Photo: By Marsha Reid on Unsplash.
Leading question: Howard Grace’s Thought for the Week
‘Religious people are sometimes not very spiritual.’
Andrew Sterling’s helpful ‘Thought for the Week’ on belief and faith, in the Quaker Week issue, made me reflect further on the contrast between ‘religious’ and ‘spiritual’.
Some people are clearly motivated by their religious beliefs, and consciously seek God’s leading. Others are on a selflessly-motivated path of making a positive impact, unrelated to a religion. Like all of us, I ponder the big questions in life. But, personally, this plays no part in what motivates me to follow my deeper compulsion to contribute to building a better world.
I searched the internet for the difference between ‘religious’ and ‘spiritual’. There is a great deal of comment. Here is some of what I found:
‘While these two concepts often overlap, they are quite different. And while both spirituality and religion are ways to be closer to self and with the Divine, how they make us closer is something to think about.’
‘Spirituality is a person’s journey to explore the deeper meaning and purpose of life. It involves methods for self-discovery, inner peace, and connection with the universe or a higher power. Spirituality isn’t tied to any organised structure or specific deities that you have to worship. Religion, on the other hand, is a structured system of beliefs, practices, rituals, and institutions centred around Gods, Goddesses, gurus, and the like. Religions give you a set path and some rules to connect with the Divine.’
Somewhere else it says: ‘You can be religious and spiritual, i.e. you embrace the habits and rituals and feel a strong connection to the soul of what you’re doing.’ Also ‘You can be spiritual without being religious. You feel a strong connection to the soul of what you’re doing, but you don’t feel a need to follow any particular pattern.’ Then ‘You can be religious without being spiritual – you do all the habits but you do not really embody the soul of what you’re doing.’
Some other comments: ‘The moment you say you belong to a religion, you call yourself a believer. The moment you say, “I am on a spiritual path,” you call yourself a seeker.’ As Sadhguru says, ‘Somewhere, at some point, all religions started as a spiritual process. But in their eagerness to organize, they lost the fundamentals.’ ‘Spirituality is something which touches the heart. Religious people are sometimes not very spiritual. And spiritual people are often not religious.’
One final comment: ‘This is a tough question and is very subjective too… [it] lacks a universal answer. [It] is a personal choice influenced by factors like upbringing, experiences, and innate beliefs. Some find solace and guidance in the form of religion, God, and scriptures, others like a more flexible approach. Thus, in the end, seeking peace through God or spirituality is up to you.’
I value being part of the Quaker fellowship that has a spiritual heart, but whose adherents have a great diversity of religious and world views.
