Religion vs Spirituality

Religious institutions that do harm are those that insist you surrender your will to them, rather than to God. Clergy who do harm are those who insist you worship them, rather than God. When a religion insists it (or a person claims he or she) speaks for God and asserts that by rejecting it, you are rejecting God, it is a danger to everyone. If you need a church, make sure it is one that points beyond itself to a God of love, justice, and personal autonomy and freedom. If you need clergy, make sure they free you for God, rather than chain you to themselves and their view of God.

Frightening people with sin and threatening them with eternal damnation is meant to keep people in line. Religion is often about getting people to conform to the beliefs, principles and traditions of those who run the religion. We would be better served if our religions could uncover, cultivate, and support our capacity for justice and kindness, rather than harp on our failures.

Spirituality is a process for discovering who you are and why you are here.

Who you are is God: the singular divine Self manifesting as your unique self.

Why you are here is to cultivate the self in such a way as to be a more effective vehicle of the Self and in this way, make your world more just, loving, meaningful, and holy. Authentic spirituality heals the traumatized self by opening it to the divine Self, and then releases the healed self to make the world more godly. There is no need to surrender or abandon the self, only the need to place it in its proper relationship with Self.
                                         
                                               By: 'Unknown Author'