Opening the Doors of Wonder

This bold, pioneering book explores rites of passage in America by sifting through the accounts of influential thinkers who experienced them. Arthur J. Magida explains the underlying theologies, evolution, and actual practice of Jewish bar and bat mitzvahs, Christian confirmations, Hindu sacred thread ceremonies, Muslim shahadas and Zen jukai ceremonies. In rare interviews, renowned artists and intellectuals such as Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel, holistic guru Deepak Chopra, singer Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens), actress/comedienne Julia Sweeney, cartoonist Roz Chast, interfaith maven Huston Smith, and many more talk intimately about their religious backgrounds, the rites of passage they went through, and how these events shaped who they are today.

Magida compares these coming of age ceremonies' origins and evolution, considers their ultimate meaning and purpose, and gauges how their meaning changes with individuals over time. He also examines innovative rites of passage that are now being "invented" in the United States. Passionate and lyrical, this absorbing book reveals our deep, ultimate need for coming-of-age events, especially in a society as fluid as ours.

Conversations with: Bob Abernethy, Huston Smith, Julia Sweeney, Roz Chast, Harold Kushner, Ram Dass, Elie Wiesel, Deepak Chopra, Robert Thurman, Coleman Barks, Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens), And others

This bold, pioneering book explores rites of passage in America by sifting through the accounts of influential thinkers who experienced them. Arthur J. Magida explains the underlying theologies, evolution, and actual practice of Jewish bar and bat mitzvahs, Christian confirmations, Hindu sacred thread ceremonies, Muslim shahadas and Zen jukai ceremonies. In rare interviews, renowned artists and intellectuals such as Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel, holistic guru Deepak Chopra, singer Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens), actress/comedienne Julia Sweeney, cartoonist Roz Chast, interfaith maven Huston Smith, and many more talk intimately about their religious backgrounds, the rites of passage they went through, and how these events shaped who they are today.

Magida compares these coming of age ceremonies' origins and evolution, considers their ultimate meaning and purpose, and gauges how their meaning changes with individuals over time. He also examines innovative rites of passage that are now being "invented" in the United States. Passionate and lyrical, this absorbing book reveals our deep, ultimate need for coming-of-age events, especially in a society as fluid as ours.

Conversations with: Bob Abernethy, Huston Smith, Julia Sweeney, Roz Chast, Harold Kushner, Ram Dass, Elie Wiesel, Deepak Chopra, Robert Thurman, Coleman Barks, Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens), And others

Prologue
Introduction: Sometimes, the Magic Works

PART ONE CHRISTIANITY: SOLDIERS FOR CHRIST
1. The Descent of the Spirit
2. Bob Abernethy: No Fundamental, Life-Changing Experience
3. Chinua Achebe: What Makes Someone Give Up Their Religion?
4. Huston Smith: Religion Saturated the House
5. Julia Sweeney: That Soldier-of-Christ, Slap-across-the-Face Stuff Is Sick
6. Jim Zogby: The Walmart-ization of the Church

PART TWO JUDAISM: WOULD ANNE FRANK SING KARAOKE?
7. What, Really, Is a Man?
8. Leon Botstein: I’m Tone Deaf to Belief
9. Roz Chast: I Was Like a Spy. Like a Closet Jew
10. Rabbi Harold Kushner: I Wanted To Make My Parents Proud
11. Letty and Abigail Pogrebin, Mother and Daughter: "You Are a Woman" Meant "You Do the Dishes"
12. Ram Dass: Mushrooms Gave Me What I Could Have Had at My Bar Mitzvah
13. Rabbi Jeffrey Salkin: Israel and I Came of Age Together
14. Elie Wiesel: I Am Not God’s Policeman

PART THREE HINDUISM: COMING TO BRAHMAN, KNOWING NIRVANA
15. The Thread of Life
16. Deepak and Gotham Chopra, Father and Son: Religion Is Frequently Idiotic

PART FOUR BUDDHISM: ORIGINAL PERFECTION VERSUS ORIGINAL SIN
17. Waking Up
18. Roshi John Daido Loori: Born a Buddha. Die a Buddha
19. Robert Thurman: I Looked Like Henry Miller in Drag

PART FIVE ISLAM: SEVEN ESSENTIAL WORDS
20. Allah Is One
21. Coleman Barks: Just Being Sentient Is Cause for Rapture
22. Dr. Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens): Floating on a Cloud of Mercy
23. Michael Wolfe: I Feel Like a Monotheist with Extra Credentials

Epilogue: Would Anyone Riding by on a Horse Even Notice?
Notes
Acknowledgments