Yet while nature is in constant flux, we always go against the grain and try to freeze our ideas and experiences and make them absolute. It is egotism that makes us identify with one opinion rather than another, become quarrelsome and unkind, say *this* could not mean *that*, and think we have a duty to change others to suit ourselves.

Saint Augustine ... insisted that scripture taught nothing but charity. Whatever the biblical author may have intended, any passage that seemed to preach hatred and was not conducive to love must be interpreted allegorically and made to speak of charity.

I remind myself that my pain is not unique. Everybody suffers.

A mode of knowledge rooted in silence and intuitive insight which gives meaning to life but which cannot be explained in rational terms.

Compassion is not feeling sorry for others. It's not soft. It requires an intellectual effort.

My study of religion, which I regard in many ways as an art form, is a search for meaning.

I used to hate religion, I loathed it in my angry days.