100 Best Hinduism Books of All Time
We've researched and ranked the best hinduism books in the world, based on recommendations from world experts, sales data, and millions of reader ratings. Learn more
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Bhagavad-Gita (Tanrı’nın Şarkısı), Hindu dininin en önemli ve en kutsal metinlerinden biridir. Büyük Hint destanı Mahabharata’nın bir bölümünü oluşturur.
Savaşçı prens Arcuna ile dostu ve arabacısı, aynı zamanda Tanrı Vishnu’nun yeryüzünde bedene bürünmüş bir zuhuru (Avatar) olan Şri Krişna... more
Ryan HolidayI read The Bhagavad Gita, which is something I wasn’t ready for before, but glad to finally understand. (Source)
Bernard TanThe “Tao Te King” by Lao Tzu probably resonated with me the strongest, but others like the “Art of War” by Sun Tzu, “Bhagavad Gita” or Zen Buddhist scriptures were also real eye-openers, even for a non-religious person like myself. (Source)
Steve JobsOne book in particular stayed with Jobs his entire life, and Isaacson noted that it was the only book Jobs had downloaded on his iPad 2: “Autobiography of a Yogi,” “the guide to meditation and spirituality that he had first read as a teenager,” Isaacson writes, “then re-read in India and had read once a year ever since.” (Source)
Marc BenioffIf you haven't read it, and if you want to understand Steve Jobs, it's a goood idea to dip into [this book]. (Source)
Dominic Steil[One of the books that had the biggest impact on .] (Source)
The book is divided into four sections:
Journey: The Transformation: Dr Richard Alpert, PhD into Baba Ram Dass
From Bindu to Ojas: The Core Book
Cookbook for a Sacred Life: A Manual for Conscious Being
Painted Cakes (Do Not Satisfy Hunger): Books less
Steve JobsIn late 1972, Jobs had just started at Reed College, an elite liberal arts school in Portland, Oregon. He started doing lots of LSD and reading lots of books about spirituality. (Source)
Jack KornfieldChanged countless lives. (Source)
Travis Brewer[Travis Brewer said this is one of his most-recommended books.] (Source)
Within the framework of Vedic philosophy represented by Gita, this book explores:
How to discover the swa-bhava, the inherent natural strength of our real-self? more
William DalrympleIt’s one of the world’s great myths, an epic poem. It’s eight times the length of the Bible, one of the great works of literature of mankind. I came to it via the Peter Brook film, and read the script subsequently, and it is every bit as good as it’s made out to be. A very rare thing. It has a sort of Shakespearian ambiguity; you feel as much for the baddies as for the goodies. No one is pure.... (Source)
...Identification with everything that lives is impossible without self-purification; without self-purification, the observance of the law of Ahimsa must remain an empty dream; God can never be realised by one who is not pure of heart. Self-purification, therefore, must remain purification in all walks of life. And purification being... more
Barack ObamaAccording to the president’s Facebook page and a 2008 interview with the New York Times, this title is among his most influential forever favorites. (Source)
Tim CookI have two books going right now: One is the Bobby Kennedy book [“Bobby Kennedy: The Making of a Liberal Icon,” by Larry Tye] that just came out. The other is quite an old book. It’s a Gandhi book [“Mohandas K. Gandhi, Autobiography: The Story of My Experiments With Truth”] that I got interested in because we went to the Gandhi museum when we were in India recently. I tend to like nonfiction and... (Source)
Cory BookerA profound read. (Source)
“Throw another ingredient in the... more
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This collection of the timeless teachings of one of the greatest sages of India, Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj, is a testament to the uniqueness of the seer's life and work and is regarded by many as a "modern spiritual classic".
I Am That preserves Maharaj's dialogues with the followers who came from around the world seeking his guidance in destroying false identities. The sage's sole concern was with human suffering and the ending of suffering. It was his mission to guide the individual to an understanding of his true nature and the timelessness of being. He taught that mind...
Liz DerowI love this book because for one thing it’s just a great story, well-told. A lot of books about Indian sages are written in such a way that they just send you to sleep . . . But Ishwerood is a great writer, and he’s smart. He explains lots of things about Hindu tradition and thought throughout. It’s actually a very informative read on that level. (Source)
An engrossing and definitive narrative account of history and myth that offers a new way of understanding one of the world?s oldest major religions, The Hindus elucidates the relationship between recorded history and imaginary worlds.
Hinduism does not lend itself easily to a strictly chronological account: many of its central texts cannot be reliably dated even within a century; its central tenets?karma, dharma, to name just two?arise at particular moments in... more
Easwaran's translation of the Bhagavad Gita is the best-selling English edition in the US. In this verse-by-verse commentary, Easwaran brings the Gita's teachings into our own lives. Full of insights, stories, and practical spiritual exercises, each volume of this set covers six chapters of the Gita, and can be read on its own. The three volumes together form a comprehensive manual for living a spiritual life.
Easwaran was a professor of English literature and... more
Don't have time to read the top Hinduism books of all time? Read Shortform summaries.
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India is more than a nation state. It is also a unique civilization with philosophies and cosmologies that are markedly distinct from the dominant culture of our times – the West. India’s spiritual traditions spring from dharma which has no exact equivalent in western frameworks. Unfortunately, in the rush to celebrate the growing popularity of India on the world stage, its civilizational matrix is being digested into western universalism, thereby diluting its distinctiveness and potential.
This book addresses the challenge of direct and honest engagement on... more
This revised and updated edition provides sympathetic descriptions of the various traditions, explaining how they work “from the inside,” which is a big reason why this cherished classic has sold more than two million copies since it... more
The Bhagavad Gita is set on a battlefield in a mythic war between good and evil. Easwaran translates each verse, relates it to modern life through stories and anecdotes, and gives spiritual exercises that you can use every day.
This second volume in a three-volume set covers chapters 7–12 of the Gita, and concentrates on the supreme Reality which underlies all creation. Easwaran builds a bridge between science and spiritual... more
Explaining man's role in the universe as a unique expression of the total universe, and... more
Kyle RussellBook 20 Lesson: Distinction is not separation. To understand something, you must also understand its relationships with other parts of the environment or context around it. https://t.co/DB453aY565 (Source)
Kevin LampingNot a business book, but *The Book* is one that I can say shines out among the other stars. It's hard to pick a book that's had the most impact on me, because they always have some effect. But there was something so calming, so reassuring about *The Book* that really helped me in a time of lots of self-doubt. I know this is supposed to focus on less "spiritual" books, and I'm not a religious guy,... (Source)
In The Untethered Soul—now a New York Times bestseller—spiritual teacher Michael Singer explores the question of who we are and arrives at the conclusion that our identity is to be found in our consciousness, the fact of our ability to... more
Deepak Chopraeval(ez_write_tag([[250,250],'theceolibrary_com-large-mobile-banner-1','ezslot_5',164,'0','1'])); In the book The Untethered Soul, Michael A. Singer takes you step-by-step through the process of Gyana, the yoga of the Intellect, to the Source. Moreover, he does it with elegant simplicity. Read this book carefully, and you will get more than a glimpse of eternity. (Source)
Ray KurzweilEast is East and West is West, but Michael A. Singer bridges these two great traditions in a radiant treatise on how to succeed in life from our spiritual quest to our everyday tribulations. Freud said that life was composed of love and work. With great eloquence, wit, and compelling logic, Singer’s brilliant book completes this thought by showing them to be two poles of the same selfless... (Source)
James AltucherMichael moved to an empty patch of forest, set up his trailer, and started to meditate in the early 70s. He surrendered to whatever happened in his life. Well...what ended up happening is that he created a multi-billion dollar company. His book is about the spiritual beauty of surrender. And how that can go hand in hand with financial success. I was so astonished by the book that I contacted him... (Source)
Don't have time to read the top Hinduism books of all time? Read Shortform summaries.
Shortform summaries help you learn 10x faster by:
- Being comprehensive: you learn the most important points in the book
- Cutting out the fluff: you focus your time on what's important to know
- Interactive exercises: apply the book's ideas to your own life with our educators' guidance.
In these volumes we have not only a principles to the world at large, but also, to its own children, the Charter of the Hindu faith. For the first time in history, Hinduism itself forms here the subject of generalization of a Hindu mind of the highest order. What Hinduism had needed was the organizing and consolidating of its own idea, a rock where she could lie at anchor, and an authoritative utterance... more
Relevant to today’s war-torn world, The Palace of Illusions takes us back to a time that is half history, half myth, and wholly magical. Narrated by Panchaali, the wife of the legendary Pandavas brothers in the Mahabharat, the novel gives us a new interpretation of this ancient tale.
The novel traces the princess Panchaali's life, beginning with her birth in fire and following her spirited balancing act as a woman with five husbands who have been cheated... more
Nicholas WhyteIt’s one of my guilty pleasures. I can’t claim that Lord of Light is as great a work of literature as the other four, but I enjoy it hugely. The story is essentially about one of them who decides that this isn’t good enough and attempts to reinvent himself as the Buddha, and therefore attempts to cause a religious revolution on this planet. (Source)
The Complete Idiot's Guide® to Hinduism, Second Edition, contains updated and expanded information on how the religion developed from its very fragmented origins, the basic Hindu beliefs, and the multiple Hindu deities, as well as the sociological aspects of the religion including ethics, sacraments, dietary habits, the caste system, and much more.
? Hinduism is the third-largest religion in the world, with over 765 million followers worldwide
? Updated information on the state of Hinduism today
? An... more
Don't have time to read the top Hinduism books of all time? Read Shortform summaries.
Shortform summaries help you learn 10x faster by:
- Being comprehensive: you learn the most important points in the book
- Cutting out the fluff: you focus your time on what's important to know
- Interactive exercises: apply the book's ideas to your own life with our educators' guidance.
The Bhagavad Gita is set on a battlefield in a mythic war between good and evil. Easwaran translates each verse, relates it to modern life through stories and anecdotes, and gives spiritual exercises that you can use every day.
This third volume in a three-volume set covers chapters 13–18 of the Gita, and concentrates on the relationship between the Self within and the supreme Reality which underlies all creation. Global in... more
Las preguntas y respuestas que forman el cuerpo de cada capitulo han sido tomadas de muchas fuentes y ordenadas de esa manera debido a que no hay ninguna conversación suficientemente larga que cubra la totalidad de sus puntos de vista sobre un tema particular.
A lo largo de estas páginas Ramana insiste una y otra vez que Usted es ya presencia consciencial. Y... more
Within all living beings are powerful centers of energy called chakras. Each chakra holds the potential for immense healing and restoration. However, learning how to harness the chakra system's amazing power can be challenging when so much of the information available is dense and academic or subjective and hard to trust.
In her successful New York practice, energy healer, acupuncturist, and Reiki master Margarita Alcantara addresses the most common... more
The doorkeepers of Vaikuntha are the twins, Jaya and Vijaya, both whose names mean 'victory'. One keeps you in Swarga; the other raises you into Vaikuntha.
In Vaikuntha there is bliss forever, in Swarga there is pleasure for only as long as you deserve. What is the difference between Jaya and Vijaya? Solve this puzzle and you will solve the mystery of the Mahabharata.
In this enthralling retelling of India's greatest epic, the Mahabharata originally... more
Knott offers succinct explanations of Hinduism's central preoccupations, including the role of contemporary gurus and teachers in the quest for spiritual fulfillment; and the function of regular performances of... more
Don't have time to read the top Hinduism books of all time? Read Shortform summaries.
Shortform summaries help you learn 10x faster by:
- Being comprehensive: you learn the most important points in the book
- Cutting out the fluff: you focus your time on what's important to know
- Interactive exercises: apply the book's ideas to your own life with our educators' guidance.
The practice of what is commonly known as hatha yoga is but one of eight branches of the body of knowledge that is yoga. Yoga is a sophisticated system of self-empowerment that is capable of harnessing and activating inner energies in such a way that your body and mind function at their optimal capacity. It is a means to create inner situations exactly the way you want them, turning you into the architect of your own joy. A yogi lives life in this expansive state, and in this transformative book Sadhguru tells the story... more
Oliver BurkemanThis is a very thin book but a mind-blowing one. In many ways it was part of my motivation to write my book. Alan Watts was a philosophical populariser. He called himself a “spiritual entertainer”, and went around the world giving lectures and writing popular books about Eastern philosophies such as Zen Buddhism and Taoism. This book is about non-dualism – the theory that in some sense,... (Source)
Antonio EramThis book was recommended by Antonio when asked for titles he would recommend to young people interested in his career path. (Source)
A middle-class woman from Calcutta finds unexpected fulfillment living as a Tantric in an isolated, skull-filled cremation ground . . . A prison warder from Kerala is worshipped as an incarnate deity for two months of every year . . . A Jain nun tests her powers of detachment watching her closest friend ritually starve herself to death . . . The twenty-third in a... more
Queen Afua begins by helping us to discover our unique “womb-an-ness”–and to honor the womb as the center of our... more
Don't have time to read the top Hinduism books of all time? Read Shortform summaries.
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This one of the abilities Dr. Joe Dispenza offers in this revolutionary book: a set of tools that allow ordinary people to reach extraordinary states of being.
Dr. Joe, author of the New York Times bestseller You Are The Placebo draws on up-to-the-minute research in... more
Don't have time to read the top Hinduism books of all time? Read Shortform summaries.
Shortform summaries help you learn 10x faster by:
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The answers to these perennial questions sparkle with clarity in this seminal account of a man, and a saint, who revived Hinduism and gave to Upanishadic insights a rigorously structured and sublimely appealing philosophy.
Jagad Guru Adi Shankaracharya (788–820 CE) was born in Kerala and died in Kedarnath, traversing the length... more
As you read, you'll come to understand how your relationships, health issues, finances, career concerns, and more are influenced by the Universal laws that govern your time-space-reality—and you'll discover powerful processes that will help you go with the positive flow of life.
It's your birthright to live a life filled with... more
The sages of Tantra have known for centuries that when you follow the path of Shakti--the sacred feminine principle personified by the goddesses of yoga--these gifts can manifest spontaneously. Yet most of us, women as well as men, have yet to experience the full potential of our inner feminine energies. When you know these powers for what they are, they heighten your capacity to open... more
Written almost two millennia ago, Pata�jali's work focuses on how to attain the direct experience and realization of the purusa the innermost individual self, or soul. As the classical treatise on the Hindu understanding of mind and consciousness and on the technique of meditation, it has exerted immense influence over the religious practices of Hinduism in India and, more recently, in the West.
Edwin F. Bryant's translation is clear, direct, and exact. Each sutra is presented as Sanskrit text, transliteration, and... more
With these words, Philip Goldberg begins his monumental work, American Veda, a fascinating look at India’s remarkable impact on Western culture. This eye-opening popular history shows how the ancient philosophy of Vedanta and the mind-body methods of Yoga have profoundly affected the worldview of millions of Americans and radically altered the religious... more
The accompanying guide provides complete descriptions of each card as well as suggestions for working with the deck, allowing you to uncover sacred meanings... more
In a world that seems spellbound by argument over dialogue, vi-vaad over sam-vaad, Devdutt highlights how Krishna nudges Arjuna to understand rather than judge his relationships. This becomes relevant today when we are increasingly indulging and isolating the self (self-improvement, self-actualization,... more
Don't have time to read the top Hinduism books of all time? Read Shortform summaries.
Shortform summaries help you learn 10x faster by:
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- Interactive exercises: apply the book's ideas to your own life with our educators' guidance.
3400 BCE. INDIA
Ayodhya is weakened by divisions. A terrible war has taken its toll. The damage runs deep. The demon King of Lanka, Raavan, does not impose his rule on the defeated. He, instead, imposes his trade. Money is sucked out of the empire. The Sapt Sindhu people descend into poverty, despondency and corruption. They cry for a leader to lead them out of the morass. Little do they appreciate that the leader is among them. One whom they know. A tortured and ostracised prince. A prince they tried... more
The metamorphosis of Mumtaz Ali Khan into Sri ‘M’, a yogi with profound knowledge of the Upanishads and deep personal insights, born of first hand experiences with higher levels of consciousness is indeed a... more
Written by a leading authority on Shaktic & Tantric thought, this book is considered the prime document for study & application of Kundalini yoga. It probes the philosophical & mythological nature of Kundalini, the esoteric anatomy associated with it, the study of mantras, the chakras, or psychic centers in the human body, etc.
Sir John George Woodroffe (1865–1936), aka Arthur Avalon, was a British Orientalist whose work helped to unleash in the West an interest in Hindu... more
One day, three schoolmates show up at Aru's doorstep to catch her in a lie. They don't believe her claim that the museum's Lamp of Bharata is cursed, and... more
Don't have time to read the top Hinduism books of all time? Read Shortform summaries.
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In this intriguing introduction to Indian philosophy, the diversity of Indian thought is emphasized. It is structured around six schools of thought that have received classic status. Sue Hamilton explores how the traditions have attempted to understand the nature of reality in terms of inner or spiritual quest and introduces distinctively Indian concepts, such as karma and rebirth. She also explains how Indian thinkers... more
The Mahabharata is the very Book of Life: in its variety, majesty and, also, in its violence and... more
These questions and their answers form the substance of the... more
In a series of 14 stimulating and provocative essays,... more
At a time when Eastern mysticism, religion, and philosophy fascinate many in the West, Maharaj offers fresh and important insights from the perspective of his own experience.
“A unique revelation of the inward struggles of a Hindu and the ultimate... more
Anatomy of the Spirit is the boldest presentation to date of energy medicine by one of its premier practitioners, internationally acclaimed medical intuitive Caroline Myss, one of the "hottest new voices in the alternative health/spirituality scene" (Publishers Weekly). Based on fifteen years of research into energy medicine, Dr. Myss's work shows how every illness corresponds to a... more
Tudor TeodorescuI can say that my area, or my background involves a lot of practical work, traveling, learning and performing a big variety of sports, meeting new people and making contacts. But taking into account that being a young entrepreneur I wish I had known a lot of things before starting everything. Therefore, what I would suggest people to do is invest a lot in themselves professionally and personally,... (Source)
Don't have time to read the top Hinduism books of all time? Read Shortform summaries.
Shortform summaries help you learn 10x faster by:
- Being comprehensive: you learn the most important points in the book
- Cutting out the fluff: you focus your time on what's important to know
- Interactive exercises: apply the book's ideas to your own life with our educators' guidance.