NY Times best-selling author Thomas Moore spent 13 years as a monk and quit upon being ordained to create a religion of his own. CJ Liu and Thomas discuss his newest book "A Religion of One's Own" ( SUBSCRIBE NOW
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(note: this has been edited to shorten)
Q: What are benefits of following a traditional religious path? Thomas Moore describes what he got through his 13 years of being a monk and how he got the teachings into his bones and his body. While he no longer has a formal affiliation with the Catholic church, it's still "in" him. He believes that his years as a monk helped him learn more deeply about Catholicism ( stories, theology, rituals, personalities, histories).
Q: How can you someone get the benefits of going deep as he did as they create a religion of their own? Thomas describes how he has studied Zen Buddhism and Greek Polytheism and how both have affected him as much as Catholicism. Thomas describes how reading the religious text is just one way of understanding a religion deeply, but other ways a religion is by understanding the practices and culture (language, music, personalities, lecturers, physical practices) not just the ideas.
Q: What does it mean to go deep into a religion (academic understanding)? It's not about making up your own religion, but not thinking of religion as hierarchies, rules,etc, but religion as a way of being in the world. You can have a huge understanding of the academics, but still not have a true experience of it. Thomas is emphasizing a religion as an experience and as a way of finding meaning as opposed to an organization or group of beliefs.
Q: What are critical components of creating your own religion?
Many religions have rules to live by, structures, rituals, it seems like a simple way to pursue religion. The trouble with having someone else tell you what to do and think, is that it can be quite shallow. You can be passively going to church in a hypnotic state. We need to have deep ethics that come from a heart and a love of people and love of planet or otherwise those ethics are superficial. It's not about constructing a religion, but being in this world where you are thinking things more deeply. Your ethics are your own and something you have cultivated deeply, and not just following a list of do's and don'ts but really have a sense of how you want to behave in this world. Other world religions are great sources to explore and delving into them. You can get a great deal from them and help you as you develop yourself into a religious person. You may find that when you study a religion, you may go in and out of them. It should not be a burden, which is an old way of thinking about religion. How can you get to the point where you get EAGER to want to know about a religion? Pursuing a religion of one's own should be exciting, pleasurable, meaningful,joyful, etc. It requires some attention and studying of the texts.
Isn't crafting your own religion like being in a cafeteria? It's not the same as crafting a dinner, but not as fancy or nutritious, but it can be something that is the right thing for you. Not be too superficial and skimming a popular idea off the top.
How do you start creating your own religion? There are some rituals you can make on your own. Nature may not have a central place in your life, but go off to the natural world (river, forest, mountain) as nature is a conduit of infinity and trascendent. Go to a river and really think about it, do a soul meditation. Take it in and have it sink in. This place in nature can be as sacred as a church. Ritual is usually not a one off thing, but something you do repetitively. Once a week go to river or place in nature. Like Henry David Thoreau, you may not like a formal religion, but be a very religious person. He did not do his practice because someone told him, but because he wanted to do it. After going to the river 3 to 4 weeks, you may find that you will lose yourself and have a mystical experience and you notice that there is sludge in river, your ethics will come in. You develop your own sense of ethics, versus someone else telling you which ethics to focus on. Have ethics that come from your heart, because you feel connected and attached. This is morality. Moralism is when someone else tells you what you should you do. Moralism is about "should's" and "guilt" and it doesn't go as deep or as far. You go to river and sit their quietly for a few times and really take it in, you will notice a change in yourself and you discover why some people in the world call the river sacred and valuable.
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