In a groundbreaking book that interweaves twenty years of case studies and research in the field of aging with an exhaustive knowledge of psychology, religion, and literature, Harry R. Moody, cofounder and director of the Brookdale Institute of Aging, reveals the spiritual passages that the vast majority of us encounter in life and explores the opportunities those spiritual stages offer us in achieving a sense of inner fulfillment.

At some point in our lives, most of us begin to question what life is all about, what the purpose of our existence is. The first of the passages in our spiritual lives often arises as the result of the death of a parent or other loved one, the birth of a child, or any number of life-changing events that force us to rethink who and what we are. Described as The Call, it may lead some back to traditional religion, to community work; to mysticism. The Call is an opportunity to reflect on one's inner life, to explore and fulfill a deeper part of one's self. In The Five Stages of the Soul, Dr. Moody goes on to identify the four additional spiritual stages most of us go through on the quest for inner fulfillment, bringing together the psychology of our spiritual development with insights from Western and Eastern spiritual masters to illuminate our passage through the labyrinth of life.

Written in richly textured narrative that constantly inspires as it offers a detailed road map of our spiritual lives, The Five Stages of the Soul is reminiscent in its approach of the best work of M. Scott Peck and Thomas Moore.

The quintessential baby-boom seeker of spiritual fulfillment, Harry Moody came of age in the late '60s, began his search for deeper meaning, gradually assimilated into professional life, married, and became "normal." The only difference is that Moody never stopped searching, and The Five Stages of the Soul is the culmination of his efforts. Everyone, especially in the middle years, he says, takes an interest in the spiritual life, and more or less goes through five stages of development: the call, the search, the struggle, the breakthrough, the return. In a colorful array of stories from contemporary America and legends and myths from religious traditions around the world, Moody unveils the varieties of spiritual paths and the common threads that bind them all together. As a mirror of our own search, The Five Stages of the Soul is as useful as it is informative.