Spirituality is the only thing that can have any hope of having any meaning, it is about learning, about acquiring new perceptions, about viewing the world in new perspectives, and about trying to learn something new or envolve.
Religions do not need that you make a effort to learn something new, or to understand the world in another way, or that you find answers for your questions, they just require you to follow some believe.
Originally posted by Atlantis001Like rote learning, over and over and over again...then you got it down pat, and don't look else where....That' would undo all what you've been programmed with.....Then put it in action, by attracting more to your "correct" faith with intension's of saving the world, by condemning it....Sad thing is it's not true spirituality...That's why so many get disheartened..
Religions do not need that you make a effort to learn something new, or to understand the world in another way, or that you find answers for your questions, they just require you to follow some believe.
Spirituality is beyond that, just as you said Atlantis, there are many roads, many paths, never stagnates, doesn't condemn and growth.
Originally posted by debbiejo
^ Did you tell your pastor you were reading these books???...Do it, and see what he says...then come back and tell us...Honestly......and yes I do agree that some authors look down on other languages...I guess it's human nature for some.....I didn't read the types of books just because I wanted to change my life style, I'm just naturally curious and wanted to open up my little box of knowledge...
When you read book, do you go to the actual belief of that source, or go to the Christian book stores and read what they say, and do you do an in depth study on those source, because, you can't just read one book, you have to study to subject which leads to other fields of study to check it which will lead you to some science fields like the Quantum theories, vibrations medicines and therapies...experiments done along those lines
The problem is religion in the way it works, it do not search for answers to questions.. to acquire knowledge, for example, all the knowledge religion uses is already written, and there is nothing to discuss. If you find something new, then that thing can be just classified as apocrypha and being something not valid so religion can remain in the way it is. In a static religion like this there is nothing to learn just rules to follow, maybe following these rules creates the illusion that you are really doing something for yourself so people feel confortable in it, and in these places you don´t need to find an answer for some question that probably was the reason that made you join that religion. I think spirituality just exists when you accept the fact that you need to find solutions for the questions you have, solutions doesn´t appear just because you joined a religion, or the priest said so.
While I agree with the sentiment, I might word it differently.
Religion is not the problem. Religionism is.
Religion: truth-serving and ultimately self-transcending, because it is/should be rooted in spirituality, an actual experience of the numinous.
Religionism: ego-serving and ultimately self-contradicting, because it is rooted in the MGIBTYG mindset.
Religion is the system of the day-to-day relationship between Man/Woman and God. It is a means of "codifying" the experience of spirit. Religionism results when this system is abused.
Spirituality Or Religion?
Is Spirituality Different
From Organized Religion?
SPIRITUALITY SAYS THAT GOD IS WITHIN EACH OF US
AND WE DON’T NEED ANYONE ELSE TO MAKE
THAT DIVINE CONNECTION FOR US
RELIGION SAYS THAT WE ARE SEPARATED FROM GOD
AND THAT WE NEED “THEM” TO MAKE THE
DIVINE CONNECTION FOR US
SPIRITUALITY SAYS THAT WE ARE FREE TO MAKE CHOICES
ON OUR OWN AND THAT WE MUST TAKE PERSONAL
RESPONSIBILITY FOR OUR ACTIONS
RELIGION SAYS WE MUST MAKE THEIR
CHOICES AND ACT THEIR WAY
THE THEME OF SPIRITUALITY IS
UNCONDITIONAL LOVE
THE THEME OF RELIGION IS FEAR AND GUILT
SPIRITUALITY DOES NOT REQUIRE US
TO MAKE DONATIONS
RELIGION HAS BECOME BIG BUSINESS
SPIRITUALITY SAYS THERE IS NO HELL, NO
JUDGMENT, NO ANGRY GOD... THAT WE
ARE LOVED UNCONDITIONALLY
RELIGION SAYS THERE IS A HELL, GOD GETS ANGRY
AND JUDGES US... THEREFORE, WE ARE NOT
LOVED UNCONDITIONALLY
SPIRITUALITY SAYS WE ARE FREE TO
CHOOSE OUR OWN PATH TO GOD
RELIGION COMMANDS US TO DO IT THEIR WAY
SPIRITUALITY SAYS WE GO TO GOD
TO LIGHTEN OUR BURDEN
RELIGION HAS TAUGHT US TO FEAR THEIR GOD
SPIRITUALITY SAYS WE SHOULD NOT BE ASHAMED
OF OUR SEXUALITY... THAT IT SHOULD BE A
SACRED CELEBRATION OF LOVE
RELIGION HAS TAUGHT US TO FEEL ASHAMED,
GUILTY AND DIRTY ABOUT OUR SEXUALITY
SPIRITUALITY TEACHES US TO
HONOR AND RESPECT MOTHER EARTH
RELIGION HAS TOLD US TO "BE THOU FRUITFUL,
MULTIPLY AND SUBDUE THE EARTH"
I REPEAT... "SUBDUE THE EARTH"
I SUSPECT JESUS AND BUDDHA WOULD
HAVE SAID SOMETHING LIKE...
"ACT RESPONSIBLY,
HONOR EARTH MOTHER
AND ALWAYS GIVE HER YOUR LOVE"
SPIRITUALITY ASKS THAT WE HAVE CHILDREN IN A
RESPONSIBLE WAY THAT IS CONSISTENT
WITH MOTHER EARTH'S
RESOURCES
RELIGION SAYS THAT BIRTH CONTROL IS UNNATURAL,
A SIN, AND THAT WE CAN GO TO HELL FOR
PRACTICING IT. ARE THEY AFRAID
OF LOSING DUES-PAYING
MEMBERS?
SPIRITUALITY REMINDS US THAT WE
ARE ONE WITH GOD AND ONE
WITH EACH OTHER
RELIGION TEACHES DISUNITY AND SEPARATION,
WHICH IS THE OPPOSITE OF GOD
SPIRITUALITY TELLS US THAT GOD IS WITHIN
RELIGION SAYS HE IS IN HEAVEN AND THAT
THEY ARE THE ONLY INTERMEDIARIES FOR US
SPIRITUALITY SAYS WE ARE BORN
IN INNOCENCE AND PURITY
RELIGION SAYS WE ARE BORN WITH SIN
SPIRITUALITY TEACHES THAT WE ARE ON A LONG
SPIRITUAL ADVENTURE AND JOURNEY,
WHICH WILL ULTIMATELY END BY
REUNITING WITH OUR SOURCE
RELIGION SAYS WE'VE GOT ONE LIFE TO GET IT
ALL RIGHT AND THERE IS NOTHING BUT
HEAVEN OR HELL AFTER THAT
SPIRITUALITY SAYS WE ARE FREE TO EXPRESS
RELIGION GAVE US THE DREADED INQUISITION
SPIRITUALITY TEACHES
UNCONDITIONAL LOVE FOR ALL
RELIGION GAVE US THE CRUSADES IN WHICH
MILLIONS WERE KILLED AND PERSECUTED
IN THE NAME OF GOD
SPIRITUALITY TEACHES THAT WE SHOULD LOVE
ONE ANOTHER UNCONDITIONALLY AND
ALWAYS HONOR THE RIGHTS
AND CHOICES OF OTHERS
RELIGION TREATED NATIVE AMERICANS, THE MAYANS
AND OTHER INDIGENOUS CULTURES AS SAVAGE
PRIMITIVES WHO MUST BE SAVED
SPIRITUALITY TEACHES PEACE AND HARMONY
RELIGION HAS CAUSED MORE WARS
AND MORE KILLING THAN
ANY OTHER REASON
SPIRITUALITY SAYS RESPECT
ALL LIVING THINGS
I NEVER ONCE HEARD ANY RELIGION ASK THAT WE STOP
SLAUGHTERING MILLIONS OF TREES EVERY
YEAR FOR CHRIST'S BIRTHDAY
SPIRITUALITY TEACHES US TO HAVE
FAITH IN OURSELVES
RELIGION TEACHES US TO HAVE FAITH IN THEM
SPIRITUALITY SAYS WE HAVE ALL THE ANSWERS...
THAT WE CAN FIND THEM BY GOING WITHIN
RELIGION TEACHES US THAT IT HAS ALL THE
ANSWERS AND ONLY ITS ANSWERS
ARE THE RIGHT ONES
SPIRITUALITY TEACHES US TO SEARCH FOR THE
UNIVERSAL TRUTHS AND OUR HEARTS WILL
TELL US WHEN WE HAVE FOUND THEM
RELIGION TEACHES WE HAVE NO CHOICE BUT TO
ACCEPT THEIR VERSION OF THE TRUTH
WHICH ONE FEELS BETTER TO YOU?
The Mormon response to Spiritualism
Are the so-called New Age spiritual beliefs opposed to Christ?R. Kim Davis, “I Have a Question,” Ensign, Mar. 1991, 62
R. Kim Davis, associate professor of surgery at the University of Utah and bishop of the Little Cottonwood Sixth Ward.As members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we share an understanding of our Heavenly Father’s plan. This understanding includes knowing that we are children of our Father in Heaven with unique identities and that, through the atonement of our Savior, Jesus Christ, we can one day return to live with our Father. We are fortunately not left to ourselves to sift for truth in the philosophies of man.
A case in point is the New Age movement—an eclectic, contemporary pseudo-religion that consists of a confusing array of beliefs about the nature of man and denies the existence of a personal God and the need for a Savior.
Some aspects of the New Age movement may seem harmless. But when we compare basic principles of the gospel with New Age philosophies, we see that New Age beliefs can lead us away from our Heavenly Father, allowing us to rationalize behavior and become ensnared in sin.
1. A fundamental principle of the gospel is that we are literally the spirit children of a loving Heavenly Father, created in his image. We have individual identities and the potential to become like God. (See Gen. 1:26–27; Rom. 8:16; Eph. 4:6; Moses 3:5.)
In contrast, the New Age movement defines God as the ultimate reality, a source of pure undifferentiated energy, consciousness, or life-force. Humanity is considered an extension of God, the divine essence that is humanity’s higher self. Such a view denies a personal God.
2. Another fundamental principle of the gospel is that we can return to our Father in Heaven through the atonement of Jesus Christ. We know that the separation of man from God began with the fall of Adam and continues as a consequence of sin. Through the Atonement and our obedience to the laws and ordinances of the gospel, we can overcome this separation and gain eternal life. (See 1 Cor. 15:21–22; Mosiah 3:19.)
The New Age movement holds that sin does not separate man from God, but that metaphysical ignorance separates us from higher consciousness. New Age beliefs hold that the fall of man is not due to Adam’s transgression and its effect on mankind, but is due to mankind’s inability to understand the unity of reality. The destiny of man is to achieve somehow a level in which individual consciousness dissolves into the consciousness of the cosmos. Of course, such a philosophy denies individual worth and the need for a Savior.
3. We know that God has always revealed his will through prophets on the earth who act as his spokesmen. We also know that we can pray directly to God for personal revelation. (See Amos 3:7; James 1:5; Jacob 4:4; 3 Ne. 18:19–20; D&C 1:37–38; D&C 112:10.)
In contrast, New Age approaches to communication with the supernatural may include chanting, ritual, drugs, music, guides—anything that will assist the mind to reach a New Age metaphysical state. New Age philosophy thus denies the fundamental gospel principles concerning man’s communication with God.
4. We know that the true Church of Jesus Christ was restored to earth so that we need not be tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine. We can distinguish truth from error. Heavenly Father provides the plan by which his kingdom on earth is administered. (See Eph. 4:11–14; D&C 20.)
The New Age movement tries to replace the commandments of God and the consequences of sin with an experiential view of life in which any type of behavior is potentially acceptable. New Age philosophy suggests that if everything is God, everything is permissible.
The truth is, oneness with our Father in Heaven is made possible only by keeping his commandments. We can achieve peace in this life not by losing our identities in becoming part of the cosmos, but by comprehending our true identities as spirit children of Heavenly Father and personally receiving our Savior.
There should be no doubt that the basic tenets of the New Age movement are directly opposed to the teachings of Jesus Christ and his church. We can avoid the pitfalls of this and other trends that oppose our Savior by relying on the Holy Ghost to help us discern carefully between truth and falsehood.
I was considering this thread and made the following conclusions:
SPIRITUALITY TEACHES THAT WE ARE INDIVIDUALS,
BUT WE WILL EVENTUALLY LOSE OUR INDIVIDUALITY
TO THE WHOLE,
BECAUSE WE ARE NOT REALLY INDIVIDUALS,
NO ONE CAN HELP YOU
BECAUSE EVERYONE IS IN THE SAME BOAT YOU ARE.
RELIGION TEACHES THAT WE ARE INDIVIDUALS,
AND THAT IT IS COMPLETELY ACCEPTABLE TO
REQUEST AID FROM THOSE THAT CAN HELP.
OH, I see. But those are I guess considered religious, but not in the meaning that I meant the thread on. In fact what I was saying in the beginning is that there are some religious beliefs that don't cross to more spiritual ones. I do believe like yourself that there are many and I agree with those types, but then I should of specified better........What you are speaking of I wouldn't really compare it as religious, but I suppose they are......I don't believe that most would consider these types are religious, but more spiritual.......I may be wrong in my interpritation though.
Religions are like a social integration group, a subculture, a political party. They are social institutions. Many of them would be better understood as an sociological phenomena rather than a spiritual thing.
But of course there are those religions that didn´t lose their spiritual nature like hinduism, buddhism, many of the oriental beliefs....