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!!!
