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Religion vs. Spirituality � What is the difference
It has become quite popular in recent years to distinguish between spirituality and religion.
It�s true that there are valid distinctions between the two, but there are also a number
of problematic distinctions which often and unnecessarily divide the two fields of thought.
One principal problem with attempts to separate religion from spirituality is that the former
is saddled with everything negative while the latter is exalted with everything positive.
It is important to note the fact that many of the negative things which people attribute
to religions are features of some forms of some religions (usually Judaism, Christianity,
and Islam), but not of other religions (like Taoism or Buddhism).
Religion is spiritual and spirituality can also be considered religious.
One tends to be more personal and private while the other tends to incorporate public
rituals and organized doctrines.
The lines between one and the other may often not be clear or distinct depending on the
interpretation.
Consider these definitions:
Religion is an institution established by man for various reasons.
Exert control, instill morality, stroke egos, or whatever it does.
Organized, structured religions all but remove god from the equation.
You confess your sins to a clergy member, go to elaborate churches to worship, told
what to pray and when to pray it.
All those factors remove you from god.
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.
Being spiritual to me is more important and better than being religious.
True spirituality is something that is found deep within oneself.
It is your way of loving, accepting and relating to the world and people around you.
It cannot be found in a church or by believing in a certain way.
Consider the following in favor of the spiritual path:
There is not one religion, but hundreds There is only one type of spirituality
Religion is for those who want to continue rituals and the formality
Spirituality is for those who want to reach the Spiritual Ascent without dogmas
Religion is for those who are asleep Spirituality is for those who are awake
Religion is for those that require guidance from others
Spirituality is for those that lend ears to their inner voice
Religion has a dogmatic and unquestionable assembly of rules that need to be followed
without question Spirituality invites you to reason it all,
to question it all and to decide your actions and assume the consequences
Religion threatens and terrifies Spirituality gives you inner peace
Religion speaks of sin and of fault Spirituality encourages �living in the present�
and not to feel remorse for which has already passed � Lift your spirit and learn from
errors Religion represses humanity, and returns us
to a false paradigm Spirituality transcends it all and makes you
true to yourself Religion is instilled from childhood, like
the soup you do not you want to take Spirituality is the food that you you seek,
that satisfies you and is pleasant to the senses
Religion is not God Spirituality is infinite consciousness and
all that is � It is God Religion invents
Spirituality discovers Religion does not investigate and does not
question Spirituality questions everything
Religion is based on humanity, an organization with rules
Spirituality is DIVINE, WITHOUT rules Religion is cause for division
Spirituality is cause for union Religion seeks you so that you create
Spirituality causes you to seek Religion continues the teachings of a sacred
book Spirituality seeks the sacredness in all the
books Religion is fed fear
Spirituality is fed confidence Religion lives you in your thoughts
Spirituality lives in your conscience Religion is in charge of the �to do�
Spirituality is in charge of the �to BE� Religion is a dialectic
Spirituality is logic Religion feeds the ego
Spirituality makes you transcend Religion makes you renounce yourself to the
world Spirituality makes you live with God, not
to renounce him Religion is adoration
Spirituality is meditation Religion is to continue adapting to the psychology
of a template Spirituality is individuality.
Religion dreams of glory and paradise Spirituality makes you live it here and now
Religion lives in the past and in the future Spirituality lives in the present, in the
here and now Religion lives in the confinement of your
memory Spirituality is LIBERTY in AWARENESS.
Religion believes in the eternal life Spirituality makes you conscious of all that
is Religion gives you promises for the after-life
Spirituality gives you the light to find God in your inner self, in this life, in the present,
in the here and the now� May peace, happiness and universal love continue
growing in your heart.