Religious But Not Religious: Living a Symbolic Life
Published by Chiron Publications
"A Gift for the Reader"
"Jason Smith brilliantly raises the reader's sophistication in navigating the varied, often contentious, landscape of contemporary religious understandings. He demonstrates that we are inherently religious creatures, and only a participation in 'the symbolic life' can lift a modern out of the slough of materialism to a felt experience of meaning. Smith's insights, nuanced explanations, and engagement of the heart are a gift for the reader."
~ James Hollis, Ph.D., Jungian Analyst in Washington, D.C. and author, most recently, Living Between Worlds: Finding Personal Resilience in Changing Times.
About Religious But Not Religious
C.G. Jung taught that the religious function is a natural and vital aspect of the human psyche. Today, however, we have forgotten how to adequately relate to those symbols that connect us to our depths and infuse our lives with meaning.
The “spiritual but not religious” attitude expresses an individualistic spirit, but loses the connection with the perennial wisdom housed by the great religions. All too easily, this becomes a diffuse spirituality, lacking the rigor necessary to produce the growth and transformation that is the true goal of all religious traditions.
Jungian analyst Jason E. Smith argues that we need to be “religious but not religious.” We need an approach to religion that recognizes the importance of the individual spiritual adventure while also affirming the value of collective religious traditions as both a goad and a support to that adventure. He explores religion as a participation in the symbolic life rather than a content of belief. By recovering our sensitivity for symbolic experience -- together with a symbolic understanding of religion -- we facilitate a profound encounter with life and with the human condition through which we may be tested, tried, and transformed.
"Beautifully written"
"Religious but Not Religious is beautifully written and carries the reader into a reconsideration of the place of religion in modern life. An antidote to the reductionism and narcissism that plague modern culture, this book reminds us of the necessity of our connection to something larger and shows us why symbol and ritual, and the proper attitude towards both, are eternally necessary for human health."
~ Gary S. Bobroff, MA, author of Carl Jung: Knowledge in a Nutshell