Between spirituality and religion

The religion of men tends to take great inspiration from the past. In practice, it reveres the ancient religious texts, as the way to achieve salvation. Spirituality is more personal in practice and thus has no concerns with the past. Spirituality believes in the eternal now, in attaining liberation by living in the present, while believing that it is not the past or the future that gives spiritual liberation. Those who practice spirituality seeks to achieve peace of mind only through concentrating on doing the right thing here and now.

Religious practitioners teach the fear of a supreme “god”. They believe that as a practice fear reminds us to do the right thing to avoid suffering in the future. Spirituality teaches us not to fear a supreme being, but to approach the way through the path of love. The religious practitioners talk of the Supreme Being as living high in the heavens, the sky. In the religious world, the Supreme Being is far from the reach of aspiring devotees. Spirituality teaches that the Supreme Being is ever present and ever powerful and can be felt as a living presence inside us. Spirituality, they say, teaches attainment of inner ascension, that the supreme is reachable.

It is only through following their path of choice do the religious devotees feel salvation can be attained. They have tremendous faith in their own religion, but at the same time they feel other religions are wrong in their practice and cannot lead a seeker to oneness with the supreme. Those who practice spirituality value all religions and feels there are many paths to the same goal. Those who practice say spirituality acknowledges all the world religions, but is not constrained by any religious dogmas or forms.

They believe that religion places great emphasis on outer forms and outer rituals. These are helpful for giving a sense of formality to the worship of the supreme. Thos practicing spirituality ignores outer rituals, feeling that what is important is a seeker’s inner attitude. Through practicing spirituality they seek to develop an inner shrine in our own heart. They believe that the body is the temple of “god”. They follow a way that is different from the formalities and ritual of religion.

The Way if easily described is not the absolute Way. The name that is easily spoken is not the absolute name. However, the source of heaven and of earth has no mundane name you can call it, it is believed to be the mother of all things. To attain the true essence of life, one must first desire nothing. Yet mortals accrue many desires, and with that see some manifestations. This is the mystery of the cosmos. From the cosmic to the mystical is the doorway to the essence of all life.When the people(s) of the world recognize beauty as beauty, they then start to recognize ugliness as well. When they all see good as good, they then recognize the opposite.

The ancients tell us that being and not being does produce themselves, difficult and easy complete each other; long and short contrast each other; high and low distinguish each other; sound and voice harmonize with each other; beginning and end follow each other.Therefore the wise manage affairs without interfering with how they way works and teach beyond the words that which is the deeper way. All things rise, and they do not turn away from them, for they believe that maintaining an even keel is the best path between the highs and lows of life.
They are accepting of life, but do not take possession of them, acting but do not rely on solely on their own ability.

They accomplish, but claim no credit and because they claim no credit, their accomplishment remains with them.