Difference Between Religious and Spiritual
74People really want to understand the difference between religious and spiritual.Spirituality is something internal.Religion is something external.
When you start probing into yourself about the meaning of your life, who you are? and why do you live this life?, you have started feeling spritual.Self awareness is the first step towards sprituality.Being aware of yourself and your karma is a wonderful experience to have in your life.Once you understand your karma, your soul will continue it's journey in a peaceful way without any tensions.Life is journey and not a destination to reach.If you take it as journey, you can enjoy the wonders and beauty of life along the journey.If you take it as a destination, you will be always chasing something and this will never end.
Religion is nothing but a set of structured systems and theories which induce the thinking of sprituality. It helps you to find the right questions to ask about yourself and find the appropriate answers about yourself.The difference between religion and spirituality is simply that most religions offer a specific set of beliefs and structures to help people to attune to their innate spirituality.The difference between religion and spirituality is in form only, for the true essence of all spiritual and religious practices is God.
For being spritual, you dont necessarily need to attach yourself with a religion.When you find it difficult to attain the self awareness by yourself, the religious lectures by the Guru's can help you to do this.They are just serving the role of sprituality boosters.Most of us want to be wiser, more compassionate, more aware, and have more meaningful lives. Religions try to address these desires.You can do this by yourself or by attaching to a religion.It depends upon the individual.
If you are spritual person, you can see the truth in all religions. This is the reason that the some christian people are travelling to countries like India to explore the truth and concepts in the religions like Hindu religion which is the old and popular religion in India.If you are spritual minded, you can enjoy all the good concepts provided by all religions in this world.All are different paths to the same goal.All religions stem from the same source.
It is better to be spritual and see the divine light from all angels rather than attaching to a single religion and be narrowly focussed.Universe is based on the wholeness concept.It is a like a single flower of God.All religions are just petals in this single flower.You can enjoy the freshness of the whole flower instead of just smelling one petal.
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Comments
I like how A Course In Miracles says it is just one of many paths that all lead to the same place, and that the course is "required" - only the time we take to go through the course is optional. Those ideas really highlight the spiritual aspects of our journey.
I've come to think of religion as being any set of ideas that we adopt from others as truth, whereas spirituality are the truths we learn through experience (internal or external)
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If only religion were as simple as you say. I agree that all religions lead to some understanding of the divine essence. Indeed all true prophets are but a starting point on a spiritual journey. Yet, gurus and priests are the snares that trap you. Persons like Buddha, Jesus, and Muhammad were a portal to the realisation of the divine essence. There were many before them like Idris a druidic prophet. But beware, the journey is really your own and not through the institutions of churches and temples.
If a religion has buildings and a hierarchy it has a tempting need to deceive and proselytise. They have to maintain their structure and pay their staff. They are tempted to threaten those that waver, and make up doctrine to answer awkward questions. Over centuries the beliefs of the founder are entirely lost, overlain by lies. They become false religions mainly because most adherents are too lazy to study their founder. Christianity is the perfect example. A Jewish reforming rabbi sets out to include those whom the religious authorities of his time regarded many imperfect and sinful because of their affliction or behaviour. His brother James takes over and an interloper and known enemy of Jesus, spreads the faith to isolated wavering communities across the Roman Empire. He needs concessions to attract wavers bad into the fold. Paul tries to relax circumcision rules. He is rebuffed and carries on regardless with his heresy. The Romans expel the Jews and the two communities are isolated. Those under Paul steeped in Greek religion move away and liberalise the new Christian faith. At first they believed on one god and then three as was the indo-European custom. They believe that by sacrificing their lives physically, they can achieve the immortality of Jesus. The longer the process goes on the more they deviate from Jesus and make him a god from their superstition. They convince them selves that Jesus’ last Passover supper has some ceremonial importance. Then come Constantine a murdering Roman Emperor. He raises the new faith to equal status to the Roman religion and regularises Christian beliefs. Many Christians dissent. Theodosius become emperor and suppresses the old faith and dissenting Christians. Christianity loses all contact with Jesus’ faith and goes on a splurge of new innovative beliefs including original sin.
This brief example is a warning to anyone to be cautious about false religion. The human mind is so subtle and ingenious that it can persuade billions of people worldwide to be convinced that they all belong to the true faith despite their differences. Christians are convinced they should convert the Americo-Indians with the sword, Islamic political extremists believe that dreams tell them to blow themselves up, Hindus raid untouchable villages and massacre the inhabitants, Buddhist place poisonous bombs on trains and the list goes on even today.
Faith is in your heart and nowhere else.
I think the fundamental difference between being religious and spiritual is this: Religion is about the externals, and being spiritual is a truer picture of the self, one that has been recreated in the image of Jesus Christ. I am religious about alot of things: the way, I eat, shower, brush my teeth, dress, relate to telemarketers, etc., these things are not neceassrily bad, right or wrong. They are just the routine ways I do things. Religiousity then is the routine ways we practice our faith. This certainly can be detrimental to our health. I think this is what happens to a large number of our congregants. Sunday, and Wednesday each have their own set of religious routines that we follow. I think in large part this mechanical way we go about church helps to keep people away. Outsiders want a Jesus they can see, touch, smell, and talk to, not one crafted to fit our idealistic, individualistic American oriented image of a Savior who dresses in red, white and blue and drivers a hummer. I think religion exalts tradition over the Word, and in some cases, religion is a bad thing for everyone involved. I will go one further and say that religion doesn’t have room for new expressions of faith, and certainly doesn’t have time for questions that challenge the status quo. I think we needn’t be afraid of practing what it means to be spiritual. I see here the difference, between authenticity and churchanity. To me being spiritual is living out our lives as recreated beings, remade in the image of Christ.
Religions divide people, spirituality may unite people.
I consider myself to be more spiritual than religious. I think that each of us can learn something valuable from different paths to the Divine because, in the end, they all lead to the same place anyway.
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Great Hub, thanks.
vrajavala says:
12 months ago
"No one comes to the Father except through Me". teaching of Jesus. The Hindu sampradaya also teaches "das dasa nudas." the servant of the servant of Krsna is His dear one. We can not approach God, Krsna, Vishnu directly, but only through the servant of His servant. Otherwise, a spirituality established without a lineage, risks becoming "impersonal", and does not achieve any real results. It is simply arrogance and God Krsna reserves His darshan to the huble servants of His servants.