The Spirituality of Richard Gere

By Nicholas Nigro

One constant of popular culture is its value of celebrities and public figures. Some icons transcend divides and appeal to all kinds of individuals for various reasons. They are leaders in their own ways, using their celebrity platforms to make a difference. Regardless of any religious or nonreligious stance, their actions and insights can highlight for us particular universally spiritual concepts. This series taps into that cultural value of celebrity and presents, in a balanced and secular fashion, words of wisdom such celebrities have spoken. Series editor Nicholas Nigro weaves together insightful quotes and gathers them by theme (“Creativity ” “Passion ” “Intention”), offering texts from which readers can extrapolate their own meanings and, in turn, find added inspiration to live their best day-to-day lives. The Spirituality of Richard Gere is a collection of the actor-humanitarian's insightful reflections and elevating words on so much of what he has witnessed and experienced along life's diverse highways and byways. Gere's abiding message will encourage readers to think more and, hopefully, inspire them to do more on both a personal level and grander scale as well. “We expand our minds ” Gere says, “and we expand our hearts.”

• Language: English
• Publisher: RowmanLittlefield
• Release date: Mar 1, 2014
• ISBN: 9781480386242

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Copyright © 2014 by Nicholas Nigro

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, without written permission, except by a newspaper or magazine reviewer who wishes to quote brief passages in connection with a review.

Published in 2014 by Backbeat Books

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Excerpts from Richard Gere Is ‘Always Watching the Mind’ originally appeared on Beliefnet.com, the premier online resource for inspiration and spirituality, where you’ll find thousands of inspiring features, uplifting stories and access to other great resources.

Richard Gere on Obama Disappointment, by Andrew O’Hehir, first appeared in Salon.com, at http://www.Salon.com. An online version remains in the Salon archives. Reprinted with permission.

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Contents

Introduction—Richard Gere: The Power of Mind and Spirit

Spirituality and Purpose

Humanitarianism and Obligation

Art and Inspiration

Self-Discovery and Virtue

Bibliography

Introduction

Richard Gere:

The Power of Mind and Spirit

We take detours. But all of us eventually get back on a road that’s moving towards love, compassion, and wisdom.

—Richard Gere

One would be hard-pressed to envision a performing artist who has worked more tirelessly and unselfishly on behalf of human rights, world peace, and a just and compassionate global society than Richard Gere. The actor’s unflagging commitment to those in need of a helping hand has improved the lives of countless men, women, and children in places ranging far and wide from India to Kosovo to Nicaragua. His steadfast voice for the voiceless continues to provide hope for a better tomorrow to millions of people the world over.

Born on August 31, 1949, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania—the second of Homer and Doris Gere’s five children—young Richard was raised in a devout religious household. The actor’s parents were committed Methodists and dutiful churchgoers. Gere frequently lauds his mother and father—both descendants of the Mayflower—for always exhibiting concern for the welfare of family, friends, and neighbors alike, while genuinely living up to their faith’s most virtuous ideals.

The actor’s formative years were not spent in the big city of his birthplace, but in the pastoral village of North Syracuse in the scenic Finger Lakes region of New York State, where the family relocated. Despite eschewing the limelight as a boy, he nonetheless had the makings of a star. His performances in school plays, including the lead in The King and I, didn’t go unnoticed in North Syracuse Central High School. His superior athletic and musical skills were evident as well. In fact, the teenager played the piano, guitar, and trumpet with such grace and style that a musical career seemed very possible. Furthermore, the talented youngster expressed an interest in politics and served on his school’s student council. This passion on Gere’s part to actively and positively shape the world he lived in—and affect real change—remains at his core to this day.

Gere, though, candidly admits to being largely adrift—even depressed—during his college years at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, which he attended on a gymnastics scholarship. Majoring in philosophy while there, he was bedeviled day and night by innumerable unanswered and mystifying questions surrounding the nature of existence, the nature of reality, and the nature of the mind. I think like most young men, the actor recalled to the Shambhala Sun, I was not particularly happy. I had questions like, ‘Why anything?’

As the directionless college student mulled over his future and which of life’s myriad roads to venture down, Gere concluded that the tenets at the foundation of his Methodist upbringing just weren’t enough for him. They didn’t furnish him with the