index index index index I am an ordained minister and a chaplain. This is my new favorite book. As Thomas Moore writes, each of us can only be the self we already truly are. I especially appreciate the personal experiences the author includes. His openness models the deep self-acceptance he advocates for all of us. There is an honest acceptance of the realities and sometimes pain that Life holds, and healthier approach to those dark periods from which we can learn and deepen. Thomas Moore's writing style is gentle and deeply genuine. I have enjoyed other books he has written, but this is, I believe, his Great Work.
I have read several of Thomas Moore's book and this is probably one of my favorites. This companion volume to CARE OF THE SOUL presents the same intelligent blend of Jungian psychology and neo-Christian spirituality. But, whereas Care of the Soul stressed the psychological and psychotherapeutical aspect, this one concentrates on the spirituality side.

By neo-Christian (a Gallicism) I mean liberal, post-modern Christianity, NOT a New Age-style gallimaufry. If you have read Emerson or have ever heard an Unitarian-Universalist sermon, you'll know just what that implies. There is very little about Moore's ideas that is either supernatural or "magical". Mystery is within. The infinite or transcendental is essentially symbolic (nevertheless true, as one would expect of true symbols.)

Like Emerson, Moore is an interesting, provocative, elegant writer; and, like the sage of Concord, not always a notably clear one ! The more traditionally-minded mainline Christian need not necessarily agree with everything Moore says. But his epigrammatic style is full of thought-provoking statements for meditation. This is a useful book, as someone said.

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"!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.This long-awaited companion volume to the bestselling Care of the Soul,is Thomas Moore at his most provocative, celebrating the mystery of the spiritual and rejecting simplistic paths to religious vision.

In The Soul's Religion Moore goes beyond the precepts of tradition and external religious practice to show how readers can find the spirit moving in everyday life. In this challenging and comprehensive revisioning of religion and spirituality, Moore provokes the reader to reimagine how a rich and personal spiritual life can be within the grasp of every seeker.

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 suria review reviews analysis analyze