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.

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!