The Bhagavad Gita
by Eknath Easwaran

From Amazon: "Prince Arjuna faced a dilemma that many face sooner or later - whether to take action that is necessary yet morally ambiguous. The difference is that Arjuna's action was to wage war against his own family. With the armies arrayed, Arjuna loses his nerve. Krishna, his charioteer and incarnation of divine consciousness, begins to teach him the nature of God and of himself, that Arjuna can attain liberation through union with God, and that there are several available paths. And so the most famous and revered of all Hindu Scriptures goes on to teach the paths of knowledge, devotion, action, and meditation, becoming the seed for all the Hindu systems of philosophy and religion that followed."

The Dhammapada
by Eknath Easwaran

From The Introduction: Dhammapada means something like ‘the path of dharma’ – of truth, of righteousness, of the central law that all of life is one. The Buddha did not leave a static structure of belief that we can affirm and be done with. His teaching is an on-going path, a ‘way of perfection’ which anyone can follow to the highest good. The Dhammapada is a map for this journey.

The Five Gospels: What Did Jesus Really Say?
by Robert W. Funk (based on the work of the Jesus Seminar)

From Booklist: "This new commentary on the five Gospels answers the question, What did Jesus really say? The seminar scholars began a process to discover which sayings are close to what Jesus said, which might have originated with Jesus, those that are not his (though the ideas may be), and those that were created by his followers or borrowed from folklore."

Forged: Writing in the Name of God - Why the Bible's Authors Are Not Who We Think They Are–
by Bart D. Ehrman

From amazon.com: "It is often said, even by critical scholars who should know better, that 'writing in the name of another' was widely accepted in antiquity. But ... author Bart D. Ehrman dares to call it what it was: literary forgery.... In Forged, Ehrman's ... research takes readers back to the ancient world, where forgeries were used as weapons by unknown authors to fend off attacks to their faith and establish their church. So, if many of the books in the Bible were not in fact written by Jesus' inner circle ... what does that do to the authority of Scripture?"

The Gospel of Mary Magdala:
Jesus and the First Woman Apostle
by Karen L. King

From Publishers Weekly: "Discovered in the 19th century and not published until 1955, this gospel shows Mary to be the apostle to whom Jesus revealed deep theological insights. In the brief text, the male apostles are afraid & despondent after Jesus' death, so Mary tries to cheer them by revealing esoteric teachings that Jesus imparted to her alone. The bulk of King's book takes up questions about the Son of Man, law, women's authority, visionary experiences and the body."

The Gospel of Mary Magdalene
by Jean-Yves Leloup

From Booklist: "Found in 1945 at Nag Hammadi in the Egyptian desert, [the Gospel of Mary Magdalene] is a short but complex Coptic text ... This volume contains English translations of Leloup's French version of the original and Leloup's extensive commentary, which discloses the theology that inspired the lost gospel."

The Gospel of Thomas:
The Hidden Sayings of Jesus
by Marvin Meyer

From Amazon: "Marvin Meyer's distinguished translation ... is considered by many to be perhaps the closest we'll ever get to reading what was actually said by the historical Jesus. In The Gospel of Thomas, you'll discover a different kind of Christ--a wandering spiritual teacher from Galilee who performs no miracles, reveals little prophecy, announces no apocalypse, and dies for no one's sins."

The Gospels of Mary:
The Secret Tradition of Mary Magdalene,
the Companion of Jesus
by Marvin Meyer, Esther A. De Boe

From Amazon: "The portrait of Mary... as a reformed whore is impressive, but it is mistaken in terms of historical accuracy and literary interpretation," [Meyer] asserts. Meyer claims that there is no convincing documentation to link Mary with the unnamed prostitute who washes Jesus' feet with her tears."

The Gnostic Bible
by Willis Barnstone (Editor), Marvin Meyer (Editor)

From Publishers Weekly: "...the bulk of the text is taken up with primary sources, which are drawn from three continents and span an astonishing 13 centuries. These are helpfully organized into various schools of Gnostic tradition: Sethian, Valentinian, Syrian, Hermetic, Mandaean, Manichaean, and--in an unusual move--relatively late Islamic and Cathar texts."

The Gnostic Discoveries:
The Impact of the Nag Hammadi Library
by Marvin Meyer

From Publisher's Weekly: "... with the unearthing of the Gnostic texts at Nag Hammadi, scholars have a better idea of Gnostic teaching in the early years of Christianity as told by its adherents. Meyer sorts through the teachings and relates them, not just to the biblical text, but even to the bestselling novel The Da Vinci Code. Meyer writes clearly, bringing the times of the early Gnostic writings to life and making them accessible."

The Gnostic Gospels
by Elaine Pagels

From Amazon: "... Pagels suggests that Christianity could have developed quite differently if Gnostic texts had become part of the Christian canon. Without a doubt: Gnosticism celebrates God as both Mother and Father, shows a very human Jesus's relationship to Mary Magdalene, suggests the Resurrection is better understood symbolically, and speaks to self-knowledge as the route to union with God."

The Gnostic Gospels of Jesus:
The Definitive Collection of Mystical Gospels
and Secret Books about Jesus of Nazareth
by Marvin Meyer

From Amazon: "Marvin Meyer, premier scholar of Gnostic and other Christian literature outside the New Testament, presents every Gnostic Gospel and Jesus text with a brilliant overall introduction, introductions to each text, and notes that explain everything the reader needs to know to understand the text."

From Library Journal: “An accomplished scholar of early Christianity... sketches the development of New Testament literature, the gradual accumulation of errors therein through the accidental or intentional revisions of copyists, and attempts to reconstruct the original text. Ehrman convincingly argues that even some generally received passages are late additions, which is particularly interesting in the case of those verses with import for doctrinal issues such as women's ordination or the Atonement.”

The Upanishads
by Eknath Easwaran

From Amazon: "In his translation of The Upanishads, the font of Indian spiritulity, Easwaran delights us with a readable rendition of one of the most difficult texts of all religious traditions. Each Upanishad is a lyrical statement about the deeper truths of mysticism, from the different levels of awareness to cultivations of love of God. There's one twist, though, for ultimately a devoted meditator realizes that God and the world are not separate from oneself. Then the ultimate goal becomes to reunite with the universal Self, achieving the infinite joy that accompanies such union."