The Problem With Religion Is …

The problem with religion is stories.

Religion offers a starting point, a way into our inner reality. Science cannot do this. There nothing wrong with religion, except that it becomes a form that is exoteric – for the many, and a generalisation to attract our attention. It’s a comfort – it really is. We become swathed in language and ritual, but it can make us lazy and reliant.

To repeat the famous words, “Don’t take my word for it”! The Buddha said this so that our minds do not become fogged in theories and stories. It is only when we truly realise essence that empathy and compassion can occur.

An example:
A spiritual master sailed to a distant land and introduced the mantra, OM MANI PEME HUM, to a man there. The master started to sail away. The man ran across the water to the master’s boat and shouted, “Hey! I’ve forgotten the mantra! Is it “OM MANI PEME NUM?” The master looked and said, “Go back! You’re doing fine.”

We all felt great at this story – I believed it, just like a four-year-old.
It doesn’t actually happen, does it? It’s a story about maintaining belief.

As long as there is belief,
there is an audience.

As long as there is an audience,
there are believers.

We have to start somewhere. Science can only catch up to what has been known for thousands of years, but has become enmeshed in stories, names and terminologies, and the essence obscured by adherence to the exoteric.

Within the esoteric, there is no difference between religion and science, dark and light, heaven and hell, mirror and reflection.