Many people ask me how is spirituality defined. They also ask how is spirituality different from religion. Here are some of my thoughts on these questions.
First, how would we define spirituality. The root word of spirituality is the Spirit. Spirit in this context would be refering to our soul or inner concioussness. Therefore, spirituality is in an essence to connect ourselves to our inner concioussness. In a nutshell it is an inward proccess.
Religion on the other hand is a set of dogmas, beliefs and practices followed by people around the world. All religions are faith based and focuses on the outward proccess based on sensory experiences. Most of these religions have a belief system of god/gods and goddess/godessess. It is a pursuit based on the relationship between a man and god. The means of achieving this relationship is through the use of prayers, rituals, pilgrimages and other acts of worship.
Coming back to spirituality, spirituality on the other hand is an inwards journey to reach one's conciousness. Conciousness is defined further as the awareness of a person's existence. The one voice within us that asks constantly, "Who am I?". The silent observer within ourselves.
Therefore, both paths are moving in the opposite direction. Religion sees everything from an extrinsic point of view while spirituality sees everything from an intristic point of view.
Now I would not say whether religion is superior to spirituality or vice versa. It is in my point of view that both play an important part in today's world. I believe one should follow one's heart on the path he/she chooses. As they say all roads lead to Rome finally.
Well this is my short take on both religion and spirituality. I would be writing more in the coming weeks on the topic. So stay tuned...
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