…to be more free of “me” — and to begin to taste a far more real and profound fulfillment.
The basis of what used to be called a religious life, and nowadays we might call a life of spiritual practice, is learning to stop serving the sense of self. It’s pretty radical for many of us, as we live in a culture and society that seem to want us to believe that the whole point of life is to serve the self – to “get what we want” from life.
The point of religion (in the way I’m using the word) is to see more deeply what we really want, and to realize that the “compounded” and transient things of the world offer no more than passing pleasures at best. To be trapped into wanting them and investing our trust for happiness in them, is to be in a prison of desires and aversions. To break out of that prison is to begin to be more free of “me” — and to begin to taste a far more real and profound fulfillment.
A spirituality that doesn’t include this kind of attitude is not a truly helpful one.