Resources
Books have been some of my most faithful companions on this path.
I return to them the way I return to my meditation cushion, not always for new information, but to be reminded of what I already know somewhere beneath the noise. The teachers in this list have each, in their own way, opened something in me that I couldn't open alone. Some found me in moments of raw tenderness, others at the edge of a breakthrough I didn't yet have language for.
I offer them to you the same way they were offered to me: as doorways to step through whenever one calls to you.
I love the teachings of Byron Katie and the expansive, felt sense of freedom they evoke in me.
I recently bought Byron Katie’s latest book, ‘A Mind at Home with Itself’ while I was deeply contemplating my Core Wound/Vocation 5.2, as part of the Pearl Retreat. I first became aware of her three years ago, when a fellow participant on my Ayahuasca retreat in the Amazon brought her up in conversation at breakfast. I was talking about how I was learning to understand that everyone - even my parents! - have always done the best they could do, in any moment.
“Oh, that sounds just like something Byron Katie would say”, she said. “Who?”, I replied. “And what kind of name is that, anyway?!” I had no pen on me, and I’m not always keen on writing things down, so I figured I’d remember such a strange name… and I did. I looked her up when I got back home, several weeks later. Her story of the depths of depression, complete breakdown and waking up to reality is luminous, and is a late 20th century story akin to that of the sudden awakening stories of great sages like Ramana Maharshi, several decades earlier.
Her latest book, “A Mind at Home with Itself”, is a delicious contemplation of the ancient Diamond Sutra, discussed alongside her simple method of deep Self Inquiry, called ‘The Work’. While I was reading it, I was struck by how much it reminded me of the work through the frequencies of GK 5, gradually feeling into the self-proving ease that happens when we open to the truth of life unfolding exactly as it is, exactly as it should be, exactly when it should be. When we can rest in faith and trust and love, in the reality of now.
So on a whim, I looked up her GK profile and voilà! Her highest Purpose in life is to manifest the gift of Inquiry and her Life’s Work is indeed GK5, Patience. You couldn’t make this stuff up!!
‘How we Live is how we Die’ by Pema Chodron.
I can’t overstate how much this book continues to open up vast swathes of wisdom up around all the Gene Keys of the Ring of Life and Death (GK 3, 20, 23, 24, 27 and 42). Pema has a clarity and tenderness that makes all this material feel accessible to the heart and mind.
‘Original Love’ by Henry Shukman.
This book was my favourite of 2025. Zen master and poet Henry Shukman replaces the concept of original sin with “original love” — the unconditional love that is our true nature. He guides readers through four stages of meditation (Mindfulness, Support, Absorption, and Awakening) toward dissolving the separate self and awakening to inner peace and interconnectedness.
‘Everyday Tarot’ by Brigit Esselmont
There are no interpretations of each tarot card in this book - there are so many out there that have all that information! Instead, Biddy Tarot founder Brigit Esselmont reframes Tarot not as a fortune-telling tool but as a practical path to self-discovery - and her approach feels very aligned to this GK journeyer! I’ve been honing my tarot skills for many years and it’s still very much still a work in progress.
‘Higher Purpose’ by Robert Holden
With a voice and a countenance that might remind you a little of Richard Rudd, Robert Holden is the man from whom I learned about being in the ‘Holy Church of Noticing’!
Like the Gene Keys, he teaches that our Purpose isn’t something to find — it’s something to live. Higher Purpose guides you through four clear stages: hearing the call, following what lights you up, facing what blocks you, and saying yes to your soul’s unique contribution. Practical, and profound
Have you also been inspired by the teachings of Ram Dass? He’s been a very important and absolutely beloved teacher for me and helped inspire me to work with people at the end of life.
I was guided to him a few years ago to help integrate what I had learned after working with plant medicine.
I was reading GK26 last night. It’s not in my chart, but a good friend has it as their IQ and we’re on the Venus Sequence retreat together. The essence of divine play and love for creation throughout this GK seemed seemed familiar almost immediately and I began to realise that it sounded like lots of Ram Dass’ stories of his guru, Neem Karoli Baba, also known as Maharaj-ji.
Maharaj-ji (1900-1973) was an Indian Hindu guru and throughout his life was believed to be a living embodiment of Hanuman, a Hindu god. Hanuman’s actually mentioned in the 26th Siddhi as an example of one of the trickster gods; one of the archetypes of shape shifting and invisibility. So even though it was almost midnight and I’d wanted to be asleep by 11pm, on a whim I looked up Neem Karoli Baba’s chart based on his commonly accepted date and location of birth in 1900.
And voilá! He has 26.4 as Purpose!!
These teachings continue to blow my mind and add seamless beauty to every other other source of learning.
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