Books for Daily Readings

I started this blog to store some of my writings about some unusual events that have happened in my life. It wasn't really meant to be a dialogue with others.

Over the years, some of my beliefs have changed dramatically. I thank those few of you who have made comments to my writings. More recently, however, my writings have received e-mails from commercial places trying to sell things. A couple of you have urged me to write more, so I will make an attempt to do so when the spirit moves, although I do not believe I have that much to share.

I would like to focus the need for books on Nondualism or Advatia that have daily readings. I like to read a little before going to bed or upon waking up. I prefer books that have 365 days of readings.

I would like to share with you the very few books that I have found. If you have other suggestions, let me and others know. The following are in order of preference.

1. A Net of Jewels by Ramesh S. Balsekar is the best of the best for 365 days of readings. It has two writings for each day, one for night and one for morning. Balsekar's guru was Nisargadatta Maharaj. Solid book on Nondualism or Advatia.

2. 365 Nirvana Here and Now by Josh Baran is not as on the mark for Nondualism or Advaitia as A Net of Jewels. Baran, a former Zen priest, has daily writings from ancient Buddhist, Tibetan and Zen sages to Christian and Jewish mystics and contemporary teachers, artists, scientists, and poets.

3. Awakening: Conversations with the Master by Anthony de Mello I believe is less on the mark than 365 Nirvana Here and Now, but once in a while a daily saying is right on the mark. De Mello was a Jesuit priest who died suddenly in 1987. The Master in these daily sayings is not one person but a Hindu guru, a Zen roshi, a Taoist sage, a Jewish rabbi, a Christian monk, a Sufi mystic. He is Lao Tzu and Socrates, Buddha and Jesus, Zarathustra and Muhammad.

4. The Wisdom of Balsekar, edited by Alan Jacobs. While this is not a 365 days of daily readings, this book is an anthology of the writings of Ramesh S. Balsekar. Published in 2004, it takes gems from several of Balsekar's books. Most of these gems are in paragraph form, some longer. They are arranged according to subject. Can be used for daily readings and should be of use for many months. Because it is not really a 365 days of daily readings, I ranked it lower on the list although you may want to consider it higher than the previous two books, since it right on the mark for Nondualism or Advatia.

5. One Minute Wisdom by Anthony de Mello is not 365 days of daily readings, but has enough readings for several months. De Mello once again writes about the same Master as in Awakening.

6. 365 Tao Daily Meditations by Deng Ming-Dao. I bought this book because of my interest in the Tao and the fact that it had a daily reading. Each reading has a quote from the Tao at the top and then a meditation on the quote. I did not connect or relate with the meditations in this book. Maybe you can relate to it better than I did.

Also, there is a book that I have not bought, which may be of interest: 365 Buddha: Daily Meditations by Jeff Schmidt.

Too bad there are not more books out there with 365 days of daily readings.