When Faith Meets Awareness: Spirituality vs Religion
I grew up listening to a common phrase: “As you grow older, you naturally get inclined towards spirituality.” Often, the person saying this would be holding a book of mantras or quoting religious texts. As a child, I wondered—is spirituality the same as religion? Deep down, I always felt they weren’t. And as I dived deeper into my own journey, the differences became clearer—until one day, I understood the line that separates them. To be spiritual, you need not be religious. And to be religious does not automatically make you spiritual. Religion and the “God-fearing” In my experience, religious practice is often rooted in fear. Many people identify as “God-fearing.” They do things for God, they pray to God for favors, they plead for help in times of trouble or interpret life’s challenges as punishments from God. But this, I realized, is not true spirituality. Living in fear is not what the Divine intends for us. In fact, this way of relating to God overlooks the very essen...