Definition

Religion: By definition, religion is a personal set or institutionalized system of religious attitudes, beliefs, and practices; the service and worship of God or the supernatural.

Spirituality: Spirituality, on the other hand, connotes an experience of connection to something larger than you; living everyday life in a reverent and sacred manner. Or as Christina Puchalski, MD (leader in trying to incorporate spirituality into healthcare), puts it, “Spirituality is the aspect of humanity that refers to the way individuals seek and express meaning and purpose and the way they experience their connectedness to the moment, to self, to others, to nature, and to the significant or sacred.”

Origins of Religions and Spirituality
Religion: Religions are most often based upon the lives, teachings, and beliefs of a historical or archetypal figure (e.g.,

Christ, Buddha, Moses, Krishna, Muhammad). The details of their lives as holy or highly evolved beings have been carried to us across the mists of time through oral tradition and written scriptures. These figures are the subject of worship and devotion and form the foundation of religious practices and rituals in a community.

Spirituality: By contrast, spirituality is more often based upon the practical application of the founder’s teachings. Spiritual aspirants heed the advice of Japanese poet Matsuo Basho, “Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the wise. Seek what they sought.”

Objective vs. Subjective Experience
Religion: On the whole, a formal religion is often an objective experience. In other words, there is usually a greater focus on the externals:

Houses of worship (e.g., a church)
Books of scripture
Eternal rituals
Observances
This is the equivalent of object-referral in which your attention is placed upon the objects in your experience.

Spirituality: Spirituality, however, leans more toward self-referral or the internalization of your awareness of your soul. Spirituality is an inward journey that involves a shift in awareness rather than some form of external activity. As such, spirituality is much more about inner understanding than outer worship. This is not to say that worship is not a part of spirituality; it’s a matter of where the devotion and worship are directed:

To an external practice, object, or figurehead
To your soul, higher self, or divinity within

Organized vs. Formless
Religion: One of the hallmarks of religion is its organization. It is a structured, frequently rule-based construct that to some degree governs the behavior of its members. Moral rules, laws, and doctrines, as well as specific codes and criteria, create the organized structure that contains the religion’s specific belief system. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. In previous, more uncertain times, the rules and dogma of organized religion helped to give society a sense of certainty and helped to guide and comfort those whose faith was lacking.

Spirituality: Spirituality though, breaks free from the restrictions and rigid structure sometimes associated with traditional religion. The spiritual aspirant recognizes that he or she is on a “pathless path” of self-discovery. They are following not a set of external rules, but their own inner call to spirit. In this way, spirituality can sometimes feel like a rebellious act of going solo and leaving the tribe, very much in the spirit of American philosopher and poet Ralph Waldo Emerson when he said, “To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.”

Traditional vs. Evolutionary Approach
Religion: Due to their centuries- to millennia-old histories, religions are by nature often deeply rooted in tradition, ritual, creed, and doctrine. Religious institutions conservatively guard their practices and values, holding rigidly to the past and the original interpretations of the founder’s teachings. This is understandable in that all religions wish to preserve the essence of their teachings so they may be accurately transmitted through history.

Spirituality: By comparison, spirituality is often less focused on the rigidly traditional approach and often favors an evolutionary mentality. This refers to both a more flexible and adaptive mindset toward core teachings of the great wisdom traditions but also reflects the understanding that, as the name implies, spiritual growth is an evolutionary process. Spirituality embraces change and the evolution of consciousness. With spiritual practice, ideas and interpretations change as individuals, societies, and the world move forward.

Exclusive vs. Inclusive
Religion: Traditional religious beliefs, sometimes based upon rigid interpretations of key teachings, can create an exclusive worldview that isolates those who may not share their views or interpretations. Sadly, this religious “in-group” mentality can be used to justify the exclusion of minorities or those deemed unworthy of God’s favor.

Spirituality: Spirituality makes no such distinctions. Instead, it favors an inclusive approach. In the recognition that pure spirit is a unifying force, no one is left out. You are part of the universal hologram, all gods and goddesses in disguise. As Krishna explains in the Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 4, verse 11: “As men approach me, so I receive them. All paths Arjuna, lead to me.”

In other words, from a spiritual perspective, no one has a monopoly on the truth. All are welcome in God’s eyes.

Belief vs. Spiritual Experience
Religion: At its core, religion is about faith. That is to say, belief in something based upon unconditional acceptance of the religion’s teachings. Unlike the scientific worldview, religions don’t require evidence to validate their claims. Through religion, you are taught to have faith in God or the scriptures as being the infallible and ultimate truth of reality. Acceptance and surrender to the divine are taught as the path that leads to ultimate salvation.

Spirituality: Spirituality doesn’t dismiss faith; however, it often leans more heavily on direct experience of the soul or divinity. Spiritual practices such as meditation, yoga, silence, and contemplation allow you to make conscious contact with more expanded states of consciousness, thus helping to experientially validate the teachings rather than accepting them on faith alone. You know something because you have tasted the experience yourself and have allowed it to resonate, as opposed to taking the word of another.

Fear vs. Love
Religion: Despite the best of intentions, religions can sometimes contain a subtle (or not so subtle) undercurrent of fear woven into their teachings. The concepts of original sin, divine judgement, God’s wrath, or eternal punishment can create a mental environment burdened in worry and anxiety over your worthiness and whether your actions will result in divine retribution or karmic punishment. Your fate in the afterlife can loom like a specter in the back of your mind, subtly influencing your thoughts and behavior.

Spirituality: By contrast, spirituality typically discards the vestiges of fear and worry in favor of a more loving, compassionate approach to life—and death. Spirituality embraces a consciousness-based worldview that supports all human beings on their path to awakening in unconditional love and kindness. Your choices and behavior are guided not by fear of punishment, but rather by a desire to end suffering and create a peaceful and loving world for all.

As you can see, there are noticeable distinctions between spirituality vs. religion; however, these comparisons aren’t meant to be absolutes or an attempt to polarize one against the other. Religious beliefs and spiritual beliefs differ in the ways in which they are practiced. However, each practice serves as a vehicle to lead you closer to the truth you seek. Whichever path or combination of the two you follow is the personal and subjective expression of your journey of awakening.

tobechi74:
Definition
Religion: By definition, religion is a personal set or institutionalized system of religious attitudes, beliefs, and practices; the service and worship of God or the supernatural.

Spirituality: Spirituality, on the other hand, connotes an experience of connection to something larger than you; living everyday life in a reverent and sacred manner. Or as Christina Puchalski, MD (leader in trying to incorporate spirituality into healthcare), puts it, “Spirituality is the aspect of humanity that refers to the way individuals seek and express meaning and purpose and the way they experience their connectedness to the moment, to self, to others, to nature, and to the significant or sacred.”

Both amount to filthy rags in the end .... Remember, all good we do, that is not in direct obedience to God's commandment, is all filthy rags at the end of the day, and I have seen this over and over and over again.
What Isaiah the prophet said, is indeed true. Man's take on goodness, be it borne of religion, or some form of spirituality, is nothing but filthy rags when compared to God's commands to us.

Isaiah 64 vs 4-19 (ERV)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3. But you have done awesome things that we did not expect. You came down, and mountains shook in fear before you.
4. No one has ever heard of such a God. No one has ever heard such a story. No one has ever seen any God except you, who does such great things for those who trust him.
5. You welcome people who enjoy doing good and who remember you by living the way you want them to. But we sinned against you, and you became angry with us.[a] But you always saved us!
6. We are all dirty with sin. Even our good works are not pure. They are like bloodstained rags. We are all like dead leaves. Our sins have carried us away like wind.
7. We don’t call to you for help. We aren’t excited about following you, so you have turned away from us. We are helpless before you, because we are full of sin.
8. But, Lord, you are our father. We are like clay, and you are the potter. Your hands made us all.
9. Lord, don’t continue to be angry with us! Don’t remember our sins forever! Please, look at us! We are all your people.

Kobojunkie:
B[s]oth amount to filthy rags in the end .... Remember, all good we do, that is not in direct obedience to God's commandment, is all filthy rags at the end of the day, and I have seen this over and over and over again.
What Isaiah the prophet said, is indeed true. Man's take on goodness, be it borne of religion, or some form of spirituality, is nothing but filthy rags when compared to God's commands to us.

Isaiah 64 vs 4-19 (ERV)
3. But you have done awesome things that we did not expect. You came down, and mountains shook in fear before you.
4. No one has ever heard of such a God. No one has ever heard such a story. No one has ever seen any God except you, who does such great things for those who trust him.
5. You welcome people who enjoy doing good and who remember you by living the way you want them to. But we sinned against you, and you became angry with us.[a] But you always saved us!
6. We are all dirty with sin. Even our good works are not pure. They are like bloodstained rags. We are all like dead leaves. Our sins have carried us away like wind.
7. We don’t call to you for help. We aren’t excited about following you, so you have turned away from us. We are helpless before you, because we are full of sin.
8. But, Lord, you are our father. We are like clay, and you are the potter. Your hands made us all.
9. Lord, don’t continue to be angry with us! Don’t remember our sins forever! Please, look at us! We are all your people.[/s]

[img]https://s6/images/orijinbitters.jpg[/img]
Wow, wow, wow. Word after word. Gbam. Gbamer. Gbamest

Somebody please pass this my guy/gal, tobechi74 on fire, this chilled bottle of orijin for these eight top-notch posts. Plus send him/her a truckload of kolanuts as well and after that, consider him/her sharp sharp, next governor in waiting of his/her state of origin.

Oinn, you right on point, in a fantabulous way, did well on all accounts. Wehdone Sir/Ma'am! Please drink responsibly though.

RELIGION IS A WAY OF ALWAYS ENDEAVOURING TO RELATE TO LEGENDS ( SPIRITS) FOR ALL CREATIONS.

SPIRITUALITY IS PNEUMATOLOGY, THE STUDY OF THE WHAT, WHO, WHERE AND WHEN IS RELIGION. THE BOOK OF JOHN 3:13 IS THE SPIRIT TALK OF THE SON OF MAN.

It's Fear vs Worry.

And it's Love vs Charities

Like i often love to say...
Truth is bitter, it can set u free, but first, it (truth) will make u misserable in ur quest to find it (truth), but when u have found out the truth, it will emmancipate u from mental or religious slavery, because u'd hv found out that God is not cagged by religion, but that GOD is everything and everything is GOD.
Religion is just a mere system of believe or organized way of life as instituted by the founder.
However, spirituality is more profound, becos it is the driving force behind ak religion and even "MERE BELIEVE" (out of religion) e.g philosophy, animism and even atheistic believe, and thats why even the none religious folks prosper too. There is a spirit world around us, these unseen forces can do nothing without the power of our minds (especially when we continuosly stick to a belive).
Anyway i think i shouldn't go beyond these for now, but it is better to thred d spiritual path first before going into religious arguments
blindly.


Apostle Paul Eshiet
08142304453

orisa37:
It's Fear vs Worry.

Fear vs love

apstpaulg:
Like i often love to say...
Truth is bitter, it can set u free, but first, it (truth) will make u misserable in ur quest to find it (truth), but when u have found out the truth, it will emmancipate u from mental or religious slavery, because u'd hv found out that God is not cagged by religion, but that GOD is everything and everything is GOD.
Religion is just a mere system of believe or organized way of life as instituted by the founder.
However, spirituality is more profound, becos it is the driving force behind ak religion and even "MERE BELIEVE" (out of religion) e.g philosophy, animism and even atheistic believe, and thats why even the none religious folks prosper too. There is a spirit world around us, these unseen forces can do nothing without the power of our minds (especially when we continuosly stick to a belive).
Anyway i think i shouldn't go beyond these for now, but it is better to thred d spiritual path first before going into religious arguments
blindly.


Apostle Paul Eshiet
08142304453

love your views

Big difference, one is the essence of your existence(spirituality ) and the other is about wearing fine cloths and going to a meeting spot where your crush can see you(religion )

tobechi74:
Definition

Spirituality: Spirituality, on the other hand, connotes an experience of connection to something larger than you; living everyday life in a reverent and sacred manner. Or as Christina Puchalski, MD (leader in trying to incorporate spirituality into healthcare), puts it, “Spirituality is the aspect of humanity that refers to the way individuals seek and express meaning and purpose and the way they experience their connectedness to the moment, to self, to others, to nature, and to the significant or sacred.”

See, you had to repeat what some other man like you, who does not know like you, has to describe "Spirituality" that he does not know, When you Could Have Gone To The Manufacturer of Spirituality to get what Spirituality Means!

sonmvayina:
Big difference, one is the essence of your existence(spirituality ) and the other is about wearing fine cloths and going to a meeting spot where your crush can see you(religion )

Very true. Internal experience vs external appearance

apstpaulg:
However, spirituality is more profound, becos it is the driving force behind ak religion and even "MERE BELIEVE" (out of religion) e.g philosophy, animism and even atheistic believe, and thats why even the none religious folks prosper too. There is a spirit world around us, these unseen forces can do nothing without the power of our minds (especially when we continuosly stick to a belive).
Anyway i think i shouldn't go beyond these for now, but it is better to thred d spiritual path first before going into religious arguments
blindly.

They are both essentially the same! The one is man ceding control over his life and mind to the doctrines and rules of another man, and the other is man deciding that rather than yielding to the teachings of another man, he will instead believe that that his ego light his path and way(typically because he heard someone else say it can).

True

think that a lot of people are confusing spirituality and religion. They think it's the same. Well, that's absolutely not true. I will give you some differences and facts.

Religion is created to control you, spirituality is there to free yourself.

In other words, religion is based on fear, and spirituality is based on freedom. Religion makes you kind of a victim of your life, that something (God) is more powerful than you. It makes you believe that someone above there is watching you. You have to make yourself small. In spirituality, there is no such thing as more powerful than this or that. Everything and everyone is even powerful. Everything and everyone is God. A human, a grasshopper, a tree, a rock, ... all of these things took a little bit of consciousness because the whole cosmos is consciousness. Spirituality is based on love.

Religions are the best businesses that I ever have seen. It has the same pyramidal structure as a company. Do you want to know something crazy? A couple of hundred years ago, in Christianity, you literally had to pay for your sins otherwise you were going to hell. You see it's all based on fear. The religions say: 'this is good, this is evil','Do this, don't do that',' This is right, this is wrong', ... It's like for kids.

Once you become conscious or wake up, you automatically know what to do and not to do. Nobody or something has to say it to you. You are free, you can do whatever you want, but know that there is a universal law that says: Every cause has his effect (Karma).

Religion is created to divide us, spirituality is there to make you one with everything.

The more religions, the more it divides us. Each religion believes that they know the Truth. They believe that only their Truth is absolute. Inevitably this will create conflicts and wars, you just have to look at history. Religions even separate love. When a Christian falls in love with a Muslim, or a Muslim with a jew, or whatever religion, it becomes very difficult for them. You see, once you get identified with a religion, your ego is going to protect it as much as he can.

'When you call yourself an Indian or a Muslim or a Christian or a European, or anything else, you are being violent. Do you see why it is violent? Because you are separating yourself from the rest of mankind. When you separate yourself by belief, by nationality, by tradition, it breeds violence. So a man who is seeking to understand violence does not belong to any country, to any religion, to any political party or partial system; he is concerned with the total understanding of mankind.'

~ Krishnamurti

Spirituality makes you one with everything and everyone. It doesn't matter if you come from Russia, Nigeria, Brazil or that you are black, white, or whatever. It makes you understand what actually a human being is.

Religion is based on believing, spirituality on experiencing.

'As long as the mind clings to belief, it is held in a prison.'

I always say to people to not believe in what is not in their experience. Don't even believe what I write. Question everything and make your own research. Belief without clarity can be a disaster.

Religion usually entails adhering to a certain belief system. A belief system that's clearly defined, including what you should believe, why and how so. Spirituality is concerned with growing into and experiencing the Divine consciousness. It's a focus on your human spirit and soul.

Religion is focused on the outside, spirituality in the inside.

In religion, everything is outside: you have to go to the church, mosque, ..., God is outside, heaven is outside.

In spirituality everything is inside: God is inside everything, you can meditate wherever you want, you just have to close your eyes. Even heaven is inside.

'The closest thing to Heaven is having a peaceful mind, and a beautiful, pure heart.'

Religion is created, spirituality always was there and always be there.

Christianism was created 2020 years ago, Buddhism In the 3rd century B.C., Islam in the year 622 A.D. You see all these things were created meanwhile spirituality was always there because it is in every human being. A religious person can be spiritual, but a spiritually awakened person can't be religious because why should he give his freedom away?

Before I end this article, I just want to say that I don't hate any religion. I'm just saying some facts. There also some positive points and wisdom in religions, I don't deny that. In the end, everyone has the choice to do whatever he wants in life or to believe in spiritualhelp

,,

..