God without Religion: Questioning Centuries of Accepted Truths - Hardcover

Religion never satisfied me, and often infuriated me. Though I was raised to be a Jew, I thought of myself first and foremost as a human being and never viewed myself as wiser, luckier, or happier because my parents were Jewish or I adhered to the accepted truths of their religious tradition. To my mind, I would be progressing spiritually only by understanding what was universally right and natural in life and how to live accordingly.

After years of attending Hebrew school, I rebelled against the dogma I was taught there. In college I focused on subjects requiring the use of logic that appealed to my scientific mind. However, I eventually found that while the material sciences could answer some questions concerning how the world worked, they could not prescribe an ethical way to live.

Searching further, I investigated mystical techniques. I began practicing sophisticated methods of sense introversion. I implemented an inner science to address the concerns unresolved by my studies. Over the next decade, I came to realize God as a spiritually expansive substance extending throughout the cosmos—a much more universal presence than that proposed by many organized religions. God, I found, was everything, and being godlike meant identifying with, and not merely tolerating, more and more people. Understanding that the idea of God signified absolute unity, I concluded that anyone advocating unquestioning loyalty to a restrictive group such as a faith, ethnicity, or nation was in fact promoting the fall of humanity by advancing its division....

"The genuine seeker must utilize both the critical mind and the generous heart. God Without Religion honors both." —John J. McGraw Author of Brain & Belief

"A provocative challenge . . . to the smug assertions of those who would claim to know the truth." —Robert S. Alley Professor of Humanities, Emeritus University of Richmond

"This practical as well as theoretical volume encourages people to have direct, firsthand experience of the divine, unmediated by the trappings of organized religion." —Mary E. Hunt, PhD Codirector of WATER (Women’s Alliance for Theology, Ethics and Ritual)

"Extraordinary, elegant, beautiful, informed, practical. . . . It is good medicine in a troubled world." —David Carson Coauthor of Medicine Cards

"God Without Religion offers, through exquisite prose and profound substance, a way out of religious shackles and abuse — a direct path to God." —Alon Ben-Meir, PhD Professor of International Relations The Center for Global Affairs, New York University

"This thoughtful and insightful book will help increase the spiritual literacy that is a necessary part of our true higher education. . . . I heartily recommend it." —Lama Surya Das Author of Awakening the Buddha Within and founder of the Dzogchen Meditation Center

"A treasure, a pearl of great price . . . a worthy companion on anyone’s path." —Robert Ransom Odom Internationally published author, columnist, and spiritual teacher

"An inspiring, positive, wonderful book . . ." —Joseph Dispenza Author of The Way of the Traveler and Live Better Longer

"A breath of fresh air . . ." —Hal Zina Bennett, PhD Author of Writing Spiritual Books