Recommended Reading
Note: Aside from the S.O.L.A.R.® Texts, the following reading suggestions are not necessarily all completely in line with S.O.L.A.R.® ideas and practices. However, the wider we read and study, even ideas opposed to our own, the better chance we have of finding the common thread of Truth that lies within all ways of looking at ourselves, our lives, and the world around us. In the end, that Truth lies beyond all ideas and perspectives and in the direct experience of Presence. Attachment to, or insistence upon, any one set of ideas or perspectives at the expense of others cuts us off from learning as well as from the possibility of this direct experience of Presence.
The S.O.L.A.R.® Texts
S.O.L.A.R.®'s own books, written by S.O.L.A.R.® founder, Martin Lass.
The Happiness Hypothesis
- Putting Ancient Wisdom and Philosophy to the Test of Modern Science
by John Haidt
Description: Explores the connections between ancient Eastern ideas and modern psychology, showing how these two sides can work hand-in-hand toward our healing and evolution of consciousness. An excellent alternate presentation of many of S.O.L.A.R.®'s ideas about the human psyche. A surprising and refreshing book!
Accessibility: General readership.
The Power of Now
by Eckhart Tolle
Description: Outlines a way of life built around living in the Now (or, in S.O.L.A.R.® terms, in Presence). It also provides an excellent alternate description of the workings of our ego/mind (or, in S.O.L.A.R.® terms, of our Material Nature), although Tolle tends to lean on the negative side, which is an offshoot of his essentially Buddhist approach and training. Beautifully simple writing, but pragmatists may find little to hang their hat on.
Accessibility: General readership.
The Hero with a Thousand Faces
by Joseph Campbell
Description: Explores the common themes in mythology that suggest a common origin for them all—in particular, the Hero Myth theme, which, in S.O.L.A.R.® terms, describes the journey of our Seeker Nature, descended from Light and returning to Light. A classic!
Accessibility: Medium-density reading, but worth the effort.
Count Your Blessings
- The Healing Power of Gratitude and Love
by Dr. John F. Demartini
Description: Offers knowledge, inspirations, and anecdotes concerning the power of Gratitude and Love in our lives, taken from Dr. Demartini's years of professional practice as a teacher, speaker, healer, and chiropractor. Inspiring!
Accessibility: General readership.
Chiron - Healing Body and Soul
by Martin Lass
Description: Astrology book about Chiron, the planet of Healing and Wounding. Describes the workings of recently discovered comet, Chiron (1977), in relation to our innate Longing for Healing and a Return to Spirit and Wholeness. This Longing arises from our sense of separation from Spirit/Wholeness, which in turn arises from our descent/incarnation into the material/dualistic world (as what S.O.L.A.R.® calls Material Nature).
Accessibility: For those interested in astrology, spirituality, and healing—laypersons and professionals alike.
Living Presence
- A Sufi Way to Mindfulness & the Essential Self
by Kabir Edmund Heminski
Description: A beautifully written book about living the Sufi Way, with an emphasis on the practice and attainment of Presence, not only in our spiritual lives, but in our daily lives as well. Very much in line with S.O.L.A.R.® ideas and practices.
Accessibility: General readership.
Breathing Alive
– A Guide to Conscious Living
by Reshad Feild
Description: A poetic and simply written book about the role and importance of breath in our quest for a more spiritual life and a reconnection to Spirit. Very much in line with S.O.L.A.R.® ideas and practices. Quoting from the back cover of the book: "A great Sufi mystic once said, 'All is contained in the Divine Breath, like the day in the morning's dawn.' If we become aware of the power of our breath, we have the ability to bring about real change, both psychologically and potentially on a vast scale. But what is this breath that is fundamental to our very existence? In Breathing Alive, internationally renowned author, Reshad Feild, shows us that it is actually not so difficult to understand when we can come to realize that we all have just one thing in common - the element of air."
Accessibility: General readership.
Opening of the Way
- A Practical Guide to the Wisdom Teachings of Ancient Egypt
by Isha Schwaller de Lubicz
Description: From the back cover: "This lucid and practical guidebook to the teachings of ancient Egypt is solidly based on the spiritual principles that were the foundations of both the Egyptian Temple and the Western esoteric traditions. These principles reveal to us a higher intelligence, known to the ancient Egyptians as the 'intelligence of the heart.'" This book is completely in line with S.O.L.A.R.® ideas and practices, even though the terminologies differ in places. It outlines in both metaphysical and practical terms the esoteric, psychic, psychological, and physiological aspects of our quest for spiritual Mastery.
Accessibility: Medium-density reading.
Exploring Consciousness
by Rita Carter
Description: A wonderful overview of the state of scientific research into consciousness and what we think consciousness is. Large-format book with many pictures, diagrams, and interesting tidbits! Highly recommended.
Accessibility: General readership.
The Sufis
by Idries Shah
Description: This classic book first brought Sufi ideas accurately to the modern world. Full of stories, anecdotes, explanations, and history. Asserts that the Sufi Way lies at the core of all spiritual and religious ways, not the least of which in relatively modern times was Islam.
Accessibility: Medium-density reading.
The Way of the Sufi
by Idries Shah
Description: This classic book first brought Sufi ideas accurately to the modern world. Full of stories, anecdotes, explanations, and history. Asserts that the Sufi Way lies at the core of all spiritual and religious ways, not the least of which in relatively modern times was Islam.
Accessibility: Medium-density reading.
The Holographic Universe
by Michael Talbot
Description: A classic book and the first of its kind that sets out scientific evidence that everything in the universe is connected, interrelated, and even alive, i.e. the entire universe ultimately consists of holograms within holograms within one giant hologram (All/Source/Universe/Spirit/Oneness/
God/Whatever). Highly recommended.
Accessibility: General readership.
The Gift
- Poems by Hafiz, the Great Sufi Master
edited and translated by Daniel Ladinsky
Description: Thousand-year old spiritual poetry along the lines of the more renowned Rumi, but truer to their shared Sufi origins. Hafiz expresses through ravishing, surprising, and poignant poetry the Truth of our existence as particles of the One God/Love/Universe/Cosmic One, which he calls by a variety of names including the Friend and the Beloved. Unfettered inspiration and Love for Life!
Accessibility: General readership.
The Social Construction of Reality
- A Treatise in the Sociology of Knowledge
by Peter L. Berger and Thomas Luckmann
Description: Deconstructs social conditioning and the consensus reality by exploring how knowledge/information is passed between people and how such shared knowledge/information then becomes, for all practical purposes, our shared experience of the world. A brilliant classic that has not gone out of print since its first release in 1967.
Accessibility: Heavy-going, but worth the effort!
The Prophet
by Kahlil Gibran
Description: Timeless and classic poetry with deep spiritual messages about universal balance and love.
Accessibility: General readership.
Hara
- The Vital Center of Man
by Karlfried Graf von Dürckheim
Description: Describes the physical, energetic, and metaphysical bases behind many meditation practices ("sitting," or "seiza") that seek simply to reconnect us with our essential Being. The S.O.L.A.R.® Activation owes much to such understandings and practices (e.g. when the Activation tells us to "drop the belly" and to place attention upon breath).
Accessibility: Medium-density reading, but worth the effort!
Compensation, Nature, and other Essays
by Ralph Waldo Emerson
Description: Timeless and classic essays about the universal laws of balance. A must-read!
Accessibility: Medium-density reading.
The Cosmic Game
by Stanislav Grof
Description: Dr. Grof has been a psychiatrist and a researcher of consciousness, peri- and pre-natal psychology, psychedelic drug use for healing of mental illness, and holotropic states for over 40 years. The Cosmic Game relates his patients' experiences of the essential Oneness and intelligence of the Universe, drawing together a picture of the Universe as an expression of higher and living consciousness in contrast to the old Newtonian paradigm of the Universe as a mechanical clock winding down, devoid of Spirit.
Accessibility: General readership.
The Self-Organizing Universe
by Erich Jantsch
Note: this book is hard to get.
Search on the linked site for used copies.
Description: Drawing from multiple scientific disciplines, Jantsch lays out a tapestry of the universe as an evolving, intelligent, ordered manifestation of consciousness.
Accessibility: Heavy-going, but worth the effort!
In Search of the Miraculous
by P. D. Ouspensky
Description: An account of Ouspensky's years as a student of the great Russian/Armenian Teacher,
G. I. Gurdijieff. A high-density book about universal laws, the nature of the human psyche, esoteric knowledge, breaking out of the consensus reality, and much, much more. This was the only third-party book Gurdjieff ever endorsed for public release. S.O.L.A.R.® owes much to Gurdjieff and the ideas and practices he brought into the West from a hidden Central Asian Mystery School.
Accessibility: Heavy-going, but worth the effort!
Meetings with Remarkable Men
by G. I. Gurdjieff
Description: Gurdjieff's own account of many of his mentors and teachers from childhood to adulthood, culminating in his finding and studying at a hidden Central Asian Mystery School, after which he set up his own school in the West. S.O.L.A.R.® owes many of its ideas and perspectives to Gurdjieff. Challenging ideas and non-consensus perspectives. Revelationary.
Accessibility: General readership. Gurdjieff's most accessible book.
Views from the Real World
- The Early Talks of Gurdjieff
by G. I. Gurdjieff
Description: Reproduces the early talks of Gurdjieff after he returned from a hidden Central Asian Mystery School and began setting up his own school. S.O.L.A.R.® owes many of its ideas and perspectives to Gurdjieff. Challenging ideas and non-consensus perspectives. Revelationary.
Accessibility: Medium-density reading.
The Life Divine
by Sri Aurobindo
Description: A classic tome concerning our lives in the spiritual/material paradox. Although written in the language of Eastern mysticism and even though it does not offer the practical steps that S.O.L.A.R.® offers, esoterically speaking this book is perhaps one of the closest to S.O.L.A.R.® in its ideas and perspectives. A book from the gods, so to speak!
Accessibility: Heavy-going, but worth the effort!
The Secret Teachings of All Ages
by Manly P. Hall
Description: A classic tome setting out mystical, religious, and spiritual systems, traditions, and ideas from throughout history. A must-read for anybody interested in finding the essential Truths that run through all such systems, religions, and traditions.
Accessibility: Medium-density reading, but worth the effort!
The Rebirth of Nature
- The Greening of Science and God
by Rupert Sheldrake
Description: Sheldrake, trained as a biologist, is renowned for his work and theories on "morphogenic fields," which are basically a description of the consciousness that lies at the core of every manifestation of life and even of things we might not consider to be alive in the usual way, like the elements, the planets, sacred sites, etc. Sheldrake promotes a return to a living awareness of the living universe, which we lost somewhere along the way, not the least in the rise of the so-called Age of Reason and the Newtonian, mechanistic paradigm. Highly recommended for anybody who want to see the scientific basis for asserting that the universe is alive, conscious, and highly intelligent.
Accessibility: General readership.
The Psychology of Man's Possible Evolution
by P. D. Ouspensky
Description: Six lectures about the nature of the human psyche and where our possibilities for evolution of consciousness and for becoming more complete human beings lie. A brilliant, if-a-little-dry-and-intellectual exposition on what S.O.L.A.R.® calls our Material Nature.
Accessibility: Heavy-going.
Heal Your Body
by Louise Hay
Description: Classic two books about the power of Love to heal you and your life and about the connections between consciousness and health and disease. Short, but sweet!
Accessibility: General readership.
You Can Heal Your Life
by Louise Hay
Description: Classic two books about the power of Love to heal you and your life and about the connections between consciousness and health and disease. Short, but sweet!
Accessibility: General readership.
The Tao of Physics
by Fritjof Capra
Description: One of the first books to explore the connections between consciousness, spirituality, and quantum phyics. Although many books and researchers have take this much further now, this book is a classic worth reading.
Accessibility: General readership.
Freedom from the Known
by Jiddu Krishnamurti
Description: Renowned spiritual teacher, Jiddu Krishnamurti, talks about knowledge, knowing, the mind, and all the things that can keep us from simply Being, in the Now, in Presence, in Love. In his view, it is only from a place of not knowing—the edge of the unknown—that the doors of Being open up to true Knowing and Love, beyond the limited knowing of the ordinary mind (or, in S.O.L.A.R.® terms, beyond the limited perceptions and perspectives of our Mental and Material Natures).
Accessibility: Medium-density reading.
Zen Flesh, Zen Bones
edited by Paul Reps
Description: Classic book setting out many Zen teachings, stories, aphorisms, and more. Zen's ultimate aim is what S.O.L.A.R.® calls Presence.
Accessibility: General readership, but pragmatists might find little to hang their hat on.
The Illusional Basis for Man's Health and Disease
by Dr. John F. Demartini
Note: you will have to email the author via the linked site to obtain a copy of this book.
Description: A highly scientific and intense deconstruction of human health and disease and our perspectives on these, showing that, ultimately, both health and disease are completely about consciousness and perception.
Accessibility: Extremely heavy-going and technical. Not for the faint-hearted!
More books added regularly... check back soon!
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