Religion, Spirituality and God

Are you religious or spiritual? How many times has someone confronted you with this question? What do people really mean when they ask you this? Do they want to know if you believe in God? Or are they trying to ask if you conform to those religious customs that have been set and followed for years together?

The Oxford English dictionary defines spiritual as

spiritual
/spirrityool/
• adjective 1 relating to or affecting the human spirit as opposed to material or physical things. 2 relating to religion or religious belief.

and religion as

• noun 1 the belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a personal God or gods. 2 a particular system of faith and worship. 3 a pursuit or interest followed with devotion.


Being spiritual is still related to religion but in a more non-materialistic sort of way. But being religious means you pray to God regularly, go to that temple/church/mosque as frequently as possible and that you live in the fear of God's wrath. How mutually exclusive are these two concepts?

I always tell people that I dont believe in the concept of religion. If someone asks me if I am religious or spiritual, I tell them that I am spiritual. But am I? Do I believe in God? I dont know. Sometimes, I do and sometimes I dont. When I look at all the pain and suffering that is present all over the world, I think to myself, "if God really exists, then why is there so much poverty, pain, suffering, strife and diseases in this world?" I also answer this question by myself, assuming that if all this pain and suffering is not there, how will we know what is better and appreciate what we have? Then, what makes me believe that God exists? There have been some things that have happened in my life that I dont have explanations for. These have been literal miracles and its these things that reinstate my faith in this higher power from time to time. Notice that I said "higher power" and not God.

What is God? Who is God? Each person has a different answer for this question. I believe that God is this strong power that is above all humans, all animals and all living things. I do believe that while this power controls many aspects of our lives, it is not to be looked at as the sole power that can make or break anything. It is said that it is wrong for us mortals to assume that we have any power at all in front of "God". But I beg to differ. I believe that we do have the power to control certain things but at the same time, it is wrong to assume that we have the power to do anything and everything. We have the power to judge and make the right choice at every point in life. But, we don't have the power to control all the variables in the environment that these choices take us into. God is a combination of the human spirit and mind.

I was talking to a friend's father about pretty much the same things here and he said that the older scriptures such as the Vedas and Upanishads all talk about a higher power and do not mention any names as such to worship. So, he said any religion is fine as long as Man follows some faith. He also said that these scriptures specify all the religious rituals that one needs to perform in order to attain "Moksha". What is that supposed to mean? That, if we do not follow these rituals, then we will not go to heaven? The rituals and rites specified in the Vedas and other scriptures relate to the Hindu religion whereas the Bible and Quran state totally different things as ways to attain spiritual salvation. So, who is right and who is wrong?

Religion has always appeared to be a man-made concept to me. Who created all these rituals and rites? Does anyone know for sure (has evidence) to prove that if you conform to all of these rules, he/she will certainly reach heaven? Who has actually seen God? We hear lores about saints who have come face to face with God and who have spread His word thereafter. But, there is no evidence to prove that anyone has actually seen God and that the religions, as we know them today, were actually handed down by these different Gods.

As far as I am concerned, I follow one faith - Humanity. All I know is, I need to be a good human being, helping others as much as I can, leading an honest life without harming others and not judging people by their color, race or religion.

So, the next time, someone asks me if I am religious or spiritual, my answer is going to be "neither". What will be yours?