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Shows clearly how people belonging to different spiritual traditions or no tradition at all can make their spiritual journey to the source of our life. In a world where many people are dissatisfied with the traditional religions and looking for a different way, this book will be a good companion. Brother John Martin Sahajananda
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This book is ecumenical in the best sense of the word.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
16 of 16 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
There have always been those for whom the spiritual path is not just one strand of their life, but its beating heart. It is likely that in days gone by, those driven by this essential pulse would have found their way to the doors of one of the great religious orders. This path would have led to robes and vows; to community and obedience; to worship and silence; and to enclosed walls or wandering mendicancy.
But what of such people in our time, living in and shaped by a Western culture ill at-ease with traditional forms of the religious life. As we witness a well-documented upsurge of interest in "spirituality" (rather than "religion"), with its emphasis on individuality, how is this impulse being expressed in the midst of the modern world?
This is the question addressed by Jennifer Kavanagh's fascinating book, "The World is our Cloister". It is a vital question for understanding what is going on around us and, more importantly perhaps, within ourselves.
This is not some dry academic study. It is full of life because it is woven around personal stories and reflections, both the author's own and drawn from interviews with a wide selection of people trying to live such a life.
The book uses these stories and reflections to consider a range of issues raised by this topic. There are too many to list, but they include:
· the role of community and new forms that are emerging;
· the role of individual spiritual direction;
· the role of spiritual practice;
· new understandings of traditional concepts such as obedience, poverty and chastity;
· the relationship between stillness and action in the world; and
· inter-faith perspectives.
The book concludes with two short sections giving suggested "taxing tasks" (simple spiritual practices) and follow-up questions to aid continuing reflection on this subject.
This is an important book about an important subject. Its greatest gift is that it reminds us that real people, living real lives, are following this path right now, all around us. It is a deeply human story.
But what of such people in our time, living in and shaped by a Western culture ill at-ease with traditional forms of the religious life. As we witness a well-documented upsurge of interest in "spirituality" (rather than "religion"), with its emphasis on individuality, how is this impulse being expressed in the midst of the modern world?
This is the question addressed by Jennifer Kavanagh's fascinating book, "The World is our Cloister". It is a vital question for understanding what is going on around us and, more importantly perhaps, within ourselves.
This is not some dry academic study. It is full of life because it is woven around personal stories and reflections, both the author's own and drawn from interviews with a wide selection of people trying to live such a life.
The book uses these stories and reflections to consider a range of issues raised by this topic. There are too many to list, but they include:
· the role of community and new forms that are emerging;
· the role of individual spiritual direction;
· the role of spiritual practice;
· new understandings of traditional concepts such as obedience, poverty and chastity;
· the relationship between stillness and action in the world; and
· inter-faith perspectives.
The book concludes with two short sections giving suggested "taxing tasks" (simple spiritual practices) and follow-up questions to aid continuing reflection on this subject.
This is an important book about an important subject. Its greatest gift is that it reminds us that real people, living real lives, are following this path right now, all around us. It is a deeply human story.
15 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book shares that we do not have to become a monk, nun, hermit or recluse to lead a religiously attuned life.Discover a differnt approach to communing with that still, quiet,holy place within yourself without removing yourself from lifes rich tapestry. We can all gain from sharing someone else's ideas and journey, here is another to enlighten your own pathway. A compelling read.
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
`The World is our Cloister' is a title that expresses exactly my own attitude to the concept of worship and mysticism. Until I read this book I assumed that those like myself, whose pragmatic view of life didn't and couldn't separate ordinary life from worship and mysticism, were not just odd, but in some way inferior. This book was a reading revelation. What a burst of light to find so many kindred spirits from so many races and religions who felt the same! It is a rare privilege to discover what truthfully `makes a person tick'. But rarer still to hear it from such a treasury of human diversity past and present. This book does something unique among similar books I have come across: instead of making you feel like a worm, it makes you feel like one butterfly among a cloud of them. A soul silence for seeking. The wonder of awakening awareness. This is the everywhere prayer. Thank you.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
A timely and enjoyable treatment of an important contemporary...
.The changing religious landscape of the West is surveyed in this fascinating and worthwhile book. As vocations to traditional institutional monasticism decline, Kavanagh looks at... Read more
Published on 28 Feb 2010 by S. North
But do we need a cloister?
This fascinating book takes as its premise that many people of all faiths or none are looking for a way to live an interior devotional/spiritual life whilst still being actively... Read more
Published on 2 Jun 2008 by felicitas
the modern religious life
jennifer kavanagh's book resonated so strongly with my experience and that of many people i meet who are struggling to live a religious and/or spiritual life amongst the hustle and... Read more
Published on 14 Nov 2007 by Ms. Mirabai Narayan
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