Part of the Change – Books That Have Inspired Me

Your role as a spiritual helper. By Neale Donald Walsch.

“Water of life” – By Gil Dekel.

A list of suggested reading from
Neale Donald Walsch
in alphabetical order by author’s last name.

As a Man Thinketh
James Allen
Here is a small booklet containing very large ideas, including this one: “All that we achieve and all that we fail to achieve is the direct result of our own thoughts.” This book has been described as a classic in the truest sense: few books have been so widely read, have stood the test of time so well, have had such an impact on generations of readers, and have carried such a simple, profound message: You are what you think.

Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah
Richard Bach
An extraordinary work of fiction in which we are allowed to discover the ageless truths that give our soul wings. A book that sneaks up on you, it can be read in two short sittings or a single not so very long one. I found the story instantly captivating, the wisdom life-long useful, and the point unforgettable.

Honest to God: A change of heart that can change the world
Brad Blanton and Neale Donald Walsch
A searingly powerful dialogue about the practical applications of honesty in our every day lives. This book reveals the absolute necessity of individual and social transformation and the absolute necessity of honesty in order to bring it about. Climbing down from the ivory tower of philosophers to tackle the problems that vex real people—lying about income taxes, a spouse’s infidelity, a terminal diagnosis for a parent or child, the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, the sudden loss of a job—the text offers a blueprint for living fully, authentically and honestly in a world full of lies. The message of honesty here offers real hope, while showing that great personal tragedy often sparks positive growth if we’re willing to face it, and that great social tragedy can also serve as a critical pivot point for positive societal transformation.

Home Remembers Me: Medicine Poems from em claire
Em Claire
A collection of over 90 awe-inspiring poems selected specifically for anyone in need of comfort, courage, and most of all: hope. Aimed at facilitating deep healing, the poetry offers companionship in times of crisis, taking us by the hand and, poem by poem, leading us out of the darkness and into the light. Silently read or memorized and used as mantra; written down and carried as a personal talisman; given as a gift, or shared aloud, this poetry has been used as medicine, administered from friend to friend, counselor to client, lover to lover, caregiver to hospice patient, clergy to congregation, and shared in retreats and workshops of all kinds, all over the world. Em Claire’s first book, a poetry compendium, is titled Silent Sacred Holy Deepening Heart. It is written with the intention of celebrating the Oneness of all Creation and exploring the mystery of who we are. As such, the poems are as much a spiritual teaching as they are a source of joyful companionship for the mind and soul. Claire envisions her work as “a lantern in the window to which you have just this moment lead yourself, for reasons your own Self and Soul know.” Said the Midwest Book Review: “Traveling the world over with a spiritual purpose has proven ever enlightening for Em Claire…who uses her poetry as a call back to the mystic poets of the past to delve into the human spirit with a unique drive. A labor of dedication and experience, Silent Sacred Holy Deepening Heart is a spiritually dedicated anthology, highly recommended.”

Living Magically: A new vision of reality
Gill Edwards
This reader review at Amazon.com says it all: Written with warmth and humour, which belies it’s depth and thought-provoking richness, this book is one of those that changes lives. It is a lively and original introduction to the ideas, tools and techniques of metaphysics, with many practical exercises and beautiful meditations. It offers a vision which challenges many of our assumptions about the world and shows how, among other things, we can grow through love and joy rather than pain and struggle. This can be used as a practical hand-book for life and personal growth. There is no dogma… the whole book is written on the premise of our freedom to choose. I have personally made use of many of the techniques and ideas to successfully turn my life around. I cannot recommend this book highly enough.

Stranger in a Strange Land
Robert Heinlein
One of the greatest science fiction novels ever published, it tells the tale of an Earth baby raised by an ancient Martian civilization. This being arrives on this planet for the first time as an adult, and the sensation he creates teaches Earth some unforgettable lessons. The book contains some generalizations and characterizations with which I disagree, particularly about young women, yet the road down which Heinlein takes us is filled with enough intriguing philosophical speculations to be worth a few disagreeable bumps, and the journey will provide food for deep and endless inner exploration of life’s most profound questions.

Ask and It Is Given
Esther and Jerry Hicks
Presenting the teachings of the nonphysical entity Abraham, this contemporary (2005) book will help you learn how to manifest your desires so that you’re living the joyous and fulfilling life you deserve. As you read you’ll come to understand how your relationships, health issues, finances, career concerns, and more are influenced by universal laws that govern our 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 everything that is good—and this book will show you how to make it so in every way. I love Esther and Jerry. They are two wonderful friends with a deep dedication to the work of sharing joy, and this book is an extraordinary gift for your Soul, which will be delighted to know that you have found agreement with It in all that It has been trying to tell you!

Jump Time
Jean Houston
One of the founders of the human-potential movement speaks in exciting, often delightfully humorous, and always eloquent words of a new birth of humanity–a unique “jump time” in both global and individual consciousness. Here my Ashland, Oregon neighbor and friend explains how a series of concrete, identifiable elements have been building over the previous generation and how they point to a quantum leap forward for each of us. Her powerful book shows how humanity is on the brink of this leap and that every individual can participate. Among the areas Dr. Houston explores are: The shift in human nature that is moving people to discover and use dormant or little-known capacities; how the breakthroughs in technological connection and the new ways of being in community in global society are re-patterning human consciousness; how a dramatic new awareness of our shared and intermingled ecology, culture, economy, and ethnicity are creating a different kind of human being for the twenty-first century; how the uprising of spiritual yearning and cross-fertilization of the wisdom and practices of world spiritual tradition are newly uniting us to one another as well as to the universe. I join the rest of the world in considering Jean Houston to have one of the most extraordinary minds of our age, and Jump Time to be a magical statement of the current revolution in human potential.

Conscious Evolution
Barbara Marx Hubbard
“A new world view is arising,” writes Barbara in this incredible book. “This idea is the culmination of all human history. It holds the promise of fulfilling the great aspirations of the past and heralds the advent of the next phase of our evolution. It is the idea of conscious evolution.” I have known Barbara for many years, we have worked and presented together, and she is a visionary of sweeping scope and breathtaking insight. Here she shows us that we have all gained the ability to shape our own evolution—not just to observe it, but to shape it—and that our job now is to become aware of this power and to use it to help our world survive, and its people to realize their potential at last. Barbara is an optimist who sees an enormously bright future for humanity and who urges us here to simply let go of our old story and write a new one—and then shows us how.

Loyalty to Your Soul: The Heart of Spiritual Psychology
Ron and Mary Hulnick
This remarkable text establishes Spiritual Psychology as a paradigm-altering frontier. It initiates a radical shift at the core of contemporary psychological thought by unveiling a technology for using everyday life experiences as rungs on the ladder of spiritual evolution. This book is uniquely suited for anyone seeking to discover and cross the bridge that spans the waters between life referenced in material reality and life lived within the context of spiritual reality. Loyalty to Your Soul shows you how to first gain access to, and then gradually learn to live from, that sacred place inherent within everyone, referred to by the authors as the Authentic Self—a place where emotional suffering ceases and profound peace and love are present. While many people have written about such an inner state, Ron and Mary Hulnick show you how to travel there . . . and what to anticipate once you arrive. The radical technology they introduce empowers readers to transform challenging or negative human experiences into direct experiences of the Soul.

Love is Letting Go of Fear
Gerald Jampolsky
An inspirational classic since 1979, this book remains one of the seminal works in the transpersonal movement. Psychiatrist Dr. Gerald Jampolsky’s timeless message may be timelier today than ever: the only thing that stands between us and the awesome energy of love is fear. To live without fear, we must stop analyzing it, stop agonizing over it, stop fighting with it, and simply . . . let it go. How? By releasing our paralyzing preoccupation with the past and our chronic apprehension over the future. To help us in this difficult journey from fear to love, Gerry, who I have personally come to know and love, presents tools in the form of 12 daily, progressive lessons for personal transformation. These crucial lessons work through the concepts of giving, forgiveness, cause and effect, perspective, reactive behavior, victimhood, judgment, living in the present, releasing the past, visualization, freedom to choose, and taking responsibility. In the 25 years since it was first published, Love is Letting Go of Fear continues to change lives with its frank, thought-provoking, and powerful response to overcoming life’s greatest challenges.

Loving What Is
Byron Katie
Out of nowhere, like a fresh breeze in a marketplace crowded with advice on what to believe, comes Byron Katie and what she calls “The Work.” In the midst of a normal life, Katie became increasingly depressed, and over a ten-year period sank further into rage, despair, and thoughts of suicide. Then one morning she woke up in a state of absolute joy, filled with the realization that her own suffering did not have to go on. It ended then and there. The freedom of that realization has never left her, and now in this book you can discover the same freedom. The Work is simply four questions that, when applied to a specific problem, enable you to see what is troubling you in an entirely different light. As Katie says, “It’s not the problem that causes our suffering; it’s our thinking about the problem.” Contrary to popular belief, trying to let go of a painful thought never works; instead, once we have done The Work, the thought lets go of us. At that point, we can truly love what is, just as it is. Loving What Is will show you step-by-step, through clear and vivid examples, exactly how to use this revolutionary process for yourself.

Handbook to Higher Consciousness
Ken Keyes Jr.
This perennial bestseller written over 25 years ago is more popular than ever and has helped countless people experience dramatic changes in their lives from the time they begin applying the simple, effective techniques that the author has given us. A marvelous book that changed my life within weeks after I read it, the text invites us to understand our emotional addictions and to lift our addictions to the level of preferences, ending so much of our emotional suffering forever. I cannot recommend this book highly enough.

Your Road Map to Lifelong Happiness
Ken Keyes Jr.
Described by John Bradshaw as “A must-read breakthrough for enriching your life,” this volume explains how inadequate wiring in our two brains causes poor coordination between your conscious and unconscious minds and allows you to discover ways in which you can greatly expand your happiness by compensating for these inborn “quirks” of our biology. Easy and powerful reading.

Spirit Matters
Michael Lerner
This could well be of one the most important social commentaries of the 21st Century. A brilliant and compelling call for a New Bottom Line in our world, this text offers daring, spectacular ideas for the complete restructuring of how we do business, and why—as well as how we do life, and why. It is impossible not to be ignited by this book, and that is precisely its purpose. A world-view altering document that moves with the speed of Light.

What’s In the Way IS The Way: Moving beyond your struggle into the joy of being fully alive
Mary O’Malley
Mary O’Malley invites you on a journey back to yourself and to a trust-filled connection with life. On this journey, you will discover how to bring every part of yourself into your own heart to be healed so that you can know the joy of being fully here for life. This book is filled with teachings, stories and exercises that will guide you every step of the way. It is a book to enjoy, to work with, and to keep by your favorite reading chair for times when you need to be reminded of its timeless truths.

The Power of Positive Thinking
Rev. Dr. Norman Vincent Peale
Written over 50 years ago and translated into fifteen languages with more than 7 million copies sold, The Power of Positive Thinking is unparalleled in its extraordinary capacity for restoring the faltering faith of millions. In this insightful work Dr. Peale offers the essence of his profound method for mastering the problems of everyday living. You will learn: How to eliminate that most devastating handicap—self doubt; how to free yourself from worry, stress and resentment; how to climb above problems to visualize solutions and then attain them; and simple prayerful exercises that you can do every day, through-out the day, to reinforce your new-found habit of happiness. Eliminating all the negative thoughts that prevent you from achieving happiness and success, The Power of Positive Thinking is an inspiring book that will help you create a positive change in your life. Faith in yourself makes good things happen to you. A classic guide to self-esteem and success with a gently Christian viewpoint that is clearly present but by no means obstructive, this book can help you learn how to break the worry habit, get other people to like you, avoid “the jitters” in your daily work, believe in yourself and everything you do, and develop the power to reach your goals.

The Four Agreements
Don Miguel Ruiz
Reveals the source of self-limiting agreements that rob people of joy and create needless suffering. Based on ancient Toltec wisdom, the book offers a powerful code of conduct that can rapidly transform anyone’s life to a new experience of freedom, true happiness, and love. These agreements are deceptively simple: Be impeccable with your word (speak with integrity; say only what you mean); Don’t take anything personally (nothing others do is because of you); Don’t make assumptions (find the courage to ask questions and express what you really want); Always do your best (and you will avoid self-judgment, self-abuse, and regret). I read this book in one sitting and then determined to read it again immediately. I’ve opened it several times since, never without enormous benefit.

The Power of Now
Eckhard Tolle
Eckhart Tolle here describes his transition from despair to self-realization soon after his 29th birthday. Tolle took another ten years to understand this transformation, during which time he evolved a philosophy that has parallels in Buddhism, relaxation techniques, and meditation theory, but is also eminently practical. In The Power of Now he shows readers how to recognize themselves as the creators of their own pain, and how to have a pain-free existence by living fully in the present. Accessing the deepest self, the true self, can be learned, he says, by freeing ourselves from the conflicting, unreasonable demands of the mind and living “present, fully and intensely, in the Now.” This book, too, I have returned to over and over again, never without profit.

Everyday Grace
Marianne Williamson
What do your spiritual convictions have to do with traffic jams, job anxiety, reading the newspaper, or arguing with your spouse? Everything, according to Marianne Williamson. It is the way we live in our everyday world that determines the shape of who we are. So Buddhist or Muslim, Christian or Jew, it is the moment when our daughter doesn’t make the basketball team, or our best friend lands our dream job, or our business instinct tells us to hammer the guy across the boardroom table, that tests and builds our living faith. With an attitude of hope, a call to forgive, a celebration of miracles, and the promise of strength and grace, Williamson helps us find our sacred footing on ordinary ground. No matter where we are or what we’re doing, there is the opportunity to be happy, and to be holy. The large and small difficulties of our days challenge us to open our hearts and minds as Marianne teaches us to ride the currents that lurk in each of those moments of opening to a sea change of the soul. I have had a wonderful friendship with Marianne for many years, and I promise you that you cannot read any book of hers without your heart, mind, and soul jumping for joy. Her awesome wisdom, insight, clarity, and compassion can heal any wound, or thought of one. Read everything she has ever written.

Note: To assure accuracy I have relied on publishers
or their representatives for content descriptions of the
books listed above. Personal comments are my own.
NDW

* End of chapter ‘Books That Have Inspired Me’  *

Copyright © 2005 Neale Donald Walsch. Published here by Gil Dekel with Neale’s permission. 1 January 2017.

Published in 2005 by Spiritual Legacies, Ashland, OR, USA. All rights reserved.