Training for the Life of the Spirit

Introducing new reprints by Gerald Heard:
The Creed of Christ
The Code of Christ
Training for the Life of the Spirit
Prayers and Meditations


""There was a period in my early thirties when these four small books by Gerald Heard served almost as my bible. I read and reread them, and invariably found them to be uplifting and inspiring.""

- Professor Huston Smith

""Gerald Heard was an inspiring voice for the life of the spirit. Wipf & Stock is to be commended that Heard's remarkable work is being made available to a new generation of spiritual seekers.""

- Dr. William H. Forthman


Required reading for those walking the spiritual path, Gerald Heard's Training for the Life of the Spirit methodically outlines the entire course of the aspirant's journey. Heard provides a time-tested roadmap for the wayfarer: ""There is a purpose in evolution - to evolve consciously, to evolve consciousness. That evolution is achieved only by the skilled, conscious training of our spirits."" The aspirant works to subdue their ego: ""For in so far as we are emptied of self, so far are we freed from accident. Our habit patterns, our moods...our natures can be reconditioned, re-freed. We will be inwardly reunited, our fissured selves re-fused.""

Training for the Life of the Spirit contains Gerald Heard's essential observation: ""Our whole life must become intentional and purposive, instead of a series of irrelevant events, adventures, and accidents, happy or unhappy.""



""...a diagram of the inner life and an explanation of the philosophy held in common by the great mystics of all ages and religions.""
- Rev. Edmund A. Opitz



Gerald Heard (1889-1971) was a well-known author, philosopher, and lecturer. Trained as a historian at Cambridge, he served as the BBC's first science commentator. Later, in California, he founded and directed Trabuco College, which advanced comparative religious studies. His broad philosophical themes and scintillating oratorical style influenced many people. Heard wrote thirty-eight books, including his pioneering academic works, several popular devotional books, and a number of mysteries.