suggested readings
** Denotes a favorite
Mysticism
**Healing the Divide: Recovering Christianity’s Mystic Roots – Amos Smith
A Course in Mysticism and Miracles – Jon Mundy
The Interior Castle: St. Teresa of Avila – Translation by Mirabai Starr
**Ordinary Mysticism: Your Life as Sacred Ground – Mirabai Starr
In Love with Everything: Apophatic Mysticism, The Benefits and Dangers of Love Without Reason – Raymond Carl Sigrist
“Canticle of the Sun,” by St. Francis of Assisi, and Joseph Smith’s “Olive Leaf” (online article)
yeshua
**Resurrecting Jesus: Embodying the Spirit of a Revolutionary Mystic – Adyashanti
The Wisdom Jesus: Transforming Heart and Mind – a New Perspective on Christ and His Message – Cynthia Bourgeault
Prayers of the Cosmos: Reflections on the Original Meaning of Jesus’s Words – Neil Douglas-Klotz
** The Hidden Gospel: Decoding the Spiritual Message of the Aramaic Jesus – Neil Douglas-Klotz
Revelations of the Aramaic Jesus: The Hidden Teachings on Life & Death – Neil Douglas-Klotz
The Universal Christ: How a Forgotten Reality Can Change Everything We See, Hope for and Believe – Richard Rohr
Mary Magdalene and the hidden gospels
The Meaning of Mary Magdalene: Discovering the Woman at the Heart of Christianity – Cynthia Bourgeault
**The Gospel of Mary Magdalene – Jean Yves LeLoup
The Gospel of Mary Magdala: Jesus and the First Woman Apostle – Karen L. King
**Mary Magdalene Revealed: The First Apostle, Her Feminist Gospel & the Christianity We Haven’t Tried Yet – Meggan Watterson
Beyond Belief: The Secret Gospel of Thomas – Elaine Pagels
**The Gospel of Thomas: The Gnostic Wisdom of Jesus – Jean Yves Le Loup
A New New Testament: A Bible for the 21st Century Combining Traditional and Newly Discovered Texts – Hal Taussig
The Nag Hammadi Scriptures: The Revised and Updated Translation of Sacred Gnostic Texts – Marvin Meyer
“Who Was Mary Magdalene?” Smithsonian Magazine (online article)
History of Religions
The World’s Religions – Huston Smith
A History of God: The 4,000-Year Quest of Judaism,
Christianity and Islam – Karen Armstrong
pema chodron
Taking the Leap: Freeing Ourselves from Old Habits and Fears – Pema Chodron
Welcoming the Unwelcome: Wholehearted Living in a Brokenhearted World – Pema Chodron
** When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times – Pema Chodron
Grief and Death & Dying
The Wild Edge of Sorrow: Rituals of Renewal and the Sacred Work of Grief – Francis Weller
** Die Wise: A Manifesto for Sanity and Soul – Stephen Jenkinson
“Love & Death: A Mystic View with Mirabai Starr,” interviewed by Rameshwar Das (online article)
“The Transformational Effects of Bereavement,”
Out of Darkness (blog), Psychology Today
Contemplation and Centering Prayer
The Heart of Centering Prayer: Nondual Christianity in Theory and Practice – Cynthia Bourgeault
Intimacy with God: An Introduction to Centering Prayer – Thomas Keating
Other
Finding God in the Body: A Spiritual Path for the Modern West – Benjamin Riggs
Finding God in the Waves: How I Lost My Faith and Found it Again Through Science – Mike McHargue
The Hours of the Universe: Reflections on God, Science, and the Human Journey – Ilia Delio
The Inner Voice of Love: A Journey Through Anguish to Freedom – Henri J.M. Nouwen
Living from the Heart – Puran Bair and Susanna Bair
Gregg Braden, “The Heart Can Think Independently,” (YouTube)
“Embodied Spiritual Practices Are the Way to Stay Calm,” Harvard Divinity School (online article)
“Christian Shame and Religious Trauma.” (online article)
currently reading
January 2025
SAGE WARRIOR: Wake to Oneness, Practice Pleasure, Choose Courage, Become Victory
– Valarie Kaur
Divining the Body: Reclaim the Holiness of Your Physical Self
– Jan Phillips