Religion Vs Spirituality

Annyeonghaseyo!

 Today is my religious/spiritual focus day. I haven't decided what i plan on studying yet even though i've been reading a really great book called "The Complete Buddhism for Mothers" by Sarah Napthali.   I am learning a lot about buddhism in it but i hardly ever make time to read it so I hope to get a few pages read today.

 Something has been bothering me about what a person once told me i was. She said I was spiritual not religious. At the time i shrugged it off not thinking much of it, but i heard something like that recently elsewhere and i realized how insulting that is. It may not be an insult to some but let me share some of the differences in the two i've heard said. These are not my personal beliefs, just descriptions of how i've heard religion and spirituality described.

 Religion - Fake spirituality due to following the herd. Doesn't have actual faith. Ritualistic and structured. Belief in a deity. Belief in a specific system. Traditions created by others. Mindfulness to follow path. No free thinking. Superstitious.

Spirituality - Personal thoughts. Faith in a holy entity. No belief system.

     I'm sure i've heard others and read others too but my point is that these little definitions can never be fully 100% accurate. I am a very spiritual person but i am religious. I just believe in having faith, for what ever holy entity there may be is too omni-everything for us to comprehend. If we can't comphrehend it but have a loving and hateful being (as one) then it may wish to be in our lives. In different cultures we do not even equate colors the same way so how could one being help us grow all the same. We are individuals after all. Modern day it is seriously what if god was one of us? So yes if you didn't figure it out, I believe all gods - good or evil - are one in the same.

    For me to believe that means I truely do accept all beliefs, even when man has twisted them for his own desires. My specific way though of showing my faith is more the way of wicca minus several things. I'm not wiccan though I am religious. I pray. I celebrate the changing of the seasons, I am even ritualistic with how i do it.

   I saw on yahoo answers a man say that you were not religious if you were a buddhist monk. I think that is a terrible shame for that man. Those monks are more religious than most can ever even try to be. I also saw a woman say that religion has no rituals and she would leave any church that had them, i pity her. A ritual is not specifically lighting candles and making a circle. In fact marriage ceremonies are rituals, as well as baptisms and regular services. More so depending on the specific belief system like catholicism and hinduism.

I will always try and be more accepting of other faiths that i do not understand. I wish others could see it that way too. I also sometimes wish i were simply a christian so that i could have that powerful network of support.


Gamsahabnida!
A Non Asian Omma