The Universal Gnostic Church: Recommended Reading

[ecosophia]

Back in John Gilbert's time, the Universal Gnostic Church always had a recommended reading list posted on its website, which was edited from time to time. I've done a little editing and updating of my own, but the books below include most of the titles that John recommended to UGC members and other interested people.  If you're studying the Gnostic Lessons, if you're interested in the Order of the Universal Monk or the Order of the Universal Nun, and especially if you feel a call to the priesthood or priestesshood of the UGC, books from the list below would be worth adding to your bookshelf (or electronic equivalent).

I am interested in expanding this list, within reason. If there's a book you'd like to recommend -- especially if it's in the field of mysticism, which is not my strong suit -- please post a comment explaining why you think it should be included. Books available for free download will get preference, as inflation is making life difficult for so many people.

Please note that this is the last post on the UGC I will be putting up before mid-September. It is not the last post in the sequence, however. I need to make some arrangements and set up some things online before I proceed. There has been enough interest expressed by readers of my blogs and books, and students of the various UGC-related traditions, that I'm going to go ahead with the process of making training for ordination in the UGC available. Stay tuned for the details -- and in the meantime, you know what to do. (Hint:  Practice!)

Universal Gnostic Church

Recommended Reading List

Spirituality cannot be learned from a book. It unfolds from the individual quest for knowledge of the Divine, which is also the quest of the Divine to be known by Its creation. However, certain books chronicling the experiences of other individuals in this quest can be helpful as signposts along the way. Like the finger pointing at the moon in the Zen parable, they direct the attention of the seeker toward the goal, but are not the goal themselves.

This list should not be considered in any way complete. There are many books not listed here that may be as useful to you as the ones that are.

Many classic works of mysticism are fortunately out of copyright and may be downloaded free of charge from various online archives. Books currently out of copyright in the lists below are marked with an asterisk, *. (In the case of works in languages other than English, the asterisk indicates that there is at least one English translation not in copyright.)

The following books are recommended for all members of the UGC and required for aspirants to ordination as priests or priestesses.

The Varieties of Religious Experience by William James * (can be downloaded for free here)

Practical Mysticism: A Book for Normal People by Evelyn Underhill * (can be downloaded for free here)

The Many Paths of the Independent Sacramental Movement by John Plummer (can be purchased here)

The following books are among those recommended for members of the UGC who wish to deepen their understanding of the Universal Gnostic tradition and the broader realm of mystical spirituality that it was created to teach and preserve. Many other books could be added to each of these lists. Feel free to expand and adapt the lists for your own needs.

Sacred Scriptures

The Bhagavad-Gita *

The Corpus Hermeticum *

The Dhammapada *

The Elder Edda *

The Kojiki *

The Mabinogion *

The New Testament *

The Orphic Hymns *

The Popol Vuh *

The Tao Te Ching *

The Upanishads *

Western Esotericism

Doctrine and Ritual of High Magic by Eliphas Lévi *

The Gnostic Gospels by Elaine Pagels

The Kybalion by William Walker Atkinson *

Mystery Teachings from the Living Earth by John Michael Greer

The Mystical Qabalah by Dion Fortune *

Self-Unfoldment through Disciplines of Realization by Manly P. Hall

Western Mysticism

The Cloud of Unknowing by anonymous *

The Imitation of Christ by Thomas a Kempis *

The Interior Castle by Teresa of Avila *

Mysticism by Evelyn Underhill *

New Seeds of Contemplation by Thomas Merton

The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence *

Revelations of Divine Love by Julian of Norwich *

The Sepher Yetzirah by anonymous *

The Spiritual Guide by Miguel de Molinos *

The Way of a Pilgrim by anonymous *

Eastern Mysticism

Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda

Be Here Now by Ram Dass

Foundations of Tibetan Mysticism by Lama Anagarika Govinda

The Life Divine by Sri Aurobindo

The Perennial Philosophy by Aldous Huxley

Raja Yoga by Swami Vivekananda

The Yoga Sutras by Patanjali *

The writings of Chuang Tsu *

Other Resources

Perhaps the most useful online resource for participants in the independent sacramental movement (ISM) is the James M. Ford ISM Archive, which is hosted by the Apostolic Johannite Church. Materials from many branches in the ISM may be found there free for the downloading:

https://www.johannite.org/learn/the-james-ford-ism-archive/