Why Religion is NOT Spirituality.
The word “spirituality” has been abducted, enslaved, tortured, bent and twisted into an unrecognizable mush by centuries of association with, and presumed ownership by, religion. It’s time to liberate it.
Our Anglo-French word spirit comes from the Latin spiritus, which means “breath,” “breath of life,” or “breath of god” (or gods, since there were many to choose from, male and female and in-between/both, when this concept was conceived). Essentially the term refers to “life,” as only life breathes, and all life breathes continually. Respiration is one of the fundamental, and perhaps most important, qualities that distinguish the living from the non-living.
The only thing you have to do today is breathe. You don’t have to eat, drink, move, feel, think, look, hear, taste, smell, touch or anything else. Just breathe. Actually, the same is true of the next 10 minutes or so. The one thing you are going to have to do is breathe: respire. Otherwise you will expire. You’ll be dead. We might think about that every now and again, as we essentially spend our lives taking our clean, easy breathing for granted, even as our magnificent, intelligent bodies automatically cover for our ingratitude and hubris.
So this word, spirit, has its finger on the very pulse of life. There is no pulse without breath. Breath is the energy behind the pulse. Spirit, the breath of life, thus refers to the life force. It’s what everything else — metabolism, reproduction, motility, growth, perception, awareness, consciousness — depends upon.
The word spiritual comes from the Latin spiritualis, which means of or pertaining to that breath, breathing. Likewise the word spirituality comes from the Latin spiritualitas, which refers to the quality of being spiritual… in other words: seeking, perceiving, knowing, embracing, ennobling, loving that breathing life force…. and, of course, whatever conjured it up.
You may notice that nothing, so far, suggests anything outside the natural world. No laws of nature are being broken. It’s all about the living, the breathing, the physical, except, in some interpretations the god(s) that gifted this life force. The concept was originally a recognition of the sacred miracle of life itself… wherever it came from.
But soon enough, the idea of “spirit” was perverted to 1) pertain almost exclusively to humans, not other life forms; 2) trump and transcend “breath” as some mysterious entity which could survive death; and 3) become the exclusive purview of religion to own, define and manipulate.
In the religious view, “spirit” is pretty much synonymous with “soul,” despite shaky protest by theologians. At times in ancient texts, it seems that the word “spirit” harkens back to something physical, while “soul” always is this ephemeral essence of the self which is definitely not physical and survives death. Sometimes that scheme is flipped: “soul” is of the body, while “spirit” is of God. The two ideas quickly become inextricably tangled. Certainly the average person has little clue what the difference is.
Decipher this from the New Testament, Luke: 1:46–47 —
“And Mary said, My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God My Savior.”
The Open Bible, referencing an Old Testament passage (Hebrews 4:12), solves the riddle thusly:
“While the soul and the spirit may be distinguished, they are closely bound up, rather like joints and marrow.”
There you go, now you know the difference between spirit and soul! One glorifies the Lord, the other rejoices in God, one is a joint, the other marrow. Clear as mud.
However, it is interesting that generally it is the “soul” that gets “saved” or “reborn” in afterlife fairy tales. What about the “spirit?”
According to Christianity.com, “The spirit is the only way to connect with God… We express our love to God and Jesus Christ through our spirit, because this is one of the gifts that Christ gave us when he became human and died for our sins. And thus, we can only use the spirit if we believe in God and Christ and if we do the ways of the spirit.”
Sooo… people who lived before Christ didn’t have spirit? Those who don’t accept Jesus don’t have spirit? We no longer need to connect with God in the afterlife? We don’t need the spirit anymore at that point? What happens to it? No cogent answers are forthcoming, just more and more convoluted dogma.
Like the soul, the spirit became something that death does not touch, that needs breath not at all (quite the opposite of its original meaning). And so the eventual association of “spirit” with ghosts and demons and angels and other supernatural forces… none of which need the slightest breath of air. The term that defined life, now cavorts in death. These supernatural entities (yes, now we have broken numerous laws of physics) have been very useful for religion, for they can be quite effective in controlling believers. Don’t you want to pay to ensure your loved one’s “soul” goes to Heaven? If you sin, you will be tormented by devilish “spirits.” The Devil is waiting for you in Hell to torment your “soul” if you disobey.
With bad actors ever alert to the ease of scamming the gullible, “spiritualism” and “spiritualists” arrived to study and communicate with these figments. It’s not quite the lucrative gig it used to be, but people still pay hefty sums to “speak” with their departed loved ones, each encounter facilitated by a one hundred percent fraud.
Religion, all religions, are institutionalized systems of belief and behavior, usually centered upon a founding patriarch, teacher, prophet, messiah and/or various deities, with a central “truth” that differentiates it from all other such institutions. That “truth” is the reason for each sect’s existence. The founder is revered for discovering that “truth.” Each religion purports to be an ultimate authority, to answer the most fundamental questions of life, and to provide social order, structure and personal and societal guidance. Because most religions were established thousands of years ago, and their main tenets are still rooted in the knowledge of that era, they have little or no real understanding of how the world actually works and little or no actual scientific information to impart. Their sacred texts usually include colorful, imaginative stories and characters, some common sense lessons and admonitions to play nice (even, often, with “others” not of the same tribe), yet over time layers of dogma, rules, rites, rituals, traditions and fierce determination to conserve that ancient “truth” create backwards, self-absorbed, authoritarian, demanding, oppressive bastions that serve only to retard the healthy education and development of individuals and the evolution of society to higher levels of both belief and behavior.
The world has tried religion for thousands of years. Although perhaps “successful,” in some limited ways, at the local level, for a while… it has never worked for the human family overall. Quite the opposite; it has spawned untold chaos and spilled rivers of blood. Religion is inherently divisive. It cannot help but be. Each sect has its “sacred truth,” and all those “others” don’t. This does not actualize amicability; it conjures conflict. You want to see the most advanced, the most peaceful, the most free societies in the world today, look for those with the least religion; conversely, you want conflict and violence, look for those with the most religion. This axiom holds fairly true as you delve into history.
One thing religion emphatically does not do is honor breath. Or much of anything in the natural world. Indeed, in the Abrahamic tradition, the world is a base, dirty, dangerous carnival of profaneness and sin. Avoid it. Withstand it. Conquer it. Do whatever you need to do to get out of it… and into Heaven. This place, your physical life, is not what counts, it’s what comes next — Heaven or Hell — for ETERNITY!
Millions of Christians are, at this very moment, praying for the End Times, when this stupid, evil world will be destroyed in an apocalyptic nightmare, they and their loved ones will be raptured to Heaven, and all the rest of us abominable bastards will meet the Devil, who a QUADRILLION years from now will still have a hot poker up our butts (presumably, in Hell at least, not just the soul but the body also survives death). And they fervently believe this is the plan of their “loving” god and savior boy, whom they have been promising is returning — soon! — for two thousand years.
How many people have been tortured and terrorized by this man-made atrocity of an idea? Some number of BILLIONS is the correct answer.
But is Christianity.com on the right path when they proclaim that “the spirit is the only way to connect with God?” It may well be if spirit is “life” and “God” is the entirety of Creation leading straight back to some mysterious but ultimately very creative and benevolent “Source.”
Science can’t prove that there is no “god” of some sort hiding somewhere. But it has pretty much confirmed that no such entity or force remotely resembling the gods described by religion is needed to explain this Universe. Or us. Or breath. Yet breath came from somewhere. If not the gods, some ultimate Source. Religion tells us nothing about any of this. But science does. Properly evaluated, science is “spiritual” to the core.
This Source, currently thought to be a “singularity”— through the process of evolution, first of matter then of life, succeeded in creating something pretty amazing, beautiful, meaningful and good: this world, this precious, fragile diamond floating in the sweet spot of an average star system, itself spiraling through the backwaters of a medium-sized galaxy, itself a tiny patch in a colossal network of galaxies and super-structures of this mind-blowing Universe.
The concept of evolution is an important key here. The Universe was not just poofed into existence; it took billions of years to self-create! The thing actually created itself! And so did life! It created itself! Are you paying attention? That is freakin’ mind-blowing. And it renders EVERYTHING magnificent and precious and beautiful and meaningful. Yet… sadly (for the world), you will not learn ANY of this from religion. This magnificent story conflicts with religious tales. Many religionists do not believe in evolution, of any kind. God created everything, and that is that! And so, they are free to be irritated, disgusted by or hate aspects of the Creation. Any part of it — river, forest, animal, an entire species, human life —is theirs to destroy. They claim “dominion” over nature, and their religion concurs. Shoot first, let God sort it out. If God wants it back, he can poof it again! You can see how perverse and dangerous that is, and so far removed from actually caring about the world or anything in it. “Pro Life” they are decidedly not.
“Spirituality” reclaimed offers an entirely different way of thinking and being in the world. It is the only way “to connect” not with the grey-bearded, mass murdering, child-killing, torturing, tyrannical maniac of the hoary old tradition, but with the real Source of this majestic and precious Creation.
Spirituality demands the truth. That’s why it must always accord with the latest science, and be completely, eagerly open to revision as we go along. No more fooling around and kidding ourselves with frozen fairy tales. Anything artificial, phony, fake, is simply not spirituality! Through the quest for truth, spirituality honors life, honors the Creation, seeking connection — and love — with and for the ALL. Not “worship,” mind you! How utterly appalling! What loving parent, what creator, what creative force, would want “worship” from its child, its creation? No “god” anyone should respect.
The world does not ask for worship. It does not ask for anything. It gives. And gives. And gives. As for our own breath, our life, the rest of the biosphere that birthed and sustains us, a little gratitude would be appreciated. Deep love is what is truly warranted. Yes, this world, that religion is keen to be rid of… should be the central object of what we can, here and now, admire, praise, adore, nurture, protect, love… if we wish to honor the creative force of the Source… even as we gaze in awe and wonder out from beyond our star to the night sky above.
Some say that looking up at that vast, dark palette of twinkling planets, stars and galaxies frightens them, makes them feel small and meaningless. What a pitiful, empoverished interpretation, tacitly accepted by most religions and secular society. The truly spiritual perception is quite the opposite. Look at that! What immensity. What beauty. What awesomeness. Whatever created that, created me. I am not just looking at that, I am part of that… a very special part of that… a tiny mote of the Universe examining it, trying to understand it, admiring it, finding it not just good but fabulous… loving it. This is a peak moment not just for the individual observer, but the Universe itself. We are the Universe becoming aware of itself… not solely with objective detachment, but also with astoundingly profound love of self… and for the entirety of the cosmos… and the process which enabled it to self-create.
No religion will steer you in this direction. Certainly not the world-despising, authoritarian-god-riddled, Abrahamic traditions.
Accepting the religion that has been handed to you by your family and culture is an easy, lazy thing to do. The spiritual pathway is far more difficult. It requires preparation and effort, and often, a deliberate separation from the old “heritage.” We have to be ready to receive it. It is a journey. Mostly a solitary journey. You won’t find it in a building or in a crowd, though those can be adept at simulating a “high” that seems profound. You can be guided toward a spiritual gateway, but beware of “spiritual” guides who want you to commit to them; it is YOUR breath you must follow into the depths of understanding and feeling. That gateway most often leads away from human contact, for awhile, into the wilderness, or at least some part of the natural world. This is where almost all “religious” founders and other wise teachers found their epiphanies: in the desert, in a cave, beside a burning bush, sitting by a river, under a tree, on the beach, at sea. There they felt that “connection,” that loving bond between themselves and the ALL… the entire rest of creation… and whatever its Source. That they could only explain it through the language and concepts of their era is not surprising, and thus the susceptibility of corruption by followers. But this essential, solitary peak experience has been shared by “mystics” of every country and culture. It’s what every true seeker seeks.
Strange that religion never encourages its adherents to embark on a similar quest into that realm of aloneness and wonder and awe that its very founders did. Oh no, that’s actually the last thing religion wants “believers” to do. There are no further answers to be had out there, religion cautions, only distortions and deceptions, trials, tribulations and temptations. You are safer here in the church; we have the answers; listen, pray, do not question, have faith, conform, obey… and you will be rewarded; disobey and you will be punished.
Thusly, religion creates a cul-de-sac of belief, a prison cell of false faith, that removes and sequesters the believer from ever embarking on that truly “spiritual” quest. As the seekers of the truth find their way away from the crowd, apart from old customs, out into nature — where all scientific truths, and the answers to the deepest questions are actually to be found — the religious believer is in the cul-de-sac, “worshipping” the divisive and untrue.
This is why religion is actually anti-spiritual. It has no interest in the breath of life. It has no real interest in truth. It is afraid of science. It has no affection for the Creation. It is committed wholly to itself, its myths, its dogma, its traditions, its prophesies, its hierarchy, its control, its power. Though it gives lip-service to “peace” and “love,” that is rarely actualized by its leaders or followers, which have been some of the most vicious and reprehensible in human history. Indeed, the more “fundamental” these believers are, the more diabolical and dangerous… all of them thinking of themselves, falsely, as “spiritual.”
Because the word “spirituality” has become so distorted and tainted by religion, some say that it would be better to come with a new term for the state, the process, the pathway of connecting with and loving the ALL. To be sure, even today, too many people equate “spiritual” and “spirituality” with religion. “Spiritual values” equals religious dogma; a “spiritual song” is a religious song (meanwhile, a “soul” song is something you can boogie to), a “spiritual revival” is a religious movement. Many secularists run for the hills when these words seem to threaten their own disconnection from broader truth and love. But why should we give up on the perfect word, meaning “the breath of life,” and leave it a tortured prisoner even as it is calling out to us for liberation? There will be some thorny thickets to chop our way through to pull off the rescue, but if we reclaim that word, might we simultaneously free many other prisoners in those cul-de-sacs of counter-productive dogma?
The human family can never come together over religion. Why? Because every religion knows all others are in some essential way false! Which means that every other religion knows that YOURS is false! Religion innately divides, separates and inspires distrust and conflict.
Could humanity come together over true spirituality? Why not? It is the realer truth. It is science (ever subject to revision and improvement… unlike religion). It is a strengthening of the personhood of the individual and the structure of society. It unites, not divides. It places peace and love foremost, not dodgy dogma and crazy catechism. It elevates and honors not just every human, but every living thing. It far better answers the questions of the ages: Why are we here? How are we here? What is our purpose? What is our meaning? What is our relationship with the world? What is our relationship with the Source? What happens when we die?
Indeed, it would seem that true spirituality — returned to its original meaning: seeking and understanding and embracing and loving the breath of life — is the only way humanity can ever come together. Only by transforming our conformist, misguided, materialistic, unfair, greedy, angry, fearful, confused, unsustainable, aggressive societies into cultures dedicated to promoting the true, the beautiful, the good will we ever achieve peace on Earth amongst the human tribes. Religion will oppose this transformation. Cold and detached science, technology, commerce and hyper-consumptive culture may, likewise. Conservatives will surely fight to conserve the status-quo.
Yet might we find a way? Humans are the world champions at evolving. We have evolved physically. We have evolved culturally. We have evolved intellectually. We have evolved technologically. It’s time for the most important evolution of all: spiritually. We certainly have the capacity to achieve an evolution of spirit that just might save ourselves and this magnificent jewel of the Universe, Mother Earth.
It has become popular for people to claim that they are “spiritual, not religious.” Chances are most of these have not thought very deeply about what “spirituality” even is, and are probably a lot less spiritual and still more religious than they think. But the very frequency of the pronouncement — in many cultures around the world — may be revealing of accelerating dissatisfaction with religion and at least the glimmering of a new awakening that there are other ways, better ways, to live one’s life, and higher truths, not presented by religion, that far better nourish our full human spirit.
It’s there, in that last word. Follow your breath to the Source. Become your best self, and fall in love with the Universe on the journey.
