Perennial Wisdom for the Spiritually Independent: Sacred Teachings―Annotated & Explained

by Rami M. Shapiro (Foreword)

The spiritual teachings of many faith traditions can help you step beyond the limits of any one tradition to the reality that can't be named. The fastest growing spiritual movement in the United States today is that of the religiously unaffiliated. These spiritual seekers make up 20 percent of the adult American population; they are the spiritual equivalent of political independents. Refusing to limit themselves to one religion or another, these seekers without borders are open to wisdom wherever it can be found. This is a "bible" for this vast and growing social movement. It weaves sacred texts and teachings from the world’s major religions―Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and more―into a coherent exploration of the five core questions at the heart of every religion’s • Who am I? • Where did I come from? • Where am I going? • How shall I live? • Why? It couples these sacred teachings with modern commentary designed to help readers use these texts in their daily lives. It also provides the basics of spiritual mentor Eknath Easwaran’s Passage Meditation to help you internalize the texts that articulate your deepest insights and values.

Genres: Spirituality, Nonfiction, Religion, Philosophy, Judaism

336 pages, Paperback

First published September 10, 2013

About the author

Rami Shapiro is one of the most innovative rabbis of the last thirty years. An award-winning author of two dozen books on religion and spirituality, he received rabbinical ordination from the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion and holds a PhD from Union Graduate School. A congregational rabbi for twenty years, for the last fifteen he has been writing, leading retreats, co-directing One River Wisdom School, blogging at rabbirami.com, and writing a regular column for Spirituality and Health magazine called "Roadside Assistance for the Spiritual Traveler."

Reviews

[Rick Weber · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was surprised by the many common themes of the world's religions described in this book. I learned a great deal about Christianity that I didn't know before, especially about the teachings of Jesus that are difficult to understand. The book led me to be more impatient with those religious people who believe that their religion is the one true religion and everybody else is wrong.

[Lauren Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Terrific book, full of deep wisdom to meditate and ponder for a long time.

[Luke · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked what this does and it is a really cool concept which spurs some interesting thoughts, however I don't think this is quite as "non-religious"/centrist as Shapiro claims. The majority of the work feels like Judaism mushed with Hinduism with a bit of East Asian thought sprinkled in and most of the quotes he draws in therefore come from these thoughts. It feels like a very Western approach to even believe that these questions exist or need to be answered, much less to answer them with such solid claims. With that said, I will still come back to this over time because he does put a lot of interesting thought forward and I am glad to have had the seeds planted in my head.

[Gerald · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really powerfully thought provoking way to look at and our relationship to God. Lots of absorption for me.

[Cathy D · Rating 3 out of 5]

The readings were more interesting to me than the commentary.