The Faith I Was Born Into Formed

I Simply Wanted To Experience The Presence Of This Man Who Had Revolutionized My Understanding. After A While We Sat In Silence, Gazing At The Barren Canyon Walls. And The Mute Desert Seemed To Carry On Our Conversation For Us.

The Heart Of Religion Is Not Altered States But Altered Traits Of Character. For Me, Then, The Test Of A Substance's Religious Worth Or Validity Is Not What Kind Of Far-out Experience It Can Produce, But Is The Life Improved By Its Use? That's The Test. Now, On That Score, If You Remove The "religious Cocoon," The Experiences Don't Seem To Have Much In The Way Of Discernible, Traceable Effects.

At The Center Of The Religious Life Is A Peculiar Kind Of Joy, The Prospect Of A Happy Ending That Blossoms From Necessarily Painful Ordeals, The Promise Of Human Difficulties Embraced And Overcome.

With Mind Distracted, Never Thinking, "death Is Coming," To Slave Away On The Pointless Business Of Mundane Life, And Then To Come Out Empty--it Is A Tragic Error. (116) Trans By Robert Thurman

I Grew Up Taking It For Granted That Missionaries Were What American Boys Grew Up To Be.