I am preparing to do a master's thesis on in a nut shell make a spiritual experience out of architectural space/create a space for ideas of achieving spiritual enlightenment to be exchanged as well as enhance a spiritual experience. I'm still working on the topic but I am looking for books that can help me achieve this idea. The end result I'm hoping for is similar to what I experienced in Japan in the temples and shrines I visited, but for the west. I can go more in depth if anyone is interested.

I can't recommend the Doors of Perception by Aldous Huxley enough. It's the best trip report I've ever read. It's also brief so there's really no excuse not to read it (or even reread it for your project if you haven't read it recently).

On that same note I have a copy of the Perennial Philosophy around here somewhere (also by Huxley). It was written before Doors of Perception and probably influenced the other book quite a bit in a lot of subtle ways. To me it came off as Huxley's own search for spiritual understanding and meaning. He digs a lot into religion and mysticism from all over the world and I expect it's very well researched in this regard considering his background. Unfortunately I found it very dry and had to put it down, maybe I'll finish it someday.

Eastern Wisdom, Modern Life by Alan Watts is really good. It focuses of course just on Eastern spirituality, philosophy, and religion, but as a Westerner I found it easy to digest and Watts' writing style and sense of humour come across easily in the book. In other words I found it to be an easy read compared to Huxley's Perennial Philosophy and quite an enjoyable book to spend time with.

I could go on about other books that have really influenced me if you like but how well they fit the definition of 'spiritual' really depends on the scope of your thesis and what you're wanting to communicate.

The Tibetan Book of the Dead

Could you? if i'm correct you're asking for books relating architecture to spiritual experience?

Gurdjieff`s `Beelzebub`s tales to his grandson `. Not for the fainthearted

The chapter on Art is very relevant to what you say, though you`d have to read what comes before to understand a bit more of what he says. He talks about the effects certain art forms and architecture have on people and messages that can be hidden in them if the `law of octave` is consciously used in the creation of those pieces...

Not a book, but I remember reading this article:

Thin Places: Where Heaven and Earth Come Closer

Supernatural by Graham Hancock is a good one. I just started rereading it myself. He's the least crazy of all those psuedoscience dudes.

This one sounds really interesting and I just put it in my Amazon wishlist for later (I'm way behind on my reading).

On something of a similar note the Illuminatus Trilogy has been really eye opening. It's a novel though, and a comedy, maybe not what you're looking for but a fun read for anyone wanting to get outside the box a bit.

Spiritual experience/architecture....sounds like freemason stuff. Well, Illuminatus trilogy was great--one of it's authors went ahead and wrote the Historical Illuminatus Chronicals and the Masks of the Illuminati as well--also fiction. both go into the historical/mythological background of mason type groups.

Also the Beginners Guide to Constructing the Universe

There's numbers involved in that architecture stuff....if you are asking what I think you are asking, then this book might be a bit helpful. Oh and DMT--i can definitely recommend DMT for archetectural/sacred geometry lessons relating to spirituality--DMT. Use with caution and respect--it's the real deal!

Masonic teachings and i would check out books showing ancient temple structures of eastern asia and india.

Thanks so much for the responses!


@edge2054 I've read Doors of Perception many times! One of my favorites. Perennial Philosophy and the Eastern Wisdom book sound like they can help me

@endlessness thanks! I'm really interested to read that, I think I could take something out of that.

@Doodazzle what exactly is the Beginner's Guide to Constructing the Universe about? Sounds like there could be some useful things to take from it. I've been studying fractals and how to use them in Architecture for awhile and am always looking for new ways to think about how fractal geometry can be used for not only architectural performance but can also show a relationship between man and nature. I have used DMT (As well as LSD) to help me with some previous architecture projects and they have helped me develop some interesting concepts about architectural/city design.

@Creo that is a great article thanks! I am looking to achieve what religious spaces do but to create the same experience without a hard wired cultural preset. If that makes any sense lol

I'm actually just look for books on the spiritual experience itself, I really want to understand what it is from a theoretical level as well as from different cultural stand points. Maybe there's a specific set of emotions one must go through in order to reach that spiritual peak. If I can understand what elements build up psychologically and physiologically I can design spaces that facilitate the emotions or experiences necessary to enhance or help spark a spiritual journey.

So the concept comes from my ancestry in way, I'm a registered Native American and have always found spirituality to be important, and I've experienced it through several different media, from the landscapes of the South West, to powerful Christian Cathedrals, to the Temples/Shrines of Japan and as well through DMT & LSD. I don't subscribe to any religion, and because of that I want to create a typology of public space dedicated to the spirit of human kind, rather than to a cultural deity, which hopefully would remove the exclusivity that religion imposes on spiritual seekers, and makes it inclusive and about exchange of ideas.
I'm just starting my research and as I research more the thesis statement and goal will change but these are my beginning thoughts. I have this crazy idea that I want to go to South America and do Ayahuasca or San Pedro with a shaman and go through their spiritual rituals, but I am unsure of this. I plan on doing some LSD and DMT too but I feel as if having a guide would enhance the experience and make it more usable outside a chemical context.

Diamomd sutra and the first 3 chapters of the mahabharata. http://www.sacred-texts.com

One book I'm surprised no one has mentioned is William James' Varieties of Religious Experience. It was originally a Gifford lecture, from the description above I think it would be assumed knowledge. James' theoretical vantage point is rigorously materialist, and treats spiritual experience from a pragmatic, rather than speculative perspective. Conditions of emergence, questions of value, and typological differences are the main focus. .. it also contains autobiographical writings from a huge variety of writers and mystics such as Walt Whitman, Martin Luther, Tolstoy, Voltair etc; all of which are incredibly beautiful in themselves.

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All the various Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita, but mainly the Upanishads.

<3

Yes, Aldous Huxley and Alan Watts

I would include Terence McKenna and Ram Dass as well. Food of the Gods. Be Here Now.



Yes. The Yoga Sutras of Patajali also is one of the most profound spiritual texts I have read. It is a guide to living life, every moment.