One of the most prolific members on our list of "must read" authors is Wayne Dyer, the creator of such life-changing inspirational books as "Real Magic," "Your Erroneous Zones," and "You'll See It When You Believe It," among many, many others, all of which can be purchased via The Wayne Dyer On-Line Book Store.   Here are some excerpts from "Real Magic" (© 1992 to Wayne W. Dyer.  No infringement of copyright intended):

Three Paths Toward Enlightenment

1. Enlightenment Through Suffering (Why me?)
   On the first path of your journey, you learn through this process. At this time of life, which has nothing to do with chronological age, you ask, "Why me?" when something occurs that is painful or difficult. After a while, as you recover, you are able to look back and say, "Now I know why I had to go through that." From the perspective of looking backward, you realize that you had to experince the pain in order to transcend it. For persons in this category, real magic remains unavailable.
2. Enlightenment Through Outcome (What will the outcome be for me?)
   At this level you learn to stop asking, "Why me?" You develop a knowing that says, "There are no accidents, everything I am experienceing is in some way necessary for me to move ahead to the next step." When you are focused in your mind on what you can learn from an experience, your mind cannot dwell on thoughts that will lead to you suffering. Instead of a poor-me approach, you shift to a learning approach. But to experience real magic, one needs to go to the third path.
3. Enlightenment Through Purpose (How can I serve?)
   "Nothing is more likely to help a person overcome or endure troubles than the consciousness of having a task in life." -- Victor Frankl. Everything in the universe has a purpose. The invisible intelligence that flows through everything in a purposeful fashin is also flowing through you. In order to experience real magic it is necessary to make a dramatic shift from outcome to purpose.

Seven Beliefs for Manifesting Real Magic

1. There is an invisible but knowable life force within you.
2. Your thoughts are something that you control and they originate with you.
3. There are no limits.
4. Your life has a purpose.
5. You oversome weaknesses by leaving them behind.
6. When you examine what you believe to be impossible, you can then change your beliefs.
7. You can go beyond logic.

Spiritual vs. Nonspiritual Beings:  The Spiritual Dozen

I use the terms spiritual and nonspiritual in the sense that a spiritual being has a conscious awareness of both the physical and the invisible dimension, while the nonspiritual being is only aware of the physical domain.   Neither category, as I use them, implies atheism or religious orientation in any way.

1. The nonspiritual being lives exclusively within the five senses, believing that if you cannot see, touch, smell, hear or taste something, then that something simply doesn't exist.  The spiritual being know that, beyond the five physical senses, there are other senses we use to experience the world of form.
2. The nonspiritual being believes we are alone in the universe.  The spiritual being knows he or she is never alone.
3. The nonspiritual being is focused on external power.  The spiritual being is focused on personal empowerment.
4. The nonspiritual being feels separated and distinct from all others, a being unto himself.  The spiritual being knows that he is connected to all others and lives his life as if each person he meets shares being human with him.
5. The nonspiritual being believes exclusively in a cause/effect interpretation of life.   The spiritual being knows that there is a higher power working in the universe beyond mere cause and effect.
6. The nonspiritual being is motivated by achievement, performance and acquisitions.   The spiritual being is motivated by ethics, serenity and quality of life.
7. The nonspiritual being has no place within his awareness for the practice of meditation.   The spiritual being cannot imagine life without it.
   "Meditation" is defined here as "the practice of being alone and emptying your mind of the frenetic thoughts that occupy so much of daily life."   Meditation is nothing more than quietly going within and discovering that higher component of yourself.
8. For the nonspiritual being, the concept of intuition can be reduced to a hunch or a haphazard thought that accidentally pops into one's head on occasion.  For the spiritual being, intuition is far more than a hunch.  It is viewed as guidance or a sGod talking, and this innet insight is never taken lightly or ignored.
9. The nonspiritual being hates evil, and is determined to eradicate that which he believes to be evil.  The spiritual being knows that everything that he hates and fights weakens him, and all that he is for, all that he supports, empowers him.
   Spiritual beings do not order their lives to be AGAINST anything.  They are not against starvation, they are for feeding people.  Fighting starvation only weakens the fighter and makes him angry and frustrated, while working for a well-fed populace is empowering.
10. The nonspiritual person feels no sense of responsibility to the universe, therefore he has not developed a reverence for life.  The spiritual being has a reverence for life that goes to the essence of all beings.
11. The nonspiritual being is laden with grudges, hostility and the need for revenge.   The spiritual being has no room in his heart for these impediments to miracle making and real magic.
12. The nonspiritual being believes that there are real-world limitations and that although there may be some evidence for the existence of miracles, they are viewed as random happenings for a few fortunate others.  The spiritual being believes in miracles and his own unique ability to receive loving guidance and to experience a world of real magic.

Fourteen Keys for Creating a Miracle Mind-set

1. Reserve your judgement and disbelief.
2. Create a real-magic zone in your mind.
3. Affirm yourself as a no-limit person.
4. Develop a new mind-set toward the concept of intuition.
5. Discover the secret that sits in the center and knows.
   Become familiar and comfortable with the notion that nothingness has something to offer you on your path to real magic.  Ponder Robert Frost's tantalizing words:   "We dance round in a ring and suppose, / But the secret sits in the middle, and know."
6. Learn to learn through knowing and trusting rather than doubting and feeling.
7. Affirm that your intention creates your reality.
8. Experience surrender and satori.
   "Satori" is a Zen concept that translates roughly to "instant awakening."  I call this process of satori "going through the gate,"   You may spend decades of your life wondering, struggling, worrying, slipping and falling in a slow process of approaching the gate that seems so far away.  Then inexplicably, the instant arrives when you go through the gate.
9. Learn to act as if the life you visualize were already here.
10. Live according to your spiritual self first and your physical self second.
11. Study the paradox, "You can never get enough of what you don't want."
12. Ask nothing of anyone and practice unconditional acceptance.
13. Begin to develop authentic power for yourself.
14. Practice daily meditation.