Here is what I’m currently reading, watching, listening to.
Awake! William Blake and the Power of the Imagination, Mark Vernon. I didn’t know much about Blake’s private life, and this is a fun book about his view of the world influenced by the culture of the time and his own personal experiences. It would be great if I had one of those great big coffee table books with Blake’s art in it to follow along. Hm, sounds like an Xmas hint…
Cosmic Music: The Life, Art and Transcendence of Alice Coltrane, Andy Beta. I have been completely captivated both by this book and by my exploration of Alice Coltrane’s albums. I have just been eating this up, and I don’t want this ride to end. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the roots of jazz in Detroit, John Coltrane’s life, or the connection of the creative and the spiritual. I just can’t get enough of her story and her music.
Turiya Sings, Alice Coltrane. Speaking of Alice, this recording of kirtan chants is a beautiful album for those who spend time in contemplative space.
The Vegetarian, Han Kang. This Korean writer won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2024, the first Asian woman to do so. I found the book captivating and evocative, just dove in and it really remains with me. I love picking up books I know nothing about in bookstores and being so rewarded.
Good Behavior, Molly Keane. A real old-fashioned novel, with a wonderful narrator who is questionably reliable. It is a delight to get to the end and have to read the beginning chapter again to confirm your take.
Divine Union, Paul Selig. The 14th book from Paul. I’m so happy that his work is becoming more well-known. I’ve been listening to all of his lectures and books for over eight years, and I rarely mention it since I know it’s challenging for most folks, but it seems as if his teachings are starting to break through, and not a moment too soon. Here’s a lovely recent interview with him.
Collector Current, Jacob Vosmaer. Jacob is a dear friend and a brilliant thinker who just happens to build his own music modules and creates the perfect music for afternoons in the sunshine, discotheques and writing. I feel a sense of my creative spark getting ignited when this music is on while I work
The Red Hand Files, Nick Cave. Whatever you do, please sign up for this newsletter. I admire Cave’s songwriting, his creative output, and most of all his great compassion in answering the letters that make up this blog post. Just trust me.
The Emerald Podcast, Joshua Schrei. To be honest, the episode at the link here is the only one I’ve had a chance to listen to, but it is so ridiculously fun. I look forward to starting from the beginning on this one and plowing through all 90 episodes.
Letters of Alan Watts, Joan and Anne Watts. Like many spiritual seekers, I have long seen Watts as a touchstone. Reading his letters has been inspiring as my love deepens more intimately toward Watts’ journey. In the forward, his daughter notes that Ram Dass said of Watts, “he knew IT and he wasn’t IT.” Which I believe could be said of all of us, with our glimpses of truth and our human failings to live it.
Here are some evergreen things I love and recommend.
Silence of the Heart. Dialogues with Robert Adams
This book speaks to me so much I kept having the thought that this may be the last book I ever read. I don’t know what else to say beyond that. (The link above is to the most recent version. If you can spend a little more for a first edition used copy, that’s the way to go.)
“The only freedom we’ve got is not to react to anything, but to turn within and know the truth.”
I Am the Word, Paul Selig. So. I read about Paul and I thought, hm, channeling. I never heard anyone channel before, let me just check this out. I’ll listen until it feels like a gimmick, or untrue, or riles up my skepticism. Well, 8 books in, participation in all of his online workshops for the last couple of years later. If you get a book, start here. Listen to the audio book, so you hear Paul read it. I feel like this is either very much for you, or very much not. I do consider these teachings one of the most transformative aspects of my life. So there’s that.
When Fear Falls Away, The Story of a Sudden Awakening, Jan Frazier. See my blog post of 11/7/2019 for more.
The Three Pillars of Zen, Roshi Philip Kaplan. The book that began my interest in meditation. First-hand accounts of Zen practice.
Interviews with Francis Bacon, David Sylvester. My favorite book on the creative process. “In my case all painting… is an accident. I foresee it and yet I hardly ever carry it out as I foresee it. It transforms itself by the actual paint. I don’t in fact know very often what the paint will do, and it does many things which are very much better than I could make it do.”
Memories, Dreams, Reflections, C.G. Jung. In my top 5. Talk about a journey into the heart of creativity, spirituality and the human condition.
In My Own Way, Alan Watts. The hunger to have lived someone else’s life rises so strongly in me in this one. I am on the second read-through, a book I loved so much I needed to start it again immediately once complete. I love his humor, his insights, his way of seeing life. I am sort of unable to express how deeply this book affected me. It did set me on a path through all his works. So just know that for the next bit of time, when I am walking around, I’ll have Alan Watts’ voice in my ear.
The Heart of the World: A Journey to Tibet’s Lost Paradise, Ian Baker. This is a beautiful adventure story with a spectacular overall metaphor of travel and the spiritual path as an exploration of a living being. Gorgeous.
Into the Magic Shop: A Neurosurgeon’s Quest to Discover the Mysteries of the Brain and the Secrets of the Heart, James R. Doty, M.D. I love this book so much. I think I read it in a day. I recommend this to anyone wondering how people seem to effortlessly manifest good things in their life, and also about the power of being neutral to the outcome. I could never recommend this highly enough.
Life in Double Time: Confessions of an American Drummer, Mike Lankford. A fun read, and a great explanation of what happens to your playing when you’re on the road every day for three years.
The Power of Now. Eckhart Tolle. I’m late getting to this one, I know. I listened to the audio version and enjoyed hearing the author read it and the question and answer segments. I know he is recycling old knowledge, but I believe he speaks accurately when he says that there is really one way to awaken, and it is to let go of attachment to the ego/false self/thoughts and emotions. I am enjoying hearing his language about these things. It’s always helpful to hear someone say similar things with different words, and thus hear it in a new way.
The Human Encounter with Death. Stanislav Grof and Joan Halifax. Fascinating accounts of clinical psychedelic experiences with terminal patients. Also, a wonderful book to tote around in restaurants in order to make sure no one speaks with you.
The Shaman Within: A Physicist’s Guide to the Deeper Dimensions of Your Live, The Universe, and Everything. Claude Poncelet. What a wonderful read. One of my favorite things is reading about how science and spirituality meet.
On Being Podcast: http://www.onbeing.org/ My close friends right now are saying, “We know, we know, you love this podcast. Shut up already.” It’s true. I love it so much because it so validates my belief that the future looks bright, and here are much smarter people than me saying so.
