almost but not quite religious/religion-like books

The Magnificent Obsession, Way of the Peaceful Warrior, The Greatest Salesman in The World and others by Og Mandino, The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran.

Neat little books that, quite simply, explain the Bible.

I've heard of the Bach books, but haven't had time to read them (they're on my 'to read' list, but it's a very long list).

The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius provides a calming framework for dealing with reality (Ahhhhh, Stoicism!).

Herman Hess' Siddhartha is also quite good--inspires one to look for inner peace and enlightenment by presenting the reader with the title character's lifelong journey to achieve these.

Robert Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land, aside from being one of the great classics of Sci-Fi, inspires the reader to realize his or her inner power and divinity (do you 'grok'?).

since you mentioned Hesse,

i'll add "narziss and goldmund".

i think there's a bit of both in all of us....then its up to us.

Also on my "to-read" list.

While we're at it, I find a spiritual solace in Whitman's Leaves of Grass.

And, whenever I find myself in a situation that incites fear, I find myself silently reciting fragements of the "Litany of Fear" from Frank Herbert's Dune.

spiritual solace is found in abundance in the lyrics of this most healing of songs, written by this most gifted of singers -



Every Grain of Sand / Robert Allen Zimmerman




In the time of my confession, in the hour of my deepest need
When the pool of tears beneath my feet flood every newborn seed
There's a dyin' voice within me reaching out somewhere,
Toiling in the danger and in the morals of despair.

Don't have the inclination to look back on any mistake,
Like Cain, I now behold this chain of events that I must break.
In the fury of the moment I can see the Master's hand
In every leaf that trembles, in every grain of sand.

Oh, the flowers of indulgence and the weeds of yesteryear,
Like criminals, they have choked the breath of conscience and good cheer.
The sun beat down upon the steps of time to light the way
To ease the pain of idleness and the memory of decay.

I gaze into the doorway of temptation's angry flame
And every time I pass that way I always hear my name.
Then onward in my journey I come to understand
That every hair is numbered like every grain of sand.

I have gone from rags to riches in the sorrow of the night
In the violence of a summer's dream, in the chill of a wintry light,
In the bitter dance of loneliness fading into space,
In the broken mirror of innocence on each forgotten face.

I hear the ancient footsteps like the motion of the sea
Sometimes I turn, there's someone there, other times it's only me.
I am hanging in the balance of the reality of man
Like every sparrow falling, like every grain of sand.