All -isms End Up In Schisms.

I Would Not Say That Ethical Behavior Is Not Possible For The Atheist Or Agnostic. It Is. A Couple Of Pretty Good Examples Are Bertrand Russell And Jean-paul Sartre. However, I Will Have To Say That If We Take The Human Lot As A Whole, These Two Men Must Be Seen As Exceptions.

Water Is Patient; It Can Stagnate And Let Itself Be Coated With Scum If Need Be. It Is As Gentle As The Morning's Dew. It Is Non-confrontational, Even Respectful, In Circumventing The Rocks In A Stream. It Makes Room For Everything That Enters Its Pools. It Accommodates By Assuming The Shape Of Any Vessel It Is Poured Into. And It Is Humble, Seeking Always The Lowest Level. Yet Along With - Or Rather Because Of These Adaptive, Yielding Properties, It Is Ultimately Irresistible; It Carves Canyons Out Of Stone.

When I Read The Upanishads, Which Are Part Of Vedanta, I Found A Profundity Of Worldview That Made My Christianity Seem Like Third Grade.

People Are Not Losing Their Religious Needs, But They Are Going To Three Places To Get Their Needs Met. One Is To Conservative Churches, Which, For All Their Social Benightedness, Nevertheless Do Present Their Congregations With A Different View Of Reality. Second, They Are Going To Asian Religions. Third, They Are Going To The New Age, Which When I'm Feeling Cynical I Refer To As "new Age Frivolity," Because Some Of It Is Rather Flaky.

What Is Zen? Simple, Simple, So Simple. Infinite Gratitude Toward All Things Past; Infinite Service To All Things Present; Infinite Responsibility To All Things Future.