Discussion – “Does Religion Get In The Way Of Spirituality?”
By Sanjib Mukherjee
The world today seems to be divided between so many factions, each proclaiming their own divine path to God. Spirituality in it’s truest essence is centred around one universal consciousness uniting every living being in existence, so why do we see so many wars being waged in the name of God? Is religion today actually a barrier to creating total unity between us all? Please provide your thoughts and ideas.
Enjoy the above post?
Sign up for free updates (your email will never be shared)
Join Our Tribe
Enter your details above to officially join our tribe!
Your Comments
Feel free to share and discuss your thoughts below on the post.
Share This Post
It is not Religion that gets in the the way of spirituality. It is people who do so.
Religion is set of rules and principles to be followed by a set of people living in similar geographical, social and economic condition.
All of the rules were laid down by our visionary ancestors who knew very well that not every person has capacity and time to start his spiritual journey all of his own.
So they thought of creating an environment wherein people find it easy to do spiritual practices. So Religion should not be confused with something that one need to follow else some deity will get angry.It is just like a laboratory where all the chemicals and tools are ready to be used.
If you use them properly with the rules laid by our ancient spiritual scientists then you’ll be ale to start your journey, otherwise you’ll remain an animal who eats, sleeps, wander around on earth and dies without actually knowing the purpose of his birth.
Therefore Religion helps us in starting the spiritual journey. It is a support system for the spiritual practices.
Relign is the key to spirituality……
…we CHOOSE OUR JOURNYE BY ROAD,,OR BY AIR…OR BY SHIP..BUT ULTIMATELY WE GO WHERE WE HAVETO REACH..
so if some of our ppl reach by other means and get there before us or after us..still WE MEET THEM ALL AT OUR MEETING PLACE OF DESTINY…SO what is there to FIGHT FOR…???
Same ways we may follow any RELIGION …WE MAY FOLLOW ANY GURU…WE MAY FOLLOW ANY OF THE SPIRITUAL BOOKS OR TALKS OR ANY OF THE SYSTEM OF UPLIFTING AND WAKING UP OF OUR CONCIENSE..the ULTIMATE IS SAME…for all…so what is the point of fighting for
…SO I DONT THINK THAT RELIGION IN ANY CASE RESTRICT OR COMES IN THE WAYS OF SPIRITUALITY..yes politicians may use this word to fulfil their intentions of breaking thhe UNITY…but it really does not matter IF WE ARE CONSCIENCE ENOUGH TO UNDERSTAND that ALLAH, ISHWAR, KHUDA, BHAGWAN, KRISHNA,RAM.OR DEVI,OR JESUS, OR BRAHMA VISHNU AND SHIVA OR SAI…ALL ARE ONE AND THE SAME
yes. if you let it.
ya, 100%
- partially yes religion does come in the way of spirituality from some angle–
Yes because mostly religion had been part and parcel of ones way of life thus when real sense of spirituality is being preached people often regards it as intrusion or encroaching into their life so eventually people become defensive and religion becomes a tool to protect ones ‘self interest’ or ‘way of life’. Purely my personal view only.
no ,religion should not come in the way of spirituality. because the aim of all religion is spiritualty,the essence of all scriptures, whether it is Quran,Bible or Bhagwat Geetha is spirituality.This is my opinion.
Religion SHOULD not but sadly it always does come in way of spirituality…
I agree, it is all in our heads. It is the conscience that needs to be silenced so that the heart/subconscience, free from the perceptions of the mind, can be heard.
Religion is meant for passing of the physical manifested life in a meaningful manner and spirituality is all about the spirit existing within every human being.spirituality and religion are the two fundamentals of life which every living being is required to follow simultaneously.One can live with out religion but not without spirituality.
IT IS BETTER TO THINK ABOUT THIS LIFE HOW CAN WE FEEL BETTER HOW CAN WE LEARN SOMETHING FROM ALL..
HOW CAN WE BE THANKFUL FOR WHAT WE GOT..
HOW CAN WE REDUCE OUR EXPECTATIONS..
HOW CAN WE BREAK THE BARRIERS WHICH STOPING THE FLOW OF LOVE TOWARDS..US..
HOW CAN WE BRING PEACE AND HARMONY IN THE WORLD
HOW CAN WE REDUCE PAIN..ANGER..DEPRESSION…PROBLEMS OF THE PPL SURROUNDING US..
HOW CAN WE NOT FEEL HATRED FOR THOSE WHO HURT US..
HOW CAN WE FEEL MORE LOVE …
IN ALL THESE SO MANY WORKS TO DO WHERE IS THE TIME TO THINK ABOUT MOKSHA AND MUKTI ..AND WHO WANTS MUKTI ANYWAYS..
WHY NOT WE ALWAYS BE PART OF THIS KHOOBSSOORAT DUNIYA..TO MAKE IT GOD” MOST BEAUTIFUL ZANNAT…. BRING THE CHANGE IN WORLD MAKE IT MORE BEUATIFUL LIKE HEAVEN…
Wow, so many diverse views..:)
Personally I believe religion has a purpose is raising one’s awareness of ones infinite self. A spiritual guide or mentor is required to help guide the true spiritual seeker on this narrow and slippery path.
The problems starts when a seeker begins to place more faith on the path than the actual journey itself. Somewhere down the line, people tend to become devoted to an organisation and loose the essence of what attracted them in the first place. Of course this is a gross generalisation, but it most cases it is the truth.
Every major religion in the world today has peace, love and compassion at the core of its doctrines, so obviously when we see so much fighting in the name of God, something has gone drastically wrong.
The solution I believe, is for all of us to delve even deeper into our own faith, and find our own answers in life (using religion as nothing more than a map of guide to this inner quest). Once we find our answers, it then becomes important to share this wisdom with anyone prepared to listen, as ultimately the same dormant knowledge resides within us all.
As Sri Sri Ravi Shankar so eloquently phrased, spirituality is the real fruit inside, whilst Religion is just the surface peel which you need to get there.
No for sure. if you are in meditation, you even do not know the word “Religion” and its meaning. also even you can not tell whether you are spiritual or not. please do not go into words like religion, spiritual just try to be love-full every time. Do not read about religion, rituals or Spirituality, they will create doubts in your mind , just try to love and you will know what you really want.
Religion does not get in the way of Spirituality. Religion is a tool to help achieve spirituality. Spirituality is in itself acknowledging the presence of divine, whether within us or around us, and religion acts as a tool to help us achieve the same. Sadly, religion as a discipline has mutated into religion as a rigorous discipline wherein we reject the practices followed by others to reach a spiritual level of being.
I agree with you that all religions preached in the world are based on the same set of principles of honesty, peace, brotherhood. The Holy Quran states that all humans are born with the knowledge of god within themselves, this has been acknowledged by many a saint well versed with the Holy Quran. The Holy Bible states that Lord Jesus Christ said that the kingdom of heaven lies within you. The Holy Bhagwat states that we can find salvation within. Lord Buddha himself had to meditate and was able to achieve salvation within.
Basically, all religions, whether Abrahamic or Eastern, preach the same thing. It is only a few customs of eating habits, of wearing clothes, of burial and marriage rituals, of idol worship etc. that have given religions a diverse look, but they are all aimed at the same goal, to achieve a better understanding of the supreme power that has created us and to achieve a more spiritual level of being. It is like all roads leading to Rome, whether you take one route or the other.
So, in my viewpoint, RELIGION DOES NOT GET IN THE WAY OF SPIRITUALITY, FUNDAMENTALISM DOES!!!
Religion and spirituality are inseparable ..All religions teach us gud things but its not necessary to follow any routine to connect to God ..God is universal nd he dwells in our heart ..we dont need to search for him at religious places , we shud not be much dogmatic nd only try to do gud karma ..God is the upholder of universal law nd we look up to him as our saviour ..actually wat i feel is that …some fear of religion shud be there as in its absence sometimes the gud in us is overpowered by evil leading to self destruction ….”
Many people get stuck to the SKIN of the fruit which is being religious….and many move on to get the actual fruit..which is being spritual…
The word ‘religion’ actually means ‘nature’ e.g. the religion of aluminium would be its properties that define it. So essentially, religion and spirituality are actually (or should be) the same thing…
But the human brain needs to divide things into categories in order to remember things better. That is why we naturally put things into categories, stereotype and discriminate (human nature).
We have done that with religion and spirituality, creating two separate words which are referring to the same thing, which is simply the self.
Spirituality is the juice of all religion including atheism. A true spiritual person will enjoy the fragrance of all religion. Like in rainbow there are many colours. Spirituality is also colourful and all religious philosophies are its colour.
A person who is closed and confined to only one religion cannot be spiritual. A spiritual seeker will adhere all the religious philosophies.
Even atheism has its philosophy and a true spiritual person’s heart will be loverful even for an atheist or a non-believer and he will not condemn him or try to change him.
I personally believe that all religion has some illogical principles and they come in the way of spirituality. But we should try to be a good finder. And like a “Spiritual Bee” try to collect the nectar which is present in all religion.
And a bee is not confined to only one flower it goes to many flowers of the garden. A spiritual person is also a collector of nectar and nectar is present in every religion.”
Religion and spirituality,both are essential in full filling the life purpose.
People get in the way of Spirituality. There is always an excuse to discriminate and alienate. Religion, colour, ethnicity, country, tribe, cast – and so on. Connecting with the ‘Higher Power’ is a God given right (no pun intended!).
As all the top Guru’s say (including me
) “Get out of the way of you”. Mindset comes first. If we concentrate on how much we can TAKE from people with the salary slave mentality then we will never understand that it’s all about giving, and giving value unconditionally. period.
If we just understood this as a society we would achieve so much together without having to use religion or anything else as a means to abuse the rights of others or use that abuse as an excuse to undermine all things spiritual!
spirituality is the real path ….rest all are mediums to keep us on it…!!so that we are not distracted….keep on moving ahead…religion is one of the strongest mediums which ensures tht we do not deviate…keep on going ahead…with full faith….!!
YES.
JGD…me thinks…Religion gives a base for spirituality to thrive on…for instance, u cannot teach a child to be spiritual, but u can impart religious practices / rituals to them. Once they grow older their religious background would take them closer to spirituality.
First you get to know God in the abstract form through ur religion and then your journey to know the “real” God starts….and then we know the divine is nowhere but within you….its so beautiful when u realize that….:o)
There are few ignorant people who mix religion with spirituality….u can only have compassion for them…and only hope and pray that maybe they will become truely spiritual in their next birth atleast (Guruji says so…:o))
Sooooo…ham….”It is I”!!
Not at all!
JGD,
I think Religion is the get for Spirituality.
no never.. !!!
hottege hittu illodidru,jutige majjige hoovu
the only obstruction comes in the form of a person unwilling to see beyond their dogma …. a person unwilling to see beyond what they know or what they can perceive…. religion doesn’t get in the way…dogma is what it is…., but people can fool them selves out of spirituality….
I always like to read what Vinay K, jha has to say?? Thanks brother..i always find myself agreeing with you!! You are Genius!
religion is washing brain method,mostly,and spirithuality is highest level of living life itself
Religion is the love relationship between the creator (god) and the creation (man)…..when we reach out to discover our self we try to connect our self with our creator which opens door to spirituality. …….JGD