SUMMARY CHAPTER 5
The Difference between Religion and Spirituality
• The moment a Religion talks of its own God and its own scripture, it becomes different from Spirituality. Spirituality is a study of the Universal Power that manifests everywhere on earth as the Divine Spirit or Life Energy.
• Religion makes its followers accept myth, whereas Spirituality refuses to accept myth; it is all about realization of the Truth.
• Religion is the kindergarten to Spirituality. Just as school starts where kindergarten stops, Spirituality starts where Religion stops.
• Religion does not give clarifications to all doubts of its followers while Spirituality encourages questioning every ritual, every myth which religion considers as blasphemy.
• Most Religions ask their followers to fear God, to refrain from doing certain things as it would displease God. But Spirituality is all about loving God and doing things not so much to please God or out of fear of God, but rather to love God.
• Religion prays to a God that we don’t know, Spirituality knows the God that we pray to. It is building a living connection with God, realizing we are the Soul, the Spirit or the Atman. It is realizing God every moment that we live. Spirituality is seeing everything beautiful as the Divine.
• Spirituality needs Religion. It is the root of Spirituality. Religion is just a root, it can’t do anything other than making us exist, believe in God and then die but Spirituality gives us the opportunity to realize the Truth and to be liberated.