

Playing the Matrix: A Program for Living Deliberately and Creating Consciously - Mike Dooley 2017

Playing the Matrix lays out the actual physical and metaphysical mechanics of manifestation, including your role in the equation of reality creation, so that you can deliberately orchestrate the changes you most wish to see. Once you begin working with the Universe you will truly astound yourself.

 

Reflections on the Art of Living: A Joseph Cambell Companion  1995

Drawn from a month-long workshop at the world-famous Esalen Institute held in celebration of the scholar's eightieth birthday, the Joseph Campbell Companion captures Campbell at his best: wise, funny, intelligent and inspiring. "Each of us has individual capacities. The real trick is knowing the machinery of the boat in which you are crossing the channel."

 

Everyday Enlightenment: The twelve gateways to Personal Growth - Dan Millman 

Dan Millman makes your ascent accessible by bringing enlightenment down to earth-applying spiritual wisdom to the practical realities of everyday life. Explore the challenges and mysteries of body, mind, and emotions.