“Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction.” - Blaise Pascal.
or too much booze!..sorry flexi couldn’t resist it
The word religion comes from religio - restoring the lost connection. That is why religion is a personal matter - your lost connection.
A pity that Monsieur Pascal didn’t live four centuries more to see the evil others actually are doing in the name of “democracy” and “freedom”…
He would change his mind, no doubt.
[QUOTE=panoramix;66895]A pity that Monsieur Pascal didn’t live four centuries more to see the evil others actually are doing in the name of “democracy” and “freedom”…
He would change his mind, no doubt.[/QUOTE]
Perhaps politics have become this generation’s religion.
[QUOTE=diane21;67299]The word religion comes from religio - restoring the lost connection. That is why religion is a personal matter - your lost connection.[/QUOTE]
Repetition is the mother of knowledge. 
Watch your thoughts; they become words. Watch your words; they become actions.
Watch your actions; they become habits.
Watch your habits; they become character.
Watch your character; for it becomes your destiny
[QUOTE=aashton;77355]Watch your thoughts; they become words. Watch your words; they become actions.
Watch your actions; they become habits.
Watch your habits; they become character.
Watch your character; for it becomes your destiny[/QUOTE]
One of the favorite quotes from Swami Shivananda.
[QUOTE=yogam;77357]One of the favorite quotes from Swami Shivananda.[/QUOTE]
Yes it is.
Dharma (religion) is “dispositions”. They are inherited or inbibed or inculcated or instructed. All are subject to change with difference of degrees. The inherited are “pre-dispositions” that we can alter with what we imbibe from role-models or inculcate from experiential learning. Instructions are forced and one is brain-washed.
As dispositions they are deep-rooted. Behavior is only their manifestation. That religion is unalterable is the handiwork of religion’s custodians with agenda. But we create our own fence as well.
Spiritual path is in this sense a process of recognizing one’s adopted religion, then realizing the true religion and getting enlightened why finally, all religions need to be given up.