Product Description

In this, companion volume to his worldwide bestseller, Care of the Soul, Thomas Moore offers a way of living in this new and confusing century. Drawing on faiths front all over tile world, as well as from his own vast well of knowledge and personal experience, Moore shows its ]low religion can be used to embrace others, rather than exclude them. He helps its become comfortable with our doubts, and reveals a, liberating truth -- it is in the dark corners of the soul Chat trite faith is born. Intimate and provocative, Moore writes with the compassion of a parent and the wisdom of a trite teacher.

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #504171 in Books
• Published on: 2003-03-24
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 320 pages

From Amazon.com
Spirituality should never be used as an escape route, according to Thomas Moore's Soul's Religion. Rather, it should be the catalyst that helps us face our everyday failures, angst, and emotional entanglements. This has always been Moore's anthem: that spirituality rests in the depths of experience, in the ordeals and challenges that initiate us into a stronger sense of life's meaning. "This book may look simple, but it is not naive," promises Moore, who sees Soul's Religion as a companion volume to the bestselling Care of the Soul.

It doesn't coddle the ego. It offers challenge to the person fully in the flesh while developing at the same time an intelligent and deep-seated spiritual identity.... In this spirituality justice is more important than enlightenment and humor holier than ambition.

This is Moore at his best--taking spiritual teachings out of the texts, temples, and churches and applying them to everyday life. The former monk draws upon Christianity, Zen, and Taoism as he shows readers how religion should not be used as a shield. Rather, it should be a tool that cracks open our defenses so we can live without fear and judgments. Time and time again Moore takes readers to the daily place of "emptiness and not knowing," the place where we can best meet God. --Gail Hudson

From Publishers Weekly
Moore's long-awaited companion volume to his popular 1992 book, Care of the Soul, delves into religion as a way of enhancing the life of the soul. A former monk and therapist, Moore reimagines religion not as a set of beliefs or a strict moral code, but as a romantic adventure. He draws heavily on his background in world religions, calling upon sources as diverse as poet Emily Dickinson, Lutheran martyr Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Zen master Shunryu Suzuki. The result is not a frothy mixture of spiritual comfort and pat answers, but a thoughtful guidebook for seekers willing to go beyond instant messaging in their religious journeys and do their own work. Moore expresses some impatience with the "new spirituality" that has cropped up on the talk-show circuit with its "glowing, bloated terminology." But he clearly offers another way one in which ignorance can be holy, unbelief is as important as belief and "God is as much in the mess as in the beauty." In this collection of short essays, Moore is provocative, yet respectful of traditional religion. His thoughts are not always wrapped tightly or arranged in an easy flow, but he never creates the expectation that they will be, depicting himself more as a fellow explorer than an all-knowing guru. Readers involved in traditional religious structures may not agree with all of Moore's ideas, but they cannot fail to be challenged by them, as will independent spiritual travelers who have forged their own paths.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Finding how the spirit moves you; from the author of the best-selling Care of the Soul.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Customer Reviews

Mystical, Profound, and Practical
This is a great book for people looking for some profound, yet still very practical, wisdom along the spiritual path. Moore is traditionally a Catholic, but since leaving his order of monks in his twenties has found inspiration in virtually all of the world's major religions and mythologies. He embraces the structure and importance of myth to a degree approaching that of someone like Joseph Campbell, interpreting the meanings and symbolisms found therein, but applies them more directly to the personal spiritual path.

In this book, the primary idea is that a successful spiritual life must be grounded in a realistic understanding of everyday life, what Moore calls the Soul. The Spirit of religion is high-minded and lofty, always trying to strive toward perfection and enlightenment. The Soul, on the other hand, is possessed of a more contemplative aspect, quietly relishing in life's subtle mysteries and constantly involved in the inner process of change and improvement amidst life's obstacles. Left unchecked by Soul, the Spirit can soar too high (think of the Ikarus myth) into obsessive, unrealistic, and even psychologically dangerous perfectionism, shielding the individual from reality with false security and overactive ego. Moore reminds us that we must strive to see our religion in the everyday, experiencing God in a blade of grass or a complete stranger.

If you are looking for a general introduction to spirituality or religion then this isn't the right book. This book is strictly self-help, a small stepping stone that will be most useful for people engaged in faith and looking for advice concerning the common pitfalls of overly enthusiastic idealism. Moore brings us down to Earth, but in a way that can ultimately lead us to much greater heights than we previously knew. Like a tree, our faith must have its roots as well as its branches.

One of the best books I have ever read.
I have been on a long and winding spiritual journey for twelve years. Part of those twelve years I attempted to become a minister in an enormous "red tape" denomination. I finally decided to turn the church loose and find out who God truly is.

Since that time I have been trying to define myself (spiritually). This book has truly been a key to that definition. The key authors that have guided me have been Thomas Merton, Oriah Mountain Dreamer, Thomas Moore, Thomas Keating, and Harold Kushner. Each of the authors have played a major role in my spiritual development.

I recommend the book, "The Soul's Religion: Cultivating a Profoundly Spiritual Way of Life" by Thomas Moore, to anyone truly wanting to discover ways to the "core of life"!

'Wisdom is Radiant and Unfading'
This is a most luminous, magical, lyrical and compassionate book. There is much wisdom contained in 'Soul's Religion' & its more detailed than 'Care of the Soul'. Moore addreses life's crucial questions and meditates upon them with profound, ritualistic rhythm. He is able to translate, so eloquently and poetically, his finely-tuned sensibility with an understanding of decades of theological scholarship. Moore honours history and integrates it into his work with dazzling finesse. Moore reminds us of the artful philosophies of the Renaissance. Encourages us to revel and rejoice in the mystery of the Church. In divine, holy ignorance.
Solomon 6:'Wisdom is radiant and unfading, and she is easily discerned by those who love her, and is found by those who seek her. She hastens to make herself known to those who desire her. He who rises early to seek her will have no difficulty, for he will find her sitting at his gates'

I have found her in this book.