Read Moore's responses about focus of new book

Thomas Moore answers three questions about his new book, A Religion of One's Own for Spirituality & Health readers:

1. How does “a religion of one’s own” fit into the new paradigm of “spiritual but not religious"?

2. What are some of the consequences you see of the diminishment of religion in our daily lives?

3. How can we create “a religion of one’s own” without losing that sense of fellowship and community that organized religion once provided?

Moore and Beak offer program at Kripalu Center

In his recent newsletter Thomas Moore includes a description of his Labor Day weekend program with Sera Beak at Kripalu Center in Lenox, MA: The Mystery of Soul: Embodiment, Sensuality, and the Sacred:

Sera Beak

"Lose yourself in the service of love as you explore the mystery of soul in all its uniqueness and embodied sensuality. Join best-selling authors Thomas Moore (Care of the Soul) and Sera Beak (Red, Hot, and Holy), movement and dance guides Dan Leven and Kristi Williamson, and program weaver Maria Sirois to bring forth the sacred spark of divinity within." 

Dates: Friday 29 August – Monday 1 September 2014
Fee: $295
Room & meals: Based on choice of accommodations.
Call 866.200.5203 to register.

Register now for Moore's new e-course with S&P

In its e-newsletter today, Spirituality & Practice promotes a new course with Thomas Moore:

"Thomas Moore, Holy Fool. One thing we've noticed about our friend and frequent S&P teacher Thomas Moore is that he's got a great sense of humor and honors the foolish in life as well as the serious. So we asked him to share what he knows about the Holy Fool archetype through an e-course The Holy Fool: Finding Spiritual Liberation through Foolishness and Humor. It will run from September 8 - October 3, 2014. Read more about it and sign up here."

Create religion anew rather than being a follower

Tom Rapsas continues his appreciation of Thomas Moore's new book, A Religion of One’s Own: A Guide to Creating a Personal Spirituality in a Secular World, in his post "Moving away from formal religion — toward a one-to-one relationship with God". Rapsas writes, "One person who knows where the spiritual-but-not-religious (SBNR) are coming from is Care of the Soul author Thomas Moore. He has written a groundbreaking new book that gives valuable instruction on how we can create and enrich our own spiritual practice."

Sprinkled with quotes from Moore's book, Rapsas shares, "The fact is, with the right intention, virtually every daily activity can be seen as a way to connect with the Divine. Moore even mentions one of my favorite soul-enriching activities: sipping a cup of coffee in the early morning hours, in quiet contemplation. The potential activities that can help you experience this connection are as endless as your imagination."

Also read Rapsas' earlier piece "The Soul Whisperer: Thomas Moore and the care and understanding of our souls".

Join Moore online to explore the Holy Fool

Spirituality & Practice hosts a new four-week online course starting 8 September 2014: The Holy Fool: Finding Spiritual Liberation in Foolishness and Humor with Thomas Moore.

"Starting September 8 and continuing through October 3, through emails mailed on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, Moore will introduce you to some of his favorite exemplars of the spirit of the Holy Fool (Socrates, Erasmus, Nasruddin, Emily Dickinson) while covering such themes as:

— why seeking transcendence is a kind of foolishness
— how to deal creatively with the times when you feel foolish,
— how can you develop a comic view of life to offset the usual tragic one,
— what the spiritual teacher has in common with the stand-up comedian,
— how to laugh at yourself in a way that helps."

 Cost: $49.95

Respond openly and creatively to the unexpected

Thomas Moore writes "Happy Accidents" for the July-August 2014 issue of Spirituality & Health. In this column he considers Carl Jung’s tower at Bollingen and some lessons learned by Jung’s experiences including delivery of a stone, inappropriate for the tower, that Jung decided to keep:

"This is the lesson that interests me most in the Bollingen story: Jung doesn’t miss a beat knowing that "accidents" can be both revealing and useful. Some people say that there are no accidents, that everything has a purpose. But Jung’s story suggests that he believed something different: that some things are indeed accidents, and we have to always be ready to respond to them openly and creatively."

Moore describes Jung carving words and images on the stone while suggesting, "Be ready to accept the many things that happen regularly that are not in your plans, the mistakes that may have meaning for you. This is a particular way of living, in which you are not stuck on your plans and expectations and are ready to deal positively and quickly with things that go wrong."