Recommended Inspirational Books And Music

Spiritual Awakening

Emotional And Psychological Healing

Physical Healing And Diet

Energy Healing For Yourself And Others

Uplifting And Inspiring Fiction

Heart Opening, Healing And Uplifting Music

Annamalai Swami lived with Ramana Maharshi at the ashram in India and worked with him for many years. In Final Talks, he shares deep insights from the fruits of his own awakening into the truth of Being while in Ramana's presence.

Many of Ramana's students wrote books about his teachings, but this book was the deepest and clearest expression of his eternal transmission of Beingness in my experience.

"Drink the wine of this Love and your life will change.

Instead of being a gatherer of the Divine Light you will be its shine.

It will be the end of you and the beginning."

~ Adyashanti, My Secret Is Silence

Nisargadatta was a storekeeper in Bombay India until he died in 1981.

He didn’t speak from any particular ideology or religion, yet his simple, direct message is profound. His main concern was human suffering and how to end it.

Hundreds of seekers sought him out in his humble home, and he never turned anyone away. His message pointed to the Self within us all that is the Light in which appears a dream that we are a body.

The book is in question / answer format. Beautiful and clear.

This book was incredibly revealing for me, especially in seeing that anything that I judge in another person is a disowned aspect of myself.

Bruce brings what is unconscious in us up into conscious awareness, allowing us, the reader, to become more aware of ourselves AS awareness.

Through this book I also found myself viewing both myself and other people in my life, with all our quirks and idiosyncrasies, with love.

In particular, if you struggle with relationships, as many of us have, it will help you understand your own behavior and reactions as well as the person you're in relationship with, whether it is your partner, co-worker, or your dog or cat. :-)

He holds a master's degree in psychology and is a licensed marriage and family therapist, as well as a long-time student of Chogyam Trumpa Rinpoche. Bruce gracefully blends Western and Buddhist approaches, which to the mind could seem like opposites at times.

He brings the strengths of both approaches together into a workable, loving, realistic, clear perspective to view yourself, your life and your relationships from.

I highly recommend it.

Although I could have put this book in the Emotional and Psychological Healing section, I kept it here because it deeply serves awakening into the reality of Being.

“The course does not aim at teaching the meaning of love, for that is beyond what can be taught. It does aim, however, at removing the blocks to the awareness of love’s presence, which is your natural inheritance. The opposite of love is fear, but what is all-encompassing can have no opposite.

This course can therefore be summed up very simply in this way:

Nothing real can be threatened. Nothing unreal exists. Herein lies the peace of God.”

~ A Course In Miracles, Introduction, pg. xiii

This book will threaten the foundations of your perceived existence, but only if you’ve been standing on a false one, which most of us have.

At the same time, it will part the veils of illusion and show you a world of purity, guiltlessness, unity, love and light – your true Reality. 

This book continues on where Disappearance Of The Universe left off.

Arten and Pursah meet with Gary for another series of mind-blowing conversations, focusing on advanced forgiveness and how to practice it in partnership with the Holy Spirit (Consciousness) in your everyday life.

With forgiveness, we accelerate our spiritual journey, thereby eliminating the need to reincarnate.

The conversations are filled with humor, expansive love, wisdom and clarity.

Once again, you will probably experience a world view that is very different than the one you hold now. You will be given access to a world of permanent freedom, love, wellbeing, unity and peace with this inspirational book.

In this book Immaculee shares her story of a true miracle – the most profound demonstration of the power of prayer and forgiveness I’ve ever seen.

It touched me deeply and I am still incredibly inspired by it.

In 1994, during the Rwanda genocide she and seven other women hid in a tiny bathroom, one on top of each other, for 91 days.

She kept her attention steadily focused on God, on love, and on forgiveness for the very people who were torturing her family and hunting for her. With her unwavering devotion and absolute faith in the power of love, she discovered a profound and permanent Oneness with God, the reality of our own Being.

Paul Ferrini focuses on the emotional and psychological healing that many of us need before opening to the Divine for healing and wellbeing.

In this inspirational book he talks about the importance of loving ourselves first, in order to release the underlying guilt that we all carry, healing the fear that underlies all guilt, the power of forgiveness and of gratitude, taking responsibility for our own healing and not projecting it out onto others, letting love replace grievances, and much more.

This book is written from a loving, how-to Voice through which I began to feel a deeper connection with the healing power of Christ Consciousness.

In our society we are conditioned to think that happiness is a product of having the right things or the right experiences.

Often we suppress our suffering, pain and fears, and create a mask over them. However, whatever got buried in this process festers in our energy field and there is a nagging feeling that somewhere inside things are just not “right.”

In this book Paul Ferrini shares processes to help us get in touch with our REAL happiness that lies inside, waiting for us to uncover it.

This begins when we allow ourselves to be fully human and to discover, accept and embrace our fears, pain and suffering.

We then bring compassion and love to this part of ourselves and emerge as a more authentic being. We learn to take responsibility for our own healing by letting go of the habit of projecting our pain onto others.

This is a companion book to the previous one. It includes exercises that guide us to:

• accept and nurture ourselves unconditionally
  
  
• live honestly and authentically
  
  
• make our own decisions and accept responsibility for them
  
  
• develop our talents and gifts
  
  
• find our passion and purpose
  
  
• to cultivate an open heart and mind
  
  

Cheri Huber has been a student and teacher of Zen for over 30 years. With wisdom, insight and humor she takes us on an inner journey where we begin to experience the truth about ourselves.

This book ought to be read to small children every day from birth onward. This is the missing manual that every human has been looking for. It exposes the inner core of self-hate that we ALL deal with, whether we are fully aware of it or not.

This book helps us to become aware of the many insidious forms self-hate takes. Then, when we face it and become honest about it we discover that there is nothing wrong with us and there never has been! Whatever deep dark ugly thing that we thought existed inside us is found to be NON-EXISTENT when faced head on. It was all made up.

From here our work is to bring love and compassion to ourselves and to discover that goodness is Who we really are.

Fear is not what we think it is.

When we allow it to come up and bring compassionate awareness to the energy that we’ve labeled “fear,” we drop into a deeper reality of ourselves. We begin to experience our own inner Presence, and to see through the illusions that we thought were true.

With wisdom, insight and humor, Cheri takes us on a profound healing journey within ourselves, guided by our own awareness.

Even though this book was written primarily for men, it is very useful for anyone. I found it very helpful as a way to deal with my own anger.

As a self-proclaimed rageaholic Newton shares his own story about how he tried everything to calm the violence he felt inside which expressed itself outwardly, seemingly beyond his control.

As a licensed psychotherapist, he tried all the conventional approaches with no success, then put together his own system that works.

He treats the problem of out of control rage the same that he treats alcoholism or other substance abuse issues. He identifies raging as an addiction. As anger produces a (false) sense of power, to someone who has previously felt powerless, the feeling of power can be extremely addicting. The addictive substance of “rageahol” is every bit as destructive and powerful as addictions to alcohol, and possibly even more destructive.

Newton’s style of writing is quite humorous, which makes this scary subject easier to explore. His approach differs from the traditional one of talking about your feelings and getting your rage out by pounding pillows and etc. For a rageaholic, those things have become a drug and need to be stopped.

In this case, the first step is to abstain – to “turn off the flame under the pressure cooker” – rather than to take the lid off and get burned and/or burn others around you. He also talks about some of the underlying issues of rage, including the illusion of always being “right.”

Newton is the director of The Center For Anger Resolution, Inc.

Discovering this book marked a turning point in my life. Through Elaine's insights I was finally able to accept, embrace and even feel great gratitude for an aspect of my personality that had previously baffled me.

Are you or someone you love sensitive to chaotic environments? Need to take time alone after a hectic day? Don’t do well with loud sounds or too many things going on at once? Affected strongly by other people’s moods? Have a rich and complex inner life?

This book is incredibly validating and healing for the 15 to 20% of us who have sensitive nervous systems.

Because we are such a small minority, many of us HSP’s (highly sensitive persons) grew up hearing that there was something wrong with us, when in fact, we’ve been given a gift.

No greater or lesser than the gifts that every person has, but definitely a gift. Our brains just process information differently than the rest of the population.

Sensitivity is valued differently in different cultures. In cultures where it is not valued, HSP’s tend to have low self-esteem. They are told "don't be so sensitive" so that they feel abnormal.

The HSP trait is not a new discovery, but has long been misunderstood before Elaine Aron wrote this book. She helps us to “reframe” our experiences and heal the trauma we’ve experienced from negative feedback.

Elaine also helps us to experience our sensitivity as a gift and to explore ways of doing what we love most. For myself, being HSP allows me to see and feel energy and do the energy healing that I do. It also allows me to delve deeply into subjects and see underlying forces at work. I found this book incredibly validating and supportive.

Elaine includes a self-test to see if you or someone you love is highly sensitive. There is also valuable information about how to help your child if he/she is sensitive.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who judges themselves for being sensitive. Your life is about to change.

If you're a woman, you need to read this book. Seriously.

It was incredibly healing and supportive for me.

Because of the conditioning of most current societies, women tend to see themselves as their bodies, and therefore as objects – what we see in the mirror, what we’re afraid others will see, etc. – instead of being present to the totality of who we are.

This is much more common in women than men, but the experience of feeling like an object does happen with men also. If you are a man and resonate with what is shared here, this book can be helpful for you as well.

Marcia helps women become aware of their body image, find out how it was created, and heal it. This helps you find a more harmonious kinesthetic (felt) sense of your body.

Marcia teaches you an “unswerving gentleness with yourself” that is essential for wellbeing. In this book she shares the introspection and imagination exercises used in her workshops.

Although written in 1985, the information, which comes from her own exploration, then refined by working with groups of women, is timeless.

John Bradshaw shows us how toxic shame is the core problem in our compulsions, co-dependencies, addictions and the drive to super-achieve. The result is a breakdown in the family system and our inability to go forward with our lives.

Drawing from his 22 years of experience as a counselor, he offers several techniques to heal shame, including  affirmations, visualizations, inner voice, feeling work, guided meditations and other useful healing techniques to help us release the shame that binds us to the past.

I found many of his processes to be deeply healing.

Through the years I’ve come back to this book many times. It has helped me get my body back into balance again and again.

This information is for anyone experiencing pain, discomfort, fatigue, digestive disorders, candidiasis, parasites, fungus, cancer, AIDS, autism, multiple sclerosis, or undefined uncomfortable symptoms that just don’t seem to go away.

It addresses the physical body as an inner ecosystem and shows us how to get it into balance and keep it that way.

Often the culprit of physical disease is a fungus, yeast infection, or parasites, or a combination of all three of these.

Although not often talked about, many of us have had one or more of these conditions, and sometimes we're not even aware we have it.

They are often the cause of other problems that keep reoccurring until we correct the underlying problem.

Donna provides a quick quiz to see if this is what is troubling you, gives simple principles for eating, and tells you the foods that will help rebalance your system.

The book also shows us how to conquer cravings that, when indulged, take us away from optimal health.

Once I went grain free, I immediately started feeling more energy and optimism. Also, my mind became sharper as a fog that I’d felt for years lifted. As I continued this lifestyle, food cravings fell away. To my great surprise, I haven’t missed the grains and I continue to feel great a much larger percentage of the time.

Many of us eat a huge amount of grains every day, which can lead to health problems such as obesity, diabetes, heart disease, some cancers, digestive disorders, fatigue, skin ailments, and much more.

Nutritionist Melissa Diane Smith challenges conventional dietary wisdom – that grains should be the centerpiece of your diet – and explains why reducing or removing grains is the secret to successful long-term weight control and good health.

Backed up by scientific research, professional experience, and her own health journey, Melissa explains the surprising connection between a grain-rich diet and so many of the health problems plaguing us today.

She includes realistic advice on implementing a plan to cut back or eliminate grains on a daily basis. The book also includes easy-to-follow grain-free recipes and helpful suggestions for dining out.

This is a comprehensive how-to book from a master healer. Donna covers a wide range of techniques for energy healing for wellbeing, for yourself and / or others.

This book shows you how to:

• strengthen your immune, circulatory, lymphatic, and respiratory systems
  
  
• alleviate pan and depression
  
  
• improve memory and learning skills
  
  
• relieve colds, tension headaches, and many other ailments
  
  
• keep your energies balanced
  
  
• and how to use energy healing for many other conditions
  
  

This is a system of healing created by a woman who healed herself from extreme trauma.

Sharon shows us many do-it-yourself techniques for using your hands (for yourself as well as others) to connect the energy circuits from one part of the body to another for release and healing.

This technique is based on the Neurofascial Process, a laying on of hands and subsequent release of emotional and physical pain, including strain and fracture.

Sharon Giammatteo co-founded with Tom Giammatteo the International College of Integrative Manual Therapy in affiliation with Westbrook University, an accredited university in New Mexico. Their school, Dialogues in Contemporary Rehabilitation, teaches over 200 seminars each year around the world to health care professionals.

When I read this Christian science fiction story I was struck by the parallels I saw between the game that is the setting for the story and how I see this life on the physical plane, which I’ve often perceived as a game.

We are here to become aware of the game and to forgive all of it. Then we get to transcend this game and go Home.

This is a well-developed and engaging story, which demonstrated spiritual principles entertainingly, without being preachy.

Remember the days, weeks and months before 12/21/12 when we wondered if the world would come to an end on that day, due to the Mayan Prophecies?

This is an inspirational book – an uplifting fictional story based on the Mayan Prophecies. I loved it because it gives us a direct and personal energetic experience of what is possible for us as a Collective Being to achieve.

This story will expand your heart and vision.

This is a spiritual fiction story based on fact – the discovery of the Lost Gospels of Jesus at Nag Hammadi. It is set in Cairo after World War II.

Very inspiring. There are many beautiful quotes from the Gnostic Gospels that touched me deeply.

This story shows a different perspective of Christ’s life than the traditional story we’re often taught. I felt a strong spiritual presence in the book. It is also very entertaining and well written.

The story includes information about how early Christian editors edited out the equality of men and women in The Bible and how important it is for us today to recognize the Divine Feminine in the totality of spiritual essence, as well as the Divine Masculine.

There is documented proof in the “Lost Gospels” that Mary Magdalene wasn’t a prostitute, was actually one of the apostles and quite possibly the one that most clearly understood Jesus’ teachings.

The story unfolds from the perspective that God is within us and we are all the sons and daughters of God. Love and forgiveness heals all wounds. The way to God is to be with who and what we are – all of it.

We just need to bring forth and reveal all that is within us, be honest about it with ourselves and God, offer it to Spirit for healing, and bring forgiveness and love to it, for ourselves and each other.

The Twelve Houses Series:
Book 1

The Safe Keepers Series:
Book 1

The Samaria Series:
Book 1

I’ve read the first two books of this Magdalene Line series and was entertained, inspired and uplifted by both.

This is a spiritual fiction story based on facts: Mary Magdalene’s Gospel and her own account of her life with Jesus.

This story emphasizes the embracing of both our masculine and feminine energies in order to realize our Wholeness.

This story is a catalyst for emotional healing.

Sometimes as we escape into a fiction story we are swept up and out of our own life, giving space for emotional healing to be triggered on its own.

As I entered the story it entered me and the character’s journey became my own. Since it was removed from the exact details of my own story, there was enough emotional distance to allow me to experience my story from a different, more loving perspective.

One of the characters was chained and left in darkness, then brought out into the light. This is such a metaphor for ALL of us. We are all here to loosen the chains we think hold us in darkness and to eventually find our way to light.

It was an intense story, a page turner that I finished in just two sittings. I came away from the story with a stronger resolve to stand in my heart and commit to what is true, what lights me up.

Even when all we seem to have is a faint flicker of light, if we give attention to that flicker and trust it, it leaps into flame, enlivening our heart, our soul.

After reading this book, I found a deeper trust in my ability to find my way, simply by following the course that lights me up, even when it seems to not be the way that others recommend. Our hearts simply know what they know.

This book is masterfully written. It bridges the gap between the illusion of stability we get when we anchor ourselves in the outer physical world and the Source of true strength that we can find within our inner being.

Kathryn’s story is about love, growth, tender healing, forgiveness, and surrendering to the truth that we know in the depths of our own hearts. I highly recommend it.

It was named one of the “Ten Best Christian Novels of the Year” by Booklist Online, 2006, and was a Christy Finalist, suspense category, 2006.

Alton Gansky is the senior pastor of a Baptist Church in California. He is a spiritual fiction writer, and has also written some non-fiction books as well.

Enoch is a suspenseful, humorous, and inspiring action story. It is very well written and absorbing. Alton brought to life a wise and mysterious Biblical character who has a message for all of us.

Snatam Kaur Khalsa is an American singer and songwriter. She is a follower of Yogi Bhajan, performs Indian devotional music (Kirtan) and tours around the world as a peace activist.

She has many more CD's available besides this one. 

Her voice and music are lovely – gentle, soothing, soulful, love songs of deep devotion and surrender to Source.

This CD is great for meditation, bringing you to a deep peaceful state of wellbeing within, and also uplifting to listen to any time.

Sogno

I love every single song on this CD, but “The Prayer,” which he sings with Celine Dion is one of my most favorite musical experiences ever.

It is incredibly uplifting, and the most exquisite blend of male and female voices that I’ve ever experienced. It is impossible to hear this song and not have your heart burst open!    CD

You can listen to “The Prayer,” with Andrea and Celine here.

Vivere: Live In Tuscany

Andrea returned to the village of Lajatico for this performance, in a specially built theater among the hills of his hometown.

He is joined in the singing by Heather Headley, Sarah Brightman, and Laura Pausini.

Instrumentalists Kenny G and Chris Botti, and classical pianist Lang Lang join him also.    CD & DVD available.

Night In Tuscany

This concert is a unique blend of classical, pop, and traditional Italian songs.

Besides the concert scenes at the Piazza dei Cavalieri in Pisa, the DVD also shows glimpses of the beautiful Italian countryside and excerpts from interviews in between songs.

Andrea sings duets with Italian pop singer Zucchero and sopranos Nuccia Focile and Sarah Brightman. Lovely.     CD & DVD available.

Under The Desert Sky

This was an 18-song concert taped for a PBS special, held on a specially constructed floating stage in Lake Las Vegas.

This time he sings “The Prayer,” with Heather Headley. He also sings a duet with American Idol runner-up Katharine McPhee.

There are guest appearances from Stevie Wonder and trumpeter Chris Botti. There are also bonus video features with interviews.

The music is heavenly.       CD & DVD available.

Shamanic Dream is great music for releasing tension and bringing relaxation and wellbeing.

Anugama uses a combination of sounds and melodies that correspond with human brain waves and energies of the Earth itself. The second half of the CD is focused on healing the chakras.

When I listen to it I feel like I’m in the nurturing womb of Mother Earth.

Beautiful and healing.

Secret Garden is Norwegian composer / keyboardist Rolf Lovland and Irish violinist Fionnuala Sherry.

They use Celtic and Norwegian instruments, orchestra, voices, and piano to create beautiful streams of enchanting music.

This music is so sweet it brings tears and a healing wave of release.

I love this CD!

It includes famous opera arias performed in a contemporary style.

Popular melodies from Carmen, Madame Butterfly, The Magic Flute, Dido, Aeneas and more are included.

I didn't think I'd like this music when a friend introduced it to me as "opera."

Was I ever surprised! I love it.

Romantic Moments

This is a departure from his waltzes, although there are a few here.

There are pieces from Mozart, Chopin, Schubert, Puccini, Dvorák, and others.

All of it is heavenly, and I love his sweet violin.   

CD & DVD available.

The Very Best Of Andre Rieu

This is a two-CD set of highlights from his career, performing with his Johann Strauss Orchestra and the Salon Orchester Maastricht.

Music includes:

• "The Blue Danube"
  
  
• "Trish Trash Polka"
  
  
• "The Emperor Waltz"
  
  
• "Blaze-Away!"
  
  
• Plus traditional numbers such as "Amazing Grace," "Auld Lang Syne," "Stars and Stripes Forever," and more.