Books to Read
The courses in Practical Philosophy are not book based, there is no pre or during course reading necessary. However, food for the mind in the form of good literature can be quite inspiring to many people for many reasons. So here are a few recommendations you may enjoy.
To purchase books written by students of the school worldwide click here
The list below gives the book title, author and publisher.
- Advaita Vedanta by Swami Vivekananda. Ramakrishna
- Aesop’s Fables by Aesop. Penguin
- Aesthetics by Sheppard. O.U.P
- Ageless Body, Timeless Mind by Chopra. Random House
- Alfred the Great by Keynes. Penguin
- All the World’s a Stage by Boux. Shepheard-Walwyn
- Art of Loving by Fromm. Harper Collins
- As a Man Thinketh by Allen. Fowler
- As a Woman Thinketh by Hulst. Fowler
- Ashtavakra Gita by Shastri (trans.). Shanti Sadan
- Awareness by De Mello. Harper Collins
- Ayurveda by Svoboda. Penguin
- Be As You Are by Maharshi. Penguin
- Being Oneself by School of Meditation. S.o.M
- Bhagavad Gita by Shastri (trans.). Samata
- Bible. Harper Collins
- Brief History of Time by Hawkings. Bantam
- Cloud of Unknowing by Wolters (ed.). Penguin
- Complete works of Shakespeare by Shakespeare. O.U.P
- Conference of the Birds by Attar. Penguin
- Confessions by St. Augustine. Penguin
- Consider England by Proud and Petts. Shepheard-Walwyn
- Conversations of Socrates by Xenophon. Penguin
- Crest Jewel of Discrimination by Sankara. Ramakrishna
- Dhammapada by Easwaran. Penguin
- Dibs in Search of Self by Axlinc. Penguin
- Divine Proportion by Huntley. Dover
- Eight Upanishads (Vol. 1 and Vol. 2) by Swami Gambhirananda. Advaita Ashram
- Emperor’s New Mind by Penrose. Random House
- Eternal Wisdom by Aurobindo. Ashram
- Four Quarters by Eliot. Faber & Faber
- Geeta by Sri Purohit Swami. Faber & Faber
- God and the New Physics by Davies. Penguin
- God Makes the Rivers Flow by Easwaran. Nilgiri Press
- The Golden Thread by Boux. Shepheard-Walwyn
- Good Company by Shantanand Saraswati. Element OP
- Gospel according to Thomas by Brill
- Guide for the Perplexed by Schumacher. Random House
- Guide for the Advanced Soul by Hayward. Ashgrove
- Heart of the Enlightened by De Mello. Harper Collins
- Heart of the Hunter by Van der Post. Penguin
- I am That by Nisargadatta Maharaja. Chetana
- Imitation of Christ by Kempis. Hodder
- In Search of the Miraculous by Ouspensky. Penguin
- In Tune with the Infinite by Trine. Harper Collins
- Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Bach. Harper Collins
- Leonardo Drawings by Da Vinci. Dover
- Letters of Marsilio Ficino. Volumes 1 to 9. by SES (trans.). Shepheard-Walwyn
- Little Prince by De Saint Exupery. Mammoth
- Mahabharata by Rajagopalachari. Ramakrishna
- Man Who Wanted to Meet God by Shantanand Saraswati. Element
- Marriage of East & West by Griffiths. Harper Collins.
- Meditations of Marcus Aurelius by M. Aurelius. Penguin
- Mister God this is Anna by Fynn. Harper Collins
- Mozart Letters by Mozart. Dover
- 1791 – Mozart’s Last Year by Robbins-Landon. Harper Collins
- Nature of Society by MacLaren. SES
- Oxford Book of Short Poems by Kavanagh (ed.). O.U.P.
- Philosophy as a way of life: Spiritual exercises from Socrates to Foucault by Pierre Hadot and Arnold Davidson. Wiley-Blackwell
- Philosophy for Life and Other Dangerous Situations by Jules Evans. Rider Books
- Pooh & the Philosophers by Williams. Methuen
- Prophet by Gibran. Manderin
- Quantum Healing by Chopra. Bantam
- Quantum Questions by Wilber (ed.). Shambhala
- Quiet Mind (miniature and large format) by White Eagle. Fowler
- Ramayana by Rajagopalachari. Ramakrishna
- Revelations of Divine Love by Julian of Norwich. Penguin
- Republic by Plato. Penguin
- Pilgrims Progress by Bunyan. Penguin
- Portable Plato by Plato. Penguin
- Sacred Geometry by Lawlor. Thames & Hudson
- Screwtape Letters by Lewis. Harper Collins
- Self Reliance by Emerson. Dover
- Sermon on the Mount acc. to Vedanta by Swami Prabhavananda. Ramakrishna
- Siddhartha by Hesse. Pan
- Sonnets by Shakespeare. Dover or Jarrold or R.S.C. edition, Shepheard-Walwyn
- Sophie’s World by Gaarder. Phoenix
- Srimad Bhagavatam by Rajagopalachari. Ramakrishna
- Symposium & Phaedrus by Plato. Dover
- Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu. Penguin
- Te of Piglet by Hoff. Mandarin
- Ten Principal Upanishads by Yeats & Purohit Swami. Faber & Faber
- Touching the Void by Simpson. Pan
- Tao of Pooh by Hoff. Mandarin
- Trial & Death of Socrates by Plato. Dover
- Truth Will Set You Free. Swami Puma. Element
- Understanding Music by Hopkins. Orion
- Voyage of Discovery by Rolls. Study Society
- Way of the Sufi by Shah. Penguin
- Wisdom of Insecurity by Watts. Random House
- World within the Mind by Shastri (trans.). Shanti Sadan
- Zen Flesh Zen Bones by Reps. Penguin
- Zen in the Art of Archery by Herrigel. Penguin
To find out more about our Practical Philosophy courses in Birmingham click here.
To purchase books written by students of the school worldwide click here.
How our introductory courses work
A tutor presents philosophical ideas, and leads a discussion based on what arises in the group. Being practical rather than academic, the emphasis is on personal knowledge and experience. Students are encouraged neither to accept nor reject the ideas put forward, but to test them in practice for themselves, in the light of their own experience.
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