[jimrich]

Although I feel any path is good enough since there is only One thing or Being here, I see Religion as the egoic or personal path and Spirituality as the Impersonal or Pathless path. IMO, it's just a matter of choice and preference as to what "path" is taken. The joke is that there is no path or anywhere to go since this is it! This is all that there is! The limited mind/ego/self cannot grasp that and is frightened of that truth so Religion was invented to offer this frightened ego some comfort and a process to finally get "there" or into "heaven" when the comical truth is that all there is, is heaven or this right here and now! There is no where to go or become because this is already IT!
The ego or person hates and fears such a message and fights it to the bitter end. It sees such a message as a threat to it's existence, happiness and FUTURE where as Religion offers the ego: comfort, purpose, things to do to be "saved" and get to heaven some day.
Religion is for the ego. Spirituality is for the Spirit.

Originally Posted by Baile

I use the words religion versus spiritual to highlight the two different ways people embrace and utilize their personal beliefs. The religious person generally speaks of we: We are all sinners as the classic example.

I'd say the use of "we" comes from being Shame-based" where the term 'I' is both very vulnerable and shameful whereas the term "we" is both safer and less "egotistical". Many of us were taught to be ASHAMED of our 'I' so we may feel afraid to say 'I' least someone, like your parents, attack you for saying 'I'. After I did some self esteem work, my very religious mother told me that I am a Sinner and I boldly told her that I am NOT a sinner but she is welcome to believe whatever she like ABOUT HER SELF. LOL she had nothing more to say about Sin or her self crippling beliefs.

Religion is primarily an outward belief-path; projecting one's beliefs onto the world.

For me, Religion is the Ego's path to safety and continuation as a limited person who will be all cleaned up and free of Sin in some far off place like Heaven. It's the promise of eternal life as a SOMEONE or embodied ego living WITH or next to some other person called god, Jesus or whatever this other SOMEONE is called. The ego loves and embraces these Religious concepts since the ego does not want to die or disappear into Nothingness or the Void and wants to go on and on forever more as a Someone with places to go to and PERSONAL things to do there.

The spiritual person speaks of I and me: My personal self-development, my self-realization path. The inward belief-path. Reflective, rather than projective.

IMO, the "spiritual" person no longer carries the burdens of egoic Shame and can honestly and innocently use terms like: I, me, my, mine as well as you, we, us, they, them as free and meaningful expressions of what is. The Spiritual persons identifies with Spirit or Reality and is free to speak in whatever terms fit the situation whereas the Religious person is bound by strict rules, fears, SHAME and religious expectations that usually come from other "authority" figures. The Spiritual person can speak from conscience but the Religious person has to quote a bible or their minister!
The basic difference is that a Spiritual person is free and honest but a Religious person is caught in learned concepts and beliefs so is only able to speak like a Parrot or robot. Spiritual folks "think" - Religious folks NO NOT think but only repeat what they've heard or read somewhere. Spiritual folks are OPEN - Religious folks are CLOSED.