Mahatma Gandhi wisely pointed out that, “God has no religion.” Often, we hear ‘religion’ and ‘spirituality’ referred to as the same thing, but, it is not. Oprah Winfrey elaborates: “Spirituality is not religion. You can be spiritual and not have a religious context. The opposite is true too: You can be very religious with no spiritual dimension, just doctrine. Spirituality isn't something I believe in. It is what and who I am: ‘a spiritual being having a human experience,’ as the French philosopher and priest Pierre Teilhard de Chardin profoundly said (qtd. in https://www.oprah.com/spirit/the-greatest-discovery-of-oprahs-life). I know I've tackled a sensitive topic! Still, I feel it's a significant question to ask oneself: what is religion and what is spirituality? I've spent many decades researching and discovering; I feel it was one of the most pivotal questions to ask myself and to define for myself. Perhaps you have undertaken this journey of discovery too, or you are about to.
What is religion? According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, ‘religion’ is, “1. a personal set or institutionalized system of religious attitudes, beliefs, and practices
2. the service and worship of God or the supernatural
commitment or devotion to religious faith or observance
3. a cause, principle, or system of beliefs held to with ardor and faith as in cult
4. a body of beliefs and practices regarding the supernatural and the worship of one or more deities” (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/religion). Synonyms for the word, ‘religion’, include, “… cult, persuasion, creed, sect, theology, faith, denomination, church, doctrine, credo, dogma” (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/religion).
What is spirituality? From the Oxford Reference Dictionary, ‘spirituality’ is, “A vague term now used to refer both to people's subjective practice and experience of their religion, and to the spiritual exercises and beliefs which individuals have regarding their personal relationship with God. It is usual to regard prayer, meditation, contemplation, and mysticism as major factors in spirituality” (https://www.oxfordreference.com). According to Dr. Maya Spencer explains, “Spirituality involves the recognition of a feeling or sense or belief that there is something greater than myself, something more to being human than sensory experience, and that the greater whole of which we are part is cosmic or divine in nature. Spirituality means knowing that our lives have significance in a context beyond a mundane everyday existence at the level of biological needs that drive selfishness and aggression. It means knowing that we are a significant part of a purposeful unfolding of life in our universe.
Spirituality involves exploring certain universal themes – love, compassion, altruism, life after death, wisdom and truth, with the knowledge that some people such as saints or enlightened individuals have achieved and manifested higher levels of development than the ordinary person. Aspiring to manifest the attributes of such inspirational examples often becomes an important part of the journey through life for spiritually inclined people” (https://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/docs). Synonyms for ‘spirituality’ include, “…metaphysical, psychic, supernatural, etherial, sacred, otherworldly, sacrosanct ,mystical, transcendent, “ (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/spirituality).
According to research from Bowling Green State University, College of Arts & Sciences, “ To be able to talk about religion and spirituality or study these concepts scientifically, we have to come up with working definitions of these terms. But defining religion and spirituality is surprisingly difficult, in part, because we are living in an increasingly multi-cultural, multi-faith world, and in part, because the meanings of religion and spirituality evolve over time, and the meaning of these terms have rapidly changed over the last 50 years.
For much of the 20th century, religion was seen by psychologists and other social scientists as a broad term that covered both the individual and institutional, both the good and the bad, and both the traditional and nontraditional forms of spirituality. In fact, some classic definitions of religion would be hard to distinguish from modern-day conceptions of spirituality. In the latter part of the century, the term spirituality was introduced and began to take on some of the meanings of religiousness. In the process, broad-based views of religion gave way to narrower perspectives, and the terms religion and spirituality became increasingly polarized from each other.
Today, many people make striking contrasts between these two terms, such as religion as institutional versus spirituality as individual, and religion as bad versus spirituality as good.
Are Religion and Spirituality Opposed to Each Other? We believe that religion and spirituality are not opposed to each other.
On one hand, to see religion as purely institutional overlooks the fact that these organizations are concerned with the well-being of their individual members.
On the other hand, to treat spirituality as purely individual overlooks the many ways spirituality expresses itself in intimate relationships, marriages, families, friendships, organizations, communities, and cultures. Even personal spiritual expressions unfold in a larger religious, social and cultural environment.
Similarly, the view of religion as a “bad guy” doesn’t square with the large number of studies that have shown the benefits of various types of religious involvement for health and well-being. And the view of spirituality as a “good guy” overlooks its darker side, such as its capacity to foster self-centeredness and insensitivity toward others.
In short, the tension between religion and spirituality may be overstated. Studies show that most people in the U.S. describe themselves as both religious and spiritual. For example, one national survey found that about
65% of Americans label themselves ‘religious and spiritual’
15 to 20% of Americans call themselves ‘spiritual but not religious’
5 to 10% of Americans say they are ‘religious but not spiritual’
5 to 10% of Americans say that are ‘neither religious nor spiritual’ Source: Marler & Hadaway, 2002 (qtd. in https://www.bgsu.edu/arts-and-sciences/psychology/graduate-program/clinical/the-psychology-of-spirituality-and-family/relational-spirituality/defining-religion-and-spirituality.html). This is an excellent article and if you are interested in this topic, I recommend it to you to read the entire treatise.
What do other thinkers have to say about the difference between religion and spirituality? Best-selling author, Elisabeth Lesser relates, “‘Spirituality is this kind of fearless seeking nature. Like it’s the part of us that says, ‘Whoa, what made a tree? Who am I? Where did I come from? What made something out of nothing? Where do I go when I die? How do I live? How am I supposed to live?’ That’s spirituality, this seeking of truth. It takes fearlessness to seek after truth. Sometimes we’d rather just live, go through the paces. So, that’s spirituality. Religions are our attempts to answer the questions. And, some of those questions are great and beautiful. And, some of them are just dogma and rules that get us into trouble. My rules are better than your rules, and then we fight about them. So, spirituality is the questions and religion is our attempts to answer them” (qtd. in “Super Soul Special: Answering Life’s Big Questions," https://www.oprah.com/app/super-soul-podcast.html).
American Tibetan-Buddhist nun / teacher / philosopher, Pema Chodron, shares, “[Religion is] like getting into a boat and leaving the shore and going out where you can’t see the shoreline anymore, and you’re not really sure if you’re ever going to get back because it’s so vast. That’s right. And, I guess there would be a lot of different ways people would talk about religion. But, nowadays, I think we think of it, unfortunately, as that which separates people, like people holding on to beliefs, whereas spirituality could be a definition the its about going beyond beliefs. I love that…[spirituality] becomes like a river. You’ve more like a river than a rock…it keeps moving forward because that’s natural. That is what being human is” ( (qtd. in “Super Soul Special: Answering Life’s Big Questions," https://www.oprah.com/app/super-soul-podcast.html).
Yama Vanzant, lawyer and inspirational thinker / speaker, weighs in: “Religion is the rules, regulations, ceremonies, and rituals developed by man to create conformity and uniformity in the approach to God. Spirituality is God’s call in your soul [spirit] (qtd. in “Super Soul Special: Answering Life’s Big Questions," https://www.oprah.com/app/super-soul-podcast.html).
Film producer and author, Devon Franklin, describes his views: “I think that religion sometimes is the structure for spirituality. I think that spirituality can exist even outside of religion” (qtd. in “Super Soul Special: Answering Life’s Big Questions," https://www.oprah.com/app/super-soul-podcast.html).
Sister Joan Chittister, nun and theologian, feels that, “Religion is pointing at the moon. Religion is not the ultimate. Religion is not itself the moon, but it is meant to help us see the moon and to require us to reach for it. [There are] as many ways to point to the moon as there are people” (qtd. in “Super Soul Special: Answering Life’s Big Questions," https://www.oprah.com/app/super-soul-podcast.html).
Memoirist and poet, Maya Angelou, shares her thoughts: “Religion is like a map. It can help you to see how to get where you want to go. All it does is show you how to get there. It’s only a map. Spirituality [means] surrender; I surrender all to all” (qtd. in “Super Soul Special: Answering Life’s Big Questions," https://www.oprah.com/app/super-soul-podcast.html).
Author, Sarah Ban Breathnach, declares, “Religion says there’s only one way to Heaven. Spirituality says choose the one that brings you joy” (qtd. in “Super Soul Special: Answering Life’s Big Questions," https://www.oprah.com/app/super-soul-podcast.html).
For me, ‘religion’ is focused on human-made sets of regulations, ways of guiding the thoughts and behaviors of its members, excluding others who do not ascribe to the beliefs / conventions / traditions / stories / practices of the religion, and includes cultural indoctrination. Of course, many religious people have personal relationships with their Deity, respect nature and science as part of God’s creation. ‘Spirituality’, to me, is the profound connection to God / Goddess / light being (angels, spirit guides, etc) / Higher Power / the Source of all, nature and science patterns without the strict rules of organized religions. While I describe myself as spiritual, not religious, I am respectful of people who describe themselves as religious, not spiritual; religious and spiritual; not religious and not spiritual.
What do you think, feel? Are religion and spirituality connected? Are they different? If so, how? Are they important in life? Why? Please share your thoughts and insights by either commenting below this post if you are reading this on social media, or, if you are reading this through your email subscription, please share, by emailing me, at reimaginelife22@gmail.com.
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