Spiritual or Religious?

Spiritual or Religious


Which are you? What is the difference? I am going to attempt write my thoughts about this subject. I consider myself a Spiritual person. The spiritual person sees the truth in all religions, while the Religious person seems to acknowledge only their path. There are many paths to the Divine mine is but one. There are many very Religious people, who follow at least the letter of their religion. They do not however follow the Spirit. They have read about or been told about A Path, but do not recognize others. How can one Faith be more correct than another can? Who is right? The truly Spiritual person can see that all are correct.

All are different paths to the same goal. The goal is reunion with the Divine. The Divine is manifest in all things, including us. The Religious person may have read or heard about all things Divine in nature. The Spiritual person has experienced these things for themselves and seen their own true nature. The Spiritual person recognizes they are a Spirit being having a human experience, not a Human have a few Spiritual experiences.

Many religious people have been told to do things certain ways and not question why. If they do question, the answer is because, The Bible or Koran or some religious text says to do it that way. That is ok for some but just because it has been written down does not make it good for the benefit of all. There have been many great religious and spiritual leaders. They were not necessarily one and the same.

The religious leaders put forth the letter of their own faith, but often repressed other faiths. The Spiritual leaders spread the word as they saw it, but did not condemn others paths. They often incorporated other faiths into their own. Thus instead of a new religion, they were spreading an extension-a continuation of an established faith. They offered a new philosophy based on old values, old values such as love.

From time to time many Spiritual teachers have manifested to help guide humanity. Jesus was such a spiritual leader. Jesus said that he would return in different forms. He was asked, how will we know it you? His answer is in John 10:37-38. `If I am not doing the works of my Father, do not believe in me. If I am doing them, even though you do not believe in me, believe in the works, so that you may know and believe that my Father is with me and I am with my Father.' Krishna also spoke of returning from age to age. `For the protection of the good, for the destruction of the wicked and for the establishment of righteousness, I come forth into being from age to age.' Since Krishna was manifested on the Earth thousands of years before Jesus, Jesus could have been a manifestation of Krishna. All religions stem from the same source. The Spiritual person sees and can acknowledge this fact. The Religious person is at times trapped within their own faith and can not see outside. They often can or will not acknowledge the many paths to the Source.

The Spiritual person can recognize the many manifestations of the Divine as being parts of the same Source. The religious person recognizes only the manifestation they have been taught. Too often the religious person seeks to discredit other manifestations of the Divine. This has been the cause of many wars and countless deaths. This has caused people throughout history to be persecuted because of their religion. The Christians persecuted the Pagans. The Jews persecuted the Christians. The Chinese government persecuted the Buddhists in Tibet. Christians persecuted other Christians. Once started this cycle is at times hard to stop. This list could go on and on and on.

Even within the same path, people interpret things in different manners. The Spiritual person can see the Light in all. The Religious only sees their own narrow band of light. The Divine Light is Broad and contains all the colors of the Rainbow in a constant state of change. The Divine includes all sects and paths.

If only there were more Spiritual people in this world as opposed to Religious people. Spiritual people are more open to other faiths and learn from each other. Religious people tend to only want to learn about their own path. Religious people follow the letter of religion, but often not the Spirit of it. Spiritual people are more concerned with the spirit of religion than the letter of it. I suppose that is the main difference between Religious and Spiritual.

People are often led by fear. It is this fear that must be overcome. People fear that which they do not understand. To overcome a fear-any fear-you must learn about it. There are some fears that do not have to be experienced first hand to be overcome. We can learn from watching others, which may have faced that same fear- either on purpose or accidentally.

There are many people who are Religiously Spiritual or Spiritually Religious. The Paths to the Divine are about connecting with the Spirit/Soul/Divine Light that is within us all and is also outside. The Source is in all things as The Source IS all things. As a Buddhist and many other Paths might say, the entirety of the Universe is contained within a single flower. It takes all aspects of the Universe to combine together and manifest in such a way as to create the flower. The flower has always been there as the Source has always been there.

I tried not to use absolutes, as in 'ALL Religious/Spiritual people Do This...' I myself do not like being labeled and thus grouped in with others that have been labeled the same thing, what ever that thing is. We are all different, we may be very similar, but no two people truly think in exactly the same way. That is a part of the gloriously, wonderful gift of Free Will.

Universe: Uni=One; Verse=Song.
Universe=One Song. One Song heard by all throughout the entirety of existence.
One Song. One Message to all. I feel that message is Love.
Love is the Law. Love Knows no religion. Love Knows no nationality or country border. Love is Love.
May the Divine Light shine upon us all. May it fill our hearts with Love. May we shine with the Light and illuminate the Divine in all that surrounds us.
Bill Schell
(AKA) Mr. Moon
(AKA) Frater Frabato