The Art of Hearing Heartbeats by Jan-Philipp Sendker

The Art of Hearing Heartbeats is simply an exquisite story of unconditional love. Deeply moving and magical. Good to read along with the titles below by Jacques Lusseyran. Both books convey how visual sight really distracts us from truly seeing and experiencing anything at all. Very highly recommend!

Against the Pollution of the I by Jacques Lusseyran

This is a truly extraordinary collection of six essays. Every one is a gem. If you can't find a copy then borrow it from the library! This is one of the books I would want to have on a desert isle....

"Every once in a while a book is released that simply exalts the soul in ways that are universal, breathtaking, and marvelous. Here are six posthumous essays by Jacques Lusseyran (1924-1971), a French writer, teacher, and activist during World War II in the Resistance Movement. He was imprisoned at Buchenwald until the U.S. Third Army liberated him."

His autobiography, And Then There Was LIght, is equally as stunning.

Bodhisattva of Compassion: The Mystical Tradition of Kuan Yin by John Blofeld

Beautiful and illuminating book! I look forward to reading his other works.

"John Blofeld evokes the charming presence of Kuan Yin through colorful anecdotes, personal experiences, and descriptions of Buddhist rituals and legends encountered during his travels throughout China. At the same time, he offers a learned account of the goddess's history and importance in Chinese thought and religion. He explores the origin of the Bodhisattva of Compassion in India and Tibet, in the form of Avalokiteshvara (Tibetan: Chenresig), a male deity who evolved into the gentle mother/maiden figure of Chinese Buddhism. Meditation and visualization techniques associated with Kuan Yin are given, and her principal iconographic forms are described. Illustrated with images from Chinese and Tibetan sacred art, the book also contains translations of devotional poems and yogic texts. Bodhisattva of Compassion is undoubtedly the most complete and illuminating picture of Kuan Yin available."

Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell

I really enjoyed this, the writing is excellent and creative!
"Cloud Atlas consists of six nested stories that take the reader from the remote South Pacific in the nineteenth century to a distant,post-apocalyptic future. Each tale is revealed to be a story that is read (or observed) by the main character in the next. The first five stories are interrupted at a key moment. After the sixth story, the other five stories are returned to and closed, in reverse chronological order, and each ends with the main character reading or observing the chronologically previous work in the chain. Eventually, readers end where they started, with Adam Ewing in the nineteenth century South Pacific."