Who is Spiritual, Who is Religious?

I often hear this idea that someone is spiritual but not religious. This … is impossible.

But it all comes down to definitions, doesn’t it?

Normally when someone says this, they’re implying an interest in spiritual topics without being associated with an organized religion. That’s good by me. But I’ll share another way to look at it.

Spirituality implies there is more than one plane of existence, and our true self interacts with the world from another plane. If this is so, then we’re all “spiritual.”

I personally believe our life experience is more complex than this — that we have many forms of consciousness moving through us, primarily through the gut, brain, and heart centers … and they are not all our own. This is what gives us fits in terms of our inability to stick to our convictions.

I explore all of this more playfully in my book Game Manual: the Ultimate Easter Egg.

So by our nature, we are all spiritual. And meanwhile, we are all religious as well.

We may not be associated with an organized religion; that’s a different animal. But I like the definition from Emanuel Swedenborg, who was a world-famous scientist in the 18th century who claimed almost 30 years of conscious interaction with the spiritual world in the latter part of his life.

Swedenborg said that “all religion is of life.” That is … your religion — your true religion — is defined by your actions. Because you can claim to believe something, but everyone can see what you really believe in how you live.

I know a lot of people define family by blood. I’ve always defined it by how people interact. In the same way, I love this definition of religion based on actions.

Again, the reality is complex — your beliefs and actions are based in complex interactions of different consciousness forces, so it’s easy to say to someone: “you don’t believe in this because you don’t live this way,” when in fact someone does believe in living that way and is trying to … and they’re getting tripped up by the tangled inner web.

But I think in the end, our actions show which consciousness is winning out, and thus is the primary inner belief system.

Spirituality vs Organized Religion

All that said, I appreciate the distinction when someone speaks of spirituality vs organized religion, because the real idea is this:

Much like political parties, organized religion creates simple, relatively black and white ideas for the person who isn’t ready to explore depth and nuance. It provides a top down structure for those who want to follow someone else’s lead and not give a lot of energy to something.

When we’re looking for those who are “spiritual,” we’re looking for those wanting to explore the deeper mystery of life and, in doing so, question the simplicity and outer authority of organized religion.

To me, when we talk about a “great awakening” in the world, it is this concept across as many areas of life as possible. Religion, politics, business, money, relationships, health, and personal growth. These all need to be challenged by every generation, but very often the questioner is outcast in his day, as humanity is slow to latch onto deeper truths.

But the pace of everything is speeding up, as we’ve recently crossed a tipping point in consciousness. And while this causes plenty of growing pains for the human family, it sets the stage for broader change that will uplift so many more lives.

And what could be more “spiritual” than that?