Recommended Reading

Regardless of whether you follow a particular spiritual path or not, reading which may widen your understanding of spirituality and the inner self can often prove helpful. It may bring reflection on your lifestyle and your present values while you are taking time out from ordinary living – or even give you a greater vision of humanity and God than you might have had before. It is for this reason that this very short list is not organised according to any particular religion or spiritual path.

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Selected Books by Stafford Whiteaker, author of The Good Retreat Guide

The Little Book of Inner Space
Stafford Whiteaker, Rider, London 1998
An international best-seller, translated into over seven languages. Do you sometimes feel swamped? Or ask, “Where’s the real me?” Such eternal questions can be answered deep inside us in the sanctuary of our essential spirit. This indispensable little book shows you how to find this place of retreat from the hectic world – and how to emerge from it fresh and renewed.

Living the Sacred - Ten Gateways to open your heart
Stafford Whiteaker, Rider Books, London 2000
Getting in touch with our spiritual self and practising the sacred in our everyday lives is our birthright. It is essential for our physical, mental and emotional health. However, few of us know where to look, and also how it will help if we manage to catch a glimpse of the true self at the heart of our being. In this book Stafford Whiteaker offers ten gateways to letting spirituality flourish in our lives. These can be explored no matter where or who we are – Christian, Buddhist, New Age or of no particuilar persuasion. Included is the use of silence, meditation, midfulness, prayer and the arts of loving, dreaming and celebration.
"Buy it!" – Daily Express
 

Best Yoga Centres & Retreats
Stafford Whiteaker, Rider Books, 2003
Over 400 places in the UK and Europe for the best yoga activities. Tells you what yoga is and how and where to get started on this ancient spiritual path to good health and healing.
 

Books recommended by Stafford Whiteaker

A Journey with Jonah: the Spirituality of Bewilderment
Paul Murray OP, The Columba Press, Dublin 2002
A short but charming study of the story of Jonah and the whale. While being theologically sound, is both amusing and inspiring in our struggle to recognize our human failings and the voice of God in our lives.

A Thirst for God: Daily Readings with St. Francis de Sales
D LT, London 1985
A very old spirituality book but one which remains ever popular for its direct manner and appeal to the way most people feel. Perhaps an old-fashioned kind of language but still very helpful in the spiritual life.

Bhagavad-Gita
Penguin, London
The more we become aware of the world’s religions, the more we can see the common threads of life woven by God. Here are excerpts from the great Hindu sacred spiritual masterpiece.

Confessions Saint Augustine
Trans. R.S. Pine-Coffin, Penguin Books, London 2002
One of the most famous of all confessions of a soul. It remains a work which inspires us to realise that no matter how low we fall in life there is hope that we can rise again. The story of a sinner who became one of the world’s most loved and influencial saints.

Crossing – Reclaiming the Landscape of Our Lives
Mark Barrett, DTL, London 2007
A new and fresh look at the famous Christian Divine Office which is the book of daily prayers used by monks and nuns. Brother Mark, a monk himself, takes us on a journey through his days with prayers with thoughts and observations on God and life that have been written with love and understanding.

Dark Night of the Soul: St. John of the Cross
Dover Publications Inc 2003
St. John is one of the greatest poets of Spain and Spanish literature and among the most famous Christian saints and mystics. Previous translations in English have been done from a strictly traditional Christian point of view and often in obscure and out-of-fashion language. Starr’s new translation is done from an wide-open spirituality perspective in everyday modern language. It is a wonderful way to discover the thinking and inspiration of this mystic and it makes him available to everyone.

The Desert Fathers
Helen Waddell, The University of Michigan Press, 1957
Put aside all those ’little books’ that they sell today and try this one instead. Here is wisdom from men and women who went to the wilderness and listened to God. Short, snappy, and right to the point saying. Some will make you laugh with self-recognition and others help you to live a sacred life. You may be like thousands before you and find you love these first hermits who yearned for God above all else.

Essential Rumi
Translated by Coleman Barks, Penguin, 2004
The most beauty of Sufi mystics and one of the world’s great poets. No mind that seeks God should be without knowledge of this remarkable and gifted holy man.

Essential Gay Mystics
Andrew Harvey, HarpersCollins, New York 1997
A collection about saints and holy men and women who were gay. This book will help to heal the wounds of all who have experienced rejection and exclusion from organised religions and to inspire everyone, gay or not.

Faith beyond Resentment: Fragments Catholic & Gay
James Allison, DTL, London 2001
Written by a respected Roman Catholic theologian, this book is directed at lesbian and gay people but is an inspiration for anyone who may read it. Hard hitting, bibically sound, and doesn’t avoid current church issues.

Golden Age of Zen
John C. H. Wu, World Wisdom Books, 2004
Here is a good beginning to understand the silent and still power of the spirituality of Zen Buddhism.

Good News Bible
The Bible Society, HarperCollins, London 1994
Immensely popular and easy to read modern translation of the bible. Likle mopst people you probably use many expressions every day which springs from the bible. Here is a chance to find out the story behind those words – and to be inspired by the ‘greatest book ever written.’

In Search of Nature
Edward O. Wilson, Island Press, Washington DC, USA 1996
The teacher of the importance of bio-diversity in nature and our need to recognize its importance. This book may seem strange on a list of spirituality readings, but read it and you will regain consciousness of the wonder of our earth and the marvel of life.

Interior Prayer: Carthusian Novice Conferences
Darton, Longman & Todd, London 1996
Here we share in the initiation of a group of young monks as they are introduced to the practice of prayer. We learn about the prayer process. A dazzling insight into little known and traditionally hidden ways to God.

Introducing The New Testament
John Drane, Lion Hudson, 2010
John Drane explains in an easy to understand way these most famous of all sacred texts. People, places, and the meaning of events bring a deeper and clearer understanding of the message of God.

Koran
Translated by N.J. Dawood, Penguin, 2003
This is a good translation into English of the sacred book of Islam which all serious pilgrims on the spiritual path should read and study for inspiration and guidance on their journey.

Meister Eckhart, The Essential Sermons
Paulist Press, New York, 1981
The thoughts of a profound mystic which are as meanful for our lives today as when they were first written centuries ago.

Currently not in print

Muhammad: A Short Biography
Martin Forward, Oneworld, Oxford 1998
If we are to understand the importance and place of Islam in our lives and to be helped spiritually, then it is important to read about the life of the last prophet of God.

Principles of – Native American Spirituality
Dennis Renault & Tomothy Freke, Thorsons, London 1996
Here are just a few of the profound aspects of a spirituality that could not be killed or forgotten and that lives today in our modern lives, answering many of our quests for a more spiritual life and one which is connected to the life of all things.

New Jerusalem Bible
Darton, Longman & Todd, London 1990
One of the very best translations of the history of God in the lives of men and women. These words are meant for everyone. The holy scriptures that changed the world.

New Seeds of Contemplation
Thomas Merton, Shambhala, 2003
Christian monk and a writer who reached the hearts of many men and women, Merton is always seeking God and inspires us to do the same through this book and his many others.

Path of Life
Cyprian Smith, Gracewing, 1995
Another monk writing here for us in a time of the world which finds everything we know and understand changing. A book which helps all who wish to accept the challnge of living to the full their Christian vocation… and for all perhaps who want and need structure and comprehension in the way they live out a sacred life.

Paths of Solitude
Eve Baker, St. Pauls, 1995
If you have ever been drawn to live alone in solitude for spiritual reason, then Eve Baker's book will be a good introduction to the solitary life as a part of your spiritual journey.

Currently not in print

Practice of the Presence of God
Brother Lawrence, Wilder, 2008
The happiest of spiritual guidance books! Written centuries ago by a modest monk in plain language, this little book explains how to live in the presence of God every minuteb of the day – not just when you pray but when you cook and scrub and go to your office and drive the car. This humble but holy man really got it right.

Souls on Fire
Elie Wiesel (Editor), Pocket Books, 1986
Jewish Hasidism produced many rabbis whose deeds and stories still can impact on our souls and inspire our lives. Elie Wiesel, Editor is one of the great tellers of tales in our time and here he brings us the delight and adventure of the Hasidic spiritual masters.

Teachings from the silent mind
Ven. Ajahn Sumedho, Aamaravati Buddhist Centre, 1987
A selection of talks to help you along your spiritual journey by a Buddhist monk who was born and educated in America, Japan and Thailand.

Currently not in print

Way of the Shaman
Michael Harner, HarperCollins, New York, 1990
The classic book about shaumanism and the way of the spirit world by a man who not only studied the subject but who made his own journey through this invisible realty.

Western Buddhism
Kulananda, HarpersCollins, 1997
An excellent book about Buddhism which explains this religion in ways easy to understand for Western men and women.

An excellent ordering source for books about Buddhism.

www.wisdom-books.com