The Alchemist, by Paulo Coehlo (1995)

Publisher’s Weekly says, “This inspirational fable… is the tale of Santiago, a shepherd boy, who dreams of seeing the world, is compelling in its own right, but gains resonance through the many lessons Santiago learns during his adventures. He journeys from Spain to Morocco in search of worldly success, and eventually to Egypt, where a fateful encounter with an alchemist brings him at last to self-understanding and spiritual enlightenment. The story has the comic charm, dramatic tension and psychological intensity of a fairy tale, but it's full of specific wisdom as well, about becoming self-empowered, overcoming depression, and believing in dreams. The cumulative effect is like hearing a wonderful bedtime story from an inspirational psychiatrist. Comparisons to The Little Prince are appropriate; this is a sweetly exotic tale for young and old alike.”

The Aquarian Conspiracy: Personal and Social Transformation in Our Time, by Marilyn Ferguson (1980)

This was the first and best book to describe the then-burgeoning New Age movement. Ferguson was able to identify the impetus and substance of the movement in clear, convincing language. She argues convincingly that it is in our power to choose what kind of society we want to live in. A remarkable and inspiring read that feels fresh all these years later, this book deservedly remains what many have called the “New Age Bible.”   A must read.

Be Here Now, by Ram Dass (1971)

A trippy, psychedelic, poetic book by the New Age’s very first celebrity wise man, Ram Dass.  Both a work of retro ‘60s art and a groovy crash course in Hindu thought, the book has just as much power to blow your mind as it ever did.  And after your mind is blown, you’ll be kick back and finally enjoy that everything that happens “is all part of the drama.” 

The Celestine Prophecy, by James Redfield (1995)

One of the bestselling books of the 1990s, Publisher’s Weekly calls this “a fast-paced adventure in New Age territory that plays like a cross between Raiders of the Lost Ark and Moses's trek up Mt. Sinai. Originally self-published, the book sold phenomenally, sparked by word of mouth.  The saga begins when the unnamed middle-aged male narrator whimsically quits his nondescript life to track down an ancient Peruvian manuscript (pretentiously called the Manuscript) containing nine Insights that supposedly prophesy the modern emergence of New Age spirituality… Redfield has a real talent for page-turning action, and his lightweight quest employs auras, energy transfers and other psychic phenomena. But several of the Insights are incredibly vacuous and politically correct, and long stretches of dialogue are banal and cliched.”

Conversations with God, by Neale Donald Walsch  (1996)

Another book that “caught fire” in New Age circles and sold so well that it launched an entire industry known as “CWG.”  Amazon.com describes the book this way: “Blasphemy! Heresy! Who does this man think he is, claiming to speak directly to God?! Jesus did it, Muhammad did it, the Jewish prophets did it, but none of their Gods had the sardonic wit or raw verve of Prophet Walsch's God. Neale Donald Walsch isn't claiming to be the Messiah of a new religion, just a frustrated man who sat down one day with pen in his hand and some tough questions in his heart. As he wrote his questions to God, he realized that God was answering them... directly... through Walsch's pen. The result, far from the apocalyptic predictions or cultic eccentricities you might expect, turns out to be matter-fact, in-your-face wisdom on how to get by in life while remaining true to yourself and your spirituality.”

The Cultural Creatives:  How 50 Million People Are Changing the World (2000)

A book that got a lot of attention when it came out, it is a basic updating of Ferguson’s Aquarian Conspiracy.  Unfortunately, it came out just as George W. Bush made his questionable entrance into the White House, carrying with him a new resurgence of conservatism.  Yet despite becoming somewhat lost in the wake of events, the book made a convincing and well-detailed case for the continued existence of a movement that by the year 2000 had stopped calling itself “New Age.”  It also identified many of our most important concerns in our personal and collective lives at the beginning of the 21st century.

Jonathan Livingston Seagull, by Richard Bach (1970)

I remember fiercely loving this short and sweet allegory about a gull who lives to fly when I first read it.  With a constant refrain that freedom lies in our thoughts about reality, Bach’s sweet story is an expression of pure idealism.  Amazon.com says, “Flight is the metaphor that makes the story soar. Ultimately this is a fable about the importance of seeking a higher purpose in life, even if your flock, tribe, or neighborhood finds your ambition threatening. (At one point our beloved gull is even banished from his flock.) By not compromising his higher vision, Jonathan gets the ultimate payoff: transcendence. Ultimately, he learns the meaning of love and kindness….This is a spirituality classic, and an especially engaging parable for adolescents.”  

Also from Bach:  Bridge Across Forever, One, Illusions, Running From Safety

Out on a Limb, by Shirley MacLaine (1983)

I confess I hold this brave, outrageous, you’ve-got-to-kidding me book in high affection.  Because of this book -- or rather because of its no holds barred account of MacLaine’s journey through the movement when it was all brand new -- many people have publicly wondered if MacLaine was off her rocker.  She visits psychics and channels and tries on every silly idea that was floating around at the time.  Well, I have no idea if MacLaine is sane or if she was more gullible than the average person or not.   I just know that her book is original and entertaining.  And to those millions of us who first discovered New Age because of it -- it was a life-changing experience.   In my opinion, idealism is forever in her debt.

The Perennial Philosophy, by Aldous Huxley (1945)

While probably not the first book to point out that our longstanding religions share a mystical foundation of idealistic principles, it is certainly the most influential book to do so.  Huxley’s philosophical masterpiece is a compilation of other writers’ works organized according to theme such as “Truth,” and “Good and Evil” and “Faith.”  This gives the book a scattered, incohesive feel, but patient reading is rewarded with many thought-provoking gems.   

The Power of Now, Eckhart Tolle (1999)

This runaway bestseller is surprisingly well-written, and as long as it in your hands, you feel as if enlightenment is pooling just beneath your feet and all you have to do is step in.  If it is not really that simple, Tolle still convinces me that it should be, and certainly is about to be.  His voice is warm and supportive and I am sure if I just read the book a few more times, then I will start living in the now for more nows than not…  After reading his book, you may also want to write him a note and thank him for the encouragement. unlike some of those mean teachers who tell you that you have to work hard for years and years, Tolle pats you on the book and says, you can do it!   And while I’m reading his book, I believe.

The Prophet, by Kahlil Gibran (1923)

This book of poetic prose was given to me as a teenager and it left me breathless with its beauty.  It also left me full of longing to connect with the divine.  I can’t say it any better than Amazon:  “On the most basic topics--marriage, children, friendship, work, pleasure—Gibran’s words have a power and lucidity that in another era would surely have provoked the description ‘divinely inspired.’ Free of dogma, free of power structures and metaphysics, consider these poetic, moving aphorisms a 20th-century supplement to all sacred traditions--as millions of other readers already have.”

A Return to Love, by Marianne Williamson (1994)

What a pleasure to discover the straightforward opinions of Marianne Williamson in this, her first book. Inspired by her experience with the idealistic principles of A Course in Miracles, Williamson writes with honesty, wit and humor in describing her own struggle to let go of fear and choose to look through the eyes of love.  Even though I am not a devotee of the Course, I completely related to, and was inspired by, her journey. 

Other worthy books by Williamson:  Healing the Soul of America, The Gift of Change, Everyday Grace

The Road Less Traveled, by M. Scott Peck (1978)

The mega-selling book about psychological health and growth was hugely influential on me as a young woman, maybe because it covers a much wider in scope than mere psychology. As Publisher’s Weekly notes, Peck takes “ a mystical, Jungian tone more compatible with New Age spirituality,” and “writes of psychotherapy as an exercise in ‘love’ and ‘spiritual growth,’ asserts that "our unconscious is God" and affirms his belief in miracles, reincarnation and telepathy. Peck's synthesis of such clashing elements (he even throws in a little thermodynamics) is held together by a warm and lucid discussion of psychiatric principles and moving accounts of his own patients' struggles and breakthroughs. Harmonizing psychoanalysis and spirituality, Christ and Buddha, Calvinist work ethic and interminable talking cures, this book is a touchstone of our contemporary religio-therapeutic culture.”  Peck’s later books took an unexpectedly hard turn toward dualism and Christianity, but Road Less Traveled remains one of my all-time, eye-opening books.

The Tao of Physics, by Fritjof Capra (1975)

This is a Wow!-book that delights and sweeps one up in Capra’s enthusiasm for his subject.  An illuminating and convincing look at how the relatively recent findings of quantum physics are in surprising sync with the ancient tenets of Eastern philosophy.  The dissonant gap between science and religion is narrowed and becomes resonant harmony in Capra’s capable hands.  There are many books that explore the very same theme, but this was one of the first, and certainly the most well-known in the New Age.

The Seat of the Soul, by Gary Zukav (1999)

Catapulted into bestsellardom by a blessing from Oprah Winfrey, this book is “insightful, lucid synthesis of modern psychology and new-age principles” according to Amazon.  Zukav’s goal is to help you evolve into a “multi-sensory” being, one who “values love more than the physical world,” and one with a life filled with more compassion, trust and understanding.  While I personally have never been able to get past the first twenty pages, my sister swears it rocked her world.

Siddhartha, by Herman Hesse (1922)

A lyrical novel written by the German Nobel Prize winner, I read it my twenties and throughout, it induced in me a kind of trance of pleasure.  Amazon.com says of the main character:  “Born the son of a Brahmin, Siddhartha was blessed in appearance, intelligence, and charisma. In order to find meaning in life, he discarded his promising future for the life of a wandering ascetic. Still, true happiness evaded him. Then a life of pleasure and titillation merely eroded away his spiritual gains until he was just like all the other "child people," dragged around by his desires. Like Hermann Hesse's other creations of struggling young men, Siddhartha has a good dose of European angst and stubborn individualism. His final epiphany challenges both the Buddhist and the Hindu ideals of enlightenment. Neither a practitioner nor a devotee, neither meditating nor reciting, Siddhartha comes to blend in with the world, resonating with the rhythms of nature, bending the reader's ear down to hear answers from the river.”

The Varieties of Religious Experience, By William James (1903)

Still in print over a hundred years after its first publication, this book by the famous psychologist/philosopher has been revered by readers from many disciplines, but is especially valuable to idealists and New Agers with an interest in spirituality and religion.  A Harvard professor and the father of pragmatism, James was a practical man, and able to look at his subject in a fair and logical manner.  The result is a clear explanation of mysticism and idealistic philosophy that helps us understand it as the most reasonable of choices available to us when deciding on our own philosophy. 

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, by Robert Pirsig (1974)

A story that wanders between a gentle meditation of profound philosophical insight and harrowing psychological thriller, Amazon.com says it is, “arguably one of the most profoundly important essays ever written on the nature and significance of ‘quality’… [It is] definitely a necessary anodyne to the consequences of a modern world pathologically obsessed with quantity. Although set as a story of a cross-country trip on a motorcycle by a father and son, it is more nearly a journey through 2,000 years of Western philosophy. For some people, this has been a truly life-changing book.”

Do you know of other authors and books that belong in this category?  Please let me know at teenabooth@newagepride.org.

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