Behold the Beyond Book

When questioning the religion that surrounds me, my mother's eventual arguments for following it condense into assertions about the health benefits: that it allows me to remain in the community of Muslims, and that there is a meditative effect to praying. She is stumped by my other probing, and I've been doing research into the practicality of following the religion I was raised in, but never connected to. And the practicality of following any religion. David Cortesi's 'Secular Wholeness' is part of my research.

This book dissects the health benefits of a religious life and discusses secular substitutes with the same result. And the pragmatism and flexibility of the guidelines this book suggests - not to mention the vast reference list at the end of it - has me convinced a secular lifestyle is for me. Each of Cortesi's ideas resonated with me, putting into words some questions I've had for a long, long time -- and the answers I'd come up with but couldn't express, or maybe couldn't fully understand.

This is a goldmine of practical wisdom on piecing together a wholesome and mindful existence for yourself, identifying role models in the grounded world around you, finding significance in and celebrating the idea that your existence is a happy accident rather than an intentional creation, establishing an ethical framework to guide your actions, dealing with grief and death, accepting the universe - good and bad - as it is, and ultimately achieving a general state of contentment.

Religious or not, everyone can have something to gain from reading this. Simple, well-written and effective. I'm eager to buy a hard-copy to refer to often, 'holy book' style.

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