107 - Expressions of Religious Living

Portals of Perception

What does it mean to live religiously? How do the premises and ways of living religiously evolve to embrace and embody new evolutionary possibility?

How do people register and express perhaps the most intimate feelings a human can experience — the sensing of real connection with universal and divine sources of life?

Portals brought together an international group of friends to hear firsthand how their experience and embodiment of the impulse to live religiously may be evolving. Many moving and profound insights emerge in their conversation with Aviv Shahar, including:

• The religious impulse is a deep longing inside that seeks the highest point of communion we can find; it emanates not from religion, but from a spiritual presence that lives inside the temple of ourselves.
• We no longer need to build cathedrals of stone but seek the cathedral within.
• Every person is different; instead of structured religion, we come together in a shared sentiment as individuals with their own power and self-responsibility that allows freedom to do whatever we need to do.
• We are both human, both man and woman are created in the image of God, which says God has a female side. Whatever comes into the future of religion, it must start from that reality.
• We have these visions of how to lead a religious life: convent, ashram, mountain top. We're now talking about coming back inside us, the journey to where we are in our life.
• We bring with us our religious traditions, the ceremonies and rituals, because they are touchstones to connect us with what we're doing and why, and what gives us meaning.
• Religion can appear through a human being who has value for the planet; there's more intelligence and wisdom that the Great Mother, the great church, offers in abundance.
• A vital role in religious practices is to learn, educate, facilitate and allow the human to be moved and fashioned by dormant systems that will provide needed new intelligence.
• We’re looking for the religion of what works; being prodded to search for something else, something better, is maybe how we make ourselves fit for the different needs of the times we live in.
• I want to be part of a religion that can go anywhere from your heart; when the world can’t offer stability or love, the universe can; the stars have never failed to make me feel part of something reliable.

This conversation is part of the continuing Portals discovery into what is emerging on the frontiers of human experience in this time of profound change. Information about upcoming special events can be found on the Events page. Also visit and subscribe to our YouTube channel.

TWEETABLE QUOTES

“It's not the religion that is important, it is the religious impulse that gives rise to something very fundamental in human life. And the story that we are seeking is the story of the drama of the relationship between the Source and human beings. And it seems to me that the religious impulse, which is a deep place in humans of longing, and belonging, and being part of, is based upon the fact that we are not complete, and therefore we seek completion with something which is outside of ourselves - which keeps us searching and looking for communion.”(Avshalom)

“A human lifespan is pretty short, so I've always had this feeling that I was born into something that's ongoing before me, and it's ongoing beyond me. So, what have I been born into? And can I become a part of what that is? And perhaps, as a next step, can I contribute to whatever that ongoing process is? So, to me, that's the beginning of a religious journey. I think so much of what we're talking about is that it's coming back inside us, where we are in our life, bringing us in closer contact with this whole universe that we're a part of.” (Peter)

RESOURCES MENTIONED

Portals of Perception Website

Aviv’s LinkedIn

Aviv’s Twitter

Aviv’s Website

Expressions of Religious Living