Fundamental Differences between Religion and Spirituality

From auxx.me
By: Chamalee

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.

Sitting by the river: one Friend's spiritual and healing practice

Mississippi River near Fridley, Minn. (c) Gabriel Vanslette/Wikimedia

Life Saving Quaker Practice

Michael Bischoff January 1, 2018

Michael Bischoff lives in Minneapolis, Minn.

This article is from Friends Journal

Although I’ve participated in Quaker worship for 25 years, it took a diagnosis of brain cancer for me to take on a wholehearted commitment to daily waiting worship.

I was diagnosed with glioblastoma, the most aggressive kind of brain cancer, in 2015. After a year of surgeries, chemo, radiation, and experimental treatments, I completed all of the available medical treatment in 2016. My prognosis was still not good. Average survival after this diagnosis is a year and a half. I knew that I wanted to continue some kind of treatment.

I live close to the Mississippi River, and before that time, I had occasionally gone to the river to pray. When my medical treatment ended, I decided to make daily Quaker worship next to the river my ongoing treatment. For the past year, I’ve been sitting silently next to the river every day, with the intention of listening for and following the Spirit’s movements. I see the trees, birds, and river next to me as fellow worshippers in community with me. I take this treatment as seriously as I took chemo and radiation.

Like in meeting for worship, most thoughts that arise during my treatment are from a shallow place in my busy mind and not something with spiritual power. The river keeps inviting me to place those in the river and let them pass.

When messages with spiritual power do arise, I jot them down and ask if the message is just for me, for another particular person, or for a group. Occasionally, the messages turn into an article, like this. Mostly, though, I sit and watch the river go past.

Many messages have become letters of gratitude or reconciliation to people in my life—such as acknowledging what I learned of God’s love from my pre-school teacher, or apologizing for my misuse of power in a past job. Some messages lead to conversations. Many days, like in meeting, there aren’t any messages, just sitting in waiting worship. Other days, a great blue heron will have a message delivered through a graceful flight above the water in front of me. Sometimes a turtle walks slowly across my path, eldering me in the ways of patience and persistence. The 100-year-old cottonwood trees around me season what I think is ministry, helping me test if it is a message with weight, or one to return to the river.

Research is increasingly showing the health benefits of being in beautiful natural places, especially in contemplative ways. Even more than the health benefits, my commitment to the river continues to grow because of how I experience it opening me more fully to the sacred river that is the foundation of our worship.  

I’m now six months past the average survival for my diagnosis, and one year into my daily worship at the river.  I don’t assume my worship at the river will cure me, but I continue to trust that this treatment is an essential part of my healing.  When I now sit in worship with other humans, I feel my friends at the river holding us in the sunlight, grounding us in generative soil, and cleansing us in the watershed.

Australian Aboriginal Quakers?

From Sally O'Wheel posted on the Facebook site of Quakers Australia ---

Sally O'Wheel shared a link.

https://www.goodreads.com/…/34089412-into-the-heart-of-tasm…

This is so interesting! Earnest Westlake was a Quaker, (his mother was a Neave). He collected thousands of stone tools but also interviewed Aboriginal people. At this time they were considered to be 'extinct' and his interviews were discounted by later historians because they weren't regarded as 'real' Aborigines. But in fact these people had kept their culture and language alive. I am reading about the descendants of Fannie Smith (née Cochrane) and about their spirituality which Earnest Westlake thinks is very Quakerly. 

He says: 
' I seem to have discovered what was missed by those excellent Friends, Backhouse and Walker in their reports on the Tas Blacks, ie that the Blacks were themselves Quakers, in that they sought for the guidance of the Spirit, and lived more or less in the light of it. Certain it is that Mrs Smith, who had come under Christian influence, was a Quakeress of excellent quality.' Fascinating book!

Into the Heart of Tasmania

In 1908 English gentleman Ernest Westlake packed a tent, a bicycle and forty tins of food and sailed to Tasmania. On mountains, beaches a...

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Who do we worship? To what are we committed?

Beside The Creek is starting a list and is seeking contributions to extending the list.  Readers will get the gist of the list so far as it is set out below.  The list concerns faith attitudes to money, wealth, and possessions.  If you have additions to the list please forward them to 

misseaglesnetwork@gmail.com. 

The blog editor will decide on inclusion in the list based on relevance.  Beside The Creek admits a bias to faith communities who have a spiritual, community, and altruistic attitude to wealth.  The editor is not keen on the amassing of wealth as a spiritual value - so if this is a significant part of the submission, the editor will need to be convinced of the value of such a principle to include it in the list.  Here is the list to date:

Buddhism

http://time.com/money/4009735/buddhism-money-lessons/

Christianity

https://christianity.org.uk/index.php/a/money.php

Deism

https://www.betterworldbooks.com/deism-and-social-ethics-id-0954316193.aspx

Friends – the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)

http://www.westhillsfriends.org/QVWmoney.html

Islam

              Five essential Islamic teaching on wealth

Jains

           http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/jainism/living/aparigraha.shtml

Judaism

              Jewish view of money

              Jewish views of poverty, wealth and charity

Latter Day Saints

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finances_of_The_Church_of_Jesus_Christ_of_Latter-day_Saints

Lutheranism

              Money matters

Mennonites

              Money, material possessions, and the Mennonite mentality

New Church

              https://newchurch.org/resources/video-messages/money/

              

Bendigo Interfaith Event - from the Daybreak Centre of Spirituality - a conversation with Navid Pourahmari of the Bendigo Interfaith Council

CONFERENCE: Exclusion and Embrace: Disability, Justice and Spirituality 21-23 August 2016

Exclusion and Embrace 2016: Disability, Justice and Spirituality

From August 21, 2016 03:04 until August 23, 2016 05:04

•  At Jasper Hotel, 489 Elizabeth Street, Melbourne, Australia

The Australian Catholic University, The Uniting Church Synod of Victoria and Tasmania, The Progressive Christian Network of Victoria Inc., would like to invite you to:

2016 Exclusion and Embrace Conference

Date: 21-23 August 2016
Venue: Jasper Hotel, 489 Elizabeth Street, Melbourne, Australia.

This Conference is a rare opportunity to bring together people interested in understandings of sacred texts, and the experiences of people with disabilities and carers within the context of faith. This  multi-faith Australasian Conference  has the support of a wide number of organisations including the Jewish Christian Muslim Association (JCMA) and the Faith Communities Council of Victoria (FCCV). The Uniting Church Synod of Victoria and Tasmania is providing the Conference Secretariat.

The Conference will draw on the wisdom of all faiths, and will deepen our understanding of the many aspects of disability and spirituality. We are interested in your experience, research, practice, and ideas and knowledge.

Among the themes explored will be ethics, care, inclusion in faith communities, friendship, discrimination, love, justice, liberation.

In Australia, and abroad, an increasing number of people are actively exploring the intersection of disability and spirituality. An excellent Conference program will present perspectives across the faith spectrum, with opportunities for dialogue and formation of new networks. It will have appeal to people who live with disability, families and carers, academics and practitioners (volunteers and staff).

Two esteemed speakers will be keynoters at our Conference: Prof Hans Reinders is Chair of Ethics at VU University, Holland, and editor of the journal Religion and Disability. Rev Bill Gaventa is Director of the Summer Institute of Theology and Disability and President-elect of the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AAIDD). We are also delighted that an Australian cast of presenters is increasingly coming on board: Prof David Tacey an interdisciplinary scholar who is widely published for his knowledge of Australian spirituality. Other presenters include Lorna Hallahan, Sheik Isse Musse, Melinda Jones and Diana Cousens (see website Speakers tab for details).

There will also be an exhibition of artworks that reflect people’s experience of disability and spirituality, as it relates to the conference theme.

View and download the brochure (note: when printing remember to tick print on both sides and flip on short edge)

The Conference is also seeking Abstracts within these three streams, as they relate to disability and spirituality.

(i)         Supports in faith communities/service providers

(ii)        Sa­cred texts/theological understandings of disability

(iii)       Theological Educa­tion/Research.

Please go to Call for Presentations for details of Abstract Details and Guidelines. Abstracts need to be submitted by 10 April, 2016. Presentations may include formal papers, posters, personal stories, poetry, or other approaches.

We invite presentations which address aspects and experiences as they relate to spirituality and disability. Themes include liberation, education, bioethics, reconciliation, sexuality, pastoral care, inclusion, love, theological interpretations. All presenters must be registered for the event by 15 July, 2016.

Other sponsors and endorsers include Spiritual Health Victoria, Spiritual Care Australia, Christian Blind Mission, Victorian Council of Churches, Progressive Christian Network Victoria, Australian Catholic University and the University of Divinity.

As part of the Conference, we are also launching and displaying an  Art Exhibition, depicting the conference themes. Andy Calder, Conference Convenor

Further Information:  Ann Byrne  The Uniting Church Synod of Victoria and Tasmania  Email: ann.byrne@victas.uca.org.au

Phone: (03) 9251 5404

Endorsed by: Faith Communities Council of Victoria, Jewish Christian Muslim Association of Australia, Victorian Council of Churches, Spiritual Care Australia, Spiritual Health Victoria and University of Divinity.

Multifaith Conference, August 2016, Melbourne: Exclusion and Embrace - Disability, Justice and Spirituality

Andy Calder	11:05 (14 minutes ago)
to andy.calder123

Exclusion and Embrace: Disability, Justice and Spirituality

August 21-23, 2016                                            

Jasper Hotel, Melbourne

Artwork by Nathan Photiadis at Araluen Centre

Dear friends and colleagues

I am writing to bring this important multi-faith Conference to your attention and to your organisation/members/networks who may wish to participate.

Click here for Conference website

Multi-faith Conferences such as this one, bringing together people who wish to explore the understandings and experiences of disability and spirituality, are rare occurrences in Australasia. The Conference will include keynote presentations, concurrent sessions and an Art Exhibition.

The organising Committee would therefore like to reach as many interested people as possible. This Conference has the endorsement of a number of entities including the Jewish Christian Muslim Association,Spiritual Care Australia and the Faith Communities Council of Victoria.

We are most appreciative of the support provided by a range of organisations and they are acknowledged on the website’s Homepage.

We have been most fortunate in attracting two internationally esteemed keynote speakers, Prof Hans Reinders and Rev Bill Gaventa who are in Australia for the IASSID Congress being held August 15-19 in Melbourne. The range of multi-faith presenters continues to grow, and is being regularly updated on our website.

We are now also seeking Abstracts from people who wish to make a presentation, drawing on the themes of exclusion and embrace.  In addition to spoken presentations and workshops, encouragement is also given to stories, poetry and song. Closing date for Abstracts is 10 April, 2016

Click here for Abstract Submission Form  

Registrations are now open with Early Bird prices set till 17 June 2016. It is highly recommended people take advantage of the opportunity to register early, as Conference numbers are capped at 160.

Register here

Easy English information will be added to the website very soon.

A downloadable brochure with all Conference details is available.

Please circulate and forward this email widely through your networks and request the content be brought to people’s attention and cross-linked to relevant websites/social media. Apologies for any cross postings. Please also refer to our Facebook page.

Thank you for your support in promoting this event as widely as possible. Further details from Ann Byrne at ann.byrne@victas.uca.org.au 03 9251 5404.

Yours Sincerely

Andy Calder

Conference Convenor

Coming event: Interfaith Service of Remembrance 6pm Thursday related to the recent events in #Paris and #Beirut

Please stay tuned.  

Plans are underway for an Interfaith Service of Remembrance at 6pm on Thursday 

related to the recent events in #Paris and #Beirut. 

It will be held at Christ Church Anglican Cathedral, Lydiard Street, Ballarat.

A change must occur deep in our souls .....

"It is clear that there will be little development of life here in the future if we do not protect and foster the living...
Posted by Spiritual Ecology on Friday, 16 October 2015

INTERFAITH RETREAT - MELA INTERFAITH ASSOCATION - TOWARDS PEACE THROUGH INTERSPIRITUALITY

True spirituality is caring for one another. A Sikh man gives his turban second priority.

Because this is what true spirituality is: caring for one another.
Posted by Diana Haywood on Sunday, 17 May 2015

Crafting a spirit

 

Anna Quindlen’s Short Guide to a Happy Life, a soul-uplifting must-read in its entirety:

 http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2014/03/11/a-short-guide-to-a-happy-life-anna-quindlen/

Simplicitiy in our lives and in our faith traditions

So many of the earth's great religious traditions have an emphasis within them of voluntary simplicity - not the forced simplicity of war, famine, homelessness, unemployment, illness but the simplicity whicih we decide will be a hallmark of our lives.  Increasingly, consumerism has become widespread across the planet.  It is not only the province of the far-too-rich. It is also the ambition of ordinary people who haunt the shopping malls that make people like the Lowy family wealthy beyond dreams.

Below are some items of interest that might give some stimulus to thinking about simplicity and how we might bring it into our daily lives.

Firstly, there is the Simplicity Institute.  Below you will find its latest report The Deep Green Alternative: debating strategies of transition.  And there's this new book - The Hidden Door.  We don't have to change our religion to adopt a simple life style, to take simplicity into our hearts.  We can just be mindful and make simplicity a spiritual practice in our lives whatever our faith tradition.  Oh!  And minimise those shopping mall visits.

2014 Sufi International Festival, India

For some, this will be a "wish I could be there moment"

Picture from here

International Sufi Rang Festival

• 06 Jan 2014 { 08:00-09:00 }
• Description : Chishty Foundation's event International Sufi Rang Festival is based on the blessed vision ,principle and message of "Love towards all, Malice towards none" for the whole of Humanity which is the blessed message of Hz.Khawaja Moinuddin Hasan Chishty (r.a) popularly known as Khawaja Gharib Nawaz (r.a). It’s a universal message for the whole of humanity that we may love and respect the best of creations i.e. Human beings, among all the creations of the One Almighty Creator Allah (swt). The Interfaith message for Indian Sub-Continent and its people living in harmony from last 800 years and continue to do so. Our aim in creating this event is to realizes a blessed vision and to create a platform for people from around the world and walks of lives who believe in blessed message i.e. to love and serve the Humanity ( Khidmat e Khalq ) and to spread the message with all its essence among the people of our beautiful planet Earth . In today’s troubled times we believes that the message the great Sufi’s n Saints is the not just a way but it is the ONLY way for the solutions of the World problems and a perfect road map towards the Path of Love ,Peace n Brotherhood among the whole Humanity . As part of the larger picture through the blessed platform of Chishty Foundation ,we intend to promote the blessed Sufi teachings of Khawaja Gharib Nawaz , Sufi Art of Calligraphy , Sufi Poetry culture , Sufi music and concepts of Spirituality and Music and a strong connection between a Higher state of awearness of the Divine presence through Sama and Qawalli – The Chishty Sufi’s food for the Soul . This concept is yet to have a full vision and realization for the essence of complete Sufi understanding and teachings. The 5th International Sufi Rang Festival 2013 is our fifth edition towards realizing the blessed vision of blessed Chishty Sufi lineage . - ma Salama Ishq Bashad wa Baraka Bashad !- Alhamdulilah , this is our humble journey …………. May Allah (swt) accept this humble efforts and services of Chishty Khadims. Syed Salman Chishty Gaddi Nashin – Dargah Ajmer Sharif Khadim e Khawaja Gharib Nawaz (RA) Director Chishty Foundation Reg.No.2008000197 Chishty Mnazil, Jhalra Street, Dargah Sharif, Ajmer 305001 Rajasthan - India Cell # +91 9829174973 salmanchishty@hotmail.com www.chishtyfoundation.org
• Location : Khwaja Moinuddin Hasan Chishti Shrine, Diggi Bazaar, Ajmer, Rajasthan, India
• Ajmer, Rajasthan ,
  INDIA
• Events Type: Community Service,Entertainment & Arts,Lecture/Seminar,Meeting,Workshop,
• Name: Syed Salman Chishty - Director - Chishty Foundation
• Email: salmanchishty@hotmail.com
• Phone: +919829174973
• Website: www.chishtyfoundation.org

Deep Ecology and Engaged Buddhism

Deep Ecology & Engaged Buddhism

“Buddha Touched the Earth….”

an exploration workshop of Engaged Buddhism and Deep Ecology

A fundraiser for tree ordination in Cambodia

Because the relationship between self and world is reciprocal, 

it is not a matter of first getting enlightened or saved

…and then acting.

As we work to heal the Earth, the Earth heals us. 

No need to wait.

As we care enough to take risks, 

we loosen the grip of ego

and begin to come home to our true nature. 

For in the co-arising nature of things, the world itself, 

if we are bold enough to love it, 

acts through us.  ~Joanna Macy

Facilitated by 

JohnSeed

John Seed on Facebook

Anton Eastwick

Carin Eisen

Thurs, 26 September – Sun 29 September 2013
(starting Thursday evening through Sunday afternoon)

Warburton, Upper Yarra Valley, Victoria

Lodging: shared rooms or your own tent
Cost: Sliding scale from $300 to $160 depending on your means.  Includes 3 days of meals/lodging/materials

To book please click on

: http://www.trybooking.com/CZKN or http://www.trybooking.com/52325

Queries: 

info@openheartedtransformation.com.au 

or 0407 650026

For more, please go to:

http://www.openheartedtransformation.com.au/deep-ecology-engaged-buddhism/