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Books for those of no fixed religion but want 'life guidance'

Marianne72

I tried and failed to find the thread asking people's favourite philosopher, hence this new post. I'm near the end of my journey [on earth] and seeking decent books on spirituality not allied to a particular faith. I wanted to share books I've found useful for day-to-day living, with all its difficulties and stressors.

I've joined a lot of different 'styles' over the years - Christianity, Quakerism, Vedanta, Black Baptist.. They each have merits, not least social opportunities, inclusion and support. But I lost belief in a God, and sliding toward being humanist and a Stoic. I want to live a moral life but not chained to a formal faith.

For the last 7 years I've followed the books by modern philosopher, Ryan Holiday, who follows Stoicism - The Daily Stoic. I've found daily Journal writing really helpful, particularly when recovering trauma or my tendency to ruminate on past hurts and abuses.

I am also fond of modern philosopher Alain de Botton. The one I'm reading now is, 'Religion for Atheists' - by turn amusing, amazing and thought-provoking. He puts forward an interesting idea that ditching formal religion as a whole is like throwing out the baby with the bathwater; that  precepts of major religions have a lot to teach about how to live. So, why not use these to form a religion for atheists [those who do not formally believe in a God but want 'morals' to live by]. With the loss of church power and nothing to take its place, Botton makes interesting reading.

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  • I've been a Pagan for many years now, I started with Wicca, but my spirituality has grown a bit now, or Wicca has narrowed, I'm not sure which, although it does seem to be becoming more codified something I don't feel it was ever intended to be. To quote Sir Terry Pratchet, '.. witches [Wiccans] believe in their gods like they believe in the postman', this is very much how I feel, it's beyond belief or faith, it just is. 

    I notice all the faiths you mentions are basically Christian, have you ever moved outside of Christianity or montheism? For me a multiplicity of Gods and Goddesses is obvious and I can't get my head around montheism anymore, it's taken me a while to reach this point having been brought up with the idea if not the practice of montheism. I dont' find myself with a lack of morals although I sometimes find myself with moral conumdrums and sometimes my moral compas is like that of Cpt Jack Sparrow, in that it points to what I want rather than whats a particularly "good" thing. But then one of the things about following a path such as Wicca is that it makes you conciously think about morality and what good and bad/evil actually mean.

    Have your ever read The Tao of Pooh? Or Buddhism for Sheep? The Tao of Pooh, looks at Taoism via the medium of Winnie the Pooh, its a whimsically wise book. Buddhism for Sheep is a short book using the life of sheep as a metaphor for Zen Buddhism. Both of these books should be easy reading and a good way to start exploring spirituality.

    I think an atheist religion is a contradiction, I get where de Boton is coming from, and it's been a conundrum for humanists and atheists for many many years, how do you have morality without a deity to enforce it? Personally I find it quite easy, our deities don't enforce in the way a monotheistic deity does, or at least what priests tell us pleases their god to punish or allow.

    A lot of Christianity is based around Plato and Neo-Platonism, so you may find those interesting.

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