The Difference between being Spiritual and Religious

It's important to note here that being spiritual and religious are not the same. Being religious essentially means that one subscribes to the doctrines of a religion and shuts all other religions out (Not necessarily true for all). It is a dogmatic approach that causes one to not accept anything that goes against the particular religion's doctrines. And there are many cases where religious people say that they have an open mind and they are tolerant of other religions but when it comes to the crunch, they are still saying the same thing which is essentially, "My Way is the ONLY way". This is not spirituality. This is a fixed mindset that may even border on fanaticism. They may claim tolerance of other religions but that tolerance is a fake facade. Behind all the fake niceties, they are essentially still thinking that their way is the one and only way and the rest are all wrong. All that niceties are basically them saying that in this modern era they won't hang you or put you into Inquisition etc but that does not change the way they view your religion as the wrong path or worse, the path of the Devil. Example, try saying Jesus is the only "so and so" and that all others go to hell to a Muslim, and you'll probably provoke the muslims into a Jihad with you. In my opinion, both sides are wrong. They've got a dogmatic approach towards religion that borders on fanaticism. It is clearly not the path that the Avatars showed us when they came.

However, a spiritual person can be a devout religious person also but in such a case, it is not in a dogmatic way. These spiritual people know that all the rivers lead to the ocean and they chose a particular path that jives with them. All the while knowing that that way is what suits them and not necessarily suits another. They know that for someone else, another path may be the better way for that person. It is not a race to the top, it is everyone developing at their own speed for their own soul's greater good. Some of them may even know that the higher inner teachings of each religion is very similar. E.g: The practices of Gnostic Christianity, Sufi Muslims and Vajrayana Buddhism are very very similar it is quite indistinguishable.


Being into spirituality means you are actually into personal development. It's personal development not just at the physical, emotional and mental level but also at the soul level. Personal Development is a very wide field. There is so many areas that we can choose to focus on. Even in soul development, it has many sub-areas that we can focus on and it can take years just to perfect one aspect or sub-area. And the various schools/seminars that teach personal development, regardless if it is a so called personal development seminar by Anthony Robbins or a spiritual course by Deepak Chopra or an esoteric course from one of the inner schools (e.g. Gnostic Christians, Sufi Muslims or Vajrayana Buddhism), are actually helping/supporting us to develop just one or a few aspect of our personal development out of the many.


It must be said that there are schools that help/support us to develop as many aspects at one go but this may not be for everyone. All of us are created equal and yet not equal. This is a paradox depending on our level of spiritual development. For example, someone may be at the 3rd level of Initiation whereas another person may be at 8th level of Initiation. But that does not mean that the 3rd level initiate is any lesser than the 8th level initiate. All it means is that the 8th level is at a higher rung on the spiritual ladder thus overall more spiritually developed but the 3rd level initiate could be far more developed in certain aspects than the 8th level initiate. So, one should not feel small if one is at a lower rung of initiation. You can always zoom pass the higher level initiate. It is your free will, your determination, your consistency of effort that will propel you forward.


I'll digress a bit and go into Yoga now. Most Yogic practices combines strange physical postures with meditative practices. Today, in western countries one can even get a certificate (a diploma or even a degree) to teach yoga. This is soooo weird. While I am not saying that it is wrong, I do question if the universities that provide such courses even know what Yoga really is. The graduates who then teach yoga seems to be more focused on the physical aspects of yoga rather than what Yoga really is all about. Look, if you are interested in physical health and will being only, then perhaps aerobics or anaerobic exercises are a more suited. Think of it for awhile... it really doesn't make sense to do some weird and painful (for some) postures for a slimmer body when there are far more easier and efficient methods to achieving those same results. The reason Yoga has those weird postures is because when we "contort" our bodies in those manner, it activates and channels the chi to circulate in a certain manner and even opening some meridians in the process and thus accelerating the path of spiritual development. The physical benefits that come along are a positive side effect that is necessary because spiritual development is all encompassing meaning it also includes physical. Your physical body needs to be strong and healthy to contain the increased chi levels or even Kundalini energy that is being released otherwise it will start deteriorating. One does not put new wine into an old wine bag...it will burst.


Anyway, coming back... A religious person can be spiritual in the real sense. Usually, I would say (and I could be wrong) these people somehow stumble upon something in their religious practice that instead of causing them to react negatively as would have been expected, something within them tells them that they knew that all along but it goes against the very core of what their religious teacher has been teaching them. Usually, in such situations, as humans, we would either keep it to ourselves, confide in a close confidant, or if we are more daring we confront the religious teacher with the dilemma faced and ask for guidance. Sometimes we get the two voices in our minds playing the angel and devil talk thingy :-)  But if we are true to ourselves, we somehow know that the answer that came from within us is the true answer but unfortunately it goes against some religious pillar. Such a situation can be akin to your soul (or even your guardian angel) "telling" you the truth. People in this situation do "wake up" and stopped being fanatical about their religious views. They may stay on with the religion but from then on they become spiritual in the true sense and not dogmatic in their viewpoint. they realize (or "remember") that Truth is not the exclusive right of any particular culture, religion or race.


Having said all that, I must add here that while I do encourage people to look into their personal development, I do not encourage going into it as a means of escaping from lives troubles. While what I just said here may be odd, it is a known fact that there are many people who choose "spirituality" as a means to run away from everyday life. That's not spiritual. There really is no point being "spiritual" but at the same time being sick and broke all the time. That is not spiritual and not the way we should be living. And don't for once say that Mother Teresa was an example of a spiritual person who was broke. She isn't. She understood the Laws of Attraction and utilizes it to manifest for the work she does. Of course, there is always karma. But karma should not be an excuse why our lives do not work out. Otherwise, we might as well just lie on the rail tracks and let the oncoming train end it all. There is alway personal power and free will and there has been many examples of people who have "made it to the top" against all odds and despite their physical, emotional and mental handicaps.