SPIRITUALITY VS RELIGION
Written on: February 25, 2026
In this post I will be discussing the differences of spirituality and religion. Those two get mixed up together easily, but they are two different things.
Religions are based on spirituality for sure, that I am ready to argue for. This topic is a difficult one for sure.
WHAT IS THE DIVINE?
I guess we could say that religion is a group activity that is answering the questions of "What is the Divine?" for example. Religion is a set of doctrines and beliefs
aimed at answering questions related to God and is a part of culture in many ways. To understand religion isn't an easy task. Religion is often organized and talks about
things such as holy books, such as The Bible, The Qur'an, The Bhagavad Gita, etc. Religion is defined by those things, and often people practice religion in churches, mosques, temples, and so on.
Many people take part in religion. Religious worship is done in communities and perhaps that is one factor of how it differs from spirituality. I believe that many of the founders of religion
were people such as saints, sages and gurus, who were very spiritual people. One could say that religion is based on spirituality. So if religion is based on spirituality, what are the
similarities between the two?
SIMILARITIES BETWEEN THE TWO
Some spiritual people practice things such as meditation, which is a huge part of Buddhism. That way, the similarities between the two are really easy to grasp.
Spiritual and religious are thus two interconnected things. Perhaps you do not think of yourself as religious. Many people don't, but they can still benefit from meditation and even prayer.
THE BENEFITS OF BOTH
You can definitely benefit from meditation, prayer and even chanting, which is always fun. Songs do make for a better life, and I've heard that some people practice a connection with God.
If you open your eyes wide enough, you can see magic unfold. That is the promise of spirituality, and religion. That's why people love to practice them, and value them.
Some of my favorite religions include Christianity, Islam, Kashmir Shaivism, Buddhism, Hinduism and all kinds of Shamanistic traditions. I like some of the teachings out there a lot,
and they have brought a lot of freedom for me in my life. I especially like the art that comes with it, and can appreciate a cool mosque or church or temple, too. Perhaps you can, too.
THE TRUTH ABOUT LOVE
Many religious/spritual writers and thinkers have, during humanity's long history, been interested in the question of Love. They have been mystified about it and why it exists. Why would it?
To me, the existence of Love is a proof of God - when you think of it backwards, would a God want Love to exist? Would God want The Universe to exist, or humanity and the animal kingdom?
I argue that God would want Consciousness to be a phenomena - so God created it. God would want an infinity of conscious beings to exist. I bet that is why reality exists in the first place.
THE ORIGINS OF FAITH
I have also heard that Shamanism was the first spiritual tradition. It was all about connecting with the spirit world, and still is in some places and with some people. Sometimes, I call
it witchcraft. Anyways, the Shaman was a spiritual healer who was able to connect with spirits and gain knowledge of the universe through accessing a reality apart. In the 20th century,
some westerners finally gained access to practicing Shamans.
One of their practices was to go into a deep cave and stay in darkness for a long time, along with dancing and sharing myths and stories. Singing sacred songs was also a practice for sure.
They also used a drum at a tempo of 220 beats per minute to induce an altered state of consciousness. Many places in the world still have a living indigenous culture and in some places
they are mixed with modern people. One can also be a modern day practitioner which I consider myself.
SPIRIT WORLDS
So how does one connect with the spirit worlds that religions and spirituality promise us? What are the best methods? For sure, the ones I mentioned before can be great and I also know
that some people are actively teaching spirituality, even in the internet there are many resources to learn from and this is also one of my aims as a content creator, to educate people
about meditation and other spiritual techniques and how to live an awesome life. So be sure to follow along. The ambition of my blog is to be one of the top resources for this purpose
in the internet, and I would love to have you follow along.
Anyway, if you are thinking of Spirituality vs Religion, don't hesitate to pick both, or pick the one you prefer. Which ever you choose, I wish you a great day. Or night.
TO TOUCH THE SKY
If you're looking to touch the sky in life, this should be the important question to consider. Touch the sky as a metaphor for living a life worth living.
Thus far we have discussed the differences of religion and spirituality a little bit, so let's dive a little bit further into the topic.
Spirituality and religion are both methods of reaching for a beautiful experience in life. I do think that it is what is important. To live a beautiful life, of course. Why not?
Religion can help us get there, and so can spirituality. Also, having a strong sense of spirituality can be considered a superpower. Are all religions just spiritual traditions?
Who really knows the answer to these profound questions. Probably all of religion and spirituality is just asking profound questions and embracing the profound nature of being alive.
In that way they are effective, I think. I have a friend who is religious and spiritual and he does get a lot out of his religion, and I really respect that.
I just really like when he talks about his experience with being a devotee of God. He actually gets out there and preaches The Gospel for people, I mean he talks The Bible with people
and it's just awesome to watch it, that's how deeply he values his own spirituality, and that's awesome. What could be better than being a devotee of God? I bet absolutely nothing.
DEVOTEE OF GOD
I've also heard sometimes that spirituality isn't meant to be this exciting experience or maybe that's not the point, but I do have a proposition to make for having an exciting experience.
Doing exciting stuff is fun and if you do exciting stuff and I don't mean drugs and alcohol, that will in fact make life worth living. I mean living out of your heart and doing what
you desire the most, doing what you love, doing what you really yearn in your heart and accomplish things in your to do list. That's what a good life is, I think. That is also
being a devotee of God and being in alignment with the best values to live a good life by. Having fun and being amused of life is a spiritual act, and some religions do preach this too.
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Stay in the shadows...
Don Aapo