A FrankX reading collection · 16 books
A starting shelf across several major religious traditions. These works differ in genre, authority, history, and the communities that read them. Each guide names those differences and offers a specific place to begin. This is a curated selection, not an exhaustive canon or a ranking of religions.
16 books
Primary text
Multiple Zoroastrian textual traditions
An entry into a Zoroastrian scriptural and liturgical corpus, beginning with selected Yasna material and the Gathas.
2 min guidePrimary text
Sikh Gurus and other devotional poets
The Sikh scripture, revered as the living Guru, brings together devotional compositions with a deep relationship to music and communal practice.
2 min guidePrimary text
Umasvati
A systematic Jain work concerned with reality, the soul, karma, and liberation, available in English as That Which Is.
2 min guidePrimary text
Sayings of Confucius, compiled by followers
A collection of conversations and sayings concerned with ethical cultivation, learning, relationships, and government.
2 min guidePrimary text
Traditionally attributed to Vyasa
A dialogue between Krishna and Arjuna about action, knowledge, devotion, and liberation, situated within the Mahabharata.
2 min guidePrimary text
Multiple authors; Christian scriptural traditions
A collection of narrative, law, poetry, prophecy, Gospels, and letters. Read each genre on its own terms, with attention to its historical and religious setting.
2 min guidePrimary text
Teachings attributed to the Buddha
A Buddhist verse collection concerned with conduct, attention, suffering, and the path of practice.
2 min guidePrimary text
Mahayana Buddhist scripture
A short Perfection of Wisdom scripture centred on emptiness and the relation between form and emptiness.
2 min guidePrimary text
Bahá’u’lláh
Bahá’u’lláh’s book of laws, read within the Bahá’í Faith alongside supplementary texts, questions and answers, and explanatory notes.
2 min guidePrimary text
Islamic scripture
The central scripture of Islam, received by Muslims as divine revelation in Arabic. Its recitation, ethical address, and theological claims belong together.
2 min guidePrimary text
Multiple authors; Jewish scriptural tradition
The Jewish Bible comprises Torah, Nevi’im (Prophets), and Ketuvim (Writings). Reading alongside commentary reveals a continuing tradition of argument and interpretation.
2 min guidePrimary text
Multiple teachers and textual traditions
A family of texts exploring self, ultimate reality, knowledge, and liberation through dialogues, stories, and instruction.
2 min guidePrimary text
Attributed to Patanjali
A compact classical account of yoga concerned with mind, practice, and liberation. Its scope extends well beyond physical postures.
2 min guidePrimary text
Anonymous; Shaiva Tantric tradition
A historical Shaiva Tantric dialogue presenting 112 contemplative practices within a religious understanding of awareness.
2 min guidePrimary text
Zhuangzi and later contributors
A Daoist philosophical collection that uses stories, humour, paradox, and shifting perspectives to unsettle rigid judgments.
2 min guide
Primary text
Lao Tzu
The Tao Te Ching is a compact study of non-forcing: create the conditions, remove the excess, and let the essential work move. Its value for builders is not withdrawal from ambition, but ambition with enough internal and operational space to last.
6 min guide