What is the difference between religion and spirituality?

Answer

In layman's terms a religion is an organized and structured belief system, however spirituality is generally neither focusing more on an individuals beliefs than a groups. While most religions are easily classified as religion others like Buddhism are not so easily classified as it depends what sect and position you hold in the religion.

Answer

Religion is man's limited attempt to reach out and understand God. Spirituality is God reaching down to man and inspiring man's mind to understand and know Him. God is a Spirt the only way to relate to God is spiritually, the word spirit in the ancient Greek text means "life". Being religious is following after a religious teaching about God. Being spiritual is seeking after the truth to know God, to know life. So, if want to "know" God you have to learn to "know" Him on a spiritual level. If you want to know "about" God then you join a denomination or some religious sect where men will teach you "about" God.

Personally, I would rather be spiritualy inspired to know God first. Than attend a religious organization or sect and learn to know about God; what God's ways are and how God thinks. If you have children or ever do have children one day is or would your desire be for your children to know you or know about you?

Answer

"What is the difference between religion and spirituality?"

Spirituality comes from within you. Religion comes from outside of you.

Nothing or no one can give you spirituality. But many can give you religion if allow them too.

The choice is yours.

new answer

I like the two previous answers. The only thing I would add is that one can only know God to the extent they know themselves, much the same as we understand our parents only by being grown up.

ANSWER

It is helpful to think of spirituality as a quality inherent in human beings (and perhaps other species too but we can't access that so easily) where we live spontaneously according to deep parts of our brains that interpret reality in non-rational but invigorating, life sustaining and transformative ways which benefit us just as much as when we live in our rational brains (sometimes rational explanations are very powerful and beneficial, e.g. medicine). We descend into these deep states of consciousness where we experience the world of spirit directly. We feel energized, like a fire fanned by a great wind. Now we want to talk about it, tell the world about our experience but the trouble is the world of spirit is a mostly nonverbal world (perhaps like my nonverbal autistic daughter's) and when we open up our mouth and sing, we present the experience for others. This would be great if it was viewed as a song from my encounter with God, one song of many, and not your song. You need to meet God using your spiritual faculties, come back and sing your song for us. It is natural that groups of people connected to each other by culture, tradition, language and related images would come together, and maybe even put together structures and modes of celebration, worship, etc. that taken as a whole form a religion. Unfortunately, there seems a tendency for such groups to forget what they are about, forget they are singing a song and they make the religion more important than the direct experience of spirit. In an extreme form this has resulted in religious war, persecution, inquisition and bigotry. I am not saying religion is bad, just that it needs to be recognized as the vehicle or story or path to facilitate one's encounter with God. True religion is above all dynamic and alive, not frozen. It allows multiple narratives even for the same person. Spirit is like the air we breathe, while religion is like the words we speak.

religion is based on what man writes, interpets or teaches

and spirtuality is direct communication or interaction with G-D.

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Religion can be compared to food. Religion is food for the soul. The true value of food is measured by the quantity of nutrients it contains. Spirituality is the nutritional value of authentic religious concepts for the soul.

Some people live to eat and others eat to live. Some people are into religion mainly for the social flavor and not the virtuous characteristics.

There are particular food items that can be prepared through various styles or recipes. There are also various Religious concoctions available to cater to the respective social appetite.

Most people are attracted mainly to the taste of the food while the nutritional values are completely ignored. In a similar manner people are attracted to the social fanfare of religion and not the practice of spirituality righteousness and piety.

Religion was developed mainly around social cultures and traditions; it was mainly a way to influence social behaviors through the use of moral suasion.

Spirituality is a condition which results from being a good human and it is demonstrated by making the right choices in Life, that promote peace, love, respect, appreciation, accountability, equity and contentment.

The practice of spirituality transforms individuals into living instruments of piety and divinity, which they freely share with all of humanity.

Answer

Religion is the manifestation of spirituality. It is how we convert our spiritual beliefs and make them into something more tangible. To a point, ' belief ' alone simply is not enough. As humans, we have a natural curiousity in that we like to feel and touch things that affect us emotionally and physically because it helps to confirm that the world around us is ' real '. We always want 'proof' that something exists or not. Religion becomes that physical connection for how we express our spiritual beliefs, assuring us that the spiritual world is also very real.

First answer by ID0402834173. Last edit by Tigs7577. Contributor trust: 2 [recommend contributor]. Question popularity: 65 [recommend question]