what are the differences between religion and spirituality?

outward versus inward

Jesus was spiritual, but despised the hypocrisy of the organized religion of his day.

He taught universal acceptance, forgiveness & love.

How ironic that the religion built around him is so exclusionary, huh?

They stress the familial relationship to god, not what was truely of value, the forgiveness he represented as access to god.

But I believe that there is about to be a great awakening.

I believe the church will be taken out of the way, but there will be MORE Christians, not less

They will follow the loving, accepting philosophy of Jesus and reject the rigid dogma they have outgrown.

What joyous days are coming!

Spirituality is your inner belief and communion with a higher power. A spiritual person might not ascribe to any particular religion.

Religion is an organized method of worship that includes some form of ritual and a particular belief system. There are many different religions in the world, and a person can be both spiritual and religious.

However there seem to be quite a few people who call themselves religious because they go to church, but they have no true spiritual connection with a higher source. In other words they may talk the talk, but they don't live the life of a truly spiritual person.

I would even say: spirituality pertains to what you ARE, and religion pertains to what you DO (whether you go to church or engage in rituals).

Generally, religion is a group thing and spirituality is an individual thing. The reason for including both in the same category is that the interests cannot easily be distinguished in a great many cases. For example, a person who is religious goes to church, where he or she prays silently. The silent prayer is spirituality, but the symbols in the environment, the dogma propounded by the denomination, and many other factors have an influence on the nature of that silent prayer.

Religion is the STUDY of what Spiritual Seers have said. Seekers and Adherents to the Path of Wisdom

of a Spiritual Seer create a Religious Path they BELIEVE leads to a Harmony w/ what the Original

Teacher said.

Spirituality is the Path of the Seer. One who Seeks

Knowledge of the Spirit or Essence or Heart of LIFE.

This is most commonly accomplished thru a long time

Practice of Study of Scriptures and Meditation and

Prayer. Scriptures EXIST Everywhere Man has sought

THE TRUTH written records go back 5,000 years most

prior to that - - - just disintegrated in time or were Lost Forever.

Religious is belief in an organized religion, following its teachings and attending its services. Pretty cut and dry, really.

Spirituality is believing in a higher power; a sense of someone or something greater that watches over everything.

The two are not entirely symbiotic, though. For example, One can be spiritual, but not religious. However, one cannot be religious without being spiritual.

Personally, (...and this is just opinion) I do not like religion, as it is usually led by a mortal person who is subject to warped ideals and actions. Also, one must agree and obey all "boundaries" and beliefs as set by the religion.

Simply being spiritual one can believe in a higher power without distraction and mortal influence on what you feel in your heart to be true.

I think many people know about THE difference, but few who ponder or understand, in depth, what the differences mean. Often times the two can be misused in conversation due to a lack of understanding of the actual definitions.....the two words have actually become like part of the peoples' vernacular, losing true meaning, instead gaining an understood but unwritten meaning.

What is Spirituality?

The quest for meaning and purpose is central to human existence. This search for meaning launches us on a journey in which all aspects of life – joys, sorrows, struggles, and successes – can become avenues to deeper understanding and purpose. Everything experienced along the journey plays a part in forming and fashioning our lives. Spirituality is the belief system of a person lived in relationship with the transcendent. A person’s spirituality may or may not incorporate the rituals, practices, and beliefs of a particular religious group however institutionalized religion does provide the setting in which personal spirituality is expressed and developed by billions of people around the world. Religion acknowledges both the communal dimension of spirituality and the place of tradition in the spiritual journey. It provides a connection to the wisdom and richness of the spiritual experiences of those who have gone before. Religion enables the tradition to come alive within experience and it calls the faith community to apply the tradition to the needs and hopes of the present.

What is Spiritual Care?

The search for meaning and purpose that defines our spirituality can sometimes feel like a solitary journey. Choosing to share this journey with others enables us to face emotions, limitations, and hopefully find a place for healing and growth.

Spiritual care is intended to support spiritual well being. It involves attentive listening and assistance in finding resources that may nurture spiritual health. It may involve:

- seeking out leaders of various religious traditions to provide sacramental and ritual ministry

- worship and prayer.

To me religion is defined practice of a recognized sect. Spirituality to me is finding answers to your specific questions / needs in belief by many means, within multiple religions, the world or the universe. Basically put spirituality is easing your soul on earth and the person chooses a defined religion and/or multiple influences for their reasoning.

i believe government and religion should be humans individual back up and spirituality in case we use it

let us not forget the true heart of religion where a man was asked to (kill) (dayvavue 1:25 am may 14/09 ch 30) his child and then told not to and rewarded to be king. those days their were many foreighn gods

cool kind heart i find my next step to my essay with dayjavue

smart to pick up on dayjavue and learn as i do at least you believe more in my writtings. oh ya this is repetitive this movie played about 7 hours ago

We are all spiritual beings who are currently engaged in animating and controlling our physical overcoats!..When those overcoats wear out and die, spiritual us continues on with our everlasting circular journey eventually returning to Source, from which we originally came, hopefully enriched and enwisened by our experiences....

Thus we all have a natural understanding within us as to what is acceptable behaviour and what isnt..We also learn by observing those around us..As each of us is an individual so we make choices and naturally learn from those choices, which in the end creates wisdom and understanding within us..

Organized religion seeks to control people through fear by teaching that God is fearful and that only they, the church, knows how we can placate that fearful God by specific actions and rituals, with each different religion having their own ideas within that context..

Many of those in organized religion are virtually brainwashed into believing from a very young age, for what we are repeatedly told we begin to believe, and those beliefs then become our *reality* which we then feel that everyone else should adhere to..Some religions teach that their*s is the ONLY right way to God and that the others are at best misled and sometimes even evil!

How sad that so many folk get completely lost in the fear created by religions and some even end up willing to kill for it, being led to believe by those in authority that this is God*s will!

As a natural medium aware of Spirit or Heaven, I KNOW what happens beyond death, and answer fearful questions from young people time after time after time about these things..Also, because the churches do NOT teach the true *facts of life and death*, many people then end up dying and becoming lost or Earthbound and need help in moving fully in the world of Spirit or Heaven, which is their true destination rather than becoming stuck between the two worlds through fear..

Truly, the churches have MUCH to answer for and have held up the advancement of humanity over millennia..They teach FEAR which is the opposite of the Love of God..

I have past life memories of being a priest who was FORCED by the church to teach what I KNEW was not the truth!..This time I have come back without a dog-collar to teach what I KNOW is the simple truth, that God is Unconditional Love, and Unconditional Love does NOT judge, or threaten or condemn, but simply Loves and forgives without limit..

The greatest blasphemy on Earth is how the organized religions have misled their members and led them on a path away from the Love of God and self fulfillment for their own reasons of power and wealth..After all, it was not that long ago that the church executed people for daring to disagree with them..

God gave us a brain and discernment to use in this life..I wish more would do so..

Spirituality is when you feel a strength inside you and can be expressed through awe,wonder,or mystery.you can express this spirituality with art,architect,scenerary this is when you have a strong faith.religion is something that can be prooved and is 1 form of truth religion is something that you are strong in and can be done through reading religious texts etc so you can be knowledgeble on what you need to follow to lead a good life.therefore it is a belief or view on how a life should be lead.

hope that helped