What do you buy the loved one you’d like to nudge into a life of spiritual inquiry without bonking them hard on the head with a 50-millimeter crystal or styrofoam yoga block?

This is something I have asked myself more than once.

And I think I’ve found a web address that will be of some help. It’s a page of SoundsTrue.com, that describes twenty spiritual “Beginner’s Guides”, each a beautifully packaged single CD that sells for $15.95, plus shipping.

These “Beginner’s Guides” are audio tutorials in the basics of many fascinating spiritual subjects: contemplative prayer, healthy breathing, forgiveness, yoga, meditation, chakras, Buddhism, mantras, humor and healing, animal communication, dream interpretation, and others. It seems to me that there’s something appealing about giving a CD that can be listened to and absorbed in a calm environment. Books are wonderful, of course, but a true beginner is more apt to find burdensome the task of turning a book’s pages, especially if the topic is alien. Audio lectures and seminars are more fun.

If you explore the rest of SoundsTrue.com’s website, you’ll also find scores of CD box sets in all manner of religious and spiritual practice, some very advanced and sophisticated.

SoundsTrue itself, which is based in Boulder, Colorado, is an impressive outfit. In business articles I’ve read about the company, I’ve learned that founder Tami Simon believes that profits can come from ideas that are spiritually and socially responsible. The company’s staff meetings begin with a minute of silence so that each employee can come collected, calm, and conscious to the gathering. It would be nice if all businesses did that, wouldn’t it?