Spirituality vs. Religion - what's the difference?

by truth_about_the_truth 40 Replies latest watchtower scandals

• 

  eclipse

  Spirituality: Internal and private
  
  Religion: External and public -- plus all that other stuff...
  
  alias

  That sums it up quite nicely, alias
• 

  serotonin_wraith

  Thanks nvrgnbk, that's a better way to describe it- the 'connection with everything' is an out of body connection regardless of whether we think about it. We're all connected to things that can't even think.

  The fact everything is connected in some way is undeniable- so someone who is spiritual is just someone who thinks about that? I don't want to label myself spiritual on that alone, it just seems to be common sense to understand things are connected. I'm probably missing something.
• 

  nvrgnbk

  You're not missing anything, sero.

  LOL!

  And, as you well know, though my definition is meaningful to me, it may not be to anyone else.
• 

  darth frosty

  Here is my take on it. I look at God as the architect of a apt. bldg. Once the architect designs and buils said bldg his fiscal responsibility is done. He can have pride of his work, but thats it. Now, whoever owns the bldg, is the one who gets money or rent for its units. If you rent out an apartment and try to send your rent every month to the architect who designed and built the bldg. in time you will have no where to stay.
  
  Religion is the landlord of most people's soul today. Whatever religious structure or organization you follow thats who you are paying rent to. Spirituality is owning your own home. Spirituality is moving out from the confines and rules of religion and tending your own lawn.
• 

  bigwilly

  I think it was best explained in the movie Dogma:

  "He said humanity took a good idea and, like always, built a belief structure on it."

  "it's better to have ideas. You can change an idea. Changing a belief is trickier. Life should malleable and progressive; working from idea to idea permits that. Beliefs anchor you to certain points and limit growth; new ideas can't generate. Life becomes stagnant."
• 

  Satanus

  sero

  You desribed it fairly well. The connection is always there, for everyone, kind of like the phone lines connecting everyone. The cellphone system on top of that works really well too, as an illustration of what it's like. In a meditation focused on something/someone, the connection can sometimes come more alive, for some people. This falls into the psychic ability classification.

  It's true we are all stardust. But, in addition to that, we all came from a prestardust source. The connection to that source is still there, as are connections of everything to everything else that came from the same source. I see the connection as based on, for lack of a better word to describe it, spirit.

  The conscious mind, w good reasons, is focussed on the world here and now, and how to survive in it. Thus, this other, deeper dimension has been shunted aside and mostly ignored, below the level of consciousness.

  S
• 

  Shawn10538

  I think the concept of spirit is manmade AND religious in nature. First of all, spirit needs to be defined. But defining spirit is just as impossible as defining God. In fact, I defy anybody here to be able to define spirit - what it actually is. Here is a start, but as you'll see, it is given synonyms, but you still don't know what it actually IS:
  
  spir·it n
  1. a vital force that characterizes a living being as being alive
  2. somebody’s will, sense of self, or enthusiasm for living
  3. an enthusiasm and energy for living
  4. somebody’s personality or temperament
  5. somebody’s attitude or state of mind
  6. a sense of enthusiasm and loyalty that somebody feels through belonging to a group
  7. somebody or something that is a divine, inspiring, or animating influence
  8. the intention behind something such as a rule or decree, rather than its literal interpretation
  9. a prevailing mood or outlook characteristic of a place or time
  10. a supernatural being that does not have a physical body, for example, a ghost, fairy, angel, or demon
  11. somebody who shows a specific quality
  12. somebody’s soul, especially that of a dead person
  13. a strong alcoholic liquor made by distillation (often used in the plural)
  14. any liquid produced by distillation, especially a distilled solution of ethanol and water (often used in the plural)
  15. a solution of an essence or volatile substance in alcohol (often used in the plural)
  
  npl spir·its
  a particular frame of mind or mood
  
  vt
  to take somebody or something away quickly in a secret or mysterious way
  
  Encarta® World English Dictionary © 1999 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Developed for Microsoft by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.
• 

  Shawn10538

  I think the concept of spirit is manmade AND religious in nature. First of all, spirit needs to be defined. But defining spirit is just as impossible as defining God. In fact, I defy anybody here to be able to define spirit - what it actually is. Here is a start, but as you'll see, it is given synonyms, but you still don't know what it actually IS:
  
  spir·it n
  1. a vital force that characterizes a living being as being alive
  2. somebody’s will, sense of self, or enthusiasm for living
  3. an enthusiasm and energy for living
  4. somebody’s personality or temperament
  5. somebody’s attitude or state of mind
  6. a sense of enthusiasm and loyalty that somebody feels through belonging to a group
  7. somebody or something that is a divine, inspiring, or animating influence
  8. the intention behind something such as a rule or decree, rather than its literal interpretation
  9. a prevailing mood or outlook characteristic of a place or time
  10. a supernatural being that does not have a physical body, for example, a ghost, fairy, angel, or demon
  11. somebody who shows a specific quality
  12. somebody’s soul, especially that of a dead person
  13. a strong alcoholic liquor made by distillation (often used in the plural)
  14. any liquid produced by distillation, especially a distilled solution of ethanol and water (often used in the plural)
  15. a solution of an essence or volatile substance in alcohol (often used in the plural)
  
  npl spir·its
  a particular frame of mind or mood
  
  vt
  to take somebody or something away quickly in a secret or mysterious way
  
  Encarta® World English Dictionary © 1999 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Developed for Microsoft by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.
• 

  nvrgnbk

  THE EMERALD TABLET OF HERMES
  
  .
  ...
  .....
  
  
  True, without falsehood, certain and most true, that which
  is above is as that which is below, and that which is below is as
  that which is above, for the performance of the miracles of the
  One Thing. And as all things are from One, by the mediation of
  One, so all things have their birth from this One Thing by
  adaptation. The Sun is its father, the Moon its mother, the Wind
  carries it in its belly, its nurse is the Earth. This is the
  father of all perfection, or consummation of the whole world. Its
  power is integrating, if it be turned into earth.
  
  Thou shalt separate the earth from the fire, the subtle from the
  gross, suavely, and with great ingenuity. It ascends from earth
  to heaven and descends again to earth, and receives the power of
  the superiors and of the inferiors. So thou hast the glory of the
  whole world; therefore let all obscurity flee before thee. This
  is the strong force of all forces, overcoming every subtle and
  penetrating every solid thing. So the world was created. Hence
  were all wonderful adaptations, of which this is the manner.
  Therefore am I called Hermes Trismegistus, having the three parts
  of the philosophy of the whole world. What I have to tell is
  completed, concerning the Operation of the Sun.
  
  
  Hermes Trismegistus
• 

  Satanus

  Casting around, i remembered that the sanskrit of hinduism might have the appropriate word, that would fit better than 'spirit'. From wikipedia, here are some descriptions of brahman.

  Brahman (nominative brahma ?????? ) is the concept of the supreme spirit found in Hinduism. Brahman is the unchanging, infinite, immanent, and transcendentreality which is the Divine Ground of all matter, energy, time, space, being, and everything beyond in this universe. The nature of Brahman is described as transpersonal, personal and impersonal by different philosophical schools. In the Rig Veda, Brahman gives rise to the primordial being Hiranyagarbha that is equated with the creator God Brahma .

  The seers who inspired the composition of the Upanisads asserted that the liberated soul (jivanmukta) has realized his identity with Brahman as his true self

  It is said that Brahman cannot be known by material means, that we cannot be made conscious of it, because Brahman is our very consciousness.

  Essentially, it is also beyond being and non-being alike, and thus does not quite fit with the usual connotations of the word God and even the concept of monism.

  all is Brahman.

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brahman

  Long before christians argued about the deity of christ, long before the hippy took his first toke, hindu mystics had asked and explored the same question, sero. And, a good question it is.

  S