Math . . . music .. . starry nights . . . These are secular ways of achieving transcendence, of feeling lifted into a grand perspective. It's a sense of being awed by existence that almost obliterates the self. Religious people think of it as an essentially religious experience but it's not. It's an essentially human experience.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the universal human experiences that evoke a sense of awe and transcendence beyond the self, often associated with spirituality.
Rebecca Goldstein suggests that experiences such as engaging with math, music, and the beauty of nature can inspire feelings of transcendence and a grand perspective on life that are deeply human. While religious individuals may attribute such feelings to a divine encounter, Goldstein argues that these moments of awe and connection to existence do not require a religious framework; they are inherent to the human experience.
In practice
In a speech about the importance of art in education, one might reference this quote to highlight how creativity can lead to profound experiences.
Our humanist community should be thinking more about demonstrating the fundamental truth that goodness requires neither God nor the belief in God by organizing together as a community to do good. Less money spent on billboards that just make us feel good about ourselves and more on soup kitchens and organized visits to the sick and dying.
It is not enough for me to ask question; I want to know how to answer the one question that seems to encompass everything I face: What am I here for?
He who gives away shall have real gain. He who subdues himself shall be free; he shall cease to be a slave of passions. The righteous man casts off evil, and by rooting out lust, bitterness, and illusion do we reach Nirvana.
Up the road, in his shack, the old man was sleeping again. He was still sleeping on his face and the boy was sitting by him watching him. The old man was dreaming about the lions.
As long as a man thinks, this struggle must go on, and so long man must have some form of religion.
Imagine one day, the hateful world around you collapses. And it is your attitude, words and actions that put an end to it. Will you be excited?
Man has always been his own most vexing problem.
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