Religions are metaphorical systems that give us bigger containers in which to hold our lives. A spiritual life allows us to move beyond the ego into something more universal. Religious experience carries us outside of clock time into eternal time. We open ourselves into something more complete and beautiful. This bigger vista is perhaps the most magnificent aspect of a religious experience. . . . Religion can give us skills for climbing up onto a ledge above our suffering and looking down at it with a kind and open mind. (p176)
from Seeking Peace: Chronicles of the Worst Buddhist in the World