Books I Recommend
These are some of the books that have helped me make sense of the world and open my mind to realizing how much more of the world there is, inside of us and outside.
Illusions (The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah) by Richard Bach
What a great book! As I am typing this, I'm deciding to re-read it again. This will be the 3rd or 4th time I'll have read it since first discovering it when I was about 22 years old.
Ishmael: An Adventure of the Mind and Spirit by Daniel Quinn
Ishmael is about a Gorilla, named Ishmael, that has the ability to speak and is in fact a philosopher. He talks from his unique perspective as an animal, on how we humans think and treat the world.
The Tao of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff
Just because I'm not a Taoist, it doesn't mean I can't benefit and learn from some of the wisdom it teaches. That can be said of wisdom from any source. Take what feels right to you and leave the rest if it doesn't.
A saying from this book has stayed with me for over 20 years now. "Whether you are a president of a company or a janitor, happiness does not come from the title. Happiness comes from loving whatever you are doing and putting your whole heart into it.
The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz
This book showed me how a lot of what I thought and believed was the source of unhappiness. Happiness doesn't come from others or from what you have, it comes from how you feel about yourself. Save yourself a lot of the frustration that most of the people of the world experience because they haven't learned this yet.
Way of the Peaceful Warrior by Dan Millman
A person that I respected a great deal gave me this book for XMAS when I was 22 years old. When he gave it to me he had a suspicious twinkle in his eye and smile that hinted of something special was to come from this book. By the time I got around to reading it, he had already moved on and I never had a chance to thank him for the present that has stayed with me for another 22 years and counting.
The Celestine Prophesy by James Redfield
Can you think of a time when there was something in the back of your head saying, "There is something more happening here then I can put my finger on." There is a lot more going on in this world then you can see, or they teach you in school. I found this book to help answer questions that I didn't realize I had until I read it.
Conversations with God by Neale Donald Walsch
This is a book that you have to read to really understand what it's about. It would leave me thinking for hours about life, our spirit, right and wrong and our connection to everything.
I will add more books as I think of them.