The New American Spirituality: A Seeker's Guide

"Elizabeth Lesser offers up a rich cornucopia of lessons for the soul in The New American Spirituality, a warm and fascinating account of a modern pilgrimage." --Daniel Goleman, Ph.D., author of Emotional Intelligence In the crowded field of books dealing with spirituality, psychology, and religion, what has been missing is a comprehensive, authoritative guide to the many choices facing spiritual seekers today. The New American Spirituality fills that need. This encouraging, empowering "user's manual" for the soul teaches you how to chart a unique and personal path through the diverse landscapes of the American spiritual quest. In 1977, Lesser cofounded the Omega Institute, now America's largest adult-education center focusing on wellness and spirituality. Working with many of the eminent thinkers and practitioners of our times in the fields of religion, psychology, mysticism, science, and healing, Lesser found that the hunger for a spiritual life can be satisfied by a rich blend of the world's wisdom traditions. In The New American Spirituality she synthesizes the lessons she has learned from different belief systems, and intertwines them with illuminating stories from her life as a seeker, teacher, daughter, wife, and mother. She answers pertinent questions--how do you determine what is right for you from the many strains of the modern spiritual search? how do you assess a teacher or practice? how can you gauge your progress?--while warning of the tendency to miss out on real growth by merely dabbling in the latest fads. Recounting her own trials and errors and offering meditative exercises as well as references to some of the world's great spiritual teachers, Lesser provides directions through the four landscapes of the spiritual journey:

the mind: developing awareness, learning meditation, easing stress and anxiety the heart: finding what one really loves, dealing with grief and loss, becoming fully alive the body: returning the body to the spiritual fold, healing, coping with aging and the fear of death the soul: naming God for ourselves, exploring other realms of consciousness, trusting the mysterious nature of the universe, developing compassion and forgiveness

Warm, accessible, and wise, The New American Spirituality is a cross-disciplinary sourcebook for the millions of Americans who, whether or not they participate in an organized religion, wish to incorporate a more meaningful, joyful, and individualized spirituality into their daily lives. "In The New American Spirituality, Elizabeth Lesser validates our spiritual hunger, offering us the clarity to separate what will nourish it from what will not. This is a book for anyone who wants to read their own spiritual story more clearly and find the inner compass that can lead them home." --Rachel Naomi Remen, M.D., author of Kitchen Table Wisdom "Those who are looking for an uncharted way of living their beliefs will find The New American Spirituality a guiding light. Elizabeth Lesser's book defines what many have longed to see in print--a new Varieties of Religious Experience one hundred years after William James. This is a courageous book in which the author doesn't spare her own leaps of faith and dark moments of the soul, even as she encounters some of the great luminaries of our times." --Phil Jackson, former coach of the Chicago Bulls and author of Sacred Hoops "The New American Spirituality: A Seeker's Guide is a dynamic tale of the search for the true self. As one of the primary founders of growth centers in America, Elizabeth Lesser has had a profound influence on the development of the spiritual movement in this country. Follow her trail to your heart." --Stephen and Ondrea Levine, authors of Who Dies?, Healing into Life and Death, and A Year to Live