Verbalized

I went to the neighborhood spiritual second-hand bookstore and bought a psuedo-scientific book about the benefits of meditation; it's called The Relaxation Response by Herbert Benson. My friend F recommended it. Now it's on the shelf along with some other books I intend to read. It was only $3.00. The bookstore owner there is from Nigeria. His name is Abraham. He's an interesting fellow who really knows a lot about spiritual affairs. After I bought the book, we talked for a few minutes. He told me that all religions "failed" in some way. He declared that one didn't need "salvation" from anything, like from "sin" as in Christianity, or like from "suffering" as in Buddhism. I asked him if he believed in an Immortal Soul, something that Buddhism does not acknowledge because Buddhists believe we are a never-ending "stream of consciousness," not really a soul. He said he believed in an Immortal Soul. Then he said that there is only One Truth and that it cannot be verbalized; it must be experienced. That's an interesting perspective indeed. It got me thinking on my way home... Today is the 20th of October of 2002.