My first meditation teacher, Bobbi, saw that I was keenly interested in reading spiritual texts and, while she didn’t see such reading as a necessity (she would often say, “everything you need is right here”), she was keen that I receive guidance that was of the highest spiritual value. So, she gave me three names to focus my energy: Chögyam Trungpa, the colourful spiritual master from Tibet who has probably spread the teachings of Buddhism farther and wider than any other individual; Sri Aurobindo, the sage from India who took in Western culture at a young age and worked for an evolutionary spiritual transformation of the world and Consciousness; and, Suzuki Roshi, the Zen meditation teacher who came from Japan and seeded a strong and gentle presence of practice into the California scene of spiritual seekers. Here are three of my favourite books:
- Shambhala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior by Chögyam Trungpa
- Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind by Shunryu Suzuki
- The Integral Yoga by Sri Aurobindo
And, of course, a qigong text! This was written by my qigong teacher’s teacher, Ken Cohen. It is a masterful and comprehensive work, highly recommended. Reading it is a lot like doing qigong since the words and phrases describe the qigong state of practice so beautifully.
- The Way of Qigong by Ken Cohen
A few more:
- Buddhism Plain and Simple by Steve Hagen
- Best Apocalypse Ever by James True
- The Life Divine by Sri Aurobindo (Aurobindo’s complete works are available on pdf here)