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Stephen Smith of the Productivity in Context Blog has a weekly column called Friday Morning Zen. Last week he kindly hosted a guest post by Swami Nirmalananda, a commentary on a quote from Buddha in the Dhammapada:

“By resolution and attention, by discipline and self-control, a clever [wise] man may build himself an island that no flood can overthrow.”

Click here to read the commentary on this verse.

Stephen has offered to host frequent guest posts by Swamiji commenting on quotes on spiritual topics. Do you know of a good spiritual quote by someone or from spiritual writings which you would like to see explained or amplified? Contact us and we will consider using it on Stephen’s Friday Morning Zen column.

In September of 2004 when the Atma Jyoti website was started, our site had only a handful of articles on meditation and spiritual life. Today there are roughly one thousand. There are writings by some of the most esteemed authors and spiritual figures of recent times, including Swami Vivekananda, Rama Tirtha, Swami Sivananda, Dr. Raymond Bernard, Swami Ritajananda, and others. With all these articles, ebooks and more scattered in different categories, it is easy to overlook some of the treasures on our site. Here are just a few of these hidden gems for you to read and profit by.

• All Is One (Ellam Ondre)

“If you want moksha, read and practise the instructions in Ellam Ondre.” –Ramana Maharshi

This small but extraordinary book was written in the 19th century and has been translated from Tamil into English. The author is unknown. It was popularized by the sage, Ramana Maharshi, who often named it along with a few others to disciples who were in pursuit of wisdom. This book, highly saturated in wisdom teachings, names the single most effective method of attaining to realization (i.e. enlightenment, moksha or liberation). The Maharshi especially emphasized the book to those who had difficulty reconciling the concept of multiple gods (as in the Hindu religion) with the Advaita concept of a single Universal Creator. This book explains how there is no basic conflict between these points of view, as long as things are viewed from the perspective that all the diverse beings and objects in this expansive universe are essentially parts of a greater whole–or as the book sums it up: All is One.

• May a Christian Believe in Reincarnation? by Swami Nirmalananda Giri

No serious Christian wishes to be “carried about with divers and strange doctrines,” (Hebrews 13:9) but rather to be established in “the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.” (Jude 3) Therefore the purpose in this brief study is to determine if, in good conscience, a Christian may believe in reincarnation.

Reincarnation-also known as the transmigration of souls-is not some exotic idea of non-Christian mysticism. In ancient orthodox Jewish and Christian writings, as well as the Holy Scriptures, we can find reincarnation as a fully developed belief, although today it is commonly ignored.

• Commentary on the Yoga Sutras by Raghavan Iyer

Raghavan Iyer was a noted theosophist, with a long and distinguished career in academia, as well as the editor of several prestigious metaphysical and theosophical magazines. His extensive knowledge of spiritual matters make his writings on the Yoga Sutras some of the most inciteful on the subject.

• The Chidakasha Gita by Paramahansa Nityananda

The Chidakasha Gita is a transcription of random teachings of Nityananda, given when he would walk unannounced into a house, sit down, and begin speaking. Though the devotees did the best they could, writing frantically in hope of keeping up with his words, the resulting records are often disjointed and sometimes make no sense since something is missing. This of course is a defect of the transcribers and not of Nityananda who was speaking spontaneously in spirit consciousness without interest in polished expression. Nevertheless, a devotee collected these fragments and had them printed under the title of Chidakasha Gita. They have been translated into several Indian languages as well as English.

• The Aquarian Gospel by Levi Dowling

In 1908 a book appeared on the shelves of American bookstores that was destined to garner interest throughout the world, so much so that today it has gone through more than seventy editions in America alone. This book was The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus the Christ by Levi H. Dowling. It evoked a response in those who intuited and sought for a deeper meaning of the person and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. Many at that time, as well as today, could not honestly accept the limited interpretation of Jesus and His words that was offered by “Churchianity”–an acceptance that would have obligated them to reject Him as but one of many misperceiving religionists of the past. For them the Aquarian Gospel was truly Light in Darkness, a fount of life-giving knowledge.

For more spiritually profitable links, read 19 Exceptional Web Resources for Spiritually Minded People.

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An essential part of spirituality is conscious growth and evolution. And an important aspect of growth is the willingness, even a thirst, for learning: what works, what doesn’t work; what helps and what hinders our spiritual life. We can learn from the wise, who have cut paths through the dense forest of ignorance, or who have successfully followed those paths, and make our sojourn easier and more effective.

The Internet is a vast sea of information, and finding what you need to know can be a time-consuming project. Especially when it comes to locating spiritual resources, separating the good from the mediocre and useless can be a frustrating undertaking. So we have put together a list of what we have found to be extraordinary web sites of wisdom which will be a help to anyone striving to grow spiritually.

• The Internet Sacred Text Archive

This site is a freely available archive of electronic texts about religion, mythology, legends and folklore, and occult and esoteric topics, with over 1400 books online. You will find an impressive array of the principal text for the various religious traditions, both mainstream and obscure.

• Bhagavad Gita on Wikipedia

The External Links section for the Bhagavad Gita has links to 10 online translations of the Gita, as well as several commentaries, as well as audio versions of the Gita. There are also links to the Gita Supersite. (The External Links section at the bottom of any Wikipedia article can be a treasure trove of resource material if you are looking up a spiritual subject.)

• Celextel’s Online Spiritual Library

This extensive library contains texts of the Bhagavad Gita, Upanishads, Brahma Sutras, Shankara’s writings and much more. There is also a considerable library of some of India’s prime religious texts.

• Advaita Vedanta Library

This site compliments the Celextel site and contains The Principal and Minor Upanishads, as well as other primal Vedantic texts.

• The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda

Swami Vivekananda is regarded as the chief disciple of Sri Ramakrishna, and was one of the first to make the spiritual wisdom of India well known in the West. WikiSource has now made available the ten printed volumes of Swami Vivekananda’s writings, lectures, and letters.

• Access to Insight: Readings in Theravada Buddhism

Access to Insight has English translations of many of the most important sections of the Pali Canon, as well as books, essays, sutta commentaries, and study guides to Theravada Buddhism. It includes a large section of useful writings by the Venerable Thanissaro Bhikkhu, renowned author and monk of the Thai Forest tradition, and dhamma talks by Ajaan Chah, one of the great modern saints of Thailand.

Another site with great resources Theravada Buddhism is What the Buddha Taught, with articles in English and also a good number of other languages by some of the most renowned figures in contemporary Theravada Buddhism.

• The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali

This is a site dedicated to Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, with multiple translations of the Sutras into English, as well as in a surprising number of other languages–a very helpful resource for serious students of yoga.

• Autobiography of a Yogi Online

Paramhansa Yogananda’s classic Autobiography has been the catalyst for spiritual awakening for tens of thousands of people. The original, unedited edition is now available online at the website of Ananda Village. This book is essential reading for anyone interested in spiritual life.

• Bible Gateway

For any student of the Bible, this is a remarkable resource: a searchable online Bible in over 50 versions in numerous languages, with both old and contemporary translatons, including both text and audio versions of some of the translations.

• Divine Life Society

The Society founded by the great Swami Sivananda of Rishikesh has a website full of useful information for spiritual aspirants. Includes spiritual instructions and discourses, as well as a large number of free eBooks by Swami Sivananda. The site also has photos, audio, and videos of this remarkable spiritual giant.

• Sanskrit Spiritual Scriptures

On this page, you can listen to Sanskrit chanting and recitation with English translations for some of the most powerful, holy, and ancient spiritual scriptures from India, including Bhagavad Gita, Shiva Sutras, Spanda Karikas, Bhaja Govindam, Pratyabhijanhrdayam, and more.

• Atma Jyoti Website

Last but not least, we have endeavored to make our own website into a spiritual resource, with features including A Brief Sanskrit Glossary , a Downloads page with a dozen PDF eBooks, and many more website articles, including commentaries on the scriptures of Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity, and Taoism.

Alas, not all spiritual resources are on the web. To see what we consider the best spiritual reading in print, read our article, A Yogi’s Recommended Reading List.

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We highly recommend this book! Spirituality for Dummies, by Sharon Janis, is a highly readable, informative, and entertaining introduction to spirituality.

“Humorous, edgy, profound, and enlightening, Spirituality For Dummies brings modern-day spiritual seekers a view and approach to life that is universal, personal, and optimistic, with the dependable style, clarity, and friendliness of the ‘For Dummies’ series.”

Read more about this book, or purchase it at Amazon.com.

The beginning, middle, and end of yoga texts is the Yoga Darshan (Yoga Sutras) of Patanjali. It has not only never been superseded, it has never been equalled. It stands alone as the sole authority on yoga outside the Upanishads and Bhagavad Gita.

Because of the importance of Patanjali’s classic text, we have added a new section on the Yoga Sutras to our website. Included are articles by Swami Nirmalananda Giri and Raghavan Iyer on various aspects of Yoga and the Yoga Sutras. And there are two translations of the Yoga Sutras, including Dr. I. K. Taimni’s translation and masterly exposition, The Science of Yoga. These articles will help any student of yoga to gain a clear understanding of the principles which form the basis of this important subject.

Visit An Introduction to the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. For more spiritual reading, we also suggest the Introduction to the Bhagavad Gita, and the Introduction to the Upanishads.