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Spirituality Defined
The Spiritual Naturalist, an eco-spiritual e-magazine. Used with permission.

Many ask "what is the difference between spirituality and religion?" Some misinformed people believe that those engaged in the growing spiritual movement today are surely involved in some type of cult. This is far from the truth.

The truth is that most major religions are cults. Every major religion that maintains a class system of priests and followers, and a doctrine or shared belief, cannot escape being a cult. Its very components generate a cult-ure. The individual’s spiritual progress within this system is therefore dependant upon the effectiveness of that religion and its components. Conformity of the individual to the religion’s cult-ure is ultimately required in order to maintain acceptance in the religion. Acceptance is required in order to gain help and attention to the individual’s spiritual needs. Required conformity in order to gain acceptance is the true mark of a cult, be it a church, temple, or corporation.

In contrast, spirituality is the individual’s endeavor to re-connect with the Divine Source, the Creator, on a personal basis, without the middle-man. This personal endeavor to re-enter one’s spiritual home is not dependant upon any doctrine, organization, or culture but solely upon the individual’s will.

Once established, the relationship with the Divine becomes the focus of the individual’s efforts. This Divine relationship becomes extremely personal and is independent of any other individual, situation or belief system. It is free-flowing and manifests without generating a cult-ure as do most personal relationships. It manifests in as many ways as there are individuals, since we are all unique expressions of the Divine. It bestows an ultimate feeling of self-worth on those who achieve even the smallest connection with their Source.

Spirituality is not a doctrine. It is a remembrance. It is a feeling. It is the knowledge that you are more than your physical body, that you are an eternally living being. It is self-exploration, self-realization.

This is where most people stop. They are not able to or perhaps willing to explore themselves. Furthermore, they do not want to face the possibility that they are eternal, spiritual beings who are having a temporary human experience. It is easier to adhere to someone else’s belief system or something else, such as materialism, than to delve deep into their own soul. Worse, they cannot face the responsibility that such knowledge conveys upon them. That they must think and act as eternal beings. That they are responsible to their Divine purpose.

This is why religions have dominated the human experience for untold millennia. The Fear of Self has held the collective human consciousness in chains and in ignorant misery. But no matter how fearful we have been to explore the infinite human spirit, we cannot escape the task. It remains before us.

We cannot ignore our spirituality forever because we cannot ignore ourselves forever.

The development of spiritual consciousness is the one thing that human-beings must accomplish before we can further evolve. And this is the time appointed for human mass-consciousness to evolve. If we fail, then one can simply take a deep breath, look back through history, and get prepared for the big repeat. We have to get it right this time.

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