Paramhansa Yogananda (1946)

A spiritual classic that introduced millions to the philosophy and practice of yoga, Yogananda’s autobiography chronicles his journey from India to the West and his encounters with saints, scientists, and seekers of divine truth. At once mystical and deeply human, it remains one of the most influential books on the inner path.

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Anonymous (Valentin Tomberg) (2002)

Originally published anonymously, Meditations on the Tarot is a cornerstone text of modern Hermetic philosophy. Each “letter” explores one of the twenty-two Major Arcana as an emblem of spiritual initiation, blending Christian mysticism, symbolism, and contemplative practice into a single, radiant path of understanding.

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Immanuel Kant (1987)

Kant’s third Critique bridges reason and imagination, offering a philosophy of beauty and purpose that remains foundational to aesthetics. Its exploration of the sublime, the harmonious play of faculties, and the bridge between nature and freedom continues to influence art theory and spiritual philosophy alike.

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Tiffany Govender (2019)

Written as the capstone for the M.A. in Humanities at Hood College, this thesis explores how Immanuel Kant’s Critique of Judgment illuminates the relationship between aesthetic experience and the search for transcendence. Through the lens of Caspar David Friedrich’s landscapes and Michael Ondaatje’s novel The English Patient, it traces the meeting point between philosophy, art, and the imagination.

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An Inquiry into the Non-Rational Factor in the Idea of the Divine and Its Relation to the Rational
Rudolf Otto (2010 reprint)

A classic in the study of religious experience, Otto’s The Idea of the Holy introduces the concept of the numinous—that mysterium tremendum et fascinans at the heart of all encounters with the sacred. Blending theology and phenomenology, it remains a foundational text for understanding awe, reverence, and the ineffable dimensions of spiritual life.

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Paul Crowther (1991)

In this concise yet penetrating study, Crowther examines Kant’s theory of the sublime as a bridge between moral consciousness and aesthetic experience. Moving beyond fear and grandeur, he reveals how the sublime operates as a key to freedom, imagination, and the formation of value in art and philosophy.

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Jay Prosser (2004)

Blending memoir, theory, and visual culture, Prosser explores how photography mediates memory, mourning, and the self. Through writers and photographers from Barthes to Woolf, he reveals the photograph as both relic and resurrection—an image caught between light and loss, presence and absence.

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Abdi Assadi (2016)

A clear-eyed companion for seekers and teachers alike, Assadi’s Shadows on the Path examines the hidden ego traps that arise in spiritual work. With compassion and precision, he maps how power, projection, and self-deception can distort even the most sincere journey toward awakening—and how awareness restores integrity to the path.

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Patricia Hampl (2006)

Part memoir, part art history, Hampl’s Blue Arabesque traces the author’s lifelong pursuit of beauty after a chance encounter with Matisse’s Woman Before an Aquarium. Through travels, reflection, and luminous prose, she explores how art invites us into the transcendent—an ordinary life touched by the sublime.

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Michael Ondaatje (1993)

Set amid the ruins of World War II, Ondaatje’s luminous novel traces four lives converging in an Italian villa—each haunted by love, loss, and memory. Through its fractured structure and lyrical prose, the book becomes a meditation on beauty, impermanence, and the search for identity that echoes far beyond history.

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