From an Indian newspaper:
http://tinyurl.com/ztt82
"All the world’s major religions have active mystical strains, sustained by
those who, in their hunger for God, penetrate through the creeds and beliefs
of religion to arrive at its living centre, the personal experience of God.
This is the chief distinction between religion and spirituality. Religions
accept the experiential truth of their founders unquestioningly.
Spirituality ventures into the very zone of the founders. Followers of
religion believe. Spiritual aspirants want to know. So if someone says she
believes in God, know that she is at best religious.
Which is not to discount religion. For believers, religion is a source of
strength. It helps build an identity and furnishes a viable code of values.
Above all, it is the springboard from which to leap into spirituality. Why
so? Because only spirituality yields the great truths of life and God and
affords the possibility of discovering your true Self. Only spirituality
holds the secret of self-realisation and self-transformation. While religion
is like being enclosed in a lovely, warm, cosy home, spirituality is like
breaking out into the fresh open air, knowing that all of it is home.
This is why only spiritually mature people can appreciate the commonalities
that link all faiths and paths, without being bound by any. We recognise
that there are many ways to reach God and that none need conflict with the
other. Each of us is unique, and we respond differently to different
catchwords, spiritual techniques or philosophies. The intellectual will
think his way to God, the artist will feel his way to God, the doer will act
his way to God, and so on. All these paths are necessary, for they cater to
the infinite diversity of human inclination.
Once we accept this, the fundamentalist will have no influence over us. Only
through spirituality can we truly understand our own religion. Until then,
as St Paul put it, we see through a glass darkly, not comprehending what we
see."
Discuss
http://tinyurl.com/ztt82
"All the world’s major religions have active mystical strains, sustained by
those who, in their hunger for God, penetrate through the creeds and beliefs
of religion to arrive at its living centre, the personal experience of God.
This is the chief distinction between religion and spirituality. Religions
accept the experiential truth of their founders unquestioningly.
Spirituality ventures into the very zone of the founders. Followers of
religion believe. Spiritual aspirants want to know. So if someone says she
believes in God, know that she is at best religious.
Which is not to discount religion. For believers, religion is a source of
strength. It helps build an identity and furnishes a viable code of values.
Above all, it is the springboard from which to leap into spirituality. Why
so? Because only spirituality yields the great truths of life and God and
affords the possibility of discovering your true Self. Only spirituality
holds the secret of self-realisation and self-transformation. While religion
is like being enclosed in a lovely, warm, cosy home, spirituality is like
breaking out into the fresh open air, knowing that all of it is home.
This is why only spiritually mature people can appreciate the commonalities
that link all faiths and paths, without being bound by any. We recognise
that there are many ways to reach God and that none need conflict with the
other. Each of us is unique, and we respond differently to different
catchwords, spiritual techniques or philosophies. The intellectual will
think his way to God, the artist will feel his way to God, the doer will act
his way to God, and so on. All these paths are necessary, for they cater to
the infinite diversity of human inclination.
Once we accept this, the fundamentalist will have no influence over us. Only
through spirituality can we truly understand our own religion. Until then,
as St Paul put it, we see through a glass darkly, not comprehending what we
see."
Discuss
