Intimate, open conversation may be therapeutic

Wisdom Magazine offers an excerpt from Thomas Moore's Writing in the Sand, Chapter Five: Everyone a Healer. The passage includes Thomas Moore’s observation:

"As a therapist, I have seen many people get better physically and in every other way just through intimate and open conversation. I don’t judge them and I don’t tell them how they should live. I listen to them and in their suffering welcome them into the human race. We all suffer. I help them get a perspective on their pain and I laugh with them about how we complain and wish for an ideal life. I have no doubt that the body can be healed by spiritual compassion."

Writing in the Sand: Jesus and the Soul of the Gospels, published by Hay House, is available now.

Andrle asks Moore about Jesus and the Gospels

WOSU public media Open Line host Fred Andrle interviews Thomas Moore on Thursday 28 May 2009 at 11:00 a.m. in a segment titled "Jesus as an Example". Moore talks about his new book, Writing in the Sand, and shares with listeners that "Jesus and the Gospels offer a spiritual path to everyone ... a vision of love and understanding that goes beyond narrow judgments of right and wrong."

This is Fred Andrle's penultimate broadcast for Open Line. He has hosted the program on WOSU 820 AM for the past 20 years.

Hampstead Town Hall hosts talk in September

Re-Vision, Centre for Integrative Psychosynthesis in London, U.K., posts details about Thomas Moore's public talk, "Magritte’s Head: Our Precious Ignorance and Foolishness" to be given on Wednesday 9 September, 2009. It will be 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Hampstead Town Hall. Moore is the patron of Re-Vision and spoke for the centre in 2007.

Tickets are limited for this 9 September 2009 talk.
Book early to avoid disappointment.
Cost: £25 minimum suggested donation (£20 for students and graduate members of Re-Vision)

To apply for this evening talk:
- Send a cheque for £25 with details including email address, or
- Send details through Contact on the linked site and give a minimum donation of £25 through Paypal by clicking the Donate link on the Re-Vision web page.

You can also download and return a Gift aid form that allows Re-Vision a tax rebate on your donation. It costs nothing extra.

Infuse a spiritual drive with the milk of kindness

Thomas Moore's Care of the Soul column, "Yoga and Tea" in the March-April issue of Spirituality and Health, is freely available online. Moore suggests the spiritual be bound to the soulful:

"Tea and yoga complement each other well. It’s wonderful to succeed and have some money and get somewhere in life but only if you keep your friends, enjoy a satisfying marriage or partnership, have a real home, and feel comfortable with yourself. The spiritual path is a dangerous one; on it many have lost their humanity.

My rule for spiritual practice is simple: You can go as high as you want in your yearning for perfection, as long as you have an equally deep base on the ordinary comforts of everyday life.

I always have some misgivings about the ambitious spiritual leaders I meet. I admire their achievements, but I wonder if they have a joyful home life and are deeply forgiving and have close friends and love their work. I wonder if they have time for their children and time for play. I know that they meditate, but do they also make music, paint, and tell good jokes? Do they eat for pleasure as well as purity of mind? Do they appreciate the ordinary, imperfect life?"

Moore recommends educators, politicians and business leaders adopt approaches that include pleasure, friendship, and comfort.