In innumerable discussions and activities dedicated to better understanding and helping teenagers, one aspect of teenage life is curiously overlooked. Very few such efforts pay serious attention to the role of religion and spirituality in the lives of American adolescents. But many teenagers are very involved in religion. Surveys reveal that 35% attend religious services weekly and another 15% attend at least monthly. 60% say that religious faith is important in their lives. 40% report that they pray daily. 25% say that they have been "born again." Teenagers feel good about the congregations they belong to. Some say that faith provides them with guidance and resources for knowing how to live well. What is going on in the religious and spiritual lives of American teenagers? What do they actually believe? What religious practices do they engage in? Do they expect to remain loyal to the faith of their parents? Or are they abandoning traditional religious institutions in search of a new, more authentic "spirituality"? This book attempts to answer these and related questions as definitively as possible. It reports the findings of The National Study of Youth and Religion, the largest and most detailed such study ever undertaken. The NYSR conducted a nationwide telephone survey of teens and significant caregivers, as well as nearly 300 in-depth face-to-face interviews with a sample of the population that was surveyed. The results show that religion and spirituality are indeed very significant in the lives of many American teenagers. Among many other discoveries, they find that teenagers are far more influenced by the religious beliefs and practices of their parents and caregivers than commonly thought. They refute the conventional wisdom that teens are "spiritual but not religious." And they confirm that greater religiosity is significantly associated with more positive adolescent life outcomes. This eagerly-awaited volume not only provides an unprecedented understanding of adolescent religion and spirituality but, because teenagers serve as bellwethers for possible future trends, it affords an important and distinctive window through which to observe and assess the current state and future direction of American religion as a whole.

Soul searching that inevitable question, Why was I born? Where am I going? Why do I do the things I do? Is there a reason for my being here or just another human being trying to find my way through this entangled maze? So many puzzling questions without answers. My mind tells me that I am not here just to take up space. What then am I here for? Is it something I must contribute? It is mind boggling and I need answers. So I search my soul and delve into the deepest recesses of the mind and come up with life goes on with or without answers. One day a light will shine and reveal all that is puzzling to the mind. There must be a greater purpose than just to fill up space and populate the world. There are those who destroy and others who enlighten. Where do I fit into this puzzle? What layers of experience brought me to this point in my life? I am still soul searching, gathering information from the past to the present. When will it reveal itself to me? My time is running short and I wont be satisfied until I get some answers.

Award-winning producer Morgan Atkinson's documentary and the companion book of the same title come together for the first time in Soul Searching: The Journey of Thomas Merton book with DVD. The documentary DVD, which is scheduled to air on US PBS stations this December, is included in the inside back cover of this new hardcover edition of the companion book.

Five stories with five critical messages on life… Five situations with the protagonist making a decision that changes his life... Five circumstances that show you that life is never fair and yet… one needs to make the critical decision. Amar, a promising stock analyst, gets the job of his dreams. However, circumstances lead to his failure. What does Amar do? Uma is looking for the purpose of his life. He wants to give up the luxuries of life to find the truth. Does he eventually succeed? Ravi loses his job one fine day and befriends those who tell him that the rich should sacrifice for the poor. He believes them. Does he benefit? Vikas is shocked and annoyed when his parents decide to take him to their native village instead of Switzerland. What does he learn? Pratap, a gold medalist in law, gets the job of his dreams in a well-known law firm. He faces a trying case. How does he respond?

Thousands of self help books and transformational training programs have been created to help you find fulfillment, live a better life and become prosperous. The unique promise of the Soulsearch is to integrate the common threads of New Thought philosophies and Ancient Wisdom traditions so that you can apply those spiritual principles to your everyday life. the Soulsearch is full of stories that reveal both the journey and the results that come from using a practical tool guided by a spiritual philosophy. There is a step by step process you can follow as well as a simple concept that, once learned, will change your life forever. The stories are funny, inspirational, dramatic and rich with learning. They are the real life experiences of humans doing their best in a world that offers both challenges and opportunities to give and receive love in its many forms.