I was brought up in the Church of England as a young boy, but Christian theology gave way to secular science in my mid-teens. The void that was left fuelled a search for meaning that oriental religions, and in particular Buddhism and the Tao, helped fulfil in a way that was compatible with a scientific framework.

Spiritual truth lies in the shared mystical wisdom of all the world's great religions, and the path to realise those truths lies through varieties of meditation.

Good reading:

The Mind and The Way, Ajahn Sumedho, Rider, 1995

Tao Te Ching, Lao Tzu, various translations/publishers or try online at www.clas.ufl.edu/users/gthursley/taoism/tlc-list.htm

Autobiography of a Yogi, Paramahansa Yogananda, Self-Realisation Fellowship, 1946 etc

Any titles by the Vietnamese Buddhist teacher Thich Nhat Hanh