The Mystery of Reality

Book excerpt: This book is life-changing and will challenge your concept of who you are. One of the aims of The Mystery of Reality is to explore the concept of what it means to be a ‘self’. This is a process that is far from straightforward and is paradoxical. When you become aware of the issues that affect the concept of a ‘self,’ you come to realise that life can be lived from two perspectives that may be viewed as authentic or inauthentic.Authentic living can be achieved through a process of faith which may be viewed as a commitment to what is of ultimate concern. This is embryonic within the timeless spiritual reality we call love that seeks expression psychophysically within the context of everyday living in time and space. This enables you to access the courage to be yourself. However, life is complex and reality is such that it is difficult to live permanently from a perspective that is completely authentic.Distinguished authors, such as Richard Dawkins and Sam Harris, have published books in recent years with the specific purpose of promoting atheism and denigrating religious faith as an irrational process. Whilst acknowledging many of the arguments that they make in challenging the concept of a theistic God, this book makes a case for religious faith that is not based on theistic beliefs, does not rely on revealed truth and is consistent with current scientific thinking about the nature of the universe. It is a radical approach which combines the eastern concept of the selflessness of consciousness with the western concept of faith as ultimate concern. The Mystery of Reality seeks to establish a rational foundation for religious faith that makes it intelligible to people living in the twenty-first century. It addresses issues which are of fundamental importance to our happiness and the way life is lived.