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I think it matters almost infinitely that we practice one of the authentic religions. But if you mean does it make any difference which. The answer is no, as long as each is followed with equal intensity, sincerity, dedication.

Huston Smith

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Huston Smith
Age: 97 †
Born: 1919
Born: May 31
Died: 2016
Died: December 30
Philosopher
Professor
Soochow
Huston Cummings Smith
Make
Answers
Sincerity
Think
Differences
Followed
Thinking
Almost
Religions
Practice
Intensity
Doe
Matters
Matter
Answer
Infinitely
Mean
Equal
Dedication
Long
Difference
Authentic

More quotes by Huston Smith

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...the single destination of sanctity could admit of so many different avenues leading to it.
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...the only thing that continues is the consequences of our action.
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Imagine a man besottedly in love: he won't waste time speculating whether other women equally merit his affection.
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We become compassionate not from altruism which denies the self for the sake of the other, but from the insight that sees and feels one is the other.
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Walnuts have a shell, and they have a kernel. Religions are the same. They have an essence, but then they have a protective coating. This is not the only way to put it. But it's my way. So the kernels are the same. However, the shells are different.
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At the center of the religious life is a peculiar kind of joy, the prospect of a happy ending that blossoms from necessarily painful ordeals, the promise of human difficulties embraced and overcome.
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When there are miles to go before we sleep, altered traits are more important than altered states.
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In order to live man must believe in that for which he lives.
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God has to speak to each person in their own language, in their own idioms. Take Spanish, Chinese. You can express the same thought, but to different people you have to use a different language. Its the same in religion.
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Not only is the destiny of the individual bound up with the entire Church it is responsible for helping to sanctify the entire world of nature and history.
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...like a magnetic compass turning north, I always tried to head in the direction of the better, which is the direction to God. ...the directions that appeared to lead away from Christianity led me deeper into it.
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I've spent the last 50 years or so steeping myself in the world's religions, and I've done my homework. I've gone to each of the world's eight great religions and sought out the most profound scholars I could find, and I've apprenticed myself to them and actually practiced each faith.
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Most of the book deals with things we already know yet never learn.
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The goal of spiritual life is not altered states, but altered traits
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Institutions are not pretty. Show me a pretty government. Healing is wonderful, but the American Medical Association? Learning is wonderful, but universities? The same is true for religion... religion is institutionalized spirituality.
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The object of pilgrimage is not rest and recreation – to get away from it all. To set out on a pilgrimage is to throw down a challenge to everyday life.
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Science can prove nothing about God, because God lies outside its province.
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If human life is to survive on this planet, the old dualistic worldview, with people on one side and the environment on the other, must yield to a new vision that connects us with everything else and leads us to care for and take responsibility for it.
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God enters our lives when through our creative interchanges we make history more just.
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Swami Ashokananda was a brilliant and accomplished spiritual teacher in the West.
Huston Smith