Spiritual Quest, The

By Robert M. Torrance

Book Description

The human drive to seek something beyond our immediate reality spans every culture and continent, revealing itself as a fundamental aspect of our nature. In this comprehensive exploration, Robert M. Torrance presents the spiritual quest not as an exotic mystical phenomenon, but as an essential expression of what makes us distinctly human.

Torrance takes readers on a journey across diverse cultures, from the tribal peoples of Oceania and Africa to the indigenous communities of North and South America. Through careful examination of myths, rituals, and religious practices worldwide, he reveals how the quest for transcendence manifests in countless forms yet maintains striking similarities across vastly different societies.

The author argues that humans are inherently "questing animals," driven by biological, psychological, and social impulses to push beyond known boundaries in search of transformative truths. Whether expressed through shamanic journeys, vision quests of the Great Plains, spirit possession ceremonies, or scientific inquiry, this fundamental drive connects the mystic and the researcher, the prophet and the philosopher.

Drawing insights from anthropology, psychology, and religious studies, Torrance demonstrates how spiritual questing serves as a bridge between individual aspiration and communal renewal. The visionary truths discovered through these journeys become the metaphors and narratives that guide both personal transformation and social evolution.

This interdisciplinary study offers readers a fresh perspective on humanity's eternal search for meaning, revealing the quest for transcendence as both deeply personal and universally shared.