Religion and Reality (The Perfect Knowledge Series)

"Religion is 'cult' ". Adi Da Samraj once opened an essay with this provocative statement. By definition, He went on to explain, religion is a sacralized system of philosophical and practical observances within the domain of time and space. Because it necessarily consists of defined beliefs and rituals, dependent on the existence of the concrete world in which it appears, he points out the self-evident fact that no religion can ever, in and of itself, be equal to Truth or Reality. Reality Itself is always senior to the cults of humankind. So what is the right and true relationship between religion and Reality? "Religion and Reality" presents Adi Da's answer to that question. In some ways, to most deeply receive the communication in this book is to be loosed from centuries of misunderstanding and to find the freedom to consider the real purpose of the world and the nature of Real God as Reality Itself. Who would not be interested in such a proposal? Adi Da Samraj: "True religion is not about the 'me' -person who participates in religion. Rather, true religion is about the Divine with Which any individual is re-associating, or re-uniting. True religion is, ultimately, about discovering Oneness with the Divine Self-Condition to be Always Already the Case." "The writings of Adi Da Samraj are the most doctrinally thorough, the most philosophically sophisticated, the most culturally challenging, and the most creatively original literature on radical nonduality currently available in the English language". Jeffrey J. Kripal, J. Newton Rayzor Professor of Religious Studies, Rice University;Author, Kali s Child: The Mystical and the Erotic in the Life and Teachings of Ramakrishna