Personal Religion Quotes

“But one thing this doctrine, so clean, so venerable, does not contain: it does nto contain the secret of what the Sublime One himself experienced, he alone among the hundreds of thousands. This is why I am continuing my wanderings not to seek another, better doctrine, because I know there is none, but to leave behind all the teachings and all teachers, and either attain my goal alone or die.”
― Hermann Hesse, Siddhartha

“Jonah can't see how Assyria could serve any useful purpose. How could this commission better Israel? Jonah might even fear that God will reverse His judgment against Nineveh. If that 'unchanging God' changes His mind about Nineveh's destruction, then Jonah's personal religion won't make sense. (Nu 23:19) The truth is, Jonah is not as overwhelmed by his new assignment as he is by his own small mindedness.”
― Michael Ben Zehabe, A Commentary on Jonah

“I want to promote a religion that is felt and not just thought out, meaningful and not just emotional, my own and not just an ancient tradition. I'm convinced that this kind of personal religion, as real as the Vatican and as holy as the Dalai Lama, could offer a solution to the problem of faith in the modern world.”
― Thomas Moore, A Religion of One's Own: A Guide to Creating a Personal Spirituality in a Secular World

“This new kind of religion asks that you move away from being a follower to being a creator. I foresee a new kind of spiritual creativity, in which we no longer decide whether to believe in a given creed and follow a certain tradition blindly. Now we allow ourselves a healthy and even pious skepticism. Most important, we no longer feel pressure to choose one tradition over another but rather are able to appreciate many routes to spiritual richness. This new religion is a blend of individual inspiration and inspired tradition.”
― Thomas Moore, A Religion of One's Own: A Guide to Creating a Personal Spirituality in a Secular World

“You can discover the sacred and the divine inside or outside a church or other spiritual organization. You may be inspired by spiritual pioneers to discover your own sacred elements in life and the world and thus shape your own religion.”
― Thomas Moore, A Religion of One's Own: A Guide to Creating a Personal Spirituality in a Secular World

“The religion I am putting forward is not the domesticated, tame, rehearsed, and constantly repeated variety. It is ever revealing and renewing itself. When I say that it is your own, that's what I mean. It is not someone else's summary of what you should do and be. It is the constant new revelation of the deep truths that can shape your life.”
― Thomas Moore, A Religion of One's Own: A Guide to Creating a Personal Spirituality in a Secular World

“Spiritual traditions around the world, large and small, have two major gifts to offer: wisdom and beauty. Those who understand religion as truth etched in granite probably wouldn't make much of these soft benefits. For them, religion is about hard convictions and absolute correctness. But you can build a life on wisdom and beauty, cherishing insight into human experience and the glorious expression of that insight in art and craft. The first approach may make you crusty and inflexible, but the second may make your life beautiful.

This is one of the main differences in the new personal religion: going deep rather than being right. This means studying your tradition and others that attract you and following them in your own way sincerely and wholeheartedly. The point is not to join the right group, but to find resources that will take you deep into your search and give you penetrating insights.”
― Thomas Moore, A Religion of One's Own: A Guide to Creating a Personal Spirituality in a Secular World

“I'd become a follower of Emerson for that one sentence: the miracle of "the blowing clover and the falling rain." Just imagine what it would do for your religion if you shifted your sense of the miraculous from some astounding feat of a master magician to a profound appreciation of the miracle of rain. You would be a different kind of person living a different kind of life You wouldn't be sad from the weight of your religious obligations, but rather joyful at the beauty and holiness of the natural world. You'd be happy, open, and graceful, all because of your positive, world-based spiritual vision.”
― Thomas Moore, A Religion of One's Own: A Guide to Creating a Personal Spirituality in a Secular World