The line between Religion and Spirituality

It has come to my attention over the past few months that the line between what is called religion and what is called spiritual is very blurred or not a line at all,
Religion to me is the belief of a single being/god or gods/beings which create and control and people worship.
Whereas spiritual I see as the experiences of things which are not physical but not a specific being more as things like energy work, different races of beings, mediumship etc,

The problem I see is people calling themselves spiritual but then going on to say they believe in god or a god/gods which in my view is religious not spiritual,

Another problem I see is when people just listen to others on what to believe and then use their imagination to project experience of what they called god but most often can be false and be from a lack of feeling safe and wanting to be seen a certain way in the eyes of others
So religion in this way could be defined as the beliefs taken from someone else and spirituality is the experience of the person disconnected from the opinions and beliefs of others,

While their are people who are spiritual and may well have been in contact with a high level being, I can accept that, but I will ask what makes this being which you contacted a so called god, many spirits I have encountered have their own intentions, and they will and do trick people into believing that they are some helping being while using they emotionally unstablility to manipulate people into staying locked inside their emotions and chasing pleasure, this is something I have encountered and I too accept it will not be the case for everyone, I found that only when you put the emotions aside and view the actions and question them and yourself, questioning yourself on everything including thoughts is the most important thing to figure out what you are doing is you and what is something else manipulating you.

Any thoughts and opinions are welcomed

Why should we change definitions? Why can't we stick to some standards.

Religion definition:google search
1.
the belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a personal God or gods.

Spiritual definition:google search
1.
relating to or affecting the human spirit or soul as opposed to material or physical things.
2.
relating to religion or religious belief.

I'm not saying google definitions are the standard but why confuse it more.

Spiritual practices are part of broader religions.
And one can be spiritual without being apart of religion.
* * *

^^^^

[Altair]

Welcome to the forums!

Yes, in practice.. there is often no meaningful difference between the two, although spiritual sounds better as we associate religion with a number of rather unpleasant paths. However, either religion or spirituality can be individualist or collectivist.. and both contain a range of beliefs. It's impossible to follow a path dealing with spiritual stuff where the person has zero beliefs. There's always some expectation and belief..

Another thing to consider, spiritual paths are not always recognized to be official faiths, so they are often not guaranteed the same level of protection. Say you are discriminated and refused a job because you believe in a deity and you meditate every day, and this would not have happened if you just ticked the 'Christian' or the 'Islam' box. This is a problem. But would it be better if we made all paths and faiths official religions? What if instead we just scrap all of it and accept all the different paths, provided they don't violate laws..? If we call a path 'religion' or just 'spiritual' it will have meaning out there..

Where to draw the lines indeed..

[ocean breeze]

I don't see how any of this can be considered a problem. So what if a person believes in god or gods. Maybe they also pursue spiritual activities as well. Behind the images each presents i don't see any difference between one who considers themselves spiritual and one who considers themselves religious.

Originally Posted by BlackfoxNZ

The problem I see is people calling themselves spiritual but then going on to say they believe in god or a god/gods which in my view is religious not spiritual,


Any thoughts and opinions are welcomed

BlackfoxNZ,

I do not see this as a problem. It is not an either/or matter, at least not for me.....:) Personally I believe that man is body, soul and spirit. That means that everyone is spiritual...…...I said everyone.....this includes Christians, Muslims, atheists....whatever. Religion is an add on choice....it can either be embraced, ignored or rejected. Has anyone heard of any spiritual person who believes that anyone does not have a spirit? It is a false dilemma. Now it is true that some people can give emphasis or belief to one over the other but this does not mean that they are not spiritual beings.

Originally Posted by BlackfoxNZ

The problem I see is people calling themselves spiritual but then going on to say they believe in god or a god/gods which in my view is religious not spiritual,

The problem as I see it is that this is an attempt to create divisions within divisions. Your reality is defined by your definitions, and when you define what is Spiritual by extension you define what is not. You've defined what is Spiritual and what is religion, and I'm guessing you have strong views on which is which.


It's been said that religion was created as a 'pathway' to Spirituality, if you followed these teachings and did those rituals you would become Spiritual. The problem as I see it is that the focus has changed, religion has become the end goal and not the means.


Everything else is good old human nature. It's all become the 'other side of the fence'.

[lemex]

Originally Posted by BlackfoxNZ

It has come to my attention over the past few months that the line between what is called religion and what is called spiritual is very blurred or not a line at all.

Do we want a line then. Yes, many spiritual people believe in God and the line is still being erased. Enlightenment maybe. Let's not insist on old ways of division. Enlightenment?

[iamthat]

Originally Posted by BlackfoxNZ

It has come to my attention over the past few months that the line between what is called religion and what is called spiritual is very blurred or not a line at all,
Religion to me is the belief of a single being/god or gods/beings which create and control and people worship.
Whereas spiritual I see as the experiences of things which are not physical but not a specific being more as things like energy work, different races of beings, mediumship etc,

The problem I see is people calling themselves spiritual but then going on to say they believe in god or a god/gods which in my view is religious not spiritual,

We could consider religion as being based around a particular historical teacher or set of doctrines concerning the nature of God and the purpose of human existence.
Spirituality may include belief in a higher Creative Intelligence, but it is more about direct experience and gnosis.

The religious person tends to look outwards for Truth.
The spiritual person tends to look inwards for Truth.

Religions usually have priests or priestesses who are authorised to teach and places dedicated to worship.
Spirituality has no need for intermediaries between ourselves and the Divine. There is also no need to go to a church or a mosque or a temple to commune with the Divine - we can do that anywhere.

Religions tend to be exclusive - someone would not be both a Christian and a Muslim.
Spirituality is more inclusive - a spiritual person may study many different teachings and practices.

A religious person may regard God as being separate from the human being.
A spiritual person would regard the true nature of a human being as a spark of the Divine.

The above are broad generalisations, but they give a sense of the distinctions between religion and spirituality.

Personally I would consider energy work and mediumship as being psychic rather than spiritual.

Peace.

[Rah nam]

There is no need to create lines between religion and what some call spirituality.
People who follow a religion can be spiritual in the same way as people who see themselves as spiritual can follow a religion.

And what spirituality is, is till hotly debated as I can see on this forum.
To me it is very simply the recognition of who and what I am.
I am spirit.

Originally Posted by iamthat

Personally I would consider energy work and mediumship as being psychic rather than spiritual.

Peace.

Ditto.

Also agree with Rah Nam that religious people can also be spiritual and vice versa, but my emphasis is on spiritual, not religion.

There are downsides to everything - belief based religions usually don't encourage the Gnosis and insights that lead one to become free in this life - in God's world.

So I err towards any tradition which helps people be genuinely free and happy.

JL