In The End of Your World Adyashanti offers a rare honest look at what enlightenment means, what it can bring, what it can take away and how all of that can affect one in unthought of and surprizing ways. A jewel of a book, I just finished reading it this morning and I intend to read it again. As with many books by great spiritual teachers, each reading tends to resonate with clearer and clearer meaning, deeper and deeper knowing.

If you can manage to read only one book this year, make it this one.  Read it slowly, thoughtfully.  When you have finished the book,  pause and give thanks that there is a wayshower such as Eckhart Tolle among us.  Then, if you're like me, you'll want to read it again, and then yet again, each time going slower and deeper--  each time becoming more centered, calmer, more open, receptive and accepting of where you are and who you are,  each time anchoring yourself into your own particular spot in the New Earth Tolle speaks of so eloquently.

I have always had the notion that one day science and mysticism will have a compatable... no, a passionate marriage.  We have a ways to go before that happens but Dean Radin (who is a senior scientist at the Institute of Noetic Sciences) and other respected scientists like him are paving the way.  Though I myself have been more inclined to explore the mystical end of things, I am also by nature a skeptic and constantly seek proof for mystical tenets I hold and so I am fascinated by the approach of the scientists on the horizon. Dean Radin is on the front lines.  His book Entangled Minds  is extraordinary in its implications and a must read for all those who grapple with reconciling the mystical with the rational.

A Whole New Mind  is a fascinating book about the necessity for right-brained strengths in today's world and why the past, which conditioned us to believe in left-brained dominance, is evolving into  a future  in which right-brained attributes  are not only desirable but absolutely necessary for a successful life.

Peter Russell studied with Stephen Hawking at Cambridge University.  He has degrees in physics, psychology and computer science.  In Waking Up in Time  he discusses the implications of the ever-increasing pace of change in life and what it means for mankind.  It is not outer space but inner space, he postulates, that is the next frontier-- the exploration and development of human consciousness. 

This is a text which I have read over and over.  It seems every time a page falls open it is something I need to hear or remember.  There are 365 lessons which are life changing.  It took me two years to complete the lessons but it remains one of the most important things I have ever done for myself.

Through the Open Door  is an audio book by Eckhart Tolle, bestselling author of The Power of Now, a classic which has been published in 30 languages and has sold over one million copies.  These teaching sessions take you into a space where the full import of our "now" moments hits home and makes one realize that the now moment is the only one we really have.  It turns the ordinary and mundane of our moment by moment existence into the extraordinary and mystical and reverent.

Pema Chodron is an American Buddhist nun.  Her down to earth wisdom which is wrapped in palpable compassion is insightful and greatly comforting.  Any book by Pema Chodron is a gem;  this one is my favorite, and a great one to read when life is coming at you hard.

This Chopra offering is the story of Buddha written in narrative style and reads like a novel.  Entertaining and engaging, it is the tale of young Prince Siddhartha who abandons his chance at a throne to set himself on a spiritual journey and, in so doing, becomes one of the most revered spiritual leaders who has ever walked the earth.  Deepak Chopra's books all have great value and wisdom; this one is no exception.

I have read many books by Caroline Myss who I consider to be one of today's greatest teachers.  A very popular theologian and spiritual instructor, Caroline Myss has offered possibly her most extraordinary book yet in Entering the Castle.  The teachings of the mystic Teresa of Avila and her revered text The Interior Castle are the basis for this amazing guide to the territory of the human soul, and a manual for "mystics without monasteries".

Footnote:  Do not miss reading the Forward  by Ken Wilber-- a ten page amazing gem in itself.

Jalal Al-Din Rumi was a 13th century Sufi poet.  His poetry exquisitely speaks of the  lover's journey to transcend human existence and reach the ecstasy of illuminated mystic passion.