Five Similarities Between Religion and Spirituality
When we were little we were asked, which came first, the chicken or the egg? If we base our answer on the biblical story of creation, we will answer, chicken. But if we answer based on our experience in raising chickens, our answer would be, eggs.
The answer to the same question can be said, which came first, religion or spirituality?
In terms of our experience in religious books and discussions, religion came first. It is only now that more and more people are talking about spirituality and writing about it. In terms of the origin of reality or the object of our understanding behind that word, spirituality has come first. There was a soul before any religion. Worship God was none other than His worship.
We can even say that spirituality is a branch of religion. People have been talking about religion for centuries. Some of them were fiercely opposed to their own religion. For centuries, Christians opposed paganism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and other religions. This has happened to the rest in the case of paganism, Islam, and other religions. They also opposed other religions.
But more and more people are discovering that religion alone cannot answer their deepest desires for a better life experience. Therefore, they went back to something deeper and better than religion. They have found it in spirituality.
Since spirituality is a part of religion in one sense, there must be some similarities between them, such as similarities between eggs and chickens.
First, they both deal with their confidence as they choose to embark on their play activities. Religion God believes in God the Father or Jesus, or Allah, or Brahman, or so. Spirituality believes in this God or it can hold God as a universal or primordial force. Both believe that such an entity possesses a higher and greater power than we have.
Second, both religion and spirituality seek to establish a relationship with this higher power. Although the type of relationship is different in religion than in spirituality, there is an aspiration for this relationship. Religion is associated with fear and trembling with this high power. Spirituality is associated with love and affection with this higher power.
Third, both religion and spirituality have rituals and practices that deepen one’s religiosity or spirituality. Religions usually have sacred rites or religious ceremonies. There are meditation or yoga sessions on spirituality.
Fourth, both have respect for the sacred, the other worldly. It is not just respect for God. It is a respect for the reality that is beyond our senses and reason. When religion pushes this honor to its extreme, it turns into superstition. When spirituality pushes this honor to its extremes, it turns into religious spirituality.
Fifth, both have a fear of failure. In religion this failure is punished by the repetition of the fire or existence of hell or some other bad consequence. This failure in spirituality is the inability to realize one’s true worth or value and the destiny of a meaningless life. Hell, the repetition of existence, non-existence, meaninglessness is a form of punishment for failure in religion or spirituality.
Jose Bulao, a common caramelite, wants to help you achieve higher spirituality. He is a caramelite format, helping other caramelites in their spiritual growth. Prior to this work he taught philosophy, theology or religious studies at the University of Notre Dame and Ignatian College in Kotabato, Philippines.
