The esoteric path has been described to various degrees in many of the ancient sacred texts as well as in myths, parables, and legends across many cultures. Gaining self-knowledge and combining this with personal experiences from spiritual practices, it becomes easier to uncover and extract deeper and relevant meanings from the more veiled texts and teachings.
It’s also useful to look at some particular modern spiritual teachings which help explain practically what to do to gain your own esoteric knowledge and can help pinpoint what to look for in the ancient writings.
Here below is by no means an exhaustive list of all the valuable sacred texts out there, and some are more esoteric/difficult to get practical use out of than others, but as invaluable sources of knowledge and inspiration, we recommend having a look through them to supplement your practice.
List of Spiritual Texts
The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri
The famous account of Dante’s mystical experiences through the underworld and beyond.
http://www.divinecomedy.org/divine_comedy.html
The Tao Te Ching
An ever-intriguing and seemingly contradictory account of spirituality and the truth, but which can be understood when put into the context of esoteric wisdom.
Translated by Kline, A.S. (multiple formats)
Translated by Gia Fu Feng and Jane English (pdf with illustrations and comments)
Translated by D.C Lau 1963 (html)
The Flight of the Feathered Serpent by Armando Cosani
This book, originally published in the 1950s, contains an account, writings, and secret teachings of Judas Iscariot. Recently the Gospel of Judas was discovered and translated, and it showed how Judas was in reality just playing a role in the “Christic drama” as requested by Jesus. This book, written well before the Gospel of Judas was found, corroborates with that account.
The Flight of the Feathered Serpent
The Odyssey
A treasured tale for all to enjoy, but underneath, it is symbolic of the esoteric works a person goes through on the spiritual path.
http://www.pagebypagebooks.com/Homer_Butler_Tr/The_Odyssey/
Hindu Texts
The Mahabharata
About the struggles that have to be had against evil and oneself on the spiritual path.
http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/maha/mahatxt.zip
The Bhagavad Gita
A particular highlight of the Mahabharata. Here are three modern translations, followed by one older one.
Translation by Shri Purohit Swami (pdf)
Translation by Sri Swami Sivananda (pdf)
Translation and commentaries by Vladimir Antonov (pdf)
Translation by Edwin Arnold (html)
The Ramayana
Translated by Ralph T. H. Griffith (multiple formats)
Translated by C. Rajagopalachari (pdf)
The Rig Veda
The oldest of all Vedas.
Translated by Ralph T. H. Griffith (pdf)
Christian Texts
These contain profound knowledge and cover the hidden or mystical side of Christianity, which the early Christians practised and taught until they were completely persecuted out of doing so, their texts literally buried, and they were forced to move underground and to the East.
The Four Gospels
Matthew ~ American Standard version, King James version (html), King James version (pdf)
Mark ~ American Standard version, King James version (html), King James version (pdf)
Luke ~ American Standard version, King James version (html), King James version (pdf)
John ~ American Standard version, King James version (html), King James version (pdf)
More Gospels
The Gospel of Mary
The Gospel of Judas
The Book of Revelation
American standard version
King James version (html)
King James version (pdf)
The Nag Hammadi Library
The following texts contain events and insights from the lives and experiences of some of the disciples:
The Acts of Peter and the Twelve Apostles
The (First) Apocalypse of James
The (Second) Apocalypse of James
The Apocalypse of Peter
The Letter of Peter to Philip
The scriptures below contain the sayings of Jesus, as well as further information about his life:
The Apocryphon of James ~ Williams translations (html), Cameron translation (html)
The Book of Thomas the Contender ~ pdf, html
The Dialogue of the Savior
The Gospel of Philip
The Gospel of Thomas ~ Patterson & Meyer translation (html), Lambdin translation (html), Patterson & Robinson translation (html)
The Pistis Sophia
Means “Power-Wisdom.” This esoteric text is alleged to reveal information about the final stages of the path to enlightenment.
The Pistis Sophia
Buddhist Texts
The Dhammapada
These are sayings of the Buddha, written down 400 years after his death. They are parts of the larger collection of Buddha’s teachings called the Tipitaka.
Translated by Gil Fronsdal (html)
Selected verses from the Dhammapada and the stories behind them.
Dhammapada Stories by Gambhiro Bikkhu (pdf with illustrations)
Sixty Songs of Milarepa
Translated by Garma C. C. Chang (pdf with illustrations)
Popol Vuh
Mayan Mythology
Translated by Allen J. Christenson (pdf)
Translated by Dennis Tedlock (pdf)
Translated by Delia Goetz and Sylvanus Griswold Morley (pdf)
The Egyptian Book of the Dead
http://www.holybooks.com/wp-content/uploads/Egyptian-Book-of-the-Dead.pdf