Quid Es Veritas?

While you may have heard of the death of actor, Peter Boyle, I thought I would highlight an interesting and yet disappointing aspect of his life:

The son of a local TV personality in Philadelphia, Boyle was educated in Roman Catholic schools and spent three years in a monastery before abandoning his religious studies. He later described the experience as similar to "living in the Middle Ages."

I would question the authenticity of anyone's discernment if they turned around with a comment like that. I regret that he had such a bad experience, but maybe it was the monastery's fault...

He explained his decision to leave in 1991: "I felt the call for awhile; then I felt the normal pull of the world and the flesh."

Okay, so maybe he preferred hedonism to the religious life. I have a sinking feeling that by "normal" he's not trying to convey universality, as in it is "normal" to feel the pull because we are all subject to original sin. It rather has the tone of acceptability, as though the normal or healthy person pursues the pull of the world and the flesh.

But here's my favorite part. Even though the world and the flesh pulled him away from the religious life, it wasn't as though he lost his desire to pursue truth:

Upon returning to New York, he began to land roles in TV commercials, off-Broadway plays and finally films. Through his wife, a friend of Yoko Ono, the actor became close friends with John Lennon. "We were both seekers after a truth, looking for a quick way to enlightenment," Boyle once said of Lennon, who was best man at his wedding.

Wow. Good for them. I mean, it wasn't like he was going to find truth in a Catholic monastery. Well, at least not the quick way.

For a more compelling and slightly confrontational approach to truth I recommend this.