Hymns to an Unknown God

Defining the quest to unlock spirituality as ``the reverse of the religious pilgrimage,'' bestselling author Sam Keen ( Fire in the Belly ) nonetheless sets out immediately to blend Eastern and Western religious traditions with philosophy, psychology and autobiography. The result is a New Age-ish ``now-and-then spiritual journey'' whose indirect path may result in confusion for questers seeking less amorphous guidance. Ambiguity is implicit even in Keen's naming of the unknown god--``some missing value, some absent purpose, some new meaning, some presence of the sacred''; and Keen sees a constant questioning of religious authority as essential to spiritual transcendence. ``A soulful life,'' Keen posits, ``is more about getting rhythm and tuning into the music of the spheres than it is about getting the words correct.'' To further aid this quest in an era emerging from the 20th century's frayed ``technological-economic myth of progress,'' the author offers a ``spiritual bull-shit detector'' as well as rituals for consecrating sex and work, family and other relationships, local communities and the global environment. (July)