One of the three traditional yogic paths to spiritual liberation is jnana yoga or the path of knowledge. Here are some of my favorite books, which might give you a sense of my spiritual influences.

• Be Here Now, Ram Dass. This is the one book on my coffee table. Ram Dass downloads a universe of mystic wisdom. The younger me would have found it incomprehensible; the older me is astounded by the depth of insight on every page. The one book I would recommend for anyone coming out of a mystical experience.

• Falling Upward, Richard Rohr. The first half of life is spent developing the ego and pursuing worthiness and success. The second half of life is the soul work of “falling” and becoming who you were really meant to be. In shedding our ego and its attachment to safety and security, we slip into our True Selves, the “verbing” of God that a truly aligned life is.

• Finding Meaning in the Second Half of Life: How to Finally, Really Grow Up, James Hollis. James Hollis, the country’s preeminent Jungian analyst, writes beautifully. Like Richard Rohr, Hollis speaks of letting go of the external points of reference: wealth, job prestige, resume length, looks, and fame and claiming ownership of the meaning of your own life.

• When Things Fall Apart, Pema Chodron. During a painful and long depression, reading Pema Chodron’s call for self-compassion in the face of suffering was a salve. Of the many books by Western Buddhists to understand and cope with impermanence and loss; this one resonated most with me.

• Tao te Ching. This 2500 year old text of Chinese mysticism is full of nonduality and paradox. The book has endless meanings, both in its original Chinese and translated English and you will understand it anew each time you pick it up. My favorite of many translations is by Stephen Mitchell. Ursula LeGuin wrote a lovely feminist and modern translation as well. A key text for letting go of your attachments and your beliefs.

• Your Money or Your Life, Vicki Robin. I read YMOYL in college and it instigated my own financial freedom journey, retiring at age 42. I’ve since become lucky to count Vicki Robin as a friend and mentor. In the book, she advocates voluntary simplicity as environmental stewardship and a path to financial independence. By understanding that we trade our life energy for money and vice versa, you can claim life’s most precious resource: the freedom to do what you’re supposed to and most want to do. In other words, freedom to truly be in the world, alive and responsive to the great possibility within you.

• Bhagavad Gita. People as varied as Beethoven, Thoreau, Gandhi, Tolstoy, and Einstein count the 2500 year old Bhagavad Gita as their life’s principal influence. It’s the story of hero warrior Arjuna wavering between doubt and duty in the midst of a vicious civil war. In conversation with his charioteer Krishna, later revealed to be the god Vishnu, the core of yogic wisdom is revealed: do your duty, let go of the results, and give it all to God. Seen another way, it is a call to treat life as craft and to savor the experience of mastery.

• Existential Kink, Carolyn Elliot. Combining the discipline of Jungian shadow work and kink philosophy, Carolyn Elliot suggests that we give attention to the things we react negatively to, and understand that the energy hidden there can be harnessed for delightful purposes. Life-affirming witchiness.

• Tattoos on the Heart, Greg Boyle. Read this book if you want to be inspired to fearlessly and truthfully love the world. Father Greg Boyle, a Jesuit priest, runs Homeboy Industries, a gang intervention organization serving those in the poorest neighborhoods in LA. Father Greg lives acts into the “nomatterwhatness” of grace and love. It’s understanding “the strategy of Jesus is not centered in taking the right stand on issues but standing in the right place” - with the outcasts and those relegated to the margins. I wear a Homegirl Industries jacket as a reminder of things possible when done with great love.

• The World’s Religions, Huston Smith. This book broke down the world’s religions to their basic building blocks for me. Despite growing up Christian, it was only when I read The World’s Religions that I understood “grace,” Christianity’s belief of “God's overwhelming love of humanity, and the need for people to accept that love and let it flow through them to others.” How come I never heard that in my years of going to church? Of that, I have opinions. But if you want to understand the religion, this book is good start. 3 million copies sold. There’s a reason why.

For a regular diet of good material, these newsletters and podcasts are good spiritual nutrition.

• The Marginalian with Maria Popova. A free Sunday curation of the best art, science, and philosophy our world has to offer. Maria Popova is your helpful and generous best-read friend, summarizing and synthesizing her own prodigious reading of truth, beauty, and meaning. Want a taste? Read about the Vampire Problem: how do we choose transformative experiences if they will change us in ways our current self cannot know? And yet that is what we have to do to live.

• On Being with Krista Tippett. A weekly podcast about the Big Questions. Host Krista Tippett is as wise a woman as you’ll ever get a chance to listen to. I got to go to the first in-person On Being Gathering; I really hope they do it again. Tippett is warm, gracious, and insightful; she puts her guests in the best light possible. My favorite episode with is yoga teacher Seane Corn.

• BONUS: Money and Meaning with, me, Douglas Tsoi. I write mostly weekly about the intersection of personal finance and spirituality. Here’s a piece on dark grace, learning to accept everything God has given.