Interestingly I am most attracted to that religion which actually
calls on you to renounce your faith. The 'aim' of Buddhism is to awaken to the reality of things by slowly, patiently cutting through the layers of delusion, greed and hatred that stop us from seeing things as they are. In the Buddha's own teaching 'Buddhism' is simply a kind of boat that allows us to cross over to the other side of the river. Once there, you really don't need that boat anymore...
Now, with a non-dualistic view of things faith and truth should be one and the same; if they are not, then of course one should renounce one's faith - and as quickly as possible! I found it refreshing to hear the Dalai Lama, when asked what he would do if any aspect of his faith were
proven to be scientifically in error, say that he would, of course change his faith. As they say in Zen "if you meet the Buddha on the road, kill him!"
All religions ask us in various ways to see beyond our limited egos. Perhaps the last step for many of us - the last space in which our individual ego holds out the longest - is our religious conviction. For many of us it might be the most painful of all 'little deaths' that we are called on to make...
In Zen the tantalising image is held out of a fully awakened master, who is now no longer interested in meditation or enlightenment or 'religion', but simply has a clear eyed view of how things actually are.
As Daisetz Suzuki once expressed it, "Before Zen, men are men and mountains are mountains; during Zen study things become confused; after enlightenment men are men and mountains are mountains, only one's feet are a little off the ground."
