A Society of Souls Student Reading List

This page provides a list of the recommended readings for students in
A Society of Souls, Three Year Training in Integrated Kabbalistic Healing. 

You can order any of these books from Amazon.com at up to 20% off the list price simply by clicking on the book title.

The Living Torah
Trans. by: Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan
Moznaim Publishing Corp.

The Way of Splendor: Jewish Mysticism and Modern Psychology
by Edward Hoffman
Jason Aronson, Publishers

Kabbalah and Consciousness
by Alan Afterman
Sheepmeadow Press

The Essential Kabbalah: The Heart of Jewish Mysticism
by Daniel C. Matt
Harper Collins

Esoterism and Symbol
R.A. Schwaller de Lubicz
Inner Traditions International
A small, splendid, and difficult book on ancient Egyptian thought. If you only read the first three chapters - and understand them - you will have an insight into the intelligence-of-the-heart, which is at the center of all spiritual experience. The ideas in this book will become especially important in Year Three.

Tibetan Book of the Dead
translated by Freemantle and Trungpa
Get this edition only. The introduction by the brilliant Tibetan llama Chogyam Trungpa is worth the price of admission. The same qualities that allow us to stay conscious and aware in the bardo realms will help us in many of the advanced kabbalistic healings.

Rumi any translation by Coleman Barks
God gifted us with an enlightened teacher who was also one of the history's greatest poets. Barks' translations are modern and immediate. These are poems you can live with forever. They will often break your heart....Titles include:
Rumi: These Branching Moments
Unseen Rain: Quatrains of Rumi
One-Handed Basket Weaving: Rumi
The Essential Rumi

I suggest having the following books as part of your permanent "Kabbalah library." We will refer to them from time to time.

Teachings of Rumi: The Masnavi
Trans. by: E. H. Whinfield
These are selections from Rumi's important collection of teaching poems and texts.

Inner Space
by Aryeh Kaplan
An excellent detailed overview of the Kabbalah by a master thinker. A must-have book.

Sefer Yitzerah: The Book of Creation
translated by Aryeh Kaplan
One of the ancient texts, with Kaplan's sometimes astounding commentary. A must-have book.

The Bahir: The Illumination
translated by Aryeh Kaplan
An equally ancient text, again with Kaplan's erudition. A must-have book.

The Thirteen Petalled Rose
Adin Steinsaltz
A wonderful, accessible book on existence and belief.

Paradigm Shift
Rabbi Zalman Schacter-Shalomi
Jason Aronson, Publisher
An important book by one of the great teachers of this generation.

Winnicott
by Adam Philips
Harvard University Press
Serves as a beautiful introduction to one of the major figures of the British school of object-relations, Donald Winnicott.

Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind
by Shunryo Suzuki.
A good antidote to the narrow experience of expertise.

More advanced texts:

The Wisdom of the Zohar (3 volumes)
arranged by Fishel Lachower and Isaiah Tishby
Oxford University Press

Zohar: The Book of Enlightenment
Excerpts translated by Daniel Chanan Matt
Paulist Press

The Timeless Way of Building
A Pattern Language
both by Christopher Alexander, et. al.
These two volumes on architecture, are really about the quality of shining found in all things which have found their True Nature. I consider these books profoundly important.

The Ever-Present Origin
by Jean Gebser
translated by Barstad and Mickunas
Ohio University Press
Another masterpiece of Western thinking

Lessons in Tanya
The Tanya of Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi (five volumes)
Kehot Publication Society

Likutey Moharan (6 volumes currently available)
by Rebbe Nachman of Breslov
Breslov Research Institute
These books are a constant source of blessing. Every serious student should have them on their shelves, to dip into, to study in depth, to spend a life with. This link takes you directly to the Breslov Research Institute website.

The Work of Briah
by Jason Shulman
A Society of Souls Press

[The Set of the World]
by Jason Shulman
A Society of Souls Press
These two monographs describe part of the philosophical basis of Integrated Kabbalistic Healing.

Tefillin Psalms
by Jason Shulman
A Society of Souls Press

The Master of Hiddenness
by Jason Shulman
A Society of Souls Press

New Additions to the Reading List:

The Five Books Of Moses:
A New Translation With Introduction, Commentary and Notes
Everett Fox (editor)
Schocken Books
Fox captures the concrete immediacy of the Hebrew. Read passages aloud for full enjoyment.

The Hebraic Tongue Restored:
And the True Meaning of the Hebrew Words
Re-established and Proved by their Radical Analysis
Fabre d'Olivet
Kessinger Publishing
This book was brought to my attention by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi. Originally written in 1815, this detailed and profound study of the hieroglyphic aspects of the Hebrew language will give any reader who puts the time in a thorough understanding of the Briatic foundations of Hebrew words and letters. It contains d'Olivet's translation of Genesis, which reads like the instruction-set for the creation of the world.

Gates of Light
Rabbi Joseph Gikatilla

Day By Day With Bhagavan (Ramana Maharshi)
Ramana Maharshi: 40 Verses (Trans. by: S. S. Cohen)
A Sadhu's Reminicences of Ramana Maharshi
These books can be ordered from Arunachala Ashrama, Queens, NY
(718) 575- 3215

The Precious Treasury of the Way of Abiding
Longchen Rabjam
PadMa Publishing, Junchtion City, CA