Some great answers! Never expected to see Ramana Maharshi or Nisargadatta on HN. The Gospel of Ramana Maharshi is great. I reread it 20 years later and found I

Some great answers! Never expected to see Ramana Maharshi or Nisargadatta on HN. The Gospel of Ramana Maharshi is great. I reread it 20 years later and found I still agreed with 90% of it, to my surprise - it's based in what he learnt for himself, mostly, not what he read somewhere/was taught! He's a mid-20th C Hindu guru, widely considered as good as it gets. Gangaji, an American woman, is of his lineage, and has very good bs-free books and videos (some on youtube), which take you straight there... Be Here Now by Ram Dass, a US Hindu guru, is a great hippie-era introduction to Hindu-based religious practices, also has a lot of quotes from different books and traditions, from which I discovered a lot of great stuff. Some of his other books and recordings of his retreats are gold. A very articulate and thoughtful guy. Buddhism: I got a lot from the down to earth Thai-forest-monk-style Buddhism of Ajahn Chah's books. The first philosophy and spiritual books I read, as a teen, were the Chinese classics - Confucius, Mencius, Chuangtzu, Lao Tzu (Tao Te Ching). All fascinating, a joy to read, deep. I'm very glad I happened to start there. Oh but I forgot my favourite (too close to me[0]) - Emerson's Essays, First and Second Series, which I guess is a 'spiritual book'. The first time it was like he'd described a thousand things I'd experienced but thought indescribable. Has had more impact, a better impact, than any other author, provided endless inspiration and...embiggenment. I read in him every day for many years. He's always with me. [0] "Emerson. – Never have I felt so much at home in a book, and in my home, as – I may not praise it, it is too close to me." - Nietzsche, notes