02-09-2022, 09:50 AM
Religion and Spirituality
All too frequently we see these concepts offered as: Religion versus Spirituality. Such treatment presupposes a conflict and the need for debate on which is right and which is wrong. This should never have to be the case. Either approach can fit nicely within the other. Here is the beauty of it. It is an individual choice (Free Will) and we may change as we do what we do best – seek (Share/Collect, Intellectualize, Internalize, Grow and Live).
Religion historically has been a set of institutionalized attitudes, beliefs, and practices (collectively, values). These values are typically surrounded with a particular structure (institution & dogma) that provides for certain literature supporting the values and reinforcing life requirements. Many religions provide a list of do/don’t, right/wrong, required/disallowed, etc. This methodology has been very comforting and useful for many people as it provides a ready-made set of guardrails for the conduct of life, and in many cases a promised reward. Some religions have set boundaries on the types of practices acceptable for the participants and the leaders (jointly and individually). This is not to say that seeking is not encouraged, but certain boundaries are given or implied.
Spirituality, on a personal level, in a general sense, is simply one’s choice to believe that there is a power greater than themselves, who created all and provides a balancing third wheel for our reality. What are the two wheels of many people’s reality? Mind and body – this day-to-day treadmill with the goal of survival and self-fulfillment. Spiritually brings a third wheel to this reality and we start to see ourselves, and others, as a mind/body/spirit complex (M/B/S complex) that is an individual entity, as well as a divine part of the entirety of Creation. That is it – you as the seeker get to define, construct, experience and adjust – how to live, learn and continue to seek. Later we will discuss the M/B/S complex in more detail.
The synergies that are created between these two concepts are many. Some have an enduring and strong religious basis that sustains their faith as they explore spirituality adding a stronger conscious contact with the Creator. Others have found their way to faith through spirituality, forging a conduit to a deep conscious connection with the Creator. Still other have developed this God-consciousness leveraging both experiences simultaneously, with the mix favoring one or the other in a seeming infinite and varied combination. The critical factor in any variation is the growth of this conscious contact with the Creator and the need/desire to seek without end. For the Creator is infinite and the avenues to knowing the Creator are infinite and without end. WELCOME SEEKER.
(to be continued - Next Topic: The One Creator and Free Will as a Spiritual Concept)
All too frequently we see these concepts offered as: Religion versus Spirituality. Such treatment presupposes a conflict and the need for debate on which is right and which is wrong. This should never have to be the case. Either approach can fit nicely within the other. Here is the beauty of it. It is an individual choice (Free Will) and we may change as we do what we do best – seek (Share/Collect, Intellectualize, Internalize, Grow and Live).
Religion historically has been a set of institutionalized attitudes, beliefs, and practices (collectively, values). These values are typically surrounded with a particular structure (institution & dogma) that provides for certain literature supporting the values and reinforcing life requirements. Many religions provide a list of do/don’t, right/wrong, required/disallowed, etc. This methodology has been very comforting and useful for many people as it provides a ready-made set of guardrails for the conduct of life, and in many cases a promised reward. Some religions have set boundaries on the types of practices acceptable for the participants and the leaders (jointly and individually). This is not to say that seeking is not encouraged, but certain boundaries are given or implied.
Spirituality, on a personal level, in a general sense, is simply one’s choice to believe that there is a power greater than themselves, who created all and provides a balancing third wheel for our reality. What are the two wheels of many people’s reality? Mind and body – this day-to-day treadmill with the goal of survival and self-fulfillment. Spiritually brings a third wheel to this reality and we start to see ourselves, and others, as a mind/body/spirit complex (M/B/S complex) that is an individual entity, as well as a divine part of the entirety of Creation. That is it – you as the seeker get to define, construct, experience and adjust – how to live, learn and continue to seek. Later we will discuss the M/B/S complex in more detail.
The synergies that are created between these two concepts are many. Some have an enduring and strong religious basis that sustains their faith as they explore spirituality adding a stronger conscious contact with the Creator. Others have found their way to faith through spirituality, forging a conduit to a deep conscious connection with the Creator. Still other have developed this God-consciousness leveraging both experiences simultaneously, with the mix favoring one or the other in a seeming infinite and varied combination. The critical factor in any variation is the growth of this conscious contact with the Creator and the need/desire to seek without end. For the Creator is infinite and the avenues to knowing the Creator are infinite and without end. WELCOME SEEKER.
(to be continued - Next Topic: The One Creator and Free Will as a Spiritual Concept)