What we Need From Religion

What We Need From Religion

The whole purpose of religion is to facilitate love and compassion, patience, tolerance, humility, And forgiveness.

 The Dali Lama

Brother Wayne Teasdale offers us a more expansive view of what is necessary 

To more fully understand life’s purpose…

While his Holiness statement might seem like common sense, when we examine the role organized religions sometimes play in our lives, we can see how they can lose their sense of mission. What the Dali Lama expresses here is the essence of religion and spirituality in the lives of devotees and practitioners.

It is not enough to be religious or committed to a religion in practice, nor is it

sufficient to be spiritual. Both religion and spirituality must bear fruit in an individual’s moral life. 

I would even question the use of the word, tolerance, with its connotation of minimal acceptance, a begrudging, passive, live and let live approach. 

The person is transformed through the practice of faith enthusiastically embracing others and their right to pursue their own religion or spiritual path. 

If a religion does not fuel our growth in these necessary virtues, then it does have much value. And, in the end, if we are not transformed through our tradition, we should appraise our commitment.

Not much need for commentary here… So much of church attendance is designed to make a person an observer of what can be considered the sacred, rather than teaching them ways in which the sacred can be more directly transformative in their lives. 

The former approach to both religion and the study of spirituality is aimed at keeping the safe measures of the status quo and institutional religion intact. The latter approach is dynamic and self responsible… It is faith at risk or faith in action.  It is the way the divine in us creates prophets, artists, mystics…