When you tell a person that you are spiritual but not religious, they might often greet you with a confused face. It is a normal tendency for people to recognize spirituality as something which is strange. Most people we meet do not know how to differentiate religion from spirituality. This is basically because people in modern-day society are highly materialistic in nature and have a lack of knowledge when it comes to non-material subjects.
The truth of the matter is that spirituality is one of the most natural things there is, and it is important for one to understand that you are more than just a body, that you are a soul with infinite potential.
The facts below about religion and spirituality will help you understand how contradicting the two subjects actually are.
Spirituality has no rules
As opposed to religion which asks you to follow an ideology and obey certain rules to avoid punishment, spirituality lets you follow your heart. Spirituality encourages you to listen to your intuition and do what is right by simply following your instinct.
There is no fear of any punishment or reward in spirituality to motivate you to enslave yourself with rules. Instead it truly sets you free to be the best person you can be and the only reward will be your true inner happiness.
Religion encourages fear and spirituality encourages positive energy
Something that is emphasized throughout religion is the fear of consequences. Religion always reminds you consequences of not maintaining your actions in a particular way. It makes you fear of what might happen after you die if you don’t live your life accordingly.
When it comes to spirituality, there is only positive energy which encourages you to focus only on the good, and to act only based on love.
Religion tells you what to believe and spirituality helps to decide it by yourself
As opposed religion which always instruct you on what to believe, Spirituality lets you discover the questions and find answers for yourself.
When religion asks you to blindly believe in a truth written in a text, spirituality empowers you to find your own truth in all things without boundaries.
Religion separates while Spirituality unites
When we look at the world around us we see most of the conflicts are religion based as all the religions preach that their story is the right story.
Spirituality does not have a set belief system and hence see certain truth in all religions. Spirituality focuses on the quality of the divine message they share and not on the differences in details of the story they speak of.
Karma instead of punishment
Religions speak of punishment for wrongdoings while spirituality speaks of a beautiful idea of karma. Karma in spirituality lets us understand that the consequences we face are a result of our past actions. Simply “we reap what we sow”
Religion walks you down a road while spirituality lets you find your own way
Religion tells you ancient stories about gods, warriors and angels while asking us to follow their footsteps. Spirituality encourages you to walk in your own path which may lead to something greater.
Jesus in his life recognized that the love is the true human nature; The Holy Prophet in Islam emphasized the importance of submission for God, Lord Buddha emphasized the importance of letting go of material possessions. They walked down their own paths, which led them to be respected all over the world. Spirituality encourages you to make your own path and create your own stories. This sets you on a journey of enlightenment.
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