Soul Boom: Why We Need a Spiritual Revolution

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Rainn Wilson is best known for playing a paper salesman named Dwight Schrute on The Office. Most people that I have encountered had no idea how devoutly religious Wilson is to his faith which is the Baha’i Faith founded in the 1800s by a man named Bahá’u’lláh whose claim is to be the fulfillment of all the major world religions.

I didn't even know about a faith called Baha'i so all of that was really fun to learn about. I did however study Buddhism for a total of two months in university and can attest to 'craving' (hopefully in the best sense) inner and outer spiritual change. Remember that scene from Seinfeld? Where George’s worlds collide? His then fiancé — the woman George would later accidentally kill with poison envelopes — becoming friends with Elaine? Not a good thing! It’s outrageous. Egregious. Preposterous.

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Here’s the rub: Wilson’s “emplottment” of Jesus into the story line of SoulBoom conscripts Jesus and the Bible into a narrative—and an entire worldview—the biblical authors wanted nothing to do with. The trauma that our struggling species has experienced in recent years—because of both the pandemic and societal tensions that threaten to overwhelm us—is not going away anytime soon. Existing political and economic systems are not enough to bring the change that the world needs. In this book, Rainn Wilson explores the possibility and hope for a spiritual revolution, a “Soul Boom,” to find a healing transformation on both a personal and global level And then I thought to myself, "Maybe I've done myself a disservice here. Maybe I need to re-explore those ideas about God and life and soul and the meaning of life and purpose and the nature of suffering because I'm so very unhappy maybe this will help me." And it did. It hasn't always been easy. It's been a very difficult, arduous road with a lot of ups and downs in it. But that is what really sparked my deep and abiding interest in these gigantic topics was they personally affected me and in the exploration of them, they made my life better. And I believe they can make other people's lives better, and I believe collectively they can make our lives better. In (a) virtue-nurturing context, we are neither living only for this world (as the atheist/materialist/physicalist might aspire to) nor living only for the next world (as the heaven-seeking fundamentalist might be). We are living for both. Because, it seems, both are connected. Our overarching purpose is pure and simple: soul growth. Developing our virtues is about cultivating that part of ourselves that is, at its essence, divine. This ongoing growth process requires a complete and total commitment to the physical plane of existence — this gorgeous, difficult planet, its ups and downs and trials and challenges, its beauty and sorrow. It also requires a longtail view of the eternal — knowing that we’re in this whole game of life for a very, very, very long haul. As in, like, infinite worlds of existence. It took me a long, long time and a great deal of therapuetic work to discover the spiritual, emotional, and psychological tools I needed to understand and eventually quell that inner discomfort and chronic imbalance.

We need a change of heart, a reframing of all our conceptions and a new orientation of our activities. The inward life of man as well as his outward environment have to be reshaped if human salvation is to be secured. I will try my darndest not be a cynic and refrain from using the word "optimistic" in reference to how Wilson envisions humanity's future. Soul Boom was hopeful and JOYFUL! I expected Rainn to lose me somewhere in the weeds of the spirituality woo-woo stuff, but he actually lost me when he outed himself as a David Brooks fanboy, yikes.

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The new book is called Soul Boom: Why We Need a Spiritual Revolution. Mr. Rainn Wilson, thank you so much for the time today.