One central concern of "Homo religiosus" is the self in its connections to the universe as a whole. Even though n:ligion in om time is quite commonly understood in tenns of a personal relationship...

One central concern of "Homo religiosus" is the self in its connections to the universe as a whole. Even though n:ligion in om time is quite commonly understood in tenns of a personal relationship with God, Am1srrong emphasizes the i.rnpmtance of what the ancient Greeks called eksrasis, a "stepping outside the norm," and ke11osis, the "emptying" of che self 111 what way does self-emptying connect the individual with the "sacred energy" of rT1e universe? How might the experience of"nothingness" make people more aJjv� and creative? What gets lost, in Armstrong's view. when we imagine the "ultimate reality" as a "Supreme Being"?