On basic spiritual literacy

Despite having access to a wealth of texts that were unknown until relatively recently, an unfortunate cultural chauvinism persists in the West. I would assume that if a person were to speak on spiritual matters, they would at least have a passing familiarity with the major texts of the East, but institutional religions are hampered by insecurity and self-interest, because they are already under considerable strain, and because, at bottom, they really don't know what they're talking about. They have faith, and faith is more precious to God because it's of the heart, not of the mind, but we have reached the point where we transition to knowledge. So you will have to read the Tao Te Ching, the Bhagavad Gita, the Dhammapada, the I Ching, the Sufis, the Upanishads, the Corpus Hermeticum, you should read Vivekananda's yoga books and Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind, you should start digging into this stuff, because everyone will have to do it soon. The good news is that they are quick reads, you can do this in no time at all. Also, remember the AA Big Book, and there's a great big encyclopedic anthology called A Treasury of Traditional Wisdom, you should have that one and The Shape of Ancient Thought.