Spirituality VS Religion

"Religion is based on fear"

-Bertrand Russell

As I may always come across as "bashing Religion" in my other articles, I suppose it comes as no surprise, I'm writing an article about my views on Religion and Spirituality.

Like a champ, here is that article.

I thought it was only right to let you into my world of thoughts and opinions surrounding Religion. Hopefully, giving you a point of reference when I mention Religion in my other articles.

By writing this post, I am not saying you have to agree with me. This is entirely just my own opinion. Neither am I attacking you, if you have a religious faith or background. I am simply just airing my own thoughts for you to read, and to come to your own conclusions as per everything I write.

So, Religion huh?

I think the quote I chose to introduce this article by Bertrand Russell sums up my feelings towards Religion pretty well. Religion really is based on Fear. But Why? you may ask. Because Religion strongly focuses on controlling people through using fear and scaremongering rather than, actually helping people to focus on bettering themselves and seeking to find the Spiritual connection with something greater than themselves.

I always say, Spirituality is the basis of all religions anyway. For reasons we'll get into later on.

What is Spirituality?

Spirituality in itself, is an individual and totally unique experience. Spirituality can contain elements for one person that another doesn't necessarily practise. Neither of these people, are any lesser or better than the other. Spirituality practises spreading compassion, understanding and kindness.

It's noticing and understanding, one is looking and exploring all their flaws and deepest fears trying to better understand themselves in order to move forward and make growth. The true focus of Spirituality is about being curious, and asking "Why?" about all issues and experiences we have in life and the universe. It's attempting to sit with our problems of insecurity, anger, grief and anxiety rather than simply listening to the media and buying the next product we are manipulated into thinking will make us feel better. Spirituality is trying to understand and strengthen the connection we have with everything around us.

It's ultimately about trying to embark on the journey of being the best version of yourself and making the world a better place for everyone, by doing your internal work and being curious as to why you are the way you are and why the universe works the way it does. There is no judgement for what you don't know yet and there is no judgement for whether you change your mind or perspective on something later in life. It's about a journey of discovery, not having all the answers from the get go.

We try to understand and come to terms with things such as;

Why do we have multimillionaires when there are countries struggling for food?

Why do we have hierarchy in society?

Who says or what makes one person's life more valuable than another?

Why do we charge for health care?

What happens when we die?

Why do we give murders the death penalty?

Through you connecting with The Universe, your Higher self, your Spirit Guides and visiting past lives (if necessary), you evolve a deep understanding and receive guidance that helps you to project the best possible you into the world and The Universe.

You may have heard the following quote before; "We are the universe experiencing itself".

We all have Yin and Yan energy, flaws or whatever you want to call it and it's not about making an enemy of them, but rather finding peace with them. It's about being brave and courageous enough to explore how you can do work with yourself to do your bit to get The Universe back on track and raise the vibration once again.

Spirituality is pretty easy in the sense, nobody is right or wrong and there's no real punishment on an individual basis. Nobody will shout at you or consider you less than, if you don't meditate every single day for hours on end. The idea is that everyone is working together for the greater good and we all know, big changes don't happen overnight.

It doesn't matter whether you meditate for 10 mins for 50 years of your life or 2 hours for 50 years of your life. The fact remains; you sat with yourself, your thoughts and meditated at peace. There are people who won't ever sit in silence with themselves for fear of what they might discover or what might happen.

We all have healing to do and it's about whether we choose to try and heal or not. Not about whether you will go to heaven or hell.

A lot of hurt and bitterness in the world stems from unresolved trauma, toxic behaviour and wounds which we've hidden for long periods of time. "Hurt people, hurt people" as they say. Until we sit with our selves and look inward, we can't expect a change in the world.

You won't be able to change other people's behaviour but, the focus is not on them. You can work on yourself to be the best version you can be and do your part for The Universe and Humanity.

"Religious people fear hell. Spiritual people don't, because they've already been through it."

There is nothing more daunting than sitting down to explore your shadow self and attempting to figure out why you tick the way you do, combing through and reliving every hurtful memory and experience in your life to gain a better understanding of yourself and slowly healing the trauma from the inside out. Spiritual people have sat in hell with their demons after fighting them for perhaps years and once they stopped fighting and offered a cup of tea and a listening ear, the internal struggle stopped.

I'm not saying that embarking on a Spiritual Journey will make all your problems go away. Nobody has the power to change your life other than yourself. No God, church or society group will make your life any better than you yourself make it. When you start taking responsibility for yourself and your life, that's when things will start to change. Admittedly, it's a constant work in progress and it takes a very daring person to embark on their journey to begin with. Some people hate holding up a mirror to themselves and feel uncomfortable even self reflecting let alone doing deep shadow work.

Nobody can force you to be Spiritual if you don't desire to be, it's all about your own personal journey and will to understand and connect to something greater.

What is Religon?

Religion on the other hand, uses fear tactics to get people on board. It's about pursuing people to convert them to your side of the fence via using the fear of hell and eternal doom. If you don't obey or agree then you will burn in hell, and hell, apparently, isn't a very nice place.

With Religion, good deeds come with an instant admittance to Heaven whereas bad, come with a free pass to eternal suffering. You live life according to someone else's set of rules because you believe if you do this then you will be happy, protected and fulfilled in life.

You can't get someone to make "good" choices without;

A) Defining a general rule of thumb for What is good and What is bad (although we know that no two circumstances are the same)

B) Giving some kind of consequence to making a bad choice.

Religion takes Spirituality and turns it into no long about being an individual with an experience, but rather a collective group living through one vision.

There's those who do and there's those who don't and those who don't, will go to hell. You have a clear example with many extremists forms from Christianity, Catholicism and Islam.

Religion will point the finger and cast other's as outcasts for not having the same beliefs rather than sitting, being open-minded and spreading love and compassion. Despite the fact, Jesus stated "to love thy neighbour".

I don't think Jesus is the problem, nor is Buddha or Muhammed, or any other religious Prophet. They were just people, reciting beliefs and experiences true to them. They were people who claimed to have connected with something much greater than themselves.

The problem is when it comes down to fear being spread through about is right and wrong.

The East believes one way and the West believes another. The East probably grew up unaware of certain religions in the West, and vice versa. Spirituality is such a individual, unique experience. No two people will have the same experience. You can't expect everyone from all corners of life and earth to find a "one shoe fits all" way of living. You can't punish or scare people who don't feel comfortable with all aspects. In Spirituality, some people may not feel comfortable with doing yoga, or contacting Spirits, but that is all part of their journey and their experience and we have no right to judge so we should just listen with compassion and love.

In my opinion, all Religion stems from Spirituality anyway. They're all trying to convert the converted into different versions of the same thing.

The core foundations of all if not most religions are very similar. The general rule of thumb for how the universe was made in a set amount of days all comes from ideas from Sacred Geometry which was found way before any religion began.

We are not all, the exact same part of The Universe. That would be impossible. But we are all part of the exact same thing, The Universe.

Convincing people that if they disagree with something, then they're wrong and they're going to hell unless they change is a toxic mentality. We see it so clearly within the fashion industry with Runway models. People will starve themselves of what they enjoy and what they need to walk on that thin line between being accepted and being acceptable. Rather than encouraging their personal journey and letting them discover new ways and ideas for themselves.

How Spirituality formed the Basis of Religions

Let's talk about The Vesica Piscis; if you didn't read my post about Spiritual Mathematics, I'll give you a quick run down now.

The Flower of Life, sometimes referred to as the "Cycle of Creation", holds a large amount of information regarding the creation of The Universe and everything as we know it. It holds answers and information we only recently understood and The Flower of Life was discovered in Egyptian Temple's 6,000 years ago. Recent research has found The Flower of Life dates back no earlier than 535 BC, yet held information as complex as understanding human DNA.

Now, how could civilisations, that you could argue "were far less advanced than us", be so ahead of the game with knowing such complex and complicated information about The Universe?

How it was formed as well as, the creation and development of life itself and everything else including understanding human emotions, sound, vision and human DNA?

It's a little peculiar right?

Anyway, with that in mind. Let's say, our ancestors knew everything. Let's say, Ancient Civilisations knew everything about the Universe and were going about their lives documenting their findings in temples and making progress in life. Kind of just as we are today, with "modern" Science and Technology.

Ancient Civilisations usually were polytheistic, meaning they worshipped more than one God. This can be seen in Ancient Egypt, Greek, Indian and Norse mythology.

I'm going to take a guess and say, perhaps that meant accepting more than one "truth" or more than one "story" but either way, they were still curious beings who used their gods to give guidance.

I suppose you could say, they were in the driver seat and the god's just gave direction if it was asked for. But ultimately, the true power lay in the beholder not in someone else.

I finished one of my previous articles with the quote from F.Scott Fitzgerland:

"Intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function."

Pretty relevant huh?

I am not blind to the fact Ancient Egyptians had strong beliefs about the afterlife and weighed the heart against an ostrich feather to see if one would progress. I do think the Ancient Civilisation's created these deities to help try and understand the world around them better and to make things easier to deal with. Just as we comfort ourselves with the idea of heaven for example.

However today, we have been able to find information out through Science and Technology which they didn't know. So we should build on and adapt what was before, to help is understand further. It doesn't make us better than them, it's just more knowledge being shared. Science and Technology are actually our best friend, as they encourage curiosity unlike Religion. They can give us solid reasons and answers.

Again, it's not about who's right or wrong. It's a journey of shared knowledge, understanding and growth.

I do know, the idea of weighing the heart seems like the usual version of "heaven or hell", but with Ancient religious it wasn't just about pleasing or attending to just one way of life. Ancient religions were very similar to the pagan belief system, which also saw offerings to a multitude of gods and goddess for safety on their travels or guidance in life.

When the Roman's and Greeks invaded Egypt, they adapted some of their god's and goddess's belief system. Hence, the introduction of Roman and Greek Mythology. They picked up where the Egyptian's left of (or passed on the baton) and built on their knowledge in their own unique way.

It's only when the introduction of Christianity began to spread and the idea of there only being one god, the monotheistic religions began to rise in popularity that the You v Them mentality began.

The Vesica Piscis In Religion

I'd like to mention here the Vesica Piscis, a "formula's" or "formation's" within The Flower of Life.

(You can read more about the Vesica Piscis in detail on my Spiritual Mathematic's post.)

Despite the Vesica Piscis being around long before Christianity and originating from The Flower of Life, it became the key backdrop symbol for Christianity.

The Vesica Piscis;

• Latin for "Fish Bladder"

• Creates the symbol of the fish, (the secret symbol adapted by early Christians)

• Fish translates into Ichthys in Greek.

• Ichthys an acronym for Jesus Christ

Looking within Christianity;

• Jesus's 12 apostles were fishermen

• Jesus was resurrected after offering grilled Fish to Luke

• Feeding the five thousand, a boy brought two loaves and two fish to Jesus Christ

• Jesus uses the fish to describe "The Sign of Jonah"

Hmmm... Religion.

Using a symbol, which originates from our ancestors and holds a great deal of knowledge and information, in a new religion as a backdrop and icon for a Religious Celebrity seems almost as offensive as the Christianity memes to the West Baptist Church.

Sorry to defer from the article for a moment but;

My marketing and advertising brain came alive here and I thought "Damn, of course. What other way to get a consumer to buy a product than to stick something on it they already know about and trust. That way, it's not entirely new product/idea and seems far less "risky". There's not just any flip flops, they're GUCCI flip flops (Whoops, Gucci uses the Vesica Piscis too, what a coincidence...).

If you don't know what I'm talking about; The Vesica Piscis, without a doubt, is a very powerful symbol that had been around for ages. People were spreading this symbol globally and nobody really knows why. People were familiar with this symbol for some reason. It is known as Sacred Geometry so, I feel like people of the time, knew it was a pretty big deal.

Now here comes this guy, claiming to have seen God. Claiming to have all of these Spiritual Experiences (which truthfully, yeah maybe he did?). Here come's this person with great experience, knowledge and understanding, with the power to get people to listen. So what do they do?

They adapt the most familiar and powerful symbol in circulation across the planet and call it "Christianity". You sneaky....

People see the symbol "ah Christianity, it's so powerful." (I might be totally wrong but as I said, just my opinion). But this then made me think, maybe using it wasn't meant to be for intentional recognition. Maybe using the Vesica Piscis as a Christian Icon and backdrop of the Virgin Mary and Jesus Christ was meant to be a subconscious recognition? More along the lines of, "Join Christianity, we speak the truth". "Hmm, now I've got a feeling I've seen that symbol before but I'm not sure where. So sure, I guess?" I mean, we've all heard of Subliminal Advertising and Nudge theory in behavioural science, right?

Anyway, lets get back on track though;

Christianity came about after the The Flower of Life. Christianity used a symbol which was recognised by many from the East to the West from the very beginning of its creation. Maybe, in my opinion, to control people, to gain their trust and to give them credibility. Maybe Jesus really was a walking sensation who guided and helped others, but the problem is not with him. It comes when people start adding their own bits and tweaking here and there about what they think should and shouldn't be acceptable. It's no longer a story of someone's experience and connection with a Higher Spirit. It becomes mumbo-jumbo about what people want and don't want to accept which then causes a divide. The Good and The Bad. The Right and The Wrong. The Christians vs The Muslims vs The Jews.

Religion is against questions. It's all about it being "God's will". But why is it God's will?

I'm sure when kids ask, Why does God let suffering happen on the planet? The answer is; it's God's way of punishing or it's God's will. But this is the same God, who says treat people with love and compassion? The same God who considers everything sacred? The same God who healed people will now watch other's die? Something just doesn't add up.

Religion uses elements of Spirituality to control people through fear, with no real substance.

Go to church, pray, repent, refrain from doing anything frowned upon. You could argue Spirituality doesn't have real substance either, but I'd say you were wrong.

Once you start practising Spirituality, your life changes. It's scientifically proven.

I mean, I know people say the exact same thing when they "find God", but I know a few religious folks who have left their religion because praying to a God in order for, almost protection, didn't feel right. Blind Faith didn't feel right and that's totally ok.

Religious people need Spirituality, but no Spiritual people need religion.

Spirituality isn't blind faith because you see and experience the changes for yourself.

• You sit with your trauma and negative past experiences and you work through them, increasing your mental wellbeing.

• You sit with the difficulties in your life and also work through them, again increasing your mental wellbeing

• You meditate and maybe even journal, increasing your mental wellbeing and your general health.

It's a constant work in progress, which is sometimes extremely difficult but nobody is the bad person. There is no you v them. If someone doesn't believe what you're saying, it's no skin off your nose. You spread love and kindness. There's no need for fights, it's just more negative energy being put out into the world. Moreover, you're not supporting or fuelling any wars by believing in Spirituality or being a Spiritual person. Ultimately, you're only improving yourself, helping other's and helping the world around you. There's no downside to that in my opinion.

I'll link you to one of my favourite Youtuber's who I found (after writing this article) had a video on the same topic. I watched his video and was quite surprised we shared very similar viewpoints.

We aren't saying our viewpoint is right but it seems to be self explanatory. If you're on a Spiritual Journey, you just learn to know these things.

Also, as I finish. I just want to say that, just because your Spiritual doesn't mean you can't be religious. If you find a religion of whatever sort that you feel comfortable with and aligns with your belief systems then, by all means, accept and follow that religion. It's usually when you find the true core beliefs at the centre of the religion you feel more comfortable because it's pure and unaltered.

If Jesus resinates with you, that's fine.

My issue with Religion is not with the so-called Spiritual People themselves, but rather the system that controls the way people must relate too or repay that person. For example you're not a bad person if you don't want to go to Sunday School, or don't pray twice a day. I don't think that was ever the initial request of said Spiritual person, those are just things put in place to make you feel like a bad person, get you to obey and overall attempt to control you and your life rather than letting you live your life and experience your own experience.

Anyway, here's the link which might be interesting to watch after reading this. And also, don't forget to play with your own idea's too. I'm not stating this as fact, but rather my own opinion.

Religion vs Spirituality! (The differences & which we need more!) - Vishuddha Das

Until next time,

Peace and Love x