Don’t you have time to read books that give you perspective? Here are the top excerpts from Spiritual Books:

Reading gives us somewhere to go when we have to stay where we are. Mason Cooley

We all want to be away from reality, or we want to have a reality check, and that’s what Spiritual Books do. Instead of giving us solutions, they make us evaluate, ponder, and wonder what is happening, what went wrong, and how the slightest tweak can make all the difference.

Not all spiritual books say the same thing. They say the thing to give you a perspective is to give you the option to form an opinion so you can make better decisions.

These books are my favourites because there’s always something new to learn and a fresh set of eyes to view the world through.

Here are the top excerpts from spiritual books. Let me know which ones struck a chord with you.

14 Top Excerpts from Spiritual Books

Freedom from the Known by Jiddu Krishnamurti

If you do not follow somebody you feel very lonely. Be lonely then. Why are you frightened of being alone? Because you are faced with yourself as you are and you find that you are empty, dull, stupid, ugly, guilty and anxious – a petty, shoddy, secondhand entity. Face the fact; look at it, do not run away from it. The moment you run away fear begins.

Joyful Wisdom by Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche

Most of us can admit that we feel discomfort to some extent or other, and that our experience is to some degree conditioned by our minds. But we tend to get a bit stuck at that point—either by trying to change our minds or by letting our thoughts, emotions, compulsions, and so on, simply take over.

Still the Mind by Alan Watts

What I am really saying is that you don’t need to do anything, because if you see yourself in the correct way, you are all as much extraordinary phenomenon of nature as trees, clouds, the patterns in running water, the flickering of fire, the arrangement of the stars, and the form of a galaxy. You are all just like that, and there is nothing wrong with you at all.

When Things Fall Apart by Pema Chodron

The only reason that we don’t open our hearts and minds to other people is that they trigger confusion in us that we don’t feel brave enough or sane enough to deal with.

Living Beautifully by Pema Chodron

If we ourselves have had even a glimmer of what egolessness feels like, of what awakening feels like, of what freedom feels like, then we want that for others too. When we see that they’re hooked, instead of being critical and judgmental, we can empathize with what they’re going through—we’ve been there and know exactly how they feel. 

Our wish for other people is the same as our wish for ourselves: to appreciate ourselves, to recognize when we’re caught and disentangle ourselves from those feelings, to stop reinforcing the dysfunctional patterns that prolong our suffering, to reach out to others, to experience the goodness of being human.

Nothing to Grasp by Joan Tollisfon

Instead of trying to intentionally fix or improve “myself” or “the world,” I am more open to allowing everything to heal itself in its own way, in its own time, as it does anyway. There is a devotion to the immediacy of life exactly as it is right now, without superimposing any kind of spin. This bare intimacy is neither an effortful, goal-oriented, improvement-seeking exertion, nor is it any kind of passive or fatalistic resignation. It is an energetic aliveness, an openness that includes everything and sticks to nothing. It is not something “you” achieve or acquire, but simply the boundlessness, the bare being that is always already fully present right here, right now.

Breath of the Absolute by Mooji

If it is hurting too much to let go then don’t, instead try something softer; Take a look at why you’re holding on. If even this is too hard for you, find out who is giving up and who is holding on?

Still Here by Ramm Dass

Healing is not the same as curing, after all; healing does not mean going back to the way things were before, but rather allowing what is now to move us closer to God.

Falling In Love With Where You Are by Jeff Foster

Life never has to match up to your idea of ‘life’ and that’s why life is so restful at its very core. There is simply no demand for present experience to be anything other than what it is. There is simply this – present, complete, empty and full. Bring that transmission; be that presence; offer that openness. Stay wide open to solutions that have not yet been born. Trust life’s strange processes. Be the silent intention – and the right words, actions, interventions, decisions, will come without effort.

Now, simply listen without judgment, and try to understand where they are now. Stand in their shoes. See clearly who and what is in front of you. Perhaps the greatest help you can offer right now is your clarity and non-judgemental attention – your natural compassion.

Perhaps it’s time to stop trying to ‘fix’ the one in front of you, to stop trying to give them answers or solve their problems. You’re not very good at that, friend. Your nature is not manipulation, but presence; not division, but wholeness.

Perhaps it’s time to stop pretending to be the all-knowing authority, the infallible teacher, the fully-healed expert. Even with the best of intentions, you may unknowingly be interfering with their natural healing processes.

You may be keeping them dependent on you, distracting them from a deep trust in their own first-hand experience. Remember, they may need to feel worse before they feel better. They may need to feel their pain more deeply before they open up to their true source of healing.

Perhaps the true medicine can flourish when ‘you’ get out of the way. Yes, drugs and good advice may numb or even remove symptoms, but an invitation to a deeper spiritual healing may be lurking just under the surface of thing.

Check out other resources:

7 Must-Read Books To Get A New Perspective

7 Best Marketing Books Every Marketer Must Read

Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

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