The intersection of spirituality and consciousness is a profoundly interesting topic. Consciousness remains one of the greatest mysteries in science, and my agnosticism on the topic means that I’m open to perspectives and ideas on the origin of consciousness that aren’t necessarily derived from strictly scientific circles. This article is a list of my six favourite books on spirituality and consciousness.
Consciousness and Spirituality
I like Thomas Nagel’s succinct definition of consciousness as “what it is like to be something”. That you can sum up consciousness with such simplicity of language juxtaposes the mind-bending quest to understand where consciousness comes from or what it actually is. No scientist has given a satisfactory answer as to why matter gives rise to consciousness. It’s arguably the biggest and most important unsolved scientific mystery.
An opinion that states consciousness pervades the universe, which you’re likely to hear in several spiritual traditions, is still just as plausible as saying that consciousness is merely what happens when billions of neurons fire together in an organized system (the brain). The latter is a hypothesis many scientists would agree with. It says that consciousness is merely an emergent property of matter.
Whatever the underlying characteristics of consciousness and its origins, reading about consciousness and spirituality has always been a fascinating topic for me. I’m a sucker for different perspectives! 🙂 So, without further ado, let’s get onto my favourite books on spirituality and consciousness.
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Who Am I? by Sri Ramana Maharishi
Ramana Maharishi was a Hindu sage who spent the majority of his 70 years on Earth in a state of seeming bliss and peacefulness. People came from far and wide to listen to him. After an intense fear of death experience in his adolescence, he claimed to have got in touch with the non-personal, all-inclusive awareness that he believed was the ultimate reality of consciousness.
Maharishi’s face is eminently recognizable—you’ve likely encountered a photo of his wonderful smile and all-knowing eyes if you are in any way spiritually inclined. Maharishi’s main teaching was the method of self-enquiry, in which he instructs us to keep asking ourselves who we actually are.
The book itself is derived from a series of Q&A sessions that Maharishi participated in with a philosophy scholar in 1901. At its heart, the book keeps trying to get us to come back to where our thoughts originate from. It’s an interesting read that warrants deep contemplation.
The Nature of Consciousness by Rupert Spira
Continuing the trend of Hindu philosophy and self-inquiry, I would like to direct you to The Nature of Consciousness by Rupert Spira. Similar to how I found out about Alan Watts, I first stumbled upon Rupert Spira’s teachings while going down a YouTube rabbit-hole that probably began with a search for an apple crumble recipe.
Rupert follows the Advaita Vedanta tradition, which teaches that the nature of the self is the same as the nature of the metaphysical reality of the universe. This is equivalent to saying that consciousness pervades the universe and that we are, deep down at our core, this very all-pervading indivisible consciousness.
What I really like about this book is that its central argument is logically well-structured and well-reasoned in much the same way as any scientific argument should be. Spira argues that consciousness is primal and he does so in such a way as to make it a credible and sensible ontological idea.
He persuades is to use experience as a guide to what consciousness is, which aligns with that provocative Oriental allure of prioritizing experiential knowledge as much as intellectual knowledge. Overall, The Nature of Consciousness is a mind-expanding book that is well worth reading.
The Doors of Perception by Aldous Huxley
The Doors of Perception also features on my list of books about psychedelics but its importance as a book transcends different domains of knowledge. Huxley combines some wild experiences on mescaline with his linguistic prowess to give an extremely interesting hypothesis on what consciousness is and how it interacts with the brain.
According to Huxley, the brain is kind of like a radio antenna that filters information from “Mind at Large”. This filtering mechanism is an evolutionarily beneficial function that prevents us all from being overwhelmed during normal waking states of experience.
Under the influence of a psychedelic (with your consciousness altered), a cup of tea can become a point of contemplation about the meaning of life and the nature of the universe. From Huxley’s perspective, and from a rational standpoint, if we were all overwhelmed so easily by seemingly mundane things, we’d never get anything done and we’d probably have died off as a species by now.
Tao Te Ching by Lao Tze
The Tao Te Ching is a classic Chinese text that formed the basis of the philosophical and spiritual teachings of Taoism. It’s a profoundly insightful book, full of gems of wisdom and it warrants several return readings. For example, the book’s advice on comparing ourselves with others is perennially relevant; arguably even more so now in the age of social media:
“When you are content to be simply yourself and don’t compare or compete, everyone will respect you.”
In terms of its perspective on consciousness, the Tao Te Ching teaches that a life force (termed the Tao) pervades the entire cosmos. We can experience the Tao everywhere, but we cannot grasp it and cannot name it. The whole point of Taoism is to teach us to live in harmony with the Tao rather than speculate about it or try to put it into words.
The Tao Te Ching is a book I’d recommend pretty much everyone read, regardless of whether you’re interested in books on spirituality and consciousness. It’s that important.
The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle
The Power of Now was really the first book I read that exposed me to a different way of thinking about who I am fundamentally, beyond that angsty, neurotic ego. I listened to the audio version of the book on Audible and it immediately struck a chord with me. Tolle’s voice is incredibly soothing and I enjoyed the Q&A format that the book takes on as it develops.
In terms of its views on consciousness, The Power of Now says that all our problems in life arise from identification with the mind. Tolle invites the readers to focus solely on the present moment wherein we’ll find ourselves in touch with the inner stillness and peacefulness that is always there.
The Power of Now has its critics—some regard it as a sort of New Age re-hashing of ideas that one would find in Zen teachings and other traditions like Christian Mysticism. However, what makes The Power of Now stand out for me is its accessibility and its simplicity of language. I really recommend seeking out the audio version if you can.
Waking Up by Sam Harris
Sam Harris is someone I really admire. He identifies as an atheist, so it might seem strange to see his work recommended on books about spirituality and consciousness. The Guardian referred to him in a 2019 interview as an atheist with a spiritual side, and I drew a similar conclusion after reading Waking Up.
His book, Waking Up, is essentially an essay about Harris’s own journey to understand consciousness. He was lucky enough to spend much of his 20s in India and Nepal, meditating and being exposed to traditions such as Dzogchen. His ability to live that way was the product of an upper-middle-class background, but I don’t think that detracts from his experiences.
His openness to spiritual teachings can be summed up in the following quote from the book:
“Spirituality must be distinguished from religion—because people of every faith, and of none, have had the same sorts of spiritual experiences.”
And
“How we pay attention to the present moment largely determines the character of our experience and, therefore, the quality of our lives. Mystics and contemplatives have made this claim for ages—but a growing body of scientific research now bears it out.”
Harris’s views on consciousness, based on experience, are that the ego is merely a habitual thought pattern and that we all can access the same underlying awareness if we just pay attention. He goes no further than that, but the book is worth reading for the intrigue of his own journey.
Closing Thoughts
That just about concludes my list of six favourite books on spirituality and consciousness. If you have a Kindle, you can read all of these books by signing up for a Kindle Unlimited membership, which I really recommend:
I welcome any contributions you might have to add to this list. Please comment below the article if you got something of value here. Thank you.