Living Rightly
On this Earth, which we now know does not rest on the back of a great turtle, we desperately need to understand it as it actually is and respond appropriately. Science is the dim flashlight we use to look about, but it is altogether preferable to our ideological imaginings that distract us while we huddle in the long dark night of the believing mind however vivid and magnificent the dreamland imagery may be.
Science helps us to think rightly about Earth, our near reality. But how shall we feel about it? Our thoughts about the world affect our feelings but are not the primary source. Religion tells us nothing about how to think about Nature. Religion is mindful awareness and insight into what is immediately about us prior to thought reacting, naming, analyzing, or framing. Religion, very much of this world, also informs our feelings, and far more directly.
Seeing the suffering of another, we can feel and think accordingly. Right action depends on both. This is xin, heart and mind connecting us directly with reality. If we look only through the thought-mind, compassion may be lost. The turtle crossing the road gets run over by the truck. We may fail to love that well which we will leave err long. So awaken the heart-mind and live rightly.
Humans are social animals. What you do alone on a mountain top has little significance, however illuminated you may be, as glowing in the dark is trivial. Even if a billion people wanted to live alone on mountain tops, because their guru/priests said to, there are too few mountain tops. How to live in relationship, relationship with one another and with the world about us, is alone to die for.