Short description
In this follow-up to Care of the Soul , Thomas Moore continues his journey in search of the spirit in everyday life. Amidst tangled emotions, impossible relationships and failures, he shows us how to celebrate the mystery of the spiritual and embrace a more honest way of living.
Long description
In the international bestseller Care of the Soul Thomas Moore laid the foundation for a new approach to spirituality. Now, in this follow-up book, he continues this journey as he goes in search of the spirit in everyday life. Amidst the tangled emotions, the impossible relationships, the endless failures that many of us experience, he shows us how to celebrate the mystery of the spiritual and embrace a more honest way of living. Through a series of challenging and provocative meditations, he also leads us to re-imagine how we can all live a rich and rewarding spiritual life.
Review
This successor to Care of the Soul continues Moore's theme of spirituality in the modern world. Beginning with the concept of 'emptiness', which Moore sees as being central to many religions, including Zen, Taoism and Christianity, he takes the reader on a journey through concepts of religion and spirituality, such as 'Mystery', 'Ordeal' and 'God', each section being prefaced by a short, personal meditation on the theme. Though Moore himself once belonged to a religious order, which he left, after 12 years, at the age of 26, this is certainly not a traditional view of religion and it does not dwell on the practice of any specific religion but draws examples and lessons from the beliefs of religions, cultures and thinkers as diverse as Heraclitus, Anne Sexton and Karl Jung. As Moore says, though people are abandoning traditional religions out of anger and frustration at too much moralising and prescription, many still seek some kind of spiritual life. This is a self-help book in the widest sense; it certainly does not offer any easy solutions to readers hoping to receive an instant boost to their faith. Moore points out that, in examining spirituality, we need a realistic view of an area which is easily sentimentalised and the book certainly avoids this. However, it does offer, through challenging discussion and reference to others' experiences, a chance for readers to make their own path through religious life. This is not an easy book, containing, as it does, a wide range of references to music, art and literature as well as many different religions; it is beautifully written, however, and Moore goes to great lengths both to back up his opinions with the writings of other thinkers and to avoid forcing them on the reader. (Kirkus UK)