I've recently been leaning toward the teachings of the Buddha - not in a religious context, being that this was not his original intent. My wife and I did a 10 day silent retreat where we learned to do vipassana; the type of meditation that the Buddha did in order to reach enlightenment.

What I found most interesting was how the teacher taught us to forget about the traditions, rituals and nonsense of all religions and focus on the science of observing the sensations on the body while not reacting.

After many sometimes agonizing hours of this introspection, some amazing things begin to happen. For one, you begin to realize on a fundamental level that everything is impermanent. Most notable pain and fear. You also learn that fear can always be broken down to lack of understanding.

The sheer act of observing the sensations of things like fear and pain without reaction eventually causes them to subside. Over the course of a lot of time meditating, you one by one eliminate the attributes that enslave you, such as cravings and aversions.

What you are left with is pure love and understanding with profound wisdom. Well, I hope to attain that someday but still have a long way to go!