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Best Biographies of Hinduism

The Autobiography of a Yogi
The Autobiography of a Yogi. The work is enduringly popular because it introduces millions of readers to Eastern spiritual thought. The yogi begins by showing how his childhood experiences in turn-of-the-century India produced a spiritual youth in search of an enlightened teacher, continues with an account of his years of training in the hermitage of a revered master, and concludes with the highlights of a period, beginning in 1920, during which he lived and taught in America.
Reviews
"I originally read the version with the blue cover which I found out later is apparently the one that wasn't edited after Yogananda's death. Many years later I repurchased this red cover version because it came with the free CD and I figured.. how different can it be?"
"This is the most excellent book i have ever read in my lifetime and i do read so many books on regular basis.this is the book that has changed the view and target of my life completely.if you have not read this book means every other book you read till now is a complete waste.i strongly urge every soul in human body on this earth to read this book.Human race owes so much to Yogananda ji for writing this book for us.so pls dont waste your life and do read this book."
"I thought that it was a very inspiring book."
"I have read this book on several occasions."
"This read taught me about a very interesting individual named Yogananda, The rich history of India, Science, Physics, Self realization even helping me understand the teachings of Jesus Christ with a renewed sense of understanding, and the over arching theme of the book which is the Oneness of Religion!!"
"This book is so awesome."
"His insights were remarkable, and the place he comes from when he is taking about spiritual subjects is one of knowing (as compared to one who is just rehashing facts). Although I remained somewhat skeptical of some of the stories for over 10 years, I finally came to the realization that every word in the book was true, and that "Here was a man who knew God." He has had a huge number of encounters with spiritual people of various faiths, and he talks in detail about them."
"I recommend that you read this book to get a glimpse into the Eastern/Indian philosophy and religious thought process."
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Living with Kundalini: The Autobiography of Gopi Krishna (Shambhala Dragon Editions)
This classic first-person account of spiritual awakening was first published under the title Kundalini: The Evolutionary Energy in Man —here expanded with two-thirds new material drawn from the author's writing to make a complete autobiography. "— Lion's Roar (formerly Shambhala Sun ). "At a time when the word 'Kundalini' is bandied about by too many self-appointed gurus and occult groups offering enlightenment in ten easy lessons, Gopi Krishna provides a salutary reminder of what a serious undertaking it is to attempt to raise this awesome power. "The writing of Gopi Krishna is an indispensable resource for anyone who wishes to begin to understand the role of kundalini in exceptional mental states and in the evolution of consciousness. His own kundalini awakening is itself an extraordinary and inspiring story of human possibility and gives one a sense of the tremendous spiritual birthright each of us carries within our own nervous system. He struggled hard to make this complex and crucial spiritual phenomenon intelligible in his numerous writings and talks, and I regard him as one of the bridge-building pioneers of our time, who hewed new paths for the necessary dialogue between East and West.
Reviews
"In fact he soon discovers it is passing up only one side (the pingala), the HEAT path and doesn't figure it out. or how to get things back on track for a more balanced unfolding of this spiritual energy until later. I remember some passages being of so interest to. me personally, i even found myself highlighting even though i normally am anti-highlighting books in case someone. else may want to read and develop their own thoughts of importance, but had no plan to lose in first place! Really simple english and DETAILED as to what happened to him on both. a physical and mental level as the kundalini began to awaken and unfold over time."
"You have to read this book!!"
"Book was as advertised if not better."
"This is an interesting book about one mans experience with Kundalini."
"Great book for anyone looking for an honest and realistic account of a kundalini rising."
"My boyfriend and I loved Gopi Krishna's first book, KUNDALINI, but this gives even more material, more information about this incredible man."
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Gandhi
Shifting the focus to the understudied subject of Gandhi’s spiritual life, Arvind Sharma retells the story of Gandhi’s life through this lens. (Mark Tully Hatchette India ). Arvind Sharma was awarded the 2013 Hindu American Foundation's Mahatma Gandhi Award for the Advancement of Religious Pluralism. (Huston Smith) Retelling the story of Gandhi’s life through the lens of his spirituality, Arvind Sharma reveals the unsuspected dimensions of Gandhi’s inner world and their surprising connections with his outward actions.
Reviews
"Leaving aside mythical models, however significant, such as Moses, examples from recent history include Martin Luther King and Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. Gandhi is a most significant positive example, thanks to his highly moral beliefs, in part based on Indian traditions, such as Satyagraha (insistence on truth), love also for one's enemy and efforts to change them for the better, Ahimsa (compassion and not to injure), and especially Satyagraha ("the need to oppose injustice but to oppose it nonviolently" [p. 203], simplified in the widely used term "passive resistance")."
"This book sifted out those ideas and ideals from Gandhi's life that inspired him the most and in doing so it took the Mahatma out of the realm of history and made him a man whose thoughts and example can benefit each of us today."
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Best Biographies of Judaism

Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “A lucid, intelligent page-turner” ( Los Angeles Times ) that challenges long-held assumptions about Jesus, from the host of Believer Two thousand years ago, an itinerant Jewish preacher walked across the Galilee, gathering followers to establish what he called the “Kingdom of God.” The revolutionary movement he launched was so threatening to the established order that he was executed as a state criminal. Sifting through centuries of mythmaking, Reza Aslan sheds new light on one of history’s most enigmatic figures by examining Jesus through the lens of the tumultuous era in which he lived. He explores the reasons the early Christian church preferred to promulgate an image of Jesus as a peaceful spiritual teacher rather than a politically conscious revolutionary. A vivid, persuasive portrait.” — Salon “This tough-minded, deeply political book does full justice to the real Jesus, and honors him in the process.” — San Francisco Chronicle “A special and revealing work, one that believer and skeptic alike will find surprising, engaging, and original.” —Jon Meacham, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power “Compulsively readable . Q. Yours is one of the few popular biographies of Jesus of Nazareth that does not rely on the gospels as your primary source of information for uncovering Jesus’ life. A. I certainly rely on the gospels to provide a narrative outline to my biography of Jesus of Nazareth, but my primary source in recreating Jesus’ life are historical writings about first century Palestine, like the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus, as well as Roman documents of the time. In other words, the gospels tell us about Jesus the Christ, not Jesus the man. To get to the bottom of that mystery, which is what I try to do in the book, one must sift through the gospel stories to analyze their claims about Jesus in light of the historical facts we know about the time and world in which Jesus lived. But the more I read the Bible – especially in college, where I began my formal study of the New Testament – the more I uncovered a wide chasm between the Jesus of history and the Jesus I learned about in church. But the irony is that once I detached my academic study of Jesus from my faith in Christ, I became an even more fervent follower of Jesus of Nazareth. So in a way, this book is my attempt to spread the good news of Jesus the man with the same passion that I once applied to spreading the good news of Jesus the Christ. The key to understanding who Jesus was and what Jesus meant lies in understanding the times in which he lived. Aslan, who authored the much acclaimed No god but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam, offers a compelling argument for a fresh look at the Nazarene, focusing on how Jesus the man evolved into Jesus the Christ. Approaching the subject from a purely academic perspective, the author parts an important curtain that has long hidden from view the man Jesus, who is every bit as compelling, charismatic, and praiseworthy as Jesus the Christ. Carefully comparing extra-biblical historical records with the New Testament accounts, Aslan develops a convincing and coherent story of how the Christian church, and in particular Paul, reshaped Christianity's essence, obscuring the very real man who was Jesus of Nazareth.
Reviews
"There's nothing in this book that would surprise a person (like myself) who has read pretty much all of the accessible scholarship on Jesus published in the last 30 or so years. 2) Aslan takes the position that Jesus was a zealot for God and God's Temple, but (and this is repeated several times in the book) he was not a member of the Zealot Party, which wouldn't arise until over 30 years after Jesus' death. 3) Aslan doesn't stop with the death of Jesus, and, as someone writing history, not hagiography, he carefully notes that he can't pass judgment on whether Jesus' resurrection occurred, because it is not a historical event but an event of faith. (For example, Luke 16:19 points out that the rich man in Jesus' parable of the rich man and Lazarus wore purple and fine linen and all four gospels are agreed that Jesus was buried in linen.). Moreover, if Aslan was pushing Islam, you'd think that he'd make a point of saying, "Well, Islam considers Jesus a prophet," but he doesn't."
"I read this book primarily because some of the negative reviews were so hysterical in their fear that I was curious what the big deal is. His job as an academic is to present a thesis, develop it based on both evidence and his theories of meaning and then let the reading community judge it."
"Once I began reading it, I could not put this book down."
"If you've gone to seminary, you are probably aware of everything in this book."
"Well written and provides the reader with a great background on the life and times of Jesus of Nazareth."
"An interesting book apparently well researched by a religion scholar."
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Best Biographies of Buddhism

There Is a River: The Story of Edgar Cayce
A new edition of the landmark, worldwide bestseller on the life of the famed medical clairvoyant and founding father of the New Age: Edgar Cayce. Thomas Sugrue (1907-1953) was a widely respected world-traveling journalist who wrote for many of the nation's leading newspapers and magazines. Mitch Horowitz is a PEN Award-winning author who has also written for Science of Mind, New Dawn, Parabola, Fortean Times , and the Religion News Service.
Reviews
"Fascinating book that covers Cayce's entire life as well as some of his incredible findings as a psychic/prophet in the medical, psychical, metaphysical and astrological fields."
"This is a great book."
"I really enjoyed this book as I h e been a fan of Edgar Cayce for many years."
"A completely amazing book!"
"Love the book."
"The story of Edgar Cayce started my journey on a conscious path of self discovery and enlightenment."
"Both of these books are about Edgar Casey and his ability to heal people from far-off distances."
"I was introduced to Edgar Cayce books by my mother in the mid 80"s. I dedicated my own novel that I worked on for 26 years, Soul Seeker, to him as well as to my mother who has since passed."
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Best Biographies of Islam

Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “A lucid, intelligent page-turner” ( Los Angeles Times ) that challenges long-held assumptions about Jesus, from the host of Believer Two thousand years ago, an itinerant Jewish preacher walked across the Galilee, gathering followers to establish what he called the “Kingdom of God.” The revolutionary movement he launched was so threatening to the established order that he was executed as a state criminal. Sifting through centuries of mythmaking, Reza Aslan sheds new light on one of history’s most enigmatic figures by examining Jesus through the lens of the tumultuous era in which he lived. He explores the reasons the early Christian church preferred to promulgate an image of Jesus as a peaceful spiritual teacher rather than a politically conscious revolutionary. A vivid, persuasive portrait.” — Salon “This tough-minded, deeply political book does full justice to the real Jesus, and honors him in the process.” — San Francisco Chronicle “A special and revealing work, one that believer and skeptic alike will find surprising, engaging, and original.” —Jon Meacham, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power “Compulsively readable . Q. Yours is one of the few popular biographies of Jesus of Nazareth that does not rely on the gospels as your primary source of information for uncovering Jesus’ life. A. I certainly rely on the gospels to provide a narrative outline to my biography of Jesus of Nazareth, but my primary source in recreating Jesus’ life are historical writings about first century Palestine, like the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus, as well as Roman documents of the time. In other words, the gospels tell us about Jesus the Christ, not Jesus the man. To get to the bottom of that mystery, which is what I try to do in the book, one must sift through the gospel stories to analyze their claims about Jesus in light of the historical facts we know about the time and world in which Jesus lived. But the more I read the Bible – especially in college, where I began my formal study of the New Testament – the more I uncovered a wide chasm between the Jesus of history and the Jesus I learned about in church. But the irony is that once I detached my academic study of Jesus from my faith in Christ, I became an even more fervent follower of Jesus of Nazareth. So in a way, this book is my attempt to spread the good news of Jesus the man with the same passion that I once applied to spreading the good news of Jesus the Christ. The key to understanding who Jesus was and what Jesus meant lies in understanding the times in which he lived. Aslan, who authored the much acclaimed No god but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam, offers a compelling argument for a fresh look at the Nazarene, focusing on how Jesus the man evolved into Jesus the Christ. Approaching the subject from a purely academic perspective, the author parts an important curtain that has long hidden from view the man Jesus, who is every bit as compelling, charismatic, and praiseworthy as Jesus the Christ. Carefully comparing extra-biblical historical records with the New Testament accounts, Aslan develops a convincing and coherent story of how the Christian church, and in particular Paul, reshaped Christianity's essence, obscuring the very real man who was Jesus of Nazareth.
Reviews
"There's nothing in this book that would surprise a person (like myself) who has read pretty much all of the accessible scholarship on Jesus published in the last 30 or so years. 2) Aslan takes the position that Jesus was a zealot for God and God's Temple, but (and this is repeated several times in the book) he was not a member of the Zealot Party, which wouldn't arise until over 30 years after Jesus' death. 3) Aslan doesn't stop with the death of Jesus, and, as someone writing history, not hagiography, he carefully notes that he can't pass judgment on whether Jesus' resurrection occurred, because it is not a historical event but an event of faith. (For example, Luke 16:19 points out that the rich man in Jesus' parable of the rich man and Lazarus wore purple and fine linen and all four gospels are agreed that Jesus was buried in linen.). Moreover, if Aslan was pushing Islam, you'd think that he'd make a point of saying, "Well, Islam considers Jesus a prophet," but he doesn't."
"I read this book primarily because some of the negative reviews were so hysterical in their fear that I was curious what the big deal is. His job as an academic is to present a thesis, develop it based on both evidence and his theories of meaning and then let the reading community judge it."
"Once I began reading it, I could not put this book down."
"If you've gone to seminary, you are probably aware of everything in this book."
"Well written and provides the reader with a great background on the life and times of Jesus of Nazareth."
"An interesting book apparently well researched by a religion scholar."
Find Best Price at Amazon

Best Biographies of Catholicism

Heaven is for Real: A Little Boy's Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back
Colton, not yet four years old, told his parents he left his body during the surgery–and authenticated that claim by describing exactly what his parents were doing in another part of the hospital while he was being operated on. Retold by his father, but using Colton’s uniquely simple words, Heaven Is for Real offers a glimpse of the world that awaits us, where as Colton says, “Nobody is old and nobody wears glasses.”. To see a brand new note from Colton regarding the truth behind other "Heaven" stories, go to heavenlive.org/colton.
Reviews
"It's a great story, and offers such encouragement to Christians and non-Christians alike. It offers explanations of the knotty questions most thoughtful people wrestle with: Why do bad things happen to good people? I found it refreshing that the narrator, a Christian preacher and pastor, had these same questions."
"This non-fiction account is provocative and reassuring that our spirits are destined to dwell in the kingdom of God as long as we cling to our faith in Him and accept Jesus Christ as His son."
"While the underlying story of Colton Burpo's brush with death; his parents' renewed faith in God's eternal plan; and a perspective of Heaven, death/dying, eternal life, Christ from the eyes of a child is truly inspiring - it is difficult not to take this story with a heavy dose of skepticism."
"Many of my friends and family have read this book and I had always meant to read it."
"When I finished reading it I weeped in love for Abba Father, our Lord Jesus and the Precious Holy Spirit. I feel as if The Burpos are my family and I am truly honored and glad they were so couragous in sharing this wonderful devine experience with the world. My heart is being lead to purchase more of these books and give this to my grandson and granddaughter and other children that God sends cross my path."
"I know heaven is real."
"This book may not be the best for you."
"Years later in my twenties I saw photo of grandma and told Mom and Dad it was grandma not the lady that lived next door. I cried and told them grandma has been watching over me."
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Best Biographies of Christianity

The Magnolia Story (with Bonus Content)
By renovating homes in Waco, Texas, and changing lives in such a winsome and engaging way, Chip and Joanna have become more than just the stars of Fixer Upper , they have become America’s new best friends. Even back then Chip was a serial entrepreneur who, among other things, ran a lawn care company, sold fireworks, and flipped houses. The time Chip ran to the grocery store and forgot to take their new, sleeping baby Joanna’s agonizing decision to close her dream business to focus on raising their children When Chip buys a houseboat, sight-unseen, and it turns out to be a leaky wreck Joanna’s breakthrough moment of discovering the secret to creating a beautiful home Harrowing stories of the financial ups and downs as an entrepreneurial couple Memories and photos from Chip and Jo’s wedding The significance of the word magnolia and why it permeates everything they do The way the couple pays the popularity of Fixer Upper forward, sharing the success with others, and bolstering the city of Waco along the way. CHIP AND JOANNA GAINES are the founders of Magnolia Homes, Magnolia Market, and Magnolia Realty in Waco, Texas.
Reviews
"They have overcome adversity and have built a life full of love, family, talent, professionalism keeping their faith first and foremost."
"Great reading couldn't put it down made me smile,laugh and see some things in life we all go through similar."
"I have been a huge fan of Joanna and Chip right from the very first show."
"This is a must read for all Fixer Upper fans."
"I found the back story of how the Gaines met, and got started, to be very interesting, and I would recommend this book to others … particularly someone who enjoys the TV show or has a passion for revitalization."
"Reading the history that led to "Fixer Upper" is fascinating, and it just makes me love the Gaineses and the show all the more. So The Magnolia Story is not a literary marvel, but it does appear to be true to who the authors are in real life (or at least on TV)."
"Chip and Joanna serve as role models for a marriage and individuals alike with their kind hearts and loving ways."
"I can't even imagine my husband making those kinds of decisions without my input, but their relationship comes off as very balanced despite these peculiarities."
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