Spirituality vs Religion

I believe that spirituality is like the ocean. It is beautiful, dangerous, mysterious, scary, unpredictable and full of wonder. Religion is like a man made pool. It still contains water, but  it is limited by the boundaries designed by it's creator.

 I'm not  saying religions are necessarily bad, though. In fact I think being part of a religion can be a great place to start a spiritual journey. We can't jump into the ocean without knowing how to swim and how to protect ourselves against it's infinite dangers.
But I think part of spiritual evolution is letting go of the confines of what we are told to believe then experiencing for ourselves the wild, untamed spirituality that existed long before mankind could hold a pen.

Of course if we choose to stay in the 'pool' then all well and good. But I don't think anyone should prevent another from daring to step out of the pool and into the ocean.

Bronwyn


Update 18/3/2013. This is interesting:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ed-and-deb-shapiro/religion-and-spirituality_b_967951.html

The Bible was written by humans...

Just a few questions I have regarding the Bible.

•  Where did the concept of evil come from if God created everything and everything was good.  If God is all good and not evil at all, how did he manage to create an angel that was eventually going to be the cause of  everything bad in the world. And if God is all knowing how did he not know that this angel  was going to become bad or if he did know why didn't he stop the angel. Surely an entity that was pure love and not evil at all would have done something to prevent this bad angel from indirectly causing all the disgusting and horrific things that have happened in the world to date. 

• If what Jesus did and said was so incredibly important for the spiritual well being of not only his generation but for the future of mankind, why didn't he write anything himself?  We know through passages in the Bible that he could read and write. So why was it left to be remembered and recorded through hearsay at least 30 years after he died?

•  A couple of days after Jesus was crucified, the stone in front of the tomb was open and his body had disappeared. He spoke to a woman (or women),  and was seen by people for some time afterward showing them the wounds in his hands to prove he was actually Jesus. The Bible suggests that Jesus had 'risen' from the dead as a spirit but  wouldn't we be more convinced of this  if  Jesus dead body hadn't disappeared? Seriously if I thought one of my close friends had died then their body went missing and they appeared later and showed me their wounds I would assume they hadn't died at all. I certainly would not assume they were a ghost!

I'm sure I am not the only one who has wondered about these things. I just find it interesting that hardcore  Bible believers can't seem to see the inconsistencies in these and many other passages. Having once been a Christian I understand the need to overlook certain faults in the scriptures to justify a need to believe in them as perfect. But there came a time in my life when I had to accept the truth  and stop denying that the Bible was written by people and we know people have the ability to manipulate other people... even to the point of getting them to believe that everything they have written comes from God.

Just a late night thought.

sad monkey

I wonder if the less we believe in spiritual hope and consequence, the more we believe out lives are pointless. Seriously if we are nothing more than flesh and blood creatures then so what if we die! So what if anyone dies. Every organic thing dies and if this is all we are then seriously what was the point of us humans evolving into what it is we are now. Our intelligence has just led to overpopulation, wars  and destruction of the environment. Seriously what was the point of evolution if it led to this.
Why couldn't I have been born a monkey that lives in the jungle free to spring from tree to tree. I was born a monkey that has to find a job and  who has to pay bills and worry about the future.

Evolution may be real but it sucks!

Destiny…they keep telling me it’s mine to determine!!!

 Seriously.  Anyone who honestly believes that we are in charge of everything that happens to us in our lives really needs to open their eyes. When you do you will see that this very popular view is a crock.

 

We are so dependant on other people. For example, if you want a job you can’t force someone to hire you. You can’t determine that destiny for yourself  because the decision ultimately relies upon another persons opinion of you. So that puts another in charge of that particular destiny. You can certainly try your hardest to influence the outcome of your attempt to get that job, but at the end of the day somebody else decides, your success or your failure is in the hands of another.

The same goes with many aspects of life. So many things depend on somebody else’s judgement, somebody else’s opinion and somebody else’s approval other than our own.

Sickness and death are not exactly choices either. At least not all sickness and death. (I sometimes wonder if some people commit suicide because they feel it’s the only thing about their life they can control). We are all destined to die. We cannot control that. In fact most of us cannot control when where and how we are going to die.

Natural disasters have determined the destinies of many.  Who wants to be destined to live in poverty because a flood or a hurricane has destroyed everything they own? Nobody chooses that. How can we be in control of our own destiny when the earth is so unpredictable?

People who get kidnapped and/or raped and/or murdered have very little control over those situations I’m sure. Their destiny whether they survive their ordeal or not, and the destiny of their loved ones, has most certainly been determined by someone other than themselves.

Most of our destinies are going to be determined by outside influences, be they other people or events. Let’s stop kidding ourselves and think we have so much control over our lives. We haven’t. As soon as we realise this we can then work on teaching our kids to accept the reality that things may not go as planned rather than filling their heads with all of this…you determine your own destiny rubbish.  It simply is not true.

That’s not to say we don’t have choices. We do. But there are times we really don’t have a choice or our choices are greatly influenced by the threat of a ruthless consequence if we don’t choose a certain way.  

We cannot determine what will happen in the future. We cannot determine what others will think of us. We cannot force others to give us what we want.

Mostly, our destiny is in the hands of others. We should therefore be more focused on how we can influence our destiny rather than being taught how to control it. Know what you want, go out to get it and understand that it may not happen. The best way to cope with disappointment is to be prepared for it! 

Too much Yang..

The trouble with patriarchal monotheism is that historically it was all yang and no yin. (Or at least very little yin). 

When Pagans worship or celebrate they are aware of and embrace both the masculine (yang) and the feminine (yin). It is all about balance which is brought about by the belief in the equality of both the masculine and the feminine deities..

I think it makes sense that everyone has a masculine and feminine side. A logical, linear side and an intuitive holistic side. Unfortunately due to a couple of thousand years of the belief in one male God and no feminine deity at all, (longer for the Jews), the modern day monotheistic worshipper has lost the ability  to ‘tap into’ their feminine side with as much ease and effectiveness as pagans..

Having said this, I have experienced church services where people have been dancing around worshipping in a trance like state singing those ever popular Hillsongs worship songs, chattering mindlessly in ‘tongues’ ‘falling over in the Spirit’ and really having a good time. It was great escapism from our mundane lives. But very irrational and to me it seemed there was no productiveness. 

In (most) Pagan or Animist cultures, getting into a trancelike state means that you are ‘raising power’ and there is a purpose for this. You do it so you can achieve something. You don’t do it just to have a good time. If you raise power you ‘channel’ it toward something like the fulfilment of a prayer or spell or to empower yourself and/ or others for action.

There is a balance of the deep, intuitive, yin and the external,  purposeful, yang.

A lot will say that the reason they are worshipping with such abandon is because they are ‘getting closer to God’.  And to this I say, fine. Why?

Perhaps this trance like worship style is a yearning to tap into the feminine.  I wonder if, after so many years of the domination of the linear, logical not so feeling style of worship, in this more egalitarian world, the feminine is emerging. However, rather than compliment the rational worship,  it kind of rebels against it with this  more intuitive, holistic style of praise..

I think the key to anything is balance..  In the case of worship I think be uplifted but always with your feet on the ground. Sing freely but always with your mind on your reason. Do everything with both feeling and purpose.

Just a thought!! Blessings!!

My Non Committed Spirit says....

I believe ..at the moment ..that the spiritual world is far too vast and intriguing to limit oneself completely to one particular type of faith. I understand that some do and I think that if your path harms none then it’s all good. Religion is a harness for our spirituality. For some it can be a great way to be connected and guided. For some it’s a bondage, one they would feel uncomfortable being free of.  And for others it's mechanism to drag someone else's egotistical or financial cart. Some wear blinkers as well . Never questioning, never exploring what they believe, never considering a different point of view. Just accepting blindly what somebody tells them. Just leaving their spiritual growth in the hands of a human being who claims to be inspired by a god.

I think that most religions have something to offer…for example; not killing, not stealing, .he who has not sinned cast the first stone, etc ,are wonderful Biblical morals. The Wiccan Creed…’an it harm none do as ye will’ is a great principle to live by.  For me, in everything, I glean what is good, question what is confusing and purge what is bad. Unfortunately, according to some, I will go to hell for indulging in this freedom because I do not accept Jesus; Mohammad, Jehovah god, etc, as the be all and end all of my life and my deathly salvation.

So if anyone reading my little rant thinks this way, please just think about this..

Everything that is read is written by a human, every word that is heard is spoken by a human…so when something read or heard is claimed to be inspired by a god…..that claim is, in fact, made by a human. What does your faith say about humans?

As a human myself, I would never expect anyone to believe everything I write or say. I would never claim that anything I did, said or wrote was inspired by a god because if it was from a god I'm guessing it would  be perfect and no one could argue with it. I welcome an argument or the thoughts of others. I think our spiritual growth depends on interactions communications and experiences with others. If we refuse to explore our spirituality by asking questions and listening and considering the thoughts of others ...how can we grow!

Evolution & Design..why not both?

If I am just an animal why is life so bloody complicated. No other animal stresses like a human. No other animal has to worry about paying bills,  buying school uniforms or getting a job. In fact no other animal needs to wipe it's ass for hygiene or cook it's food for digestion.

I think that this animal, this one called Human is very different from all others. It was designed or evolved for a purpose that is very different to that of any other creature on this earth. What exactly that purpose is I'm not sure and I doubt that I will ever know for sure but it doesn't hurt to explore all possibilities and develop theories.
Science and  Religion , although considered by some as completely opposing, can give us many clues and insights into life and spirituality. Science can answer how things happen but I don't think that it can always answer why. Too many things occur and exist in this world that, as far as I am concerned, science simply cannot explain.  Religion can give us many ideas as to why things happen but as in all man made things, these ideas are very often flawed with personal agendas, ignorance and fantasy.

I think there is a lot of lessons to learn in both the natural (science) and in spirituality (religion). At this stage I believe they are very much connected and not opposing at all.
For example; are we evolved or designed? Why not both?

Theory no 1.  Perhaps some time during our nature induced evolution, something happened. Something not so natural, something that happened to no other creature but the evolving ape like human.
So this leads to the next question...what?...Then the next question.... why?
And, as always, I could be wrong.
Blessed be!