The Difference Between Religion And Spirituality

Worship, wars and witches

Sacred Heart of Jesus Painting With Brown FramePhoto by Franck Denis

It’s surprising to see that up to this very day, people still confuse religion with spirituality. While both share many similarities — the main one being the quest for what’s beyond the material world — it requires some attention to notice the subtle, yet powerful difference between them.

While those who consider themselves to be ‘free’ from religious restrictions usually call themselves ‘spiritual’, they’re still as identified to their newly found beliefs as are religious people.

This can be clearly seen in so-called spiritual people today, who take great pride in their spirituality, almost turning it into a fashion while forgetting everything about its essence.

Now let’s be clear about this.

One. Whoever the person, whatever it is — we’re all spiritual. The word spiritual contains spirit, and spirit infuses matter with life.

Two. Whatever a human being does, whatever Nature does, whatever the solar system does, whatever is — is spirituality.

If we understand spirituality from its essence, we come to realize that all that exists, all that is — is spiritual.

Now what is religion? From the dictionary. Religion: an organized system of beliefs, ceremonies, and rules used to worship a god or a group of gods. (Source)

If everything by its very being is already spiritual, and religion equals an organized system of beliefs — doesn’t that turn spirituality as we know it today into another form of religion?

Whether we believe we’ll land in some sort of heaven or that life is just about love and light — we’re practically doing the same thing in different ‘clothing’. Just as a any other fanatic, we’re attached to our spiritual beliefs.

And here’s the interesting part.

The more attached we are to a particular belief, the less certain we are about what we believe in. How? Well, we believe in things when we’re not really sure about them.

Belief versus fact

If I asked you this simple question: what’s the capital of France? You’d say Paris. Do you need to believe in it for it to be true? No. It’s a fact. Whether we believe in it or not, Paris will remain the capital of France.

Now if I asked you about what happens after physical death, what would you say? Even with all the theories we have, and some of them could be true — I wouldn't be sure about it too. Yet most people immediately respond "we go to hell/heaven," "nothing happens," "we reincarnate," etc.

If you ask them how they know this, they say: It's like that, that's what I believe, that's what I was told, that's what I read, etc.

France's capital is Paris. There's no discussion about it. A fact is a fact. But here's the thing. Uncovering facts in the outer world isn't as delicate as doing it within ourselves. Why? Because most human beings lack humility.

We live based on assumptions we've gathered from different sources. We don't question our beliefs. And if we did, we'd realize that the main reason we hold so tightly to our beliefs is because of fear. We want the world to be as we'd like it to be. Looking at the facts for what they are is a threat.

Could beliefs therefore act as an escape mechanism — running away from the factual, the what is? Do we find security through beliefs? Have we found a way to cope with uncertainty through assumptions?

Because beliefs are assumptions. We need to believe when we don’t have the full picture. Thus we assume to know in the act of believing. If you boil a belief down to its main component, that’s all it is — a certainty in one’s assumptions whether factual or not.

Reality, what is, the factual, the actual — encompasses the whole of life. What we call ‘normal’ is defined by our beliefs, and what we call abnormal, alien, strange is what goes beyond our beliefs. Both exist within reality.

When we believe in something, what we’re trying to do is to limit reality to a certain spectrum — one that feels the most secure to us. Believing (not to be confused with trust) is almost like begging life to only behave in a certain way.

But is it possible? Can we put a car in a schoolbag? Silly example but you get the idea.

Through blindly believing in things that may or may not be true, we define a space for ourselves from within which we function. Attaching ourselves to these beliefs create the ‘me’. And before we realize it, we’re in our own little bubble.

And reality being too big to be contained by our fragile bubble, it explodes. Problems are born. Drama is created. While it may not always be comfortable, nothing is against us — it’s just life’s way of telling us: there could be more to your life, wake up.

Those who don’t respond to this call go on to live complicated lives. Cycles keep repeating until it becomes obvious to them that they must do something about it.

But for those who do respond to this wake up call, healing becomes possible. They exist in harmony with life. And from their hearts they share teachings and principles learned from direct experience in order to assist others on their healing journey.

Religions are helpful as long as they don't turn into dogmas

Obviously, a lot of souls benefit from religious teachings and heal. But for the most part, these principles become distorted overtime, and unfortunately turn into the dogmas that create so much suffering in the world.

Now are religions completely useless? Of course not. Most of them have beautiful teachings that come from a pure source. The principles they teach, the environment they create, what they represent — it’s beautiful. The challenge is never the religion itself but the attachment to the belief.

I shouldn’t say this after all this but, believe in yourself (trust). Anchor yourself in this moment (reality), and always discern what is false (the past) from what’s actual (reality).

As we heal and expand, we won’t need to learn about how to behave or what to do from external sources. We won’t need to be told to be good. We won’t need to conform to conflicting ideals. Instead, it’ll be natural, factual. It’ll come out of our depth. It’ll be harmonious. We’ll be life’s medium. We are.

As a last note.

If you’ve been meditating, using affirmations and thinking positively for a while now, without necessarily integrating spiritual truths at a soul level even though you understand them intellectually — I’ve written a book to help you understand the main blocks to true spiritual growth, and how to overcome them. Check Spiritual Transition here.