Religion & Spirituality: My views Must Read. Please do share with me your views on what is the difference?

Question

Imagine that there are four people brought from different countries, who have not seen an elephant in their life.

Three of them to stand watch elephant in 3 different directions. One of them watches from front, one from back and one from one of the sides.

1. First one says that Elephant has 2 eyes, 2 ears, 1 trunk, 1 head and 2 legs.
2. Second one says that elephant has a round big body with one tail and 2 legs.
3. Third one says that elephant has 1 eye, 1 ear, 1 tail, 2 legs one in the front and one at the back.

All three of them are fighting with each other saying, what they saw is the correct description of the elephant.

4. Fourth person is lift up and is sitting in the branch. Since he has all the views he is able to see the whole elephant and says that Elephant has 2 eyes, 2 ears, a big body, 4 legs and a tail.

First 3 go to fight with them saying no what you are saying is wrong. See we have seen it in our own eyes and we believe in what we have seen.

Fourth guy says all three of you correct.

But all three of them laugh at him. Saying how is it possible that all three are same.

What you are seeing is correct and what you are saying is also correct but the level in which you are standing is not correct. You should lift yourself up and come here or go around and see the elephant in different angles to understand. However to see him top side of the body you need to lift yourself up.

He again concludes that there is only one elephant, however you are seeing from different angles.

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First 3 are referring to 3 different religions
All seeing one elephant (god)
4th one is the spiritual guy who has gone above to visualize the completeness of god.
He will appreciate all religions as all are seeing the same elephant / god.

Everyone should follow their religion and rise above in their thoughts by loving god more and reaching the spiritual stage to understand god better.

All the religions have spiritual aspect of it. Those are called the expressional meanings of the verses. When you follow the religious procedures sincerely you automatically reach the higher level of spirituality with the help of a guru. This Guru or teacher will be sent by god to you, based on your interest and sincerity.

This is my view on the difference between Spirituality and different Religions of this world?

Answer 1

Your question is not clear ? Do you want the difference between religion and spirituality ?

Religion is like a canal, water flowing in pre-fixed direction... going to pre-fixed destinations..water flows forcibly following the rigid boundaries

Spirituality is hilly rivulet... falling free singing and dancing not even caring where to reach...for her each moment is enlightenment...each step is destination

It is our choice we wish to be in canal or hilly rivulet

Answer 2

Well Gentleman,my take on the difference between Religion and Spitituality is that Religion is dealing with a set of Ethical Principles meant to reach a membership of people.Spirituality is the touching of the same Ethical principles that touch the Individual.Religion requires a group to be realized,whereas Soirituality only requires the Spitual Ethnicity of one person.Religion is the adding up of a variety of Spiritual Ethnicities.
This conglomeration of Spiritual Ethnicities forms a Religion.It is a case in which the sum is more than the parts.Or turn it around.The Individual Ethnicity is more than its parts.Either way the two are complimentary.If all the World's Religions realized this there would be less disputes and petty arguments.Understanding might reach an all time high and hatred,prejudice and mistrust would likely dissipate from the different Religions.That is if the Spirituality would be recognized.
You understand the disputes are merely a matter of perspective.Your example is extremely effective Gentleman.I am very happy you came up with it.It is much superior to abstact explanation.Indeed this explanation should clarify the problem even to the dullest wits.Of course I am sure hatred and prejudice will still prevail,but I think you made a point in a very positive direction.This is precisely what we need to make an impact.Y/A is not a Forem for Religious discussion on which religion is better than the next Religion,but a Forem among other things,to bring differences positively together.
Gentleman keep the Faith and the Effort in the face of overwhelming opposition.Your Pal larry m

Answer 3

See this is how i believe it-

Religion and spirituality goes together. Religion is a belief or and idea that u are brought up in or something that u have faith in. Religion teaches us peace. love, unity and all that stuff in a distinct way that connects the gods and the ideas of the religion together. For example, Christians believe in Jesus, God and the holy spirit and take bible as their inspiration and guide. Hindus have many god and goddess but I guess vishnu, brahma and Shiva are the main Gods and they use mahabharatha,Ramayana, bhagvath githa all as their books and it contians their god. And Muslims believe in Allah and has Quran. All of these gods are different and they all did different things in this world. Religious beliefs and tradition and origins and history and everything is different. Each religion is different in many ways. And sometimes each religion has different things that other religions don't have. For example, Christians have the sacrament of confession that other religions don't have, while I guess Hinduism believes in the life after death and stuff while Christians don't believe that u would come back to this world to live another life.

There are many differences. but this is where spirituality kicks in. Being spiritual gives u the ability to accept or even tolerate all religions. A spiritual person is able to take all good things from every religion. They will come to know that every religion teaches the same message of unity love, peace, acceptance and everything. They will take the good from all the religion and would have an open heart to accept all the goodness.

A pure religious person would have the hardest time believing and understanding and appreciating other religions because they are soo attached to their religion and believes. But being spiritual gives u the security of accepting other religions goodness while keeping ur own religion. A lot of people think being spiritual means u r denying ur god and just going to believe another god or another religion. But that is not the truth. The forth person was able to see all parts of the elephant. He was able to say that all religion was good.

I guess u can think about the elephant kinda as this whole world and can say that all religions make this world complete. All religions give a distinct idea but is vital and important for the survival of this world.

Different ideas and different believes are what make the world special. All these believes ultimately is for the good and the goodness of the man kind. This belief is what makes all religion come together. In many places, people are discriminated based on their religion and the reason is because, a lot of people have the hardest time seeing the fact that every religion wants the same concept and the same idea from people all over the world. Religion is to make people united under one God. It is to unite people to all do good, it is to make people come together and worship that God. Some do poojas, some do masses, some do their prayers towards mecca. But ultimately we all worship the God who created and protected this universe and love each and everyone of us. So religion is never their to be one thing that can discriminate people, but it is one way to unite us all together as children of GOD.

And that belief is spirituality !!!!!!!!!

Answer 4

Purgatory is still very much a part of Catholic doctrine, so I don't know why you've been led to believe that it isn't. Purgatory is the place where souls are cleansed of their attachment to sin and worldliness so that they are fit for Heaven. God is so holy that He can't look upon sin, and dying doesn't make you perfect -- it just makes you dead. That's why most souls need to be purified before they are ready for Heaven. Imagine that you have spent the entire day working out in the cold and the rain. You're muddy, you don't exactly smell like a rose, and your clothes are filthy. You have a party to go to that evening, so what do you do? You could go as you are, but it wouldn't be very much fun for you or the other guests. Most people opt to take a bath and get cleaned up so that they can enjoy the party and being with other people. Purgatory is something like that. Both logic and Scripture** support the idea of a cleansing state for souls that are saved but that have not been made perfect yet. The concept is also an ancient one among the Jews, as well. November is the month of the Holy Souls, but Catholics are encouraged to pray, give alms, and make sacrifices all year long on behalf of the souls in Purgatory. We can't buy their way out of Purgatory as some people think, but we can help them in ways that only God can truly be said to understand. So wherever you got your information, your source was wrong. Purgatory is still very much a part of Catholic belief and spiritual practices. **Catholic Bibles, that is. Protestants removed all references to Purgatory (the Books of I and II Maccabees, for example) because they contradicted the Protestant rejection of a purgatorial state after death.

Answer 5

I think what you are trying to say itself best explains spirituality and religion.
Your story truly explains how, to be able to accept other religions while believing in your own ( like the 4th person) is the first step towards spirituality.
We all are in the same boat, staring at the same sky. But we have our own views, our own religions to follow.
God may look different to everyone as per his/her religion, but God resides inside all of us. There is a symbolic meaning here , The fourth person, rises above ( God lives above ) and that means, He is becoming one with God. Thats why he is called spiritual.
When we realize that fact, another level of spirituality is attained.

Answer 6

I firmly believe that there is an Ultimate Super Power behind the creation, growth, and functioning of this Cosmos. Thinkers of the past have called it God, Ishwar, Parameshwar, Allah, Nature, Bramha and the like. It is all powerful, always present in the form of energy and physical laws such as gravity etc and makes no mistakes. It is not an individual, who can be pleased or not pleased by worship and prayers or no worship and no prayers. It does not favor anybody or gets angry with anybody, it does not give anything to anybody or takes away anything from anybody. The concept of God exists only in the human brain and not in the brain of any of the life forms on this planet Earth......Gee Waman

Answer 7

i think religion is a set of rules that are there to guide people in the right way of life...lets liken that to a baker...he has the recipe needed to make the cake...however, instead of following the recipe, he does it his own way and ends up with a cake that doesnt turn out good...like people...they may have a religion...but if they dont follow the teachings to make themselves better...then their religion is useless....and has become a waste....

however a spiritual person has achieved something that an ordinary religious person hasnt...he has reached a certain level where he not only lives the practices of his religion but has become the embodiment of his religion itself...a spiritual person sees, lives and understands life in a different manner than an ordinary religious person does...

Answer 8

I could not see your views, but still I am putting my views.
In my opinion, spirituality is the process of controlling one's own mind so as to be able to read it out and discover the hidden facts that lie inside. It is a process of understanding the divinity that lie dormant in each individual. Most important thing for being spiritual is going above all kind of dualism. The duality of good and bad, love and hate, pleasure and pain and all things of that sort and ultimately realising truth by own direct experience. Whatever we see or understand is through mind, and when this mind is kept aside to understand this is direct experience. Mind of each individual is different, and therefore different are there views. But this direct experience, that is gained when the mind is completely dissolved in the Buddhi, is always the same. This is the reason why all scriptures of all religion indicates same thing in one form or another.
As far as religion: it is the blind followup of the set rules as per own holy books without making any attempt of controlling the mind. This is the main difference. And this is why religious man differ in opinion but not spiritual giants, and therefore they are adorned by persons from all faiths,
This is my understanding of religion and faith and this knowledge I owe to my Guru, Bapujee.
Jai Gurudev

Answer 9

Religion is the values, beliefs, thoughts practised by people all over the world. These have taken shape/ form since ages ago & created by us ourselves over the years. RELIGION IS VERY VULNERABLE TO EXTERNAL FORCES. As centuries pass people happen to understand and analyse religious sayings in their own way, own benefit or what they want or like. Often misuse of this practice results in catastrophe's- mass sluaghtering etc.,
Spirituality is completely a different thing. SPIRITUALITY IS ABOVE ALL INFLUENCE OF EXTERNAL FACTORS. NOBODY CAN USE SPIRITUALITY FOR PERSONAL GAIN OR FOR ALL OTHER REASONS. THE SPIRIT OR SOUL IS EPHEMERAL AND NATURAL IN COMPOSITION, ALL AND ANY FORCE IS INEFFECTIVE AGAINST THIS PHENOMENON CALLED SPIRITUALITY.
Star.

Answer 10

Hai Brother,
You are true. This is similar to another thing you said! Where you said about a circle. It has a centre point and there is radii in the circle leading to the circumference. A person each on each radius which leads to the centre. All radius lead to the same centre. The people standing on the circumfrence is each of us! The radii is the path of different religion which leads us to the same centre/God!!!! I have the same view! you are correct. Only people have different beliefs and views as different religion but it all leads to one God Almighty! True!! I support you.
Thanks for sharing this with each of us.

Answer 11

Thanks gentleman, for such a nice question and the explanations given by you on the subject matter which is very serious.

It is in this very context that we call 'Sanatan Vedic Dharma' (The eternal divine religion) as the ultimate path to the realisation of the Truth.

All the religions as are being practised in the universe today, are part of the Truth. Therefore the riddle remains and we get confused more and more. Unless one finds Truth as a whole, he can only speak half truths.

And when we know the path to the realisation of full Truth, we stop speaking and start practising.

Thanks for your question.