The Soul's Religion: Cultivating a Profoundly Spiritual Way of Life [Hardcover]

Thomas Moore (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 26, 2002

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.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

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.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Harper; 1 edition (March 26, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060192860
• ISBN-13: 978-0060192860
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 5.8 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #982,149 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

48 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Practical Guide for Independent Thinkers., June 1, 2002

By 

Tw Rutledge "Thom Rutledge, author of Embraci... (Nashville, Tennessee United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Soul's Religion: Cultivating a Profoundly Spiritual Way of Life (Hardcover)

This excellent book is billed as the companion volume to Moore's Care of the Soul, but that is not the same as a sequel. Reading Care of the Soul is not a prerequisite to benefiting from The Soul's Religion. In fact, if you are just going to read one of them, I suggest this one.

In my work as a psychotherapist and author (Embracing Fear, HarperSanFrancisco) I have defined wisdom as "the accumulated knowlege of our ignorance." Thomas Moore understands and emphasizes the importance of acknowledging all that we do not know (our ignorance), and takes my definition into the spiritual realm by suggesting that it is in that often uncomfortable --- sometimes painful --- place of "not knowing" where we are most likely to meet God.

All great thinkers are independent thinkers and Thomas Moore challenges readers to think independently, rather than soliciting our membership to the "Thomas Moore Is My Guru" Fan Club. This book is an excellent guide into individual exploration of spirituality, and it never once loses touch with the real-world considerations of daily life. In brief: The Soul's Religion is useful. Can you tell that I recommend it?

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 'Wisdom is Radiant and Unfading', October 24, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: The Soul's Religion: Cultivating a Profoundly Spiritual Way of Life (Hardcover)

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.

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best books I have ever read., November 27, 2002

By 

tom m "tmII" (St. Louis, MO) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Soul's Religion: Cultivating a Profoundly Spiritual Way of Life (Hardcover)

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"!