28 thinkers, books, and ideas connected to this field.
A practical guide by Jean Houston to realizing greater human potential at the levels of senses, psychology, mythology, and spirituality.
American addiction recovery organization founded by Bill Wilson and Bob Smith in 1935 — whose twelve-step program and mutual aid model became the dominant framework for addiction recovery globally, operating through an estimated 123,000 groups in 180+ countries.
Indian Jesuit priest, psychotherapist, and spiritual teacher who wrote Awareness, Song of the Bird, and Sadhana — combining Christian mysticism with Eastern meditation and Western psychology — known for a direct, provocative teaching style that challenged comfortable religious assumptions.
American NDE experiencer whose account Embraced by the Light (1992) was the first NDE book to reach #1 on the New York Times bestseller list — describing her detailed experience of the afterlife following her 1973 NDE during a hysterectomy.
American video artist who is the most prominent practitioner of video art — whose work (The Nantes Triptych, Stations, The Crossing) uses water, fire, and the body to explore birth, death, and spiritual transformation — drawing on Christian mysticism, Zen Buddhism, and Jungian themes.
American author whose The Way of the Superior Man has become the most widely read book in the conscious masculinity space — arguing for the spiritual and relational dimensions of masculine purpose, presence, and polarity.
Elizabeth Gilbert's 2006 memoir of a year spent in Italy, India, and Indonesia after a painful divorce and depression — eating in Italy, meditating in an ashram in India, and finding love in Bali — one of the bestselling memoirs of the 21st century.
German-Canadian spiritual teacher — author of The Power of Now and A New Earth — who teaches presence and ego dissolution — whose books have sold 10M+ copies and became the most commercially successful spiritual texts since the 1990s.
The Big Sur residential center founded by Michael Murphy and Dick Price in 1962 — the institutional home of the Human Potential Movement and a crucible for the encounter between Western psychology, Eastern spirituality, and consciousness research.
The cultural and psychological movement centered at Esalen Institute and rooted in humanistic psychology — advocating for expanded human potential through encounter groups, body therapies, transpersonal psychology, and altered states.
Indian independence leader who developed satyagraha (truth-force / nonviolent resistance) as a political method — leading India to independence from Britain in 1947 — and whose life demonstrated that moral authority can overcome military power if the opponent has enough conscience to be moved by suffering.
Jean Houston's account of her own dogs as spiritual presences and guides — exploring how animals can serve as mirrors for the mythic and spiritual dimensions of human life.
French abbess of Port-Royal-des-Champs who was a key figure in the Jansenist movement alongside her siblings Antoine and Angélique Arnauld.
French abbess who reformed the convent of Port-Royal-des-Champs from laxity to strict Augustinian observance, making it the center of Jansenist spirituality.
French abbess of Port-Royal and niece of Antoine Arnauld who led the convent during the most intense period of royal persecution of Jansenism.
Brazilian novelist — author of The Alchemist — the best-selling Portuguese-language author in history (150M+ books sold) — who writes spiritual quest narratives with universal appeal.
Paulo Coelho's 1988 allegorical novel — following a shepherd boy's journey to find treasure at the Egyptian pyramids — which becomes a meditation on Personal Legend (one's destiny) and the journey's value over the destination — one of the best-selling books of all time.
Steven Pressfield's 1995 novel — a retelling of the Bhagavad Gita set in a 1930s golf match in Savannah, Georgia — in which a mysterious caddy (Bagger Vance = Bhagavan = God) guides a broken golfer back to his authentic game.
Eckhart Tolle's 1997 guide to living in the present moment — arguing that most human suffering comes from identification with compulsive thinking and that liberation comes through presence — the most commercially successful secular spirituality book.
Jean Houston's account of 'sacred psychology' — the use of mythic figures, particularly the inner Beloved, as a catalyst for deep psychological transformation.
David Deida's 1997 book presenting a spiritual and practical framework for masculine development — arguing that a man's primary gift to the world and to relationships is depth of presence, clarity of purpose, and the capacity to hold consciousness while his partner expresses emotion.
Gregory of Nyssa's allegorical reading of the life of Moses as a model of the soul's ascent to God. The text interprets Moses's encounters with God — the burning bush, Sinai, the cloud — as stages of deepening mystical union culminating in the experience of divine darkness.
Kalamazoo-based foundation endowed by John Fetzer that promotes the integration of spiritual values — love, forgiveness, compassion — into public life, healthcare, and education.
Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations who developed the World Core Curriculum — a global education framework influenced by the Theosophy of Alice Bailey, intended to create a spiritually unified world citizenry.
The organization founded by Alice Bailey (originally as Lucifer Publishing Company, 1922) to publish her writings and promote her Theosophical spiritual teachings — with consultative status at the United Nations and a meditation room at UN headquarters.
Leonard Cohen (1934-2016) was a Canadian singer-songwriter, poet, and novelist from Montreal, widely regarded as one of the greatest lyricists in the English language. His songs including Hallelujah, Suzanne, Famous Blue Raincoat, and Bird on the Wire blend spiritual yearning, erotic longing, and existential depth. He explored Jewish mysticism, Zen Buddhism, and Christian imagery in a singular artistic voice.
Eugene Peterson was an American Presbyterian pastor, scholar, and author best known for The Message, a contemporary paraphrase of the Bible rendered in everyday American English. His writings on pastoral ministry, spiritual formation, and the integration of faith and ordinary life shaped a generation of pastors and readers.
Islamic mystical tradition — emerging in the 8th century CE as an interiorizing movement within Islam — emphasizing direct experiential knowledge of God (gnosis — ma'rifa), love of the divine (mahabbah), purification of the self (nafs), and ultimately the annihilation (fana) of the individual self in God — the most poetically rich mystical tradition in the Abrahamic faiths.