Śaranam - God without religion: questioning centuries of accepted truths

Praise for God Without Religion

Packed with stimulating ideas and accessible wisdom, this is a guidebook to worshipping through wondering... Fantastic!

Tim Freke, deep life philosopher and author of The Mystery Experience

God Without Religion transcends dogma, with a commonsense approach that leads the way to inner peace, spiritual solidarity, and the clear understanding that we are all one.

Melissa Etheridge, musician

As never before, the world needs serious and bold reflection on religious belief and practice. God Without Religion asks some difficult questions and advocates a more intelligent and thoughtful approach to the spiritual life. At the same time, it offers positive ways to develop a spiritual viewpoint. Take it on a retreat. Read it slowly, in sections, and become a positive influence toward religious understanding in the world.

Thomas Moore, author of Care of the Soul and Dark Nights of the Soul

It is clear that one of the darkest forces menacing the future of humanity is old-style religion with its outmoded dogma and exclusivist practices. This fine, fierce, wise, and deeply helpful book challenges everyone to find a direct relationship with the divine beyond the confines of the past, and offers rich advice and a bevy of powerful practices that can sustain such a relationship and continue to expand it.

Andrew Harvey, author of The Direct Path and Sun at Midnight

In this day when religions seem to be caught in the stages of mindnumbing dogma, justification of violence, and meaningless ritual that do no more than sanctify greed and secular superiority, ankara aranams book offers hope and relief. You dont have to be Jewish, Christian, or Muslim to see the real message hereGod is part of us all and Western religions may be getting in the way of that realization if they continue on their present paths.

Fred Alan Wolf, PhD, theoretical physicist, author of The Yoga of Time Travel, and a National Book Award winner

All religions, it seems, inevitably give way to the excesses of religious zeal and exclusivity. That is why the contributions of religion have so often been horrific and disastrous, and why every major religion has dirty hands. Currently our world is aflame with religious hatred that shows no sign of abating, and the narrow religious fundamentalisms within our own society are a major part of the problem. Our civilization is at a crossroads. The hour is late and there is no time to tippy-toe around the obvious: we urgently need an alternative link with the divine that bypasses the pitfalls of traditional religion. That is the significance of God Without Religion.

This books bold message is vital. It is a path straight up the mountain that avoids the swamps of religious dithering, divisiveness, and destructiveness. It is a way out of darkness. It affirms the unity of all humans not only with one another, but with all of life and the Absolute. If we are to survive on the earth, heeding this message is not merely optional but required.

Larry Dossey, MD, author of Healing Beyond the Body and Reinventing Medicine

In God Without Religion, ankara aranam charts a brave course for spiritual seekers no longer served by religious doctrine (if indeed they ever were) and eager to create a deep, authentic, meaningful relationship with the sacred methods aranam clearly describes as a direct path to God. This is a courageous, stand-out book for readers ready to part the veil of illusion and see the truth that every religious tradition must periodically and systematically reexamine itself and account for its teachings.

Meredith Jordan, author of Embracing the Mystery

Written with clarity and elegance, [God Without Religion] explores the mysteries of faith and spiritual commitment with sensitivity and wisdom.

Ahrar Ahmad, PhD, professor of political science, Black Hills State University

Twenty-first century humanity has inherited the historical struggle between Dark Age religious fundamentalism, which proclaims the world to be the kingdom of a remote, transcendent, authoritarian God, in opposition to the spiritually awakened views of the secular humanists, who perceive an accessible, immanent, egalitarian God existing within all of creation. In exploring this ideological conflict, ankara aranam has created one of the most extraordinary books of our timea time in which misguided religious zealots have the capacity to decide that the world will be their Gods Kingdom... or nothing. God Without Religion is aranams response, presenting us with a historical perspective on the political underbelly of our organized religions, then drawing science and spirituality together to offer us a new profile of divinityone that casts light on the relationship between human existence and the cosmos, one that extends salvation to us all.

Hank Wesselman, PhD, anthropologist and author of The Spiritwalker Trilogy and The Journey to the Sacred Garden

God Without Religion is a rare book, combining spiritual insight and practice with social criticism and an appreciation of the many contradictions of modern life. I highly recommend this book for anyone seeking to maintain intellectual integrity while simultaneously retaining reverence for the unity of all things.

Jeffrey Mishlove, PhD, President, Intuition Network; author of The PK Man; and former host of Thinking Allowed, a national public television series

The full body-count may not be in, but we can certainly imagine the numbers: the millions upon millions of our species who have been killed in war, hanged, burned at the stake, tortured to death, and otherwise silenced in the name of religion over the centuries. ankara aranams God Without Religion makes the point that we can have a profound and rewarding personal spiritual life without religion, which has been so terribly destructive and which we may have actually outgrown. Unlike other books that tear religion down without offering anything in its place, God Without Religion sets out helpful alternative approaches to personal spirituality. This is an inspiring, positive, wonderful book that emphasizes the truth that we are spiritual beings making a human journey. Reading it will greatly enhance your personal relationship with the creator-energy.

Joseph Dispenza, author of The Way of the Traveler and Live Better Longer

God Without Religion opens a door to spiritual practice that organized religions have closed for centuries. ankara aranam has written a spiritual masterpiece. I highly recommend it to all spiritual seekers.

Rev. Dr. Michael Ellner, President, HEAL (Health Education AIDS Liaison-NYC), coauthor of Quantum Focus, and winner of the IMDHA Pen and Quill Award

The pursuit of a personal connection with God has been the ultimate challenge of seekers throughout the millennia. The Buddhas and Jesus examples teach that we must sometimes turn our backs on the social organizations that at one time may have offered us support in our quest. Nevertheless, leaving the path forged by others before us can be both bewildering and frightening. Like a guide in the wilderness, ankara aranam helps us bridge the gap between organized religion and progressive spirituality, encouraging us to ask our own questions about the nature of God, so that our experience of our own divinity might expand. This work is a breath of fresh air at a time when seekers everywhere are questioning the limits of organized religion.

Hal Zina Bennett, PhD, author of Writing Spiritual Books

Avoiding all kinds of extremism and exclusiveness of the so-called institutionalized religions, ankara