16 Best Spiritual Books of All Time, According to Experts

“Koshin is a Zen priest, and in this book (as well as everything he’s written, including Awake at the Bedside and Untangled), he blends personal stories and Zen wisdom to help the reader identify some of their core values,” says Rabbi Seth Wax, Jewish Chaplain at Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts. “Each chapter also includes a short contemplation. It’s lovely, sweet and deep.”

“I return to this book of meditations by my colleague, Rev. Soto, over and over,” says Rev. Casey-Campbell. “Deep threads of compassion run through every line, convincing me even at my most doubtful moments that I (and all the world with me) am so worthy of loving and being loved.”

“Victor Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning — of course, if he wrote it today, he would probably choose a different title because it applies to all of us — is really about finding meaning within and despite suffering,” says Rabbi Leder. “When people are suffering, it’s one of those times when they’re drawn to religious or spiritual perspectives. Why? Or, given that it did, how? What are my choices? How do I live? How do I fit this into the context of having been a good person and yet, suffering? There are many books that deal with what we call theodicy which is ‘God and the problem of evil,’ but this is much more about human beings and the problem of evil. His basic point is that once if you’re able to find some meaning in your suffering, it ceases to become only suffering.”

“While this isn’t an explicitly theological book, poet Fanonne Jeffers beautifully honors the hard and sacred work of unearthing the stories within our lineages, reckoning with the traumas in our bloodlines, and actualizing our own authentic paths in light of them,” says Rev. Guidry. “This book is for anyone who needs a reminder to respect the particularity of their personal journey and tap into their power to self-actualize. Reading this book was a spiritual encounter that piqued my curiosity, broke and warmed my heart, and led me into deep reflection and contemplation.”

“Octavia Butler’s work is foundational to my spirituality,” says Rev. Casey-Campbell. “Her main character’s mantra in this series, ‘The only lasting truth is change; God is change,’ is one I’ve always carried with me. She is truly the mother of Afro-futurism, braiding hope and resilience into every story.”

“In this book, Tippett, host of the podcast On Being, shares insights from interviews she has conducted with thinkers, activists and change-makers,” says Rabbi Wax. “They are moving and thought-provoking.”

“The pandemic prompted many people to renegotiate their relationship to work, myself included,” says Rev. Guidry. “Hershey is adamant that our acculturation within a capitalist and white supremacist context has driven us to grind our way into chronic disembodiment and disillusionment. Her remedy? Taking our rest. Entering into our sacred ‘Dream Space.’ Entering into deep community, intimacy, softness and imagination. With beautiful personal stories and theology interwoven, this book feels like a soothing balm to anyone who desires recovery from spiritual, mental and physical exhaustion.”

“This might sound a little bit unusual, but I often turn to poetry,” says Rabbi Leder. “I have a little volume of Leonard Cohen poetry that I carry with me when I travel. I always have it with me and if I have two or three minutes, I’ll read a poem. It’s like this tiny little volume of thought, comfort, challenge and truth.”

“This book, by an indigenous environmental scientist, offers a vision of spirituality that is rooted in place and deeply connected to the web of life,” says Rev. Casey-Campbell. “She is both gentle and fierce in calling humans to live into their relatedness to all else.”

“It’s a very accessible guide to some of the key concepts in Jewish spiritual life,” says Rabbi Wax. “It’s not about proselytizing at all — we don’t really do that as Jews! — but rather, some of the basic ideas of the tradition that might be useful to spiritual seekers.”

“Published in 1967, this book is the slain civil rights leader and systematic theologian’s final work,” says Christina Edmondson, Ph.D., a higher education instructor, mental health therapist, co-author of Truth’s Table: Black Women’s Musings on Life, Love, and Liberation and co-host of the podcast Truth’s Table. “Advocating for the mass employment of non-violent activism and the strategic and unified use of the ballot, King offers a blueprint for the necessary future resistance against racism in America and beyond. King’s deep understanding of poverty, militarism and American racism is on full display as he speaks to the strengths and concerns of the responses to injustice prevalent in his day that still serve us well over five decades later. A consistently timely, sobering, inspirational, and practical work with prophetic power for today’s chaotic political culture.”

“It’s an edited anthology of both religious and secular writings about the human condition,” says Rabbi Leder. “It’s so comprehensive and there’s nothing kitsch about it — this is deep, thoughtful material.”