Texts
The foundational and classical works of each tradition. Properly attributed, sourced from public-domain or freely-distributable editions, and freely shared.
Advaita Vedanta
Mandukya Upanishad
Twelve mantras on the four states of consciousness and the syllable Aum
Pre-classical · c. 800–500 BCE · trans. Manilal Nabhubhai Dvivedi (1894)
Isha Upanishad
Eighteen verses on the Lord enveloping all and the immortal beyond knowing
Pre-classical · c. 800–500 BCE · trans. Friedrich Max Müller (1879)
Katha Upanishad
The dialogue of the boy Nachiketa with Yama, lord of death
Pre-classical · c. 800–500 BCE · trans. Friedrich Max Müller (1884)
Mundaka Upanishad
The teaching of the higher and the lower knowledge, and the two birds on a single tree
Pre-classical · c. 800–500 BCE · trans. Friedrich Max Müller (1884)
Mandukya Karika
Gaudapada's verse commentary on the Mandukya Upanishad, the foundational text of Advaita Vedanta
Pre-Shankara · 6th c. CE · trans. Swami Nikhilananda (1936)
Brahma Sutras
The systematic Vedanta of Shankara, in commentary on the aphorisms of Badarayana
Classical · 8th c. CE · trans. Swami Vireswarananda (1936)
Vivekachudamani
The Crest Jewel of Discrimination
Shankara · c. 800 CE · trans. Charles Johnston (1925)
Atma Bodha
Self-Knowledge
Shankara · c. 800 CE · trans. Swami Nikhilananda (1947)
Aparokshanubhuti
Direct Realisation
Shankara · c. 800 CE · trans. Swami Vimuktananda (1938)
Yoga Vasistha
Vasistha's instruction to the young Rama
Classical · 10th–14th c. CE · trans. Vihari Lala Mitra (1891)
Ashtavakra Gita
A dialogue between the sage Ashtavakra and King Janaka
Classical · undated · trans. Hari Prasad Shastri (1949)
Avadhuta Gita
The song of the avadhuta, attributed to Dattatreya
Classical · undated · trans. Hari Prasad Shastri (1934)
Tripura Rahasya
The Mystery beyond the Trinity
Classical · medieval · trans. Munagala S. Venkataramiah (Swami Ramanananda Saraswathi) (1938)
Yoga Sutras of Patanjali
With the commentary of Vyasa
Classical · c. 200 BCE – 400 CE · trans. Charles Johnston (1912)
Christian Mysticism
Confessions
Augustine's autobiographical prayer to God
Patristic · late 4th century · trans. Edward Bouverie Pusey (1838)
Sermons on the Song of Songs
Bernard's eighty-six sermons on biblical love poetry as the soul's path to union
Medieval · 12th century · trans. Samuel J. Eales (1895)
Sermons and Tracts
Meister Eckhart's vernacular German sermons and selected Latin tractates
Medieval · 13th–14th century · trans. C. de B. Evans (1924)
Theologia Germanica
Anonymous Rhineland tract on the soul's emptying into God
Late Medieval · 14th century · trans. Susanna Winkworth (1854)
Sermons
Tauler's Strasbourg sermons on the indwelling ground of the soul
Late Medieval · 14th century · trans. Susanna Winkworth (1857)
Revelations of Divine Love
Julian of Norwich's account of sixteen visions and their twenty-year meditation
Medieval · 14th century · trans. Grace Warrack (1901)
The Cloud of Unknowing
An anonymous fourteenth-century English manual of contemplative prayer
Medieval · 14th century · trans. Evelyn Underhill (1922)
The Dark Night of the Soul
John of the Cross's commentary on his own poem of the soul's purgation
Early Modern · 16th century · trans. David Lewis (1864)
The Interior Castle
Teresa of Avila's map of the soul as seven mansions of a crystal castle
Early Modern · 16th century · trans. Benedictines of Stanbrook (rev. Father Benedict Zimmerman) (1921)
The Practice of the Presence of God
Conversations and letters of Brother Lawrence on the simple turning of the heart
Early Modern · 17th century · trans. Various early English (PD) (1724)
The Imitation of Christ
Thomas à Kempis's manual of devotional inwardness, the most-printed Christian text after the Bible
Late Medieval · early 15th century · trans. William Benham (1886)
The Spiritual Exercises
Ignatius of Loyola's four-week retreat manual for the discernment of the heart
Early Modern · 16th century · trans. Elder Mullan, S.J. (1914)
Gnostic Christianity
The Gospel of Thomas
A first or second-century collection of 114 sayings of Jesus, recovered in 1945 from the sands of Nag Hammadi
Patristic · 1st–2nd century · trans. Thomas O. Lambdin (Coptic) · B. P. Grenfell and A. S. Hunt (Greek fragments) (1977)
The Hymn of Jesus
A Gnostic liturgical hymn from the Acts of John, with G. R. S. Mead's commentary
Patristic · 2nd century · trans. G. R. S. Mead (1907)
Pistis Sophia
The longest surviving Gnostic Christian scripture, a third-century vision-narrative of Christ teaching the disciples in the eleven years after the Resurrection
Patristic · 3rd–4th century · trans. G. R. S. Mead (1921)
The Corpus Hermeticum
Thirteen late-antique philosophical dialogues attributed to Hermes Trismegistus, foundational to the Western Hermetic tradition
Patristic · 1st–3rd century · trans. G. R. S. Mead (1906)
Buddhist Nonduality
The Gateless Gate
Forty-eight Zen koans collected by Mu-mon Ekai in the early thirteenth century
Sung dynasty · 13th century · trans. Nyogen Senzaki and Paul Reps (1934)
The Heart Sutra
The shortest and most concentrated of the Mahayana wisdom sutras, recited daily across the Buddhist world for seventeen centuries
Mahayana · 1st–7th century
The Dhammapada
The most-loved short Buddhist text — 423 verses on the path of the awakened
Pre-classical · c. 3rd century BCE · trans. Friedrich Max Müller (1881)
The Diamond Sutra
One of the great Prajnaparamita sutras of Mahayana Buddhism. A dialogue between the Buddha and his disciple Subhuti on the nature of perception, identity, and the bodhisattva path.
Mahayana · 1st–4th century · trans. Friedrich Max Müller (1894)
The Lankavatara Sutra
A Mahayana sutra cast as the Buddha's teaching to the king of Lanka, foundational to the Yogacara school and to the early development of Chan and Zen
Mahayana · 4th century · trans. D. T. Suzuki (1932)