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Jamey Potter
When I was 15 and suffering through the usual insecurities of this phase of life, I stumbled across a copy of the World Religions by Huston Smith on my parents' book shelves. I was deeply inspired by the Buddha's teachings on the Four Noble Truths and the Eight Fold Path. The Buddha had seen clearly the roots of suffering as well as a path to move out of it - and this path could be applied to me!

Spiritual books have always been stepping stones on my path - always opening up new vistas, new possibilities, joyful new ways of being and experiencing life. Later, in my teenage years, I moved onto the Varieties of Religious Experience by William James and in a college course on Mystical Experience read The Wisdom of Insecurity by Alan Watts. Reading other books by Alan Watts eventually led me to Zen Buddhism and through studying The Three Pillars of Zen by Phillip Kapleau I began practicing zazen or zen meditation. Eleven years later, reading Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramhansa Yogananda and The Path by Swami Kriyananda I became acquainted with the teachings of Yogananda and began taking classes at Ananda's retreat in Northern California. This led me to join the Portland Ananda Meditation Group. Later three of us from this meditation group founded New Renaissance Bookshop as a way for us to express our spirituality in serving the broader spiritual community in Portland.

There is nothing more delightful than sharing a "spiritual jewel" or a "timeless classic" with someone who will appreciate it and benefit from it. This has been the theme of my career - sharing the joy that has come to me on my spiritual path with others.

My all time favorite general spiritual books are:

Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramhansa Yogananda

The Path by Swami Kriyananda

The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna by Swami Nikhilananda

Saints That Moved the World by Rene Fulop-Miller

The Play of God by Devi Vanamali

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