Violence and the Sacred - Rene Girard - discusses why ritual is important among other things
The Hero with A Thousand Faces - Joseph Campbell - helpful to understand the composition of most stories and one’s life
Tantra Unveiled: Seducing the Forces of Matter and Spirit - Pandit Rajmani Tigunait - helpful to get some bearings if interested in tantra
The Blind Owl Sadegh Hedayat - ☠️
The Temporary Autonomous Zone - Hakim Bey - how to build a society for a short period of time
Play of Consciousness - Swami Muktananda - a sadhaka’s journey into meditation
48 Laws of Power - Robert Greene - helpful guide for accumulating power
Living with the Himalayan Masters - Swami Rama - teaches about spirituality through stories
The Profound Treasury of the Ocean of the Dharma - Chongyam Trungpa - 3 part series that lays out the Hinayana, Mahayana and Vajrayana vehicles of Tibetan Buddhism
100 to 1 in the Stock Market - Thomas Phelps - how to make a lot of money in the stock market
In Search of the Miraculous - P.D. Ouspensky - A great way to learn about the teachings of G.I Gurdjieff
Asana Pranayama Mudra Bandha - Swami Satyananda Saraswati - useful for one seeking to deepen their Raja Yoga practice
Love - Stendahl - How to think about love. How love works.
Moola Bandha: The Master Key - Deep dive into one of the most important energy centers
Aghora: At the Left Hand of God - Robert Svoboda - An Aghori and his pupil sharing lessons on aghora and tantra through dialogue
Marcel Duchamp: The Afternoon Interviews - Calvin Tomkins - Interview with artist Marcel Duchamp about art.
Vigyan Bhairav Tantra Vol. 1-5 - Osho - An interesting lens on Tantra from Osho who is a genius.
Battle of Bretton Woods - Benn Steil - An overview of the conference that determined what international monetary system would look like after WW2
The Giving Tree - Shel Silverstein - the problem with capitalism and humans
Stalking the Wild Pendulum - Itzhak Bentov - On the mechanics of consciousness
History of Sexuality Vol. 1-3 - Michel Foucault - Why we are so fucked up as a culture in the west
The Breakdown of Nations - Leopold Kohr - Smaller is better
Denationalization of Money - Frederick Hayek - Smaller economies
Akbar and Birbal: Tales of Wit and Wisdom - Amita Sarin - Great short stories with big lessons
Encyclopedia of Tibetan Symbols and Motifs - Robert Beer - If you like Tibetan art a lot and drawing, this is for you.
Mysticism of the Ramayana - Swami Jyotirmayananda - Great insights and synopsis of the epic tale.
The Secret Teachings of All Ages - Manly P. Hall - Lots of esoteric knowledge about a huge number of topics
Drug Use for Grown Ups - Dr. Carl Hart - A tenured professor explaining how fucked up the drug war is and why adults should be free to recreationally use any drugs they want to
Supercapitalism - Robert Reich - How capitalism with megacorps purely focused on the bottom line is unsustainable and what we can do about it as consumers
ARTICLES, ESSAYS AND SHORT STORIES
Tantra: Theory and Practice - overview of Tantra understandable by a Western anglophone reader
Guide to the Elements - how do the elements affect us
Proposal for a Decentralized Alternative Monetary System - Robert Swann’s proposal for a community-backed currency system
Rethinking Our Centralized Monetary System - The Case for a System of Local Currencies
The Politics of Money - Hazel Henderson
The Crack Up - F. Scott Fitzgerald - What happens when we crack up (like break down)
Cybernetics and Entheogenics - Peter Lamborn Wilson - A great take on the relationship between tech and psychedelics
Mystical Interpretation of the Hanuman Chalisa - Swami Jyotirmayananda - 🐒
The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction - Walter Benjamin - How art has evolved through history
Vajrayogini Overview and Sacred Sites in Nepal
Harrison Bergeron - Kurt Vonnegut - Chips to handicap brain function implanted into everyone to make them all equal
WEBSITES
Crystalinks - great spiritual encyclopedia
Sacred Texts - basically every religious/spiritual text ever
Music Map - classification of music genres shown in a cool visualization
Schumacher Center - best resource for learning about local economies
Universal Yoga - most comprehensive system of yoga imo
Charles Fourier Archive - catalogue of some of the works of Charles Fourier