Humans are exceptional living beings. Our ability to think, feel and doubt makes us different from any other species. By using our senses, imagination, and intelligence, we can travel to the most profound places of our mind, discovering who we really are and what is our purpose in this world. On this road, every man has their own guiding star. It can be an idea, hope, aspiration, even lust, that leads us and makes us true believers.
What Makes Us Believers?
What precisely are our beliefs? If you tell a religious person that you believe in something sacred and divine but not in God, they will be offended. If you try to redirect someone’s spiritual path to the chapter of some book or God himself, you are wasting your time. But, is it true that spirituality doesn’t have much to do with religion?
Being Objective About Religion
Any religion is a public social organization with clearly defined rules and beliefs. It is a creation of people, based on the worship of a particular being, human or divine, who is supernatural comparing to humans.
In the modern world, religion should be a matter of personal choice. Still, in most parts of the world, it comes as part of a family or geographical heritage and is imposed as mandatory.
The educated world describes religion as a phenomenon that influenced the historical and cultural development of the people and is often used as a tool for controlling masses. However, religion can also be the philosophy of life with a lot of wisdom in its holy books.
What Is Spirituality?
True spirituality involves getting familiar with divine and pure within ourselves. It doesn’t recognize the Universum as the outside, materialistic world but as a part of every human being.
As Gandhi once said — your spirituality is an inseparable part of who you are, it reflects your thoughts, moral and spiritual values, and your character. It aims to find inner peace and balance, which brings joy and happiness to people.
Spirituality is a matter of choice. You don’t have to be a part of any group, organization or cult. Your beliefs and practice are personal concerns.
Can You Spot The Difference?
It’s not difficult to separate these two completely different dogmas.
However, if we want to understand religion, we should know that there are those religious people who have found real faith in themselves, even if they are taught to love and respect the God that is appointed to them. Their purpose and feelings are uncorrupted. And if we exclude churches, temples, mosques and other places of worship, we can find the faith that comes from within and makes people better.
On the opposite, during each spiritual path, we will meet many false leaders, experience deceptions and insincerity that will try to break our will. People will attempt to impose upon us their ideas and wisdom as the only right way. Does it seem familiar?
Perhaps we can say that religion is an organized type of spirituality and that spirituality is nothing more than a disorganized religion. Or these two things are irreconcilable?
