I have only read this book once, but I want to read it again. This is the best recommendation I can give. It contains such a rich tapestry of personal and spiritual experience that I know I will get more from it with a second reading. But, whether you read it once, twice or many more times, do read it.

`The World is our Cloister' is a title that expresses exactly my own attitude to the concept of worship and mysticism. Until I read this book I assumed that those like myself, whose pragmatic view of life didn't and couldn't separate ordinary life from worship and mysticism, were not just odd, but in some way inferior. This book was a reading revelation. What a burst of light to find so many kindred spirits from so many races and religions who felt the same! It is a rare privilege to discover what truthfully `makes a person tick'. But rarer still to hear it from such a treasury of human diversity past and present. This book does something unique among similar books I have come across: instead of making you feel like a worm, it makes you feel like one butterfly among a cloud of them. A soul silence for seeking. The wonder of awakening awareness. This is the everywhere prayer. Thank you. ~ "pause", Amazon

jennifer kavanagh's book resonated so strongly with my experience and that of many people i meet who are struggling to live a religious and/or spiritual life amongst the hustle and bustle of the western world. making vows within ourselves and trying our best to listen to and be obedient to God/Spirit we sometimes feel a little lost without the community and cloistering our monastic brothers and sisters enjoy; this book takes away that loneliness, and offers real-life stories and suggestions on how to live 'in the world but not of it'. i found it both moving and helpful, a much-needed companion for a very modern pilgrimage. ~ Mirabai Narayan, amazon

This book shares that we do not have to become a monk, nun, hermit or recluse to lead a religiously attuned life.Discover a differnt approach to communing with that still, quiet,holy place within yourself without removing yourself from lifes rich tapestry. We can all gain from sharing someone else's ideas and journey, here is another to enlighten your own pathway. A compelling read. ~ B. A. Venn-lever , Amazon

The book is well presented, and contains so much that it needs to be read slowly, or it could feel confusing. In any case I found it was one fo those books that needed to be read more than once. Jennifer's easy style of writing led me to a definite feeling of spiritual friendship with those who have had similar experiences to myself. I do not ask much more of any book.

 A look at people who, across different religious traditions, attempt to live out a commitment to God in the world. It is helpful not least for its exploration of what that may mean in different contexts. The book fascinates by its very human examples and its emphasis on God’s broadminded understanding of those who try to live their faith. Whether Kavanagh is explaining temporary monasticism as put forward by Merton, or the emphasis on social and environmental action of the Brahma Kumaris, she is above all encouraging.   ~ , The Tablet

This book is for you if you are interested in your inner life and how it might relate to your outer life. This book is for you if you are looking for something you can read... in your quiet moments, which will help you to think about the balance of the active and the contemplative in your own life. This book is for you if you dont think a book like this is for you!

This is concerned with what it means to be committed to a disciplined and focused living out of one's religious faith in the world today. ... a beautiful book. One would have to be spiritually dead not to find a very great deal here which is worth reading - and putting into practice.

Jennifer Kavanagh takes us on a journey into a wide variety of religious communities and back out into the world. She is both an explorer and a journalist. ..it is the personal commitment which animated this book for me. She writes in order to help others to discover "what it means to live as a contemplative in the world." This book is ecumenical in the best sense of the word.

Jennifer Kavanagh is an active Quaker whose book relates to the religious life...in a form which is relevant today to those of all faiths and those with no label. It is a modern guide to living the life of a contemplative, but at the same time being active in the world.It suggests how to "practise the presence of God".

This is a refreshing book by a Quaker writer, and one that should be helpful not only to spiritual directors but to be recommended to directees. I'm an unashamed underliner of valuable passages in my books, and I've done a lot of underlining in this one! ...For me the greatest virtue of the book is what the author calls interspirituality. She looks at some occasionally off-putting paths of spirituality but always in a non-judgmental way. The breadth is valuable at a time when spiritual directors are finding people coming to talk who are not churchgoers, or who are come from other traditions, or indeed, church attenders who find it harder and harder to say all the things they are expected to say in church.

It would make both a challenging text for a personal review, or for a spiritual study group - over several nights. This is a book full of questions, and the diversity of voices throws us back onto what our still core says we need...This book might stir up some thought about what [being committed and being in the world without being subordinated to every social norm] mean. It does so with openness, and an understanding of the need for spontaneity. joy and humour. Best of all it has a clear...understanding that we cannot all be called to do everything at once, in the same way as anyone else.

A very good and thought-provoking book ~ Susan Hill

Jennifer writes poetically and with great wisdom about the parallel lives we have to live with feet in each realm - the inner and the outer - and she explores an alternative to traditional communities in religion. It is for me a book which is a balm for the soul - my soul soars in delight as I dip into it as my bedtime reading…This is a grace-filled book...a comfort, a guide and a "knowing" that we are all One as we long for that eternal embrace in the everyday. My prayers are that the book is a seed, a consolation, and an invitation to others to live in this cloistered way.

The question addressed by Jennifer Kavanagh’s fascinating book, “The World is our Cloister” is a vital one for understanding what is going on around us and, more importantly perhaps, within ourselves. This is an important book about an important subject. Its greatest gift is that it reminds us that real people, living real lives, are following this path right now, all around us. It is a deeply human story. ~ Simon Small, author of From the Botttom of the Pond

The World is our Cloister shows clearly how people belonging to different spiritual traditions or no tradition at all can make their spiritual journey to the source of our life. In a world where many people are dissatisfied with the traditional religions and looking for a different way, this book will be a good companion. ~ Brother John Martin Sahajananda