Being Spiritual V/S Being Religious
The Merriam Webster dictionary defines religion as, "an organized
system of beliefs, ceremonies, and rules used to worship a god or a
group of gods" and "the belief in a god or in a group of gods". This
clearly entails that the whole idea of religion depends on the existence
of God(s). No God - No Religion. Second inference of these definitions
is that one must "believe" in the idea of "God" for religions to exist.
Believing in God gives one purpose, solace and peace. There is nothing
wrong in believing in God as long as it keeps the stress away and helps
one achieve higher purpose in life. Oh My God! Then, where is the
problem? If it were so simple (i.e. believing in God and attaining the
peace / ultimate goal), the earth would have been a great place to live!
With so many great religions around, almost all seven billion people on
this earth would have found at least one religion which gives them
peace; which helps them find meaning of life. But naah...that is where
the problems start.
"My religion" is better than "Your religion" or "My God" is better than "Your God" -- that is what most the (so called) Gurus end up teaching. While I deny to generalize this statement, the fact of matter and matter of fact is, many of such Gurus are simply selling their religion and thereby making people dependent on a system or making people confirm to a system, which may or may not be ideal for the concerned person.
See, this article is not about defining what is religion and what is not a religion? But a basic background had to be laid to set the right context.
Now come to spirituality. Spirituality is about finding the real meaning of life. It is about connecting to something bigger than ourselves. It is about knowing the real truth. Confused? Me too! Well, to me, then, spirituality is anything that brings peace. It may or may not be confined to a process or system. Any activity, that brings self satisfaction / actualization, or makes one happy is spirituality. It may be an act of charity, playing music, meditation, going to temple / worshiping any form of God, bird watching, listening to the calm wind at a sea shore,...it is only an indicative list. So, being spiritual, then is more about being personal. Chances are very less whereby two spiritual people will argue as to whose spirituality is better!
Ok then, what is better? Being spiritual or being religious? Let me get it straight -- I am unlikely to be able to produce a satisfactory answer to this question for anyone except myself - and mind you - this rule is applicable to all of us while answering this question. But still, one can be religious as well as spiritual at the same time. For me, the last nail in the coffin is, that spirituality is the ultimate path / high way and all the religions are subways which lead to this high way. Of course, where does this high way named spirituality lead us to is a question beyond my comprehension.
Even while being religious, why should one confine to one religion only? For example, I was a born Hindu -- remained a Hindu for next three decades. Then I moved to the Buddhism but that did not cut my rooted beliefs in the Hindusim so I preferred to call myself A Hindu Buddhist! After some more time, as I turned more towards the Buddhism, today I call myself a Buddhist Hindu. Now, Gotam Buddha is my Guru and I follow his path -- but that does not stop me from reading the Geeta and imbibing its wonderful knowledge in my life. I still adore Lord Ram for the standards he set. None can take away these things from me. But then, many of my learned religious friends find this idea of being a Buddhist Hindu crazy! Well, that is the problem with being religious! It may sound to be crazy! Long live religion and long live the spirituality!
"My religion" is better than "Your religion" or "My God" is better than "Your God" -- that is what most the (so called) Gurus end up teaching. While I deny to generalize this statement, the fact of matter and matter of fact is, many of such Gurus are simply selling their religion and thereby making people dependent on a system or making people confirm to a system, which may or may not be ideal for the concerned person.
See, this article is not about defining what is religion and what is not a religion? But a basic background had to be laid to set the right context.
Now come to spirituality. Spirituality is about finding the real meaning of life. It is about connecting to something bigger than ourselves. It is about knowing the real truth. Confused? Me too! Well, to me, then, spirituality is anything that brings peace. It may or may not be confined to a process or system. Any activity, that brings self satisfaction / actualization, or makes one happy is spirituality. It may be an act of charity, playing music, meditation, going to temple / worshiping any form of God, bird watching, listening to the calm wind at a sea shore,...it is only an indicative list. So, being spiritual, then is more about being personal. Chances are very less whereby two spiritual people will argue as to whose spirituality is better!
Ok then, what is better? Being spiritual or being religious? Let me get it straight -- I am unlikely to be able to produce a satisfactory answer to this question for anyone except myself - and mind you - this rule is applicable to all of us while answering this question. But still, one can be religious as well as spiritual at the same time. For me, the last nail in the coffin is, that spirituality is the ultimate path / high way and all the religions are subways which lead to this high way. Of course, where does this high way named spirituality lead us to is a question beyond my comprehension.
Even while being religious, why should one confine to one religion only? For example, I was a born Hindu -- remained a Hindu for next three decades. Then I moved to the Buddhism but that did not cut my rooted beliefs in the Hindusim so I preferred to call myself A Hindu Buddhist! After some more time, as I turned more towards the Buddhism, today I call myself a Buddhist Hindu. Now, Gotam Buddha is my Guru and I follow his path -- but that does not stop me from reading the Geeta and imbibing its wonderful knowledge in my life. I still adore Lord Ram for the standards he set. None can take away these things from me. But then, many of my learned religious friends find this idea of being a Buddhist Hindu crazy! Well, that is the problem with being religious! It may sound to be crazy! Long live religion and long live the spirituality!
