It turns out that Elvis Presley’s reading list was quite eccentric, with titles pertaining to spiritual readings, Taoism, esoteric philosophies, and learning about the different values in different cultures.
When Elvis died in his Graceland bathroom thirty years ago today, he is said to have been reading a book about the Holy Shroud of Turin – normally identified as a Scientific Search For The Face Of Jesus (1972) by Frank O. Adams, which argues that the Turin Shroud really is Our Lord’s Shroud. It has since become eagerly sought after by Elvis fans.
Less impressive is the other book he was allegedly reading – Sex and Psychic Energy. Hmm, we better move quickly along.
These titles represent some of the books mentioned in his 1989 book If I Can Dream: Elvis’ Own Story (now out of print). We cannot be sure that Elvis Presley read all of these books, but they concerned subjects he was deeply interested in and felt were important to his daily life. Content contains Affiliate Links.
Elvis Presley – Reading List
The Impersonal Life [written anonymously] is described as Elvis’ favorite book next to the Bible and the one whose “teaching, practice, and discipline transformed his life.”
“To you who read, I speak. To you, who, through long years and much running to and fro, have been eagerly seeking, in books and teachings, in philosophy and religion, for you know not what-Truth, Happiness, Freedom, God. To you whose Soul is weary and discouraged and almost destitute of hope.”-So begins this short inspirational work. “Impersonal Life” is a classic of Christian literature, which aims to bring the reader closer to God.
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Aquarian Gospel of Jesus The Christ by Levi H. Dowling
THE AQUARIAN GOSPEL OF JESUS THE CHRIST The Story of Jesus, the Man from Galilee, and How He Attained the Christ Consciousness Open to ALL. THE AQUARIAN GOSPEL OF JESUS THE CHRIST is a far-reaching work that brings to light the intimate details of Christ’s life upon which the New Testament gospels are silent, written from the original Akashic Records by a student who devoted forty years to prepare for the task.
Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda
When Autobiography of a Yogi first appeared in 1946, it was acclaimed as a landmark work in its field. The New York Times hailed it as “a rare account”. Newsweek pronounced it “fascinating”. The San Francisco Chronicle declared, “Yogananda presents a convincing case for yoga, and those who ‘came to scoff’ may remain ‘to pray.” Today it is still one of the most widely read and respected books ever published on the wisdom of the East.
Cosmic Consciousness: A Study in the Evolution of the Human Mind by Richard Maurice Bucke
What is cosmic consciousness? The present volume is an attempt to answer this question; but notwithstanding it seems well to make a short prefatory statement in as plain language as possible so as to open the door, as it were, for the more elaborate exposition to be attempted in the body of the work. Cosmic consciousness, then, is a higher form of consciousness than that possessed by the ordinary man.
Elvis Presley Was An Eccentric Spiritual Reader
Esoteric Healing by Alice A. Bailey
There are probably more individuals and groups of people in the world of every shade of belief and capacity, devoted to the idea of healing than to any other single human need. Yet healing is exact, and an exacting, science; and in modern society no physician or surgeon may practice the ancient profession of healing without the personal qualifications legally recognized by the State for the protection of the public.
No doubt prayer and invocation can be effective under certain circumstances, particularly when the one who serves is pure and harmless in motive, and has enough understanding to cooperate with the soul purposes of the individual, so permitting the healing energy of the soul to flow more freely and effectively through the personality or to proceed with the process of withdrawal if that is its immediate purpose.
First and Last Freedom by Jiddu Krishnamurti
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The Huna Code in Religions by Max Freedom Long
306 pages + 61-page Dictionary of Hawaiian Language bound at rear of book. “A report on the rediscovered Mystery Teachings underlying Christianity, Yoga and Buddhism.”
On Elvis’s bedside table in 1960 was The Power of Positive Thinking by Dr. Norman Vincent Peale and How to Live 365 Days a Year by Dr. John A. Schindler. He often read medical texts and was so well-versed in The Physician’s Desk Reference that he more than held his own when talking to medical professionals about prescription drugs.
Elvis Presley’s Book Collection
The king also had eclectic taste. Elvis Presley’s reading list purchases in 1963 include the following unique collection: Antique Guns, Eyewitness History of World War II, First 100 Days of the Kennedy Administration, Guns, Joke Dictionary, Jokes for the John, World Atlas, Our Fifty States, East of Eden, Strange People, and
The Impersonal Life by Anonymous
The Infinite Way by Joel S. Goldsmith
Isis Unveiled (2 Volume Set) by H.P. Blavatsky
Leaves of Morya’s Garden, Book 1: The Call 1924 by Agni Yoga Society
Leaves of Morya’s Garden, Book 2: Illumination 1925 by Agni Yoga Society
Leaves of Morya’s Garden II (Illumination) is the second book from the Agni Yoga Series which is composed of fourteen books. In them is found a synthesis of ancient Eastern beliefs and modern Western thought and a bridge between the spiritual and the scientific.
Unlike previous yogas, Agni Yoga is a path not of physical disciplines, meditation, or asceticism—but of practice in daily life. It is the yoga of fiery energy, of consciousness, of responsible, directed thought. It teaches that the evolution of the planetary consciousness is a pressing necessity and that, through individual striving, it is an attainable aspiration for mankind.
It affirms the existence of the Hierarchy of Light and the center of the Heart as the link with the Hierarchy and with the far-off worlds. Though not systematized in an ordinary sense, Agni Yoga is a Teaching that helps the discerning student to discover moral and spiritual guide-posts by which to learn to govern his or her life and thus contribute to the Common Good. For this reason Agni Yoga has been called a “living ethics.”
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Life and Teaching of the Masters of the Far East (6-Volume Set) by Baird T. Spalding
The Masters and the Path by C. W. Leadbeater
Meetings With Remarkable Men: All And Everything, 2nd Series by G.I. Gurdjieff
The Mystical Christ by Manly Palmer Hall
Sacred Science of Numbers by Corinne Heline
The following lists a few other books Elvis was interested in, but all of them are out of print:
Cheiro’s Book of Numbers by Cheiro
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The Gospel According to Thomas by Raghavan Iyer
New Mansions for New Men by Dane Rudyar
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