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

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.

Yes, I've got the Tao of Pooh, also the Te of PIglet, much on the same lines. I've looked at many styles of faith. My tactic is to volunteer to make tea - that way you meet/chat with a lot of  worshippers! Vedanta is a Hindu sect. I lived in Bourne End near the Vedanta centre for years and attended their services for 2 years. They were very welcoming. I follow Stoicism at present, modern philosopher Ryan Holiday. I don't believe in a God as a corporeal being, but agree with de Botton that formal religions have many useful aspects applicable to daily living. He is using the term 'atheist' in a broad sense. I think our God-like (super ego) parts attract us toward spiritual pursuits and away from the 'id' proliferating in ourselves and across the world. I've always considered the Bible with reverance but because of the clever way moral behaviour is put across as something to strive toward. My brother is Zen Buddhist and has been this way since a young child - he is far more spiritual than me but at the same time remains antagonistic toward others, after years of being bullied at school. That sort of faith paradox is common, but I think few people would admit this.

TheCatWoman said:

Plato and Neo-Platonism, so you may find those interesting.

I'm not an academic - that's why I prefer 'pre-digested' philosophical works like Holiday, de Botton and Alexander McCall Smith. Modern life requires faith in 'something higher or better', to trigger the morality once encouraged [even enforced] by traditional religions. But sadly many are incapable of 'thinking outside the box' - or even fear it, so avoid subjects that are abstract. I would encourage you to read Religion for Atheists as de Botton has great ideas, including changing the teaching curriculum in schools and universities.

I'll see if I can get on my kindle. There are plenty of books about Plato and Neo-Platonic thought, I just tried to find some for you but amazon is acting up and wanting to show crockery instead of Plato, although theres one by Angie Hobbs, called Why Plato matters now, that looks like it would give a good overview. There's another by Bettany Hughs called The Hemlock Cup about Socrates and his teachings. If you can still get it on iplayer she did a brilliant series called Genius of the Ancient World, in which each episode explores a different ancient philospher.

Does modern life really call for  belief in something higher or better? Could that not be said of any age? I think there have always been people who can't think outside of the box and more who can barely think within it. I don't think that it helps anyone to have morality enforced or imposed from outside, especially if there's no understanding of why one should follow these rules. If theres no reason given that 'because god will be cross', then people are vulnerable to exploitation by the unscrupulous, they're no more educated than a dog who knows to wait at the roadside. I think people are better at abstract thinking than you give them credit for, we all know our emotions are abstract, we spend a lot of time and money talking about and exploring them, for many deity is an abstract concept, whether they have any faith or belief or not. For all that we're told by scientists that certain things are real and not abstract for many they are extremely abstract and solicit a response of "Eh?"

I'll see if I can get on my kindle. There are plenty of books about Plato and Neo-Platonic thought, I just tried to find some for you but amazon is acting up and wanting to show crockery instead of Plato, although theres one by Angie Hobbs, called Why Plato matters now, that looks like it would give a good overview. There's another by Bettany Hughs called The Hemlock Cup about Socrates and his teachings. If you can still get it on iplayer she did a brilliant series called Genius of the Ancient World, in which each episode explores a different ancient philospher.

Does modern life really call for  belief in something higher or better? Could that not be said of any age? I think there have always been people who can't think outside of the box and more who can barely think within it. I don't think that it helps anyone to have morality enforced or imposed from outside, especially if there's no understanding of why one should follow these rules. If theres no reason given that 'because god will be cross', then people are vulnerable to exploitation by the unscrupulous, they're no more educated than a dog who knows to wait at the roadside. I think people are better at abstract thinking than you give them credit for, we all know our emotions are abstract, we spend a lot of time and money talking about and exploring them, for many deity is an abstract concept, whether they have any faith or belief or not. For all that we're told by scientists that certain things are real and not abstract for many they are extremely abstract and solicit a response of "Eh?"