Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, Three of the most important religions in western culture stem from the same original text. In today’s world, many of their branches are didactic and rule-bound, treating their holy texts as technical manuals rather than food for thought.

Presented herein is the other side of their faiths, which focuses on the personal and lived experience of the divine. Each of these texts explores the increasingly experiential and personal experience of divinity, in sharp contrast to the mainstream faith’s increasing structure and organisation over the last two millennia.

The four works trace an evolution of mystical trends:

Hillel the Elder (110 BCE-10 CE) – a description of a deep theological thinker whose understanding of the practice of divine experience in the world still resonates today.
The Niche For Lights (c.1000 CE) – an exploration trying to tie spiritual and scientific investigation together through a shared symbolic language.
The Cloud of Unknowing (c. 1350 CE) – An attempt to dispel the veil or cloud that blocks us from seeing what’s underneath the surface of reality.
The Forerunner and the Madman (1918 CE) – a book of poetry by Kahlil Gibran, focusing on the nature of transcendent experience through metaphor.