Difference between Religion and Spirituality?

The Oxford Dictionary defines Religion as “the belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a personal God or Gods”

The Oxford Dictionary defines Spirituality as “the quality of being concerned with the human spirit or soul as opposed to material or physical things”.

Telling people, you are spiritual but not religious is often greeted with a confused face. People tend to think of spirituality as something very strange and mysterious.

Religion describes the social, the public, and the organized means by which people relate the sacred and the divine while Spirituality describes such relations when they occur in private, personally, and even in ways.

Spirituality is perhaps the most natural thing. It is simply our own conscious self-recognizing that we are more than just a body, that we are a soul with infinite potential.

Religion and Spirituality are intertwined but quite different. Religion and Spirituality are not at odds with each other and have areas of historic and doctrinal overlap.

Religion is Spiritual and Spirituality is Religious.

Every Religion came by Spirituality, by the journey through which one person became God. Spirituality is a form of Religion, but a private and personal form of Religion. Thus, the valid distinction is between Spirituality and Organized Religion.

Religion implies participation in a communal practice and interpretation of divine belief and worship whereas Spirituality gives the individual autonomy over his or her interpretation of the soul or spirit.

Religion requires membership and embodies practices and beliefs shaped over the course of history. 

Spirituality is a personal self-journey that connects one with a deeper meaning, without the clearer and more rigid boundaries of institutional religion.

Spirituality is born in a person and develops in the person. It may be kick started by a religion, or it may be kick started by a revelation. Spirituality extends to all facets of a person’s life.

Spirituality is chosen while Religion is often times forced or imposed.

Being Spiritual to me is more important and better than being Religious. Religion can be anything that the person practicing it desires.

Spirituality, on the other hand, is defined by God, is a manifestation of His nature.

Since Religion is man defined, Religion is a manifestation of the flesh.

·       Religion brings in Fear, whereas, Spirituality is based on Love and helps us to be Brave

Religion tells you what to fear and tells you consequences.

Dotted throughout religion there is lots of fear. Fear of the consequences of your actions, fear of what might happen after you die if you don’t live your life accordingly.

Spirituality makes you aware of the consequences but doesn’t want you to focus on the fear. It shows you How to Stand Despite Being Afraid, how to move on doing what you feel it’s right despite the consequences that may come. It shows you how to act on love and not on fear, it shows you how to control fear and use the best of it.

It truly sets you free to be the best you can be and to be a good person with no promise of punishment or reward. The reward is simply your own inner happiness.

Well, with spirituality there is only Love, it encourages you to focus all of your energy only on the good, and to act only based on love.

This is a key point for me as any choice made out of fear will not be good for your soul. Whereas decisions made out of love will empower you, make you braver and feed your soul.

·       Religion Makes You to Follow, whereas, Spirituality Sets You Free

Religion tells you to follow an ideology and obey certain rules or you’ll be punished otherwise. Spirituality lets you Follow Your Heart and What You Feel It’s Right. It sets you free to be what you truly are without bowing to anything that doesn’t resonate as right with you nor to anyone because we are all one. It is all up to you to choose what you’ll honor enough to make it divine.

There are no rules to Spirituality. As opposed to following a specific ideology or a set of rules spirituality simply lets you follow your heart, it encourages you to listen to your intuition and do what is right for yourself and others around you.

·       Religion Tells us the Truth, whereas, Spirituality Lets us Discover the Truth

Religion tells you what to believe and what is right. Spirituality lets you discover it by yourself and understand it in your own unique way. It lets you Connect with Your Higher Self and see with your own mind what truth is, because the truth as a whole is same for each one of us. It lets you believe in your own truth through your own perception of your heart.

As opposed to telling you in black and white how the universe was created and why we are here, Spirituality lets you discover these questions and answers for yourself.

It empowers you to find your own truth in all things and sets no limits to how deep you can go in understanding all there is to know.

·       Religion Separates from Other Religions, whereas, Spirituality Unites Them

Through our world there are many religions and they all preach that their story is the right story.

Spirituality sees the truth in all of them and unites them because the truth is same for all of us despite our differences and uniqueness. It focuses on the quality of the divine message they share and not on the differences in details of the story they speak.

·       Religion makes us Dependent, whereas, Spirituality makes us Independent

If you attend religious events only then you are seen as a religious person and someone who is worthy of happiness. Spirituality shows you that you don’t need or depend on anything to be happy.

Happiness is always found deep in ourselves and only we are responsible for it. We are always where we need to be and not just while attending at some events or buildings. Divinity is in us and that is why we are always worthy.

·       Religion talks about Punishment, whereas, Spirituality Applies Karma

Religion says that if we don’t obey certain rules there is punishment that awaits us which relies on our belief.

Spirituality lets us understand that every action has its reaction and realize that the punishment of our actions will be the reaction coming from the actions we set in motion. It relies solely on the fundamental forces of The Universe and it doesn’t need you to believe in that force to be true.

Instead of talking about punishment or the threat of hell, Spirituality only talks about Karma.

It’s the Law of Attraction — you get what you give. Simple.

·       Religion makes us follow Other’s Journey, whereas, Spirituality lets us create our Own Journey

The foundation of one religion is the story it tells about a God or Gods, their journey to enlightenment and the truth they have discovered making you follow their steps. Spirituality lets you Walk Your Own Journey to Enlightenment and discover the truth in your own way following what your heart tells it’s right because the truth is always the same no matter how you get to it.

Instead of ancient stories about angels and Gods, spirituality encourages you to make your own path and create your own stories. This sets you on a journey of enlightenment and self-discovery to which the only limits can be set by yourself.

It encourages you to trust your heart and follow it wherever it may lead you.

Identify your “Purpose of Life” and choose your preferred path of Religion or Spirituality!!!