Living in the Light
By Shakti Gawain

Shakti Gawain’s “Living in the Light: 25th Anniversary Edition” conveys sound principals- embrace all aspects of yourself, listen to your intuition, meditate to go deep inside to listen to yourself. However, the book skims the surface and does not go deep to give actual suggestions on how to accomplish these goals.

There are worthwhile meditations and/or exercises in each chapter however, they’re a little elementary for practiced meditators. The book would make a good introduction to someone not familiar with the meditation and self-improvement field.

First you Sigh
By Beth Johnson

First You Sigh is, as of now, one of the undiscovered spiritual treasures. You won't find it on any best-seller lists but this self-published book has tremendous spiritual wisdom. Beth Johnson describes how toning and unique breathing exercises can help you achieve deeper levels of meditation than through traditional approaches. The use of toning is unusual in Western meditation since most meditation techniques used in the West are derived from Buddhist traditions which emphasized simply watching thoughts and sensations. Toning - the intentional making of certain sounds - helps the meditator get in touch with their body and access the "Silent Place," a realm of oneness beyond the body and mind. Chapter 14 has a step by step guide to accessing the Silent Place.

Personal note: So far, I have been amazed at how toning quiets my mind and lets me reach deeper levels of concentration. I haven't entered the Silent Place but after a week, I came to the doorstep of the Silent Place. I began feeling my body fall away into oneness; this was too much to handle and the fear was too strong for me to go further. However, I will keep doing the toning meditation because it holds the key to realizing we are more than just body and mind.

The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment
By Eckhart Tolle

Eckhart Tolle's first book is an incisive and forceful argument for the necessity of acceptance and the foolishness of living in states of resistance. This books serves as a powerful reminder both of how simple the process is and how deep it can go. Chapters 6 and 7 detail the profound spiritual states one can enter through complete acceptance of the physical forms of the NOW.

Personal Note: When I first picked up this book three years ago, I didn't understand a word that Eckhart Tolle was saying. I thought he was crazy with all his talk about us not being our minds. Nevertheless, I bought it because I felt there was some truth to what he was saying. Over the past several years, I have been able to personally verify a great majority of the content of his book. It helps so much to find a teacher that speaks, to you. Eckhart is the teacher that speaks directly to me and to millions of others.

A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose
By Eckhart Tolle

Eckhart Tolle's second full-length book is in some ways a "lite" version of the Power of Now. It is geared towards a more general audience. There are many more stories and parables in A New Earth than in the Power of Now. If you have read the Power of Now, you probably don't need A New Earth. Still, you may find many parts of A New Earth to be quite helpful, especially the extended content on how to find purpose in life. Furthermore, the real purpose of these books is to bring you into a state of presence, not to add any new ideas to your mind.

The Fall: The Insanity of the Ego in Human History and the Dawning of A New Era
By Steve Taylor

This is a wonderful book that attempts to explain, historically and anthropologically, how humanity has become so identified with the mind (i.e. so crazy.) This book is important because it provides evidence for the fact that it is not normal, evolutionarily, to be completely identified with the mind. By recognizing that we are in the grips of insanity, we can begin to become sane.