266 pages | Paperback | Quest Books, 1993

John Anthony West’s revolutionary reinterpretation of the civilization of Egypt challenges all that has been accepted as dogma concerning Ancient Egypt. In this pioneering study West documents that:
– Hieroglyphs carry hermetic messages that convey the subtler realities of the Sacred Science of the Pharaohs.
– Egyptian science, medicine, mathematics, and astronomy were more sophisticated than most modern Egyptologists acknowledge.
– Egyptian knowledge of the universe was a legacy from a highly sophisticated civilization that flourished thousands of years ago.
– The great Sphinx represents geological proof that such a civilization existed.

This revised edition includes a new introduction linking Egyptian spiritual science with the perennial wisdom tradition and an appendix updating West’s work in redating the Sphinx. Illustrated with over 140 photographs and line drawings.

By Ken Wilber.

240 Pages | First Quest 1980, second edition 1996 | Softcover | Quest Books, U.S.A. | ISBN: 0835607305.

The Atman Project is widely hailed as the first psychology, that succeeds in uniting East and West, conventional and contemplative, orthodox and mystical, into a single, coherent framework. This essential introduction to Ken Wilber’s ideas on the evolution of human consciousness feature a new Foreword linking this work to Wilber’s current thinking.

From Chapter 4 – ‘The Membership Self (p. 29):

” For a sorcerer, reality, or the world we all know, is only a description. For the sake of validating this premise Don Juan concentrated the best of his efforts into leading me to a genuine conviction that what I held in mind as the world at hand was merely a description of the world; a description that had been pounded into me from the moment I was born. He pointed out that everyone, who comes into contact with a child is a teacher, who incessantly describes the world to him, until the moment when the child is capable of perceiving the world as it is described. According to Don Juan, we have no memory of that portentous moment, simply because none of us could possibly have had any point of reference to compare it to anything else . . . For Don Juan, then, the reality of our day-to-day life consists of an endless flow of perceptual interpretations which we, the individuals who share a specific membership, have learned to make in common. “

400 pages | Paperback | Quest Books, 2002

This book chronicles humanity’s cultural and psychospiritual evolutionary journey over some six million years from its primal past into its dazzling cosmic future.

“I consider Up from Eden the “single greatest work on psychology ever written — including Freud, Jung, et al.!” — Dr. Silas Wesley, past professor of Clinical Psychology, Yale University, and Director, Psychology Clinic, University of Southern California.

413 pages | Paperback | Quest Books, 1998

A passionate conversation among the best minds in transpersonal studies about the ideas of Ken Wilber, the prominent contemporary thinker whose first book, The Spectrum of Consciousness, published by Quest in 1977, launched the transpersonal psychology movement.

Transpersonal thinkers taking part in this dynamic dialogue combine Eastern and Western spirituality with mainstream fields such as psychology, medicine, physics, and ecology to map the human drive toward Spirit.

By Ken Wilber.

362 Pages | First Quest Edition 1977, second Quest Edition 1993 | Softcover | Quest Books, U.S.A. | ISBN: 0835606953.

This book launched the transpersonal psychology revolution. In a profound, comprehensive, and unique study of consciousness, Wilber was the first to suggest a systematic way that the great psychological systems of the West could be integrated with the noble contemplative traditions of the East.

To this day, The Spectrum of Consciousness remains the unequivocal classic in the area of transpersonal psychology, and has been the prominent reference point for all subsequent attempts at integrating psychology and spirituality. Like radiation and light, consciousness, suggest Wilber, establishes a multiplicity of aspects as it ‘steps down’ into time and space. Thus, as a spectrum, it can be studied legitimately on one or more of its ‘wavelengths’. Viewing consciousness in this way, we can see that seemingly disparate disciplines each speak to a different wavelength of awareness.

‘From Chapter VII – ‘Integrating the Shadow’ (p. 206)’:

” Thus the problem is not to get rid of any symptom, but rather to deliberately and consciously try to increase that symptom, to deliberately and consciously experience it fully! If you are depressed, try to be more depressed. If you are tense, make yourself even tenser. If you feel guilty, increase your feelings of guilt – and we mean that literally! For by doing you are, for the very first time, acknowledging and even aligning yourself with your Shadow, and hence are doing consciously what you have heretofore been doing unconsciously. When you, as a personal experiment, consciously throw every bit of yourself into actively and deliberately trying to produce your present symptoms, you have in effect thrown your persona and Shadow together. You have consciously contacted and aligned yourself with your opposites, and, in short, re-discovered your Shadow. “

By Ernest Wood

154 pages | Paperback | Quest Books, 2001 ISBN 0835601765

This perennial best-seller by a distinguished educator assembles 36 mental and physical exercises for taming the natural drifting of the mind. Newly designed edition of a practical manual for success. Over 100,000 copies sold.

Ernest Wood, scholar, writer, and lecturer, was born in 1883 in England and was attracted to Theosophy at a young age. He arrived in India early in the twentieth century, and assisted Annie Besant in educational work. He was the founder of the Theosophical College, Madanapalle. He wrote many books on philosophical subjects, having a particular interest in Yoga.

141 pages | Paperback | Quest Books, 1989

A day-to-day account of life with H. P. Blavatsky during the writing of The Secret Doctrine.

293 pages | Paperback | Quest Books, 2012

No matter what one’s religion, the reader will find such universal wisdom in this book that he will agree with Frager’s teacher Muzaffer Efendi who once advised, “You can tell these stories ten thousand times and people will still benefit from them.”

Among the practices Frager teaches are zikr, or remembrance of God through chanting; halvet, or spiritual retreat; and adab, or “right action.” Thus do we develop character-or, rather, restore the character we had at birth. “I’ve never seen a baby with a bad character,” he says. “We are all born in a pure state. With hard work and God’s blessings we can return to it.”

By Annie Besant (1847 – 1933).

122 Pages | 6th edition, 1988. NB: second edition 2016 | Softcover | Quest Books U.S.A. | ISBN: 0835603121.

‘ A brief occult survey of the vast power contained in man’s mental principle. ‘

This brief, easy-to-read study concentrates on the hidden power latent in the human mind, which can do amazing things if properly activated and controlled. An in-depth understanding of this aspect of our nature should bring about a more compassionate metamorphosis of our attitude towards fellow beings, life itself and planet Earth. Western civilization recognizes the immense value of coming to know man as a ‘holisitic entity’, and of coming to terms with man’s mind. The sages of the ancient East and their noteworthy disciple, Annie Besant, have been proven to be most intuitive concerning this unique principle in man.

Subjects discussed are:

1. Training the mind
2. Improving concentration
3. Strengthening thought power
4. Meditation
5. Improving memory
6. Thought transference
7. Building the mental body
8. Combining thoughts with others
9. Achieving peace of mind.

From Chapter VIII – ‘Obstacles to Concentration; Wandering Minds’ (p. 93):

” The concentrated intelligence, the power of withdrawing outside the turmoil, mean immensely increased energy in work, mean steadiness, self-control, serenity; the man of meditation is the man, who wastes no time, scatters no energy, misses no opportunity. Such a man governs the events, because within him is the power whereof events are only the outer expression; he shares the divine life, and therefore shares divine power. ” 

88 pages | Paperback | Quest Books, 2009

A longtime student and friend reveals both the spiritual greatness and the human pathos of his remarkable teacher.

“With a critical mind and an open heart, Dr. Ravindra allows us all to see both the spiritual greatness and the human pathos of this truly remarkable teacher.” – Jacob Needleman, Ph.D., author of Lost Christianity and The Heart of Philosophy

307 pages | Paperback | Quest Books, 2010

The Masters Speak: An American Businessman Encounters Ashish and Gurdjieff is the detailed account of Semour Ginsburg’s remarkable quest for life’s deeper meaning. As co-founder of mega-retail giant Toys”R”Us, Seymour, better known as Sy, knew worldly success, and the shrewd ambition it takes to get there. But with the tragic, untimely death of his young wife, Sy was suddenly left to raise a grieving family alone. For the first time, he found no comfort in his prosperity.

276 pages | Paperback | Quest Books, 2011

Krishnamurti, once groomed by Theosophists to become the next World Teacher, founded Oak Grove in 1975 and personally oversaw it for the last decade of his life. In The Unconditioned Mind, Moody recounts their close work together and explains Krishnamurti’s ideas with splendid clarity. He also recounts how those ideas sparked competition among the staff, producing a complex force-field that challenged Moody to the utmost. The resulting drama, and Krishnamurti’s involvement in it, forms the core of this insightful narrative.

201 pages | Paperback | Quest Books, 2011

John Lennon called himself a working class hero. George Harrison was a working class mystic. Born in Liverpool as the son of a bus conductor and a shop assistant, for the first six years of his life he lived in a house with no indoor bathroom. This book gives an honest, in-depth view of Harrison’s personal journey— from his blue-collar childhood to his role as a world-famous spiritual icon.

245 pages | Paperback | Quest Books, 2006

Early Christianity held secrets equal to those of other great religions, says Annie Besant. It’s first followers guarded them As priceless treasures. After an increasingly rigid hierarchy began to bury these truths in the early centuries A.D., they were known only to a few initiates, who communicated them privately, often in obscure language. In Esoteric Christianity, Besant’s aim is to restore the secret truths underlying Christian doctrine. As public interest grows in the Gnostic Gospels and the mystical side of Christianity, Besant’s remarkable book, first published in 1901, is attracting new attention.

The word mystery, Besant says, is to be understood not as a puzzle but as a window to a higher dimension. Jesus’ birth is a metaphor for the rebirth we must all undergo to find the kingdom within. She take the same view in discussing the mythic Christ, the Atonement, the Resurrection and Ascension, the Trinity, Prayer, Forgiveness of Sins, the Sacraments, and Revelation. Richard Smoley’s introduction and brilliant notes make her classic work newly accessible for modern readers.

By Jordan Stratford, with a Foreword by Jeffrey S. Kupperman, Ph.D.

135 Pages | Softcover | Quest Books, U.S.A. | ISBN: 9780835608978.

‘ And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places. ‘ – Isa, 45:3 (King James Version).

From Arabic al-kimia (of Egypt) and old Egyptian khem (black, fertile soil), alchemy is the ancient science of elements and interactions in both the natural and spiritual realms. Spanning 2.500 years and informed by Hermetic and Neoplatonist influences, it has been practiced in the classical Greco-Roman world, medieval Europe and the medieval Middle-East and Orient, and in current esoteric circles.

From page 40:

” This is true and remote from all cover of falsehood.

Whatever is below is similar to that which is above. Through this the marvels of the work of one thing are procured and perfected.

Also, as all things are made from one, by the consideration of one, so all things were made from this one, by conjunction.

The father of it is the sun, the mother the moon.

The wind bore it in the womb, the nurse is the earth, the mother of all perfection. 

Its power is perfected if it is turned into earth.

Separate the earth from the fire, the subtle and thin from the crude and coarse, prudently, with modesty and wisdom. 

This ascents from the earth into the sky and again descends from the sky to the earth, and receives the power and efficacy of things above and of things below.

By this means you will acquire the glory of the whole world, and so you will drive away all shadows and blindness. 

For this by its fortitude snatches the palm from all other fortitude and power. For it is able to penetrate and subdue everything subtle and everything crude and hard. 

By this means the world was founded

And hence the marvelous conjunctions of it and admirable effects, since this is the way by which these marvels may be brought about. 

And because of this they called me Hermes Trismegistus, since I have the three parts of the wisdom and Philosophy of the whole universe.

My speech is finished which I have spoken concerning the Solar Work. “

From: The Emerald Tablet.

368 pages | Paperback | Quest books, 2011

“Because we are still comparatively unevolved, any god that we could fully understand would not be much of a god.”
—Charles W. Leadbeater
In Christian Gnosis, Charles W. Leadbeater reveals the inner teachings of early Christianity while supplying additional insight from a clairvoyant’s perspective.

242 blz. | Paperback | Quest Books, 1997

Krishnamurti’s essential message is that to find truth, we must go beyond the limits of ordinary thought. In public talks worldwide, he strove to free listeners from conventional beliefs and psychological mind-sets in order to understand what is.

This second volume of the 3-part series includes discussions of creative happiness, devotion, worship, the fear of death, karma and an experience of bliss.

By Aryel Sanat.

324 Pages | Published in 1999 | Softcover | Quest Books, U.S.A. | ISBN: 083560781X.

Dutch translation: Het Innerlijke Leven van Krishnamurti | Published in 2005 | Softcover | Uitgeverij der Theosofische Vereniging in Nederland | ISBN: 9789061750857.

The real story of Krishnamurti’s inner life is shown to have critical implications for our understanding of Krishnamurti’s life and ideas and for our views of Theosophy, Buddhism, the teachings of Gurdjieff – indeed, the entirety of contemporary spiritual thought.

148 pages | Paperback | Quest Books, 1988

This book points the reader toward a renewed sense of wonder and oneness with nature. With balance and beauty Wosmek delivers profound insights combining science, nature, art, philosophy, conscience, and a loving concern for all that lives.

By Ernest Wood (1883 – 1965).

190 Pages | Copyright 1925, fourth Quest book printing 1989 | Softcover | Quest Books, U.S.A. | ISBN: 0835604810.

Humanity, occultism teaches us, is divided into seven distinct groups called ‘rays’. Generally speaking, your strongest motivations indicate to which of the ‘ray’ groupings you belong. You are influenced by all seven rays, occultism suggests, but one of the seven predominates. Would you like to know which of the seven rays is yours? ‘With such knowledge‘, writes the author, ‘we are in a position to choose what games we will play in this life or ours.’ For instance if your ray is number one, you are inclined to be independent in spirit and strong intuition. Is this your ray?

From the Preface (p. viii):

” If there are seven rays or types, and each one of us belongs, as it were, especially to one of these, and conducts his pathway in life accordingly, will there not be a tendency to narrowness or over-specialization?

This is a question often asked. The answer is:

Not if we understand the situation. All the seven rays are always present in everybody, but one of them in each person is the captain of the team or the president of the board, and the other six rally round, and use their own specific talents to help carry out his purpose. “

 

By Alfred Woll.

158 Pages | A Quest Original, first edition 1992 | Softcover | Quest Books, U.S.A. | ISBN: 0835606864.

Why should overcommitted Westerners make time in their schedules for meditation? In this down-to-earth book, Alfred Woll, a Westerner who himself benefited from the practice of Tibetan Buddhism, guides the reader in answering these questions:

• Why does the typical Western lifestyle of ‘consume-orientation’ lead more often to pervasive dissatisfaction than than to lasting happiness?
• How can the example of the Buddha’s life and teachings lead to an alternative focus on ‘self-evolvement’ and spiritual development?
• How can meditation, drawn from Tibetan practice, help Westerners?

Unlike many authors, Woll does not automatically assume that the reader accepts karma and reïncarnation; rather, he presents arguments to help readers make up their own minds. Easy to understand and yet rich in content, this book is ideal for those, who wish to learn more about Tibetan spiritual practice.

From Chapter 15: ‘Selflessness’ (p. 145):

” To stop the samsaric melodrama in which we exist once and for all, we need the realization of selflessness or, as this key Buddhist idea is also called: emptiness. We have seen that our disturbed mental attitudes, such as anger, jealousy, attachment, and so forth, take away our peace of mind. These attitudes are the real troublemakers in our lives. Though, we can certainly reduce the extent to which these negative mind states control our behavior by working on our personality and increasing our mindfullness, in order to eliminate them completely, we have to end our false way of seeing reality. “

258 pages | Paperback | Quest Books, 2004

Winner of ForeWord Magazine’s Book of the Year Award for Mind/Body/Spirit

Buddha said he could move backward through time, observes theoretical physicist Fred Alan Wolf. Time travel is not just science fiction; it may actually be possible. Wolf draws on yoga and quantum physics to show that time is a flexible projection of mind. Cheating time, he says, is an ancient metaphysical idea from the Vedas having to do with moving through meditation to a place where time stands still.

By Jay G. Williams.

134 Pages | Copyright 1978 | Softcover | Quest Books, U.S.A | ISBN: 0835605159.

If you feel Christian dogma is in need of a new spark – a charge of vitality – based upon a deeper and more significant interpretation of Biblical stories, here is a dynamically different commentary upon the New Testament. Jay G. Williams approach to the study of the life of Christ simply overflows with intuitional creativity, permitting the student to find for him or herself trans-historical, yet new and existential situations in the Biblical story.

Buddha means ’the Enlightened One’ and the author uses the word in this generic sense. ‘My thesis‘, he writes, ‘is that the perennial philosophy, so well represented in Asia by Buddhism, provides a significant perspective from which to understand the life and teachings of Yeshua’. This is a radical departure book in which Yeshua Buddha and Gautama Buddha finally join hands to shed common light into the darkened cosmos.

From Chapter 7 – ‘Resurrection beyond the End’ (p.115):

” A disciple must take upon himself the discipline of Yeshua; yet this is no set of laws or doctrines which can be encompassed in a book. The Way has little to do with rules and dogmas. The Early Church was at least partially correct in this: it depended primarily upon a succession of apostolic teachers for the preservation of the church. Presumably such teachers did not purvey general theories but advised their disciples concerning effective ways to engage the old deluder in mortal combat. Therefore, all readers who have persevered this far are strongly urged to take what has been said with a grain of salt. The disciple must engage in battle, not just theorize about the nature of war. This book will only have performed its task if it has facilitated that first step along the Way. If it leads the reader to say, ‘O now I understand’, it has failed miserably. “

By Frederic Wiedemann.

194 Pages | A Quest original, first edition 1986 | Softcover | Theosophical Publishing House, London | ISBN: 0835606023.

” When clinical psychology rejects the soul, then clinical psychology loses its ability to heal “.

Being human is roughly half-way to divinity. Thus it is that we are caught between two worlds says Frederic Wiedemann. How can we bring together the material side of man with his transpersonal nature? Or is this an irresolvable paradox? The school of thought, that comes the closest to resolving the enigma is the twenty-year old transpersonal consciousness movement. This discipline provides Wiedemann with his ’take-off’ point as he focuses on the limitations of clinical psychology in its unwillingness to include spirit as a factor in therapy. To resolve this dilemma of body and spirit, the author uses the metaphor of the soul as the bridge between two worlds.

From Chapter 13 – ‘Making Decisions with Integrity’ (p. 166):

” If the soul perspective is used with the proper balance of power, wisdom, and love, then it offers a unique ethical direction, combining both the wisest teachings of religion and the deepest aspects of the human potential. But one must be willing to labor for it and to strive for it and to strive for a balance between immanence and transcendence. “

By Lao Tse (601 BC – unknown), translated by Henry Wei.

234 Pages | First published 1982, 3rd printing 1988 | Paperback | Quest Books, U.S.A. | ISBN:

Twenty-six centuries ago, a man called Lao Tzu offered a daringly new way of life to his countrymen. His work is called the TAO Teh Ching, a philosophy of pure beauty, rare charm, and great spiritual depth and represents a magnificent treatise on human rights. For centuries, it has been a source of inspiration for Chinese art, poetry and painting. In many of its moral viewpoints it is similar to Christianity. Indirectly, it also inspired the development of acupuncture, alchemy, astrology, and the martial arts (kung fu). Its quintessential teaching, however concerns yoga and meditation.

About the ‘Eternal Tao’ (p.22):

” There is something formless and perfect,

Existing before the birth of Heaven and Earth

How still it is! How quiet!

Abiding alone and unchanging,

It pervades everywhere without fail.

Well may it be called Mother of the World.

I do not know its name,

but label it TAO . . . “

By Lawrence A. Weinstein.

155 Pages | First Quest edition 2008 | Hardcover | Quest Books, U.S.A. – ISBN 9780835608657

As unlikely as little punctuation marks and other grammatical elements may seem as tools for personal change, author Lawrence Weinstein shows how we use them can make a big difference in who we are and how we live. Consider these sentences of a job applicant:

‘What a great pleasure it was to meet you today!! The position sounds absolutely perfect for me!’

Such overuse of italics and intensifiers reflects a lack of trust in being heard. By cutting back on those devices – and discovering they aren’t needed – a person can begin to increase his or her capacity for trust in life. Topics of the book include:

• Grammar to restore the Ego
• Grammar for Mindfulness
• Tolerating ambiguity
• Getting out of one’s own way

Weinstein used to teach at Harvard, but don’t let that intimidate you. Though his book is ultimately serious in nature, drawing on both Western and Eastern traditions, his prose is witty, anecdotal, and packed with good, clear examples. He doesn’t claim that personal change occurs easily. But he muses, ‘for the right person, that mere featherweight, a comma can alter the course of a day’.

From the Introduction (p. 4):

” I have come to view the realm of grammar as a kind of rarified gymnasium, where – instead of weights, treadmill, mats, and a balance beam – one finds active verbs, periods, apostrophes, dashes and a thousand other pieces of linguistic equipment, each of which, properly deployed, can provide exercise for the spirit, like that which gym apparatus provides the body. Grammar can become a place to get in spiritual shape. “

By Vicente Hao Chin, Jr.

343 Pages | First Quest Edition 2015 | Softcover | Quest Books, U.S.A. | ISBN: 9780835609357.

Dutch translation: Het Proces van Zelf-Transformatie – Onderzoek van Ons Hogere Potentieel om Effectief te Leven | First edition 2017 | Uitgeverij der Theosofische Vereniging Nederland, Amsterdam | ISBN: 9789061750994.

This book is a modern restatement of this age-old Wisdom of humanity supplemented with specific tools that will help in accelerating the transformation of individuals. It was initially presented as a three-day workshop called the Self-Transformation Seminar. Because of the perceived effectiveness of its methods and approaches, it spawned a four-day youth camp for people from the ages thirteen to twenty-five called the Golden Link Youth Camp. Then, because of its impact on the young people who participated in the camps, the Golden Link School was established, which has since become an institution that offers tertiary courses and is now called Golden Link College.

From Appendix 3:

” Life is immensely complex. In understanding it more fully, we can’t limit ourselves to our respective areas of specialization, like a doctor who is good at curing diseases but fails miserably in dealing with marital or family problems. Genuine self-tranformation involves a well-balanced and well-rounded Wisdom regarding key-aspects of living. As facilitators, then, we need to widen our scope of comprehension such that we understand the dynamics of those key aspects – values, sorrows, pains, desires, fears, life’s purpose, relationships, the nature of consciousness, and so on. In deepening such understanding, our studies necessarily bring us to the fields of science, mysticism, psychology, religious experience, philosophy, physiology, social sciences and communication arts. “

By Bruce A. Vance.

197 Pages | A Quest Original, first edition 1990 | Softcover | Quest Books, U.S.A. | ISBN: 0835606600.

‘ . . . a daring and provocative voyage through the nocturnal landscape ‘.

In Mindscape, Vance further charts the still largely unknown fathoms of our mental depths. He shows us that thoughts are real, not just in our heads. They project outward and take on forms in the superphysical field around us. Thoughts have an energy all their own, that can affect others through telepathy. In addition to having a reality beyond our minds, Vance says our thoughts create our world. Beliefs are powerful and tend to ‘come true’. If we believe we are ineffectual or ill, we will be; if we believe we are capable or healthy, we will be.

The author cites experiments in subatomic physics to show how powerful our mindsets are. To further support his views, Vance looks to the work of clairvoyants like Charles Webster Leadbeater (1854 – 1943) and cites cases of shamanistic journeys and out-of-body experiences. By becoming aware of our self-imposed limitations and our greater potential, we can release our mental energies and use them to greater advantage. Vance explains how!

From Chapter 9 – ‘The extended Reach of Mind’ (p. 185):

” So, what are the boundaries of mind? None. What are the boundaries of selfhood? None. And what are the boundaries of consciousness? There are none. The infinity of reality is open to us through exploring our mindscape. But we are physically incarnated for a purpose. There is something important to learn here. It has to do with the powers of creation, some of which are at our disposal. “

By Bruce A. Vance.

180 Pages | A Quest Original, first edition 1989 | Softcover | Quest Books, U.S.A. | ISBN 0835606481.

This voyage into alternate reality acquaints you with your dreaming self and teaches you the tools, language and dimensions of the dreamscape.

Much can be discovered in the shadow of your dreams. However, no one can interpret your dreams for you. If you wish to understand your dreams, then you must embark on a prolonged and serious exploration. This book guides you into this alternate reality. The dreamer is taught to record details and impressions, employing intuition for interpretation. In this strange realm, time and space take on new aspects. Problems are explored from a variety of angles for possible answers. The dreamer encounters dream teachers, who instruct us in the art of creating our own reality by placing pupils in scenarios and then helping them find their way out. Focused consciousness brings about lucid dreams, waking dreams, or even out-of-body experiences. Deeper into the dreamscape, one encounters even stranger dimensions where colors are tasted and shapes have sound.

From Chapter 4 – ‘On the Shores of the Dreamscape’ (p. 64):

” Frequently, within the Dreamscape, we manifest our desires, inclinations, hopes and fears in order to face and examine them. We may be wondering if we truly desire what we think we desire, and thus may be using the freedom of the Dreamscape to investigate. Therefore, though some fantasy scenarios require no deep interpretation, often on examination they will reveal clues to our personal drives and needs. Fantasy and adventure encounters within the Dreamscape are often private creations. We use the freedom we have in the dream environment to create things easily which we find hard or inadvisable to create in the physical environment. “

By Charles Upton.

246 Pages | First Quest Edition 1933 | Softcover | Quest Books, U.S.A. | ISBN: 083560697X.

Hammering Hot Iron is a rare work, that raises important questions, draws vital distinctions, and elevates discourse within the spiritual community on the Men’s Movement, Jungian psychology, archetypical and mythological studies, and polytheistic religions. Drawing on the perennial philosophy, the universal expression of absolute truth, Upton offers a metaphysical and cultural critique of Robert Bly’s Iron John (1990). Upton adopts Bly’s shadow in the Jungian sense. His intellectual argument is masterfully intertwined with his own personal and spiritual journey, often expressed through original poetry.

From Chapter – ‘The Rejection of Transcendence (p.15):

” The Men’s Movement is a cultural phenomenon unique to our time. We’ve reached the point as a society, where the assumption that man are the dominant sex no longer protects them from a sense of radical imbalance and alienation. As almost anyone who looks can see, the storm of cultural and technological change now assaulting us had called all traditional male roles into question and replaced them with cartoonlike creatures. Caricatures, however, are not enough to live by. […] But what would it be like if men were simply – men? This is the question the Men’s Movement is trying its best to answer, on the wing in any way it can. The tradition of working consciously to redefine masculinity in the face of radical social transformation goes back at least as far as D.H. Lawrence, and includes, among others, writers like Henry Miller and perhaps Jack Kerouac. “

Edited by H. Tudor Edmunds.

254 Pages | First Quest edition 1968, second edition 1974 | Softcover | Quest Books, USA | ISBN: 0835604128.

Collected Articles from the Science Group of the Theosophical Research Centre, London.

This book is the result of research and study by a group of distinguished British scientists, who have devoted much time and applied the training in their various disciplines to an unprejudiced investigation of the many areas of psychic manifestation. Their comments and discussions on such subjects as telepathy, clairvoyance, hypnosis, and effects of mindexpanding drugs, the human aura, and related subjects, are perceptive and informative. Because the writers are also students of Theosophy and Eastern philosophy, they have been able to add valuable insights to their considerations of the various phenomena without in any way lessening their objective and scientific approach to this still mysterious field of human experience.

From Chapter: ‘The Interior Organ of Perception (p.55):

Mind is the inner organ.

” So whether approached from within by the Eastern metaphysical insight or from without by an attempt to deduce an hypothesis to explain scientific observations, it would appear, that man’s mind is an inner organ, or instrument, of perception with a focus of ‘I-ness’ associated with the brain. It has the capacity of throwing up a three-dimensional field of imagined images, thoughts and feelings, themselves not spatial in a physical sense, but related to space by some method of direct correlation. They appear in a mental field, which is not the property of any one observer, but can only be termed a generalised mental field. “

202 pages | Paperback | Quest Books, 2009

In The Cynical Idealist: A Spiritual Biography of John Lennon, author Gary Tillery brings readers the first spiritual and intellectual biography of this seminal musical and cultural figure. Much has been said about John Lennon the Beatle—his rock star evolution and tragic fate. More than a mundane, temporal biography covering Lennon’s life, music, and death, The Cynical Idealist is a soulful portrait of John Lennon’s very being, illuminating the spiritual transformation of a man who influenced the world in a way few others had during the course of the twentieth century.

119 pages | Paperback | Quest Books, 1988

This Quest Miniature presents a lively selection of Thoreau’s writings, topically arranged.

Popular quotes:

Page 1 – I should not talk so much about myself if there were anybody else whom I knew as well.‎

Page 5 – If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.‎

Page 7 – I learned this, at least, by my experiment; that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.‎

By anonymous authors.

95 Pages | Published in 1958, First Quest Book revised edition 1968, third Quest printing 1981 | Softcover | Quest Books, U.S.A. | ISBN: 0835601145.

In the last few decades, medicine has made vast strides, although there is still much to be learned about the basic problems of disease. At the same time, public interest in spiritual healing and unorthodox methods has greatly increased, often without critical or intelligent study of their results. Yet the most careful scientific scrutiny shows that in a small number of case quasi-miraculous cures do indeed occur.

In this book, the writers attempt to discuss the conditions, which allow exceptional cures to take place or which seem to prevent them. The fundamental question is: ‘What heals’? This raises further questions: Why does healing not always take place when all the apparently obvious conditions are there for it to do so? Moreover, why is it that sometimes a quite fantastic method will succeed when proved and tried medical treatment has failed?

The group, which produced this small book consists of qualified medical practitioners and psychotherapists, together with others who have had long experience with unorthodox methods of diagnosis and treatment. While acknowledging all that can be and has been done by medical science and psychotherapy to alleviate suffering, the conclusions arrived and emphasise the interior sources of healing that exist deep within each individual.

From Appendix A – ‘Karma and Health’ (p. 87):

” Thus in the case of illness – and for that matter in happy experiences also – the individual, who accepts the idea of karma can ask himself: ‘What am I doing to deserve this? And if he is in pain, ‘What is there in me that perpetuates this misery? In what way is my attitude towards it, or towards life itself, in error?’ And if this leads him to learn the lesson he has to learn, he may find himself quickly and unaccountably free of that situation. “

By Ajahn Sumano Bhikku.

183 Pages | First Quest edition 1999 | Softcover | Quest Books, U.S.A. | ISBN: 0835607747.

” Sincere inquiry always sparks our movement towards truth. Deep questions signal the manifestation of the very energy through which we outgrow ourselves. “

So writes Ajahn Sumano Bhikku, American-born Buddhist monk now living in a simple meditation cave in Thailand. Born in Chicago, a law school graduate and real estate professional, Sumano abandoned his comfortable American lifestyle for the shaved head, begging bowl, and rigorous meditation schedule of a forest monk. In 1994-1995, Sumano conducted a series of question and answer evenings at a guest house in Thailand’s Kowyai National Park with English-speaking tourists. The heartfelt questions of these city people and the clear answers Sumano gave from his forest perspective form the basis of this remarkable book. Written on a battered,  battery-powered laptop in his meditation cave, Sumano’s fascinating personal story and his refreshingly down-to-earth blend of American sensibility and Eastern practice will fascinate newcomers to Buddhist ideas as well as experienced practitioners.

128 pages | Paperback | Quest Books, 2003

Even though feminine values have always been at the core of Christianity, its long history has often ignored or marginalized women’s key role in it. Margaret Starbird’s unique view from the feminine perspective serves the need many are feeling to search their traditional faith for fresh meaning and inspiration in these difficult times. This is the second in a series of splendidly illustrated but affordable gift books on the feminine experience of religion (following Gill Farrer-Halls’ The Feminine Face of Buddhism, 2002).

The result is a powerful and lovely tool for contemporary women seeking the Divine Feminine within Christianity. Each chapter includes inspiring sidebar quotes, prayers, poems, liturgies, and meditations—both traditional and modern—to provide manna for the spiritual journey and practice the presence of a God beyond gender, but immanently within reach.

By Rodney Standen.

147 Pages | First Quest Edition 1987 | Softcover | Quest Books, U.S.A. | ISBN: 0835606163.

‘ The concurrent evolution of our story-book heroes and our collective consciousness. ‘

People need heroes. Heroes are at the heart of our fantasies. But our heroes change with the times. Beginning with Odysseus 2,500 years ago, the author develops his theme on an age to age basis. He demonstrates, that the hero of yesterday, the doer of miracles, has metamorphosed into today’s sophistocated James Bond. The engrossing study of man’s collective unconscious, that results from it, is supported with resource material drawn from Carl Jung, James Joyce, Nikos Kasantzakis, Tolstoy, Hesse, Maugham, and others.

From Chapter 13 – ‘The Ripeness of Time’ (p. 137):

” Were it not for this story and others like it, we could have imagined two vaguely parallel lines and two spirals of dissimilar size, all having as their origin the first Odysseus. One of our parallel lines would contain the ’true-blue’ tradition of gentlemen, who always know what is and simply is not done. These heroes neither lie nor cheat nor, so far as we know, womanize. Their faces are unmarked by warts, their minds untroubled by temptation to commit even the most venial of sins. In our cynical age, this line may be somewhat undernourished. But in comic books there will always be a superhero; and in every police station or general hospital, at least one character who is, and forever will be, true blue. ” 

CD | Quest Books, 2003

Passages from the writings of N. Sri Ram, international President of the Theosophical Society for twenty years. This CD requires Microsoft Word. PC compatible.

N. Sri Ram, was international President of the Theosophical Society for over 20 years, from 1953-73. He brings to his writings a background of eastern wisdom combined with keen awareness of modern thought and knowledge, as well as a sensitive understanding of human problems. His special felicity of style enables him to convey profound ideas in a lucid and absorbing manner.

By Richard Smoley and Jay Kinney.

400 Pages | First edition 1999, revised edition 2006, incl. suggested reading lists per chapter | Softcover | Quest Books U.S.A. | ISBN: 9780835608442.

For decades, our modern society has looked to the East for spiritual guidance and renewal. Here is a guide much closer to home. Its subjects range comprehensibly from Jungian psychology to the Kabbalah and Gnosticism, and from Freemasonry and the Templars to Alchemy, Shamanism, the work of Gurdjieff, Neopaganism, Sufism and esoteric Christianity.

Authors Smoley and Kinney speak with sensible, even-handed objectivity, covering the strengths and weaknesses as well as the history and ideas of each tradition. They also end each chapter with a wealth of resources for further exploration. Whether you are just beginning to seek a spiritual practice or want to know more about a particular teaching; Hidden Wisdom is an invaluable resource for finding the Path, that is right for you.

From Chapter 5 – ‘Magicians: Sculptors of the Astral Light’ (p. 105):

” Magic is the traditional science of the secrets of Nature, which has been transmitted to us from the Magi. By means of this science the Adept is invested with a species of relative omnipotence and can operate superhumanly – that is, after a manner which transcends the normal possibility of man. “

Richard Smoley is the former editor of <em>Gnosis</em> magazine and today is editor of Quest Books.

273 pages | Paperback | Quest Books, 2009

An amazing storehouse of information, A Dictionary of Gnosticism, contains nearly 1,700 entries, from Aachiaram, an angel in the Secret Book of John, to the Zostrianos, a third-century Gnostic text that recounts a series of revelations on the successive stages of the soul’s ascent. With an easy-to-read introduction explaining who the Gnostics were and what Gnosticism is, Smith delivers a whirlwind tour through the ancient and diverse history of this captivating movement.

By Huston Smith. (1919- 2016).

281 Pages | First Quest Edition  1984, 2nd edition 1989, 3rd printing 1992. | Softcover | Quest Books, U.S.A. | ISBN: 0835606473.

NB: This is the second edition (1989): its latest and third edition (2003) can be purchased in our Webshop here. 

This study was first published in 1982 and is considered a classic in its disciplined analysis of contemporary reductionist philosophy. It explores the limits of science and points society’s way out of the dark woods where science has stranded us. Smith uses the term ‘modern’ mind to denote the so-called Enlightenment outlook of Newtonian physics and rationalism, which cut the ground from under the religious foundations of Western life. In the ‘post-modern’ age of the late nineteenth and the twentieth centuries, people lost their humanistic confidence.

Although science may have won a battle ove religion, it has in the process undermined its own empirical foundation: and having destroyed confidence in intuitive revelation, the mind is (as H.G. Wells once suggested) ‘at the end of its tether’. Despite the ravages of analytical philosophy and existentialism, Smith feels there is a fundamental view of reality, that flourishes throughout the world under various disguises. The uneasy post-modern mind, Smith says, awaits discernment of a new metaphysics.

From Chapter 3 – ‘Perennial Philosophy, Primordial Philosophy’ (p. 70):

” A life, that identifies primarily with its physical pleasures and needs (getting and spending we lay waste our days) is superficial;

one that advances its attention to the mind can be interesting if it moves on to the heart (synonym for soul), it can be good.

And if it passes on to spirit – that saving self-forgetfulness and egalitarianism in which one’s personal interests loom no larger than those of others – it would be perfect. “

By Henryk Skolimowski (1930 – 2018).

167 Pages | A Quest Original, first edition 1984 | Softcover | Quest Books, U.S.A. | ISBN: 0835605884.

This stimulating book of ‘evolutionairy illuminations’ expresses the eonic drama of our eternal growth – from instinct to intuition. Skolimowski is a constant delight and surprise as an image-breaking philosopher/scientist/mystic. He establishes his position as an intrepid spokesperson for ecologically sound progress. He writes irreverent things in a reverent manner. From Prometheus to Prigogine, through a philosophy founded on experience, he develops the law of progressive development based on an ever-growing sensitivity to life.

From the Introduction (p. 21):

1.  ” The coming age is to be seen as the age of stewardship: we are here not to govern and exploit, but to maintain and creatively transform for the benefit of all beings.

2. The world is to be conceived as a sanctuary. We belong to certain habitats; they do not belong to us. They are the source of our culture and our spiritual sustenance. We must maintain their integrity and sanctity.

3. Knowledge is to be conceived, not as a set of ruthless tools for atomizing nature, but as ever more subtle devices for helping us to maintain our spiritual and physical equilibrium. “

By Emily B. Sellon.

108 Pages | First Edition 1996 | Softcover | Quest Books, U.S.A. | ISBN: 0835607526.

This volume has been edited from a transcription of the Pumpkin Hollow tapes kindly made by Ann M. and Douglas L. Clemens. In it is offered as a concise statement of Emily’s philosophy and of the metaphysical foundation of Theosophy. Emily was herself president of the New York Lodge during 1950 – 1954 and 1964 – 1968.

From Chapter 1 – ‘Metaphysics and Machinery’ (p. 1):

” What we are going to talk about is essentially metaphysics. In Theosophical studies there are really two approaches. One is metaphysics or the ‘grand principles’ and the other is what I call ‘machinery’. That may seem like a derogatory or pejorative term, but nevertheless that is what it really is. Studies of reïncarnation and karma, or of the cycles and rounds and races and that kind of thing, are really studies of the machinery, that is, the consequences of the working out of metaphysical principles. ”  

By Hans Wolfgang Schumann.

200 Pages | First Quest edition 1974 | Paperback | Quest Books, U.S.A. | ISBN: 0835604527.

WITH 39 DRAWINGS AND PHOTOS.

Both general readers and serious students of Buddhism will welcome the systematic arrangement of material, which makes this book a reliable guide through a vast field of thought. The author worked from original texts, and his work contains many original observations. Of special value is a Tabulated Synopsis of the major systems of Buddhism enabling the student to grasp, almost at a glance, the fine distinctions between them.

From its Preface:

” Five hundred years before the rise of Christianity there originated in India a religious doctrine, which does not make a god or the gods the subject of its thinking , but concentrates on man himself as interwoven with the cosmic cycle. As its author, Siddhattha Gotama, the ‘Buddha’, was convinced of having revealed in this teaching a natural law, he calls it ’the law’ (p: dhamma, Skt: dharma), thereby simultaneously characterising it as a rule for human behaviour. Aptly, his followers chose the wheel (P: cakka, Skt: cakra) as symbol of the dharma: a symbol of functional unity, of pivotal standstill in movement and, in ancient India, of righteous royal rulership. 

[…]

The twenty-four wheel symbol of the righteous ruler (cakkavatin) belongs to the lion-capital of the pillar erected in Sārnāth by Emperor Asoka in the 3rd century B.C. The edict carved in the pillar warns against schism of the monastic order. The lion-capital is today India’s national coat of arms; the wheel was incorporated in the Indian national flag. As a Buddhist symbol, the ‘wheel of the teaching’ may have eight to thirty-six spokes. ” 

168 pages | Paperback | Quest Books, 2000

Warriors do not always wear armor. Sometimes they wear three-piece suits or denim. Nowadays, thousands of people search Sun Tzu’s ancient war manual for business strategies. Grant Schnarr goes deeper, finding in the old general’s savvy a wealth of wisdom about how to defeat our one true enemy—our own negativity. Here are brilliant tactics for enlisting our higher powers and outwitting our tendency toward self-destruction. Whether you fight addiction, depression, a debilitating fear, or a quick temper, Grant’s penetrating insights impart courage. His unflinching honesty, often funny stories, and practical exercises can help anyone make peace at home, at work, and in the private depths of being.

By Paul Quinn.

344 Pages | First Quest Edition 2009 | Softcover | Quest Books, U.S.A. | ISBN: 9780835608794.

This book is not just theory, it comes from someone who knows. . . .

You don’t need to have psychic abilities to read Tarot cards effectively. But you do need to be curious – curious about who you are and about the opportunities for growth in your daily life. Paul Quinn tranforms the Tarot from fortune-telling into the ultimate self-help tool for intuitive guidance, empowerment, and well-being. Discover how you can use the Tarot as a vibrant way to access inner Wisdom and to gain meaningful, practical insights into your relationships, career, family and personal development.

Quinn explains how the Tarot can offer Soul-directed advice to help you make wiser choices, and he shows how even the cards, that look most troubling can convey support. Newcomers and experts alike will value his thought-provoking examples and entertaining anecdotes, that explain complexities without reducing the cards’ mystical power. Quinn’s unique view opens the Tarot as a lifelong aid to enhancing awareness, self-knowledge and joy – right here, right now.

From the Epilogue (p. 331):

” The Journey Begins . . .

To thee no star be dark
Both heaven and earth
Friend thee for ever.
– William Shakespeare

[…]

Part of the practical beauty of the Tarot, is that it is a tool you can use forever, whenever you feel the need to understand yourself or situations in more objective, symbolic ways. But the word ‘Life’ in the title of this work, is not just about duration. It’s about the joy of using the cards to discover the spiritual opportunities in everyday and grow in compassion for the seventy-eight courageous, wise, wounded Tarot characters in yourself and in everyone. In seeing ourselves with more kindness and with a greater sense of creative potential, we cannot help, but view the world with the same generosity. “

By Willamay Pym.

39 Pages | Copyright 1989 by The Theosophical Society in America | A4 Study Course | Quest Books, U.S.A. | No ISBN.

The course may be studied by an individual. In this case, the keeping of a journal, supplemental reading, and a willingness to discuss the material with others will be most useful in deepening and broadening one’s insights. Prior to each lesson is a section entitled ‘Preparation for Lesson…’ Many of the articles listed in these sections are from the American Theosophist special issues or from Quest Magazine.

From page 37:

” The desire for wholeness develops within the framework of human love. It is only when love has been sufficiently developed by means of different kinds of temporary relationships between different fragments of the Divine Life (that means us) that the love for the whole is born within it. Then, instead of seeking satisfaction in this piecemeal manner, the fragment seeks it in the whole and through the whole in other fragments . . . This coming together in whatever measure it may be achieved is the only source of happiness, bliss or ananda there is in this world. Love is the very nature of the Divine, the unity which is the One Reality. It alone is the force, which causes the unreal to be drawn into the Real – the many into the One. “

• I.K. Taimni (1898–1978) in The Secret of Self-Realization.

260 pages | Paperback | Quest Books, 1996

Explore the Wisdom of the Ages

This abridgement presents the central insights of the original text in accessible form, simplified by the selection of those pasages that are most interesting and relevant for the contemporary reader.

The creation of the universe and the nature of humanity as taught by the Ancient Wisdom. An abridgement of the original 1500 page work, The Secret Doctrine.

By Sri Krishna Prem, formerly known as Ronald Henry Nixon) (1898 – 1965).

128 Pages | First Quest Edition 1976 | Softcover | Quest Books, U.S.A. | ISBN: 0835604845.

Yoga according to Sri Krishna Prem is nothing but an intense relating to life: ‘The aspirant must therefore guard himself carefully against any tendency to separate himself from his fellows. He must strive always to feel himself into the hearts of those he meets in his daily life‘. Surely these words are a far, far cry from what we are used to reading in the great array of yogic studies now available to the Western world. Initiation into Yoga is indeed a living experience between author and reader: therefore, a legitimate yogic experience in itself.

From Chapter I – ‘Initiation into Yoga’ (p. 35 & 36):

” The Guru is the pure Consciousness itself dwelling in the heart of every living being and particularly that Light as reflected in the ‘sattvic buddhi’ – the power that gives us certain knowledge beyond all the doubts and hesitations of the mind. That Light dwells in all beings and speaks (that is why some traditions have termed it the Logos, the Word) in our hearts with the voice of conscience; though only too often we confuse its voice with various other voices that speak with louder accents. “

116 pages | Paperback | Quest Books, 1990

The world renowned teacher J. Krishnamurti, comes uniquely alive in this six revealing interviews with journalist N. Lakshmi Prasad.