I have hundreds of spirituality and personal development books, but the majority of them are just feel-good fluff. I don’t want you to make the same mistakes, so I will only recommend those that are genuinely and tremendously helpful. That’s my guarantee.
I have personally used Amazon for years before starting the blog, so they have my genuine endorsement. They’re reliable and carry a lot of books that can’t be found anywhere else. Prices are the same with or without referral fees.
I also have my book shelf, without descriptions, but with pictures – a better format for some – available: The Urban Monk Amazon Bookstore.
Cognitive Psychology is one of the biggest forces in psychology today, and this book is by far the best resource for it. The name says Self-Esteem, but it’s so much more than that. It examines how your thoughts are distorted and how to deal with the “voice in your head”. It also goes into healing all the wounds, compassion, forgiveness, your core beliefs and more. Probably the only book you need on Cognitive Psychology. Digest it and work through it slowly – it’ll keep you busy for months.
This is another Self-Esteem book that comes highly recommended. It is based more on your actions, the truth behind self-esteem, and how to bring it into the real world. Brilliant. Use it in conjunction with the inner world techniques of the book above, and treat yourself to a complete self-esteem makeover.
Osho is one of the most controversial and refreshing teachers around. I don’t always agree with his teachings, but these two books cover love the way no other writer does. You don’t know what love is until you read this. A grand statement, but it’s true. Neither did I. Love is not biological or chemical infatuation, lust, nor neediness. Love is what you are, not what you do. These two books cut straight to the point, and yet carries over a poetic feel. Brilliant. The first title deals with love, aloneness, sex and relationships. The other covers love in other aspects of your life, under the name of compassion.
Love, Freedom, Aloneness: The Koan of Relationships
OSHO Compassion: The Ultimate Flowering of Love
Buddhism can be considered many different things. Some say it’s a religion, but for me, it’s a complete school of internal development. It’s purely based on one thing – the end of suffering. It is one of the most common sense and practical systems around.
Thich Nhat Hanh is one of the Buddhist writers available to Westerners. Hanh is practical, poetic, and beautiful. He’s just beautiful.
The Heart of the Buddha’s Teaching
Marrying modern psychology and ancient Buddhist psychology is Tara Bennett-Goleman. She’s the wife of Daniel Goleman, author of Emotional Intelligence and Social Intelligence. She has produced a fantastic one-stop book for emotions and self-defeating behaviours. Her introductions to each chapter are a bit boring, but past the first 2 pages of each chapter will be solid information and usable techniques. This is especially applicable for those who have self-defeating behaviours that lie very deep inside themselves.
Emotional Alchemy: How the Mind Can Heal the Heart
This is another fantastic book marrying Buddhism and modern psychology. It’s a mix of compassion, self-love, healing, self-esteem, and a lot of other stuff. Again, brilliant reading.
Byron Katie presents a system simply called The Work. It’s a series of four simple questions, but they take a lot of practice to use properly. You can find the basics for free on her website, but they can be hard to apply without the extra knowledge given in Loving What Is. Her other book, “I need your Love – Is that true?” is a fantastic resource into love, neediness, approval-seeking, and loneliness. Her latest offering, the poetically named “Thousand Names for Joy” is an insight into non-duality, but probably won’t make sense for the uninitiated.
Loving What Is: Four Questions That Can Change Your Life
I Need Your Love – Is That True?
The famous Rich Dad, Poor Dad speaks for itself. Supremely common sense when you think about it, but nobody uses common sense nowadays – they just follow the crowd. Why follow the masses? They aren’t rich.
Think and Grow Rich. This book moved me towards action – it moved me out of the common self-help trap – reading and not applying. It propelled me towards taking massive responsibility for my life and making the biggest changes in my life. I cannot recommend it enough – it’s a must for anyone in any field – even if your goal is not money. For those of you who can take the reading, the Laws of Success is the full version of Think and Grow Rich, which is a cut-down version of the author’s full teachings.
Use the Master Key System together with Think and Grow Rich. It is a different perspective, providing a different area of development, although they are based on the same concept. I consider these two books another top combination into tapping your inner world for external goals. This is a solid system of mind and happiness training, and eventually carrying it over into the external world.
A lot of people suffer more than others simply because they were born more sensitive than others are. It’s a biological trait – Highly Sensitive People (HSPs) are more easily aroused and hurt. Many of them carry a deep sense of shame and low self-esteem – they have misunderstood their traits and strengths and begun to think that there is something wrong with themselves. This misunderstanding drove me into my depression, and this book was instrumental in getting me out of it. It comes from a psychological and scientific perspective, and gives basic introductions to more spiritual material such as meditation and emotional mastery. This is highly recommended if you are a sensitive person.
The Highly Sensitive Person: How to Thrive When the World Overwhelms You
Eckhart Tolle’s works were the beginning of joyful living for me, and I have returned time and time again to his books. Each time I felt something that I didn’t know how to overcome, I would find another gem on the right page that seemed to be written just for me. His works are so dear to me that I gave them their own section. All of his products are awesome, although his videos and audios are more advanced. His four books are recommended for newcomers. I’ve listed them in the order I prefer them in.
A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose
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