Swallow Your Pride And Admit That We

I've Spent The Last 50 Years Or So Steeping Myself In The World's Religions, And I've Done My Homework. I've Gone To Each Of The World's Eight Great Religions And Sought Out The Most Profound Scholars I Could Find, And I've Apprenticed Myself To Them And Actually Practiced Each Faith.

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.

First Of All, My Persuasion Is What Really Breeds Violence Is Political Differences. But Because Religion Serves As The Soul Of Community, It Gets Drawn Into The Fracas And Turns Up The Heat.

Swami Ashokananda Was A Brilliant And Accomplished Spiritual Teacher In The West.

The Most Powerful Moral Influence Is Example.