And yet, just like you, I live in what we pessimistically call “the real world”. I know that as long as we are effectively conditioned into the kinds of divisive, defensive and aggressive thinking that the majority of the world’s people regard as normal, this shift in perception may seem delusional. After all, the mighty institutions of religion themselves offer profound, unequivocal teachings about interdependence, loving-kindness, forgiveness, unity and compassion, yet all have a tragic history (in unequal amounts) of seeking power rather than transformation and conformity rather than compassion. We don’t need to go further than the nightly news to see that far too often religions are cradles of violence rather than love. But what is just as true is that those same complex human institutions have also been the faithful preservers of the world’s most magnificent (and undiluted) teachings on love. More wonderfully, there have also always been brave men and women from all the religions who have determinedly lived life as sacred, sometimes under the most discouraging or dangerous circumstances.
~ From Seeking The Sacred by Stephanie Dowrick ~