Do we confuse kindergarten with university? Of course not. But we often mix up religion and spirituality.
That’s why we see people who are 60, 70, even 80 years old, still in the Kindergarten of Religion. They don’t graduate to the University of Spirituality. Just as a child goes to school and then grows up, evolves and goes to graduate in a university, so must we evolve from religion to spirituality.
Many of us say that we are spiritual when in reality, we are religious. So, what is the difference between the two and what are the similarities between the two?
Religion and spirituality are similar in the sense that they are related to belief, to faith, to our relationship with God. They both strive to connect us to God, take us towards God. They advocate and foster love, kindness, virtuous living, acceptance and surrender. But there is a fundamental difference between the two that people seem oblivious to.
Religion is the kindergarten to spirituality. Spirituality is the university.
What religion does is that it introduces God to us. When we are born, we often take on the religion of our parents or family. Through religion we learn to believe in God — the God of our religion. Mostly, this God has a form, a name. It could be Krishna, Rama, Ganesha, Shiva. It could be Jesus. It could even be a saint. We pray to the deity of our religion, we seek the fulfilment of our dreams and wishes. Just as there are thousands of Gods, there are several religions. Each religion advocates and propagates its own God, its own beliefs and rituals.
Spirituality is beyond religion. Spirituality is the science of the Spirit, the Soul, the Atman. There are no ‘different kinds of spirituality’, unlike religions. There are not many Gods in spirituality. Spirituality is just one — it advocates the ultimate truth. It is about the realization of the truth — the truth of who we are, who God is. We realize we are not the body, mind and ego, but the Soul and the Soul is a part of God. While religions have created thousands of Gods, spirituality believes in one ‘God’— a God that is formless and nameless, endless and beginningless, birthless and deathless. God is not a person or a saint but a power—a power that is omnipresent, omniscient, and omnipotent. A power that is beyond human definition and comprehension. God is a Supreme Immortal Power. Everything is a manifestation of the Divine. Only God is, there is nothing else. The Supreme Immortal Power is in every molecule of matter and in every being. Whether animate or inanimate — everything is God. Therefore, spirituality changes the way we see God, this world and ourselves.
The intent of all religions is good. Religion introduces God to us. It creates a moral framework for us to live by. It encourages us to have faith, to believe in the Divine, to pray. Thus, as children, religion begins our journey to God. We pray to a God in a temple. But it is spirituality that concludes our journey to God. While in religion, we pray ‘to’ an idol or deity, in spirituality, we pray ‘through’ the deity to the Supreme Immortal Power. Religion is like the pole in the game of pole-vault. We need religion to jump across the bar, but ultimately we have to let go of the pole to land on the other side. While religion does connect us with God, unfortunately, it also confuses us with rituals and dogmas. It makes us go round and round in circles as we try to look for God, find God. The truth is that God cannot be found. God has to be realized. This is where spirituality takes over.
Religion creates a sense of duality — it makes us see God as someone different from us, as someone who lives in a temple or in a heaven. Spirituality, on the other hand, helps us realize that God is everywhere and in everything. God is in the mountains and the seas, in the butterflies and the bees, in you and in me. God lives in the temple of our heart. The Four Mahavakyas from the Upanishads enunciate this truth: Tat Twam Asi; Ayam Atma Brahma; Prajnanam Brahma; Aham Brahmasmi. But we don’t interpret scriptures correctly.
Religion, unfortunately, has divided people. It has created differences amongst people because every religion insists that its God is the only true God. There is conflict in the world, there are wars in the world in the name of religion. Religion also often resorts to making us fearful of God. It at times inculcates in us the fear of displeasing God and being punished. Spirituality is built on love – true love for the Divine.
If we embrace spirituality, there will be peace and love in this world because we will realize that we are all one, we are not different from each other. We are all a part of the Supreme Immortal Power. Just like a wave comes from the ocean and returns to it, so do we come from the Divine and return to the Divine.
It is spirituality that takes us to the ultimate goal of life — of Enlightenment, self-realization, God-realization, Moksha, Nirvana. We must remember that without religion we can’t attain God and with religion, we can’t attain God. We need spirituality.
