Spirituality and Religion

There's a difference...

Today, ‘spirituality’ is a most talked-about subject but is often misunderstood. Many people think that spirituality and religion are the same thing, and so they bring in their beliefs and prejudices about religion to discussions about spirituality. Though all religions emphasise spiritualism as being part of faith, you can be ‘spiritual’ without being ‘religious’ or a member of an organised religion. spiritual needs may include the need for meaning and purpose in our lives, the need to love and feel loved, the need to feel a sense of belonging and connection in life or the need to feel hope and peace. Religion and faith might be part of someone’s spirituality, but spirituality is not always religious.

Is spirituality like ‘oil in water’, or is it like ‘sugar in water’? For me, it seems like a journey or a self-evolution from ‘oil in water’ to ‘sugar in water’. At some point in life, everyone will ultimately walk down the spiritual path in a way that is deeply meaningful on a personal level. For me, spirituality is an inward journey that consists of understanding and accepting your true self and others the way they are. It is a ‘transformational process’ from ‘whom’ to ‘I’.

Spirituality is more about individual practice and involves having a sense of peace and purpose. It also relates to the process of developing beliefs around the meaning of life and connection with others and mother nature.

Life can be full of ups and downs, good times, and tough times. Many people see spirituality as a great way to seek comfort and peace in their life. It can often be practised alongside things like meditation, chanting, or yoga: these ultimately focus on relieving stress, releasing emotions, or helping you control your senses.

For me, a spiritual person is someone whose main purpose is to become aware of his or her thoughts, actions, and surroundings. A spiritual being works on self-love and self-acceptance so that he or she can properly love others and be kind, compassionate, and caring towards them.

The spiritual journey has no beginning or end. To put it differently, spirituality has nothing to do with the physical realm. It tackles the unknown, the unseen, and that which has not yet been manifested. To tap into this vein of exploration is the ultimate spirituality. However, we live in a physical realm, and that’s precisely what makes us curious as to whether spirituality can work in our lives.

People’s general argument in this regard is: We have families and children. We need to be concerned about income to get by in life. We have politics, the economy, our society, the institutions to which we belong, the people whom we idolize, movies that we watch, sports that we love to play or like, relationships that we enter or break, and technology that moves too fast but keeps us up to date. In other words, for them, the modern world is the exact opposite of the spiritual world. Being spiritual requires us to look inward, to love and understand ourselves; the modern world comprises everything to pull us outward. It hinders our progress towards self-Actualization or Realization.

So, it seems spirituality and the physical world might be ‘oil and water in a glass’: they only float separately from each other and can never mix. But we’re not monks living in the mountains. We are regular individuals living in modern society.

I have pondered many times whether we can remain spiritual in the modern world. Some time back, I found it arduous to be spiritual yet still have an active professional and social life. Over the last few years, I have oscillated between extreme isolation and practising spirituality and being reasonably social (with less spirituality as a result). Balancing both has sometimes been tough, and I tend to perceive it as almost impossible.

Practising spirituality for monks may be less challenging, but only insofar as they aren’t distracted (or less distracted) by modern complications and demands. I could relate to this when I experienced the monastic life during my retreats in the Himalayas and in Rishikesh in India.

I was away from society, from all means of communication, and from other distractions. Getting in touch with my spiritual essence was trouble-free: there were no outside factors that hindered my inward investigation, curiosity, or journey.

Ironically, the same retreat taught me that being spiritual in the modern world is very much possible. It’s not that the modern world is too complicated or spirituality too simple. Rather, it’s about our minds and how we perceive the ‘reality’ in which we live.

It took me years to realize that the mind can accept the modern world as the right place to practice spirituality. The fact is, heading to the mountains to isolate oneself for higher purposes is easy and a choice. What is challenging is living in society while remaining spiritual and retaining spiritual values. True spirituality is not about running away from problems or difficulties. Rather, the practice of spirituality is about using the challenges we face in life as tools to strengthen our spiritual journey.

Spirituality is not running away from entering a relationship to avoid drama or complications; it’s about being in a relationship and transforming it into a conscious type of love and unison. Spirituality is about turning the workplace, our house, our environment, and our society into places to practice spirituality with more positivity, rationality, love, care, compassion, kindness, understanding, tolerance, and acceptance.

Spirituality is not about running away from people. It is about being with people and reflecting our own goodness and journey unto them. We need to understand that our experiences are essential to our spiritual growth. Our ups and downs in modern life are our blessings in disguise — not our ‘hindrances’ or ‘misfortunes’.

If one’s mental attitude is full of aggressive or negative feelings, even a comfortable environment will bring no peace. However, if one’s attitude is calm and gentle, even the most hostile environment will have little impact on one’s inner peace. The basic source of happiness and growth is one’s mental attitude.

Being spiritual in the modern world is challenging, but it works. And it works only with the right attitude and sense of determination. When we understand that spirituality is an inside job, then we’ll understand that it’s our job to decide where it can work in our lives and how to guard ourselves.

So, spirituality and the modern world aren’t like oil and water—they are like sugar and water.  The sugar dissolves into the water until it becomes one with it. This is how we should be in the world: spiritual beings who dissolve into it and become one with it.

Nishant R

Nishant R is constantly in pursuit of enhancing his spiritual journey and spreading 'Light and Love'.