Compassion is the key in Islam and Buddhism and Judaism and Christianity. They are profoundly similar.
Karen ArmstrongRead
Religion is a search for transcendence. But transcendence isn't necessarily sited in an external god, which can be a very unspiritual, unreligious concept.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Religion seeks a deeper understanding of existence, which may not always involve a traditional concept of God.
In this quote, Karen Armstrong emphasizes that the essence of religion lies in the quest for transcendence or a higher understanding of life. This journey does not necessarily depend on belief in an external deity; rather, it can be a personal and spiritual exploration that transcends conventional religious boundaries.
Themes
ReligionTranscendenceSpiritualityExistenceGod
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about personal beliefs, this quote can illustrate the idea that spirituality can exist outside organized religion.
More from Karen Armstrong
All quotes βYet a personal God can become a grave liability. He can be a mere idol carved in our own image, a projection of our limited needs, fears and desires. We can assume that he loves what we love and hates what we hate, endorsing our prejudices instead of compelling us to transcend them.
Karen ArmstrongRead
When violence becomes imbedded in a region, then this affects everything. It affects your dreams, your fantasies and relationships, and your religion becomes violent, too.
Karen ArmstrongRead
Far from being the father of jihad, [Prophet] Mohammad was a peacemaker, who risked his life and nearly lost the loyalty of his closest companions because he was determined to effect a reconciliation with Mecca
Karen ArmstrongRead
Yes, all fundamentalists feel that in a secular society, God has been relegated to the margin, to the periphery and they are all in different ways seeking to drag him out of that peripheral position, back to center stage.
Karen ArmstrongRead
Religious ideas and practices take root not because they are promoted by forceful theologians, nor because they can be shown to have a sound historical or rational basis, but because they are found in practice to give the faithful a sense of sacred transcendence.
Karen ArmstrongRead
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