The distinctions between religion and spirituality depend on the various criteria that humans fuel themselves in. They are neither completely opposite from each other, nor relatively the same. Based on the following criteria, the differences between religion and spirituality could be cited:
• Who you are as a person?
• What do you want in life?
• Where do you stand in life?
• What is the meaning of your life?
These are not just some questions but also the search for one’s consciousness. Both religion and spirituality are two different paths to attain their answers.
While religion is a personal set of beliefs and practices to worship a supernatural form, particularly God; spirituality is living the everyday life with awareness, higher consciousness, and kindness towards others.
Basically, all religions set out to lead a meaningful life with kindness towards others, but with time the spirituality inside the religions vanished. So, they are just the spiritualty gone worse. Religion is ‘believed in’ while spirituality is ‘sought after’.
In the need to popularize, give an identity to people, the religions lost their framework. Today, most religions have lost the aspect of spirituality in them. One major difference between them is about believing and seeking. Religions look forward to believing in things, while spirituality seeks the answers through sincerity. You can be spiritual even if you are not religious. People who are religious believe in a set of prayers, rules, fundamentals, or practices which their religion teaches them. They have the answers to the WHAT, WHY, AND HOW of the universe. While those who are on a spiritual path don’t have the answers to most of the things. They seek to gain knowledge and retrieve information. They can either consult the religious scriptures or follow their own conscience, but there is no hard and fast rule to follow a system.
• “Who you are as a person” is answered by religion in the name of their religious identity, suppose “I am a Hindu, a Muslim, etc.” But spirituality says you can be a kind person with awareness.
• “What do you want in life” also sees different answers by both religion & spirituality. If you’re a religious person, you tend to be closer to God and that could be your ultimate aim. But if spirituality is left to answer that it would be to become self-aware, full of consciousness, and help other beings.
Similarly, the other questions too are answered differently. So, in basic terms spirituality is the origin of religion but now it appears to be a different domain due to the contamination. Religion tends to associate with God if something is wrong- because God wanted it that way if something is right- God’s willingness. But spirituality seeks the answer within oneself. It says that all the core and solutions of problems are within ourselves. All we need to do is seek them.