{"id":1140,"date":"2012-04-18T08:13:33","date_gmt":"2012-04-18T12:13:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/awakeintheworld\/?p=1140"},"modified":"2012-04-18T08:13:33","modified_gmt":"2012-04-18T12:13:33","slug":"are-your-religious-spiritual-or-both","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/awakeintheworld\/2012\/04\/are-your-religious-spiritual-or-both.html","title":{"rendered":"Are Your Religious, Spiritual or Both?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cReligion is a defense to a true religious experience,\u201d said\u00a0Joseph Campbell.\u00a0 The spiritual journey is different than following a fixed dogma or doing ritual worship once or twice a week.\u00a0 Very often people use church attendance or participation in organized religions and spiritual retreats as ways to socialize, meet new mates and find entertainment. A \u201ctrue religious experience\u201d reaches deep into the spiritual heart. It calls us to commit to our Self and walk a path of self-awareness, contemplation, and practice basic human values like love, truth and non-violence.\u00a0 Organized religion make take us to the door, but most of us venture into the portals of true religious and spiritual experience through unique inner openings that arrive only through turning within for answers. \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

When you make a commitment to life as a spiritual journey, some things will begin to happen.<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It will give you a deeper sense of meaning and purpose.<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 You may gain some answers your questions about the cosmos.<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It could make you a gentler and kinder human being.<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It will give you a sense of responsibility and an extended sense of family and interconnectedness to the world (but it doesn\u2019t necessarily mean you\u2019ll go around hugging and kissing strangers).<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It will help you to weather life\u2019s storms.<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It will help you to resolve conflicts and live more peacefully.<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It will help you to live a simpler, happier life.<\/p>\n

Some people have unreasonable expectations about the spiritual journey. Here\u2019s what not to expect:<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 To have spiritual powers like mind reading, seeing auras or levitating.<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 To have a guarantee that you will no longer suffer pain, failure or set backs.<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Don\u2019t expect physical immortality. Every body<\/em> dies. Spiritual practice anchors you in awareness that transcends your identity with the body.<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 To be wealthy.\u00a0 This is not the purpose of spiritual practice.\u00a0 But to be wealthy in character, peace, love — these things you can count on if you walk your spiritual path.<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 To get everything you want.\u00a0 Walking a spiritual path is not something one does in order to acquire more things or to get a mate.\u00a0 It\u2019s not visualizing what you want (like a big house or a certain car) instead it\u2019s eliminating ego-based desires and this means reducing desires for more things.\u00a0 On the path, the realization often comes that those desired things were not necessary after all.<\/p>\n

What is spiritual practice?<\/p>\n

It means following your inner guidance, your conscience in your daily life.\u00a0 It means doing your duty, doing it well and fulfilling the obligations of your role as spouse, employee, mother, brother.\u00a0 It is more about duties and responsibility we have to others rather than rights or things we think are due to us.\u00a0 Committing to life as a spiritual journey can be the most rewarding way to live and expand in awareness. With deep contemplation consider your relationship to religion and spirituality and how you relate to both.<\/p>\n

Bio:<\/strong> Debra Moffitt is author of Awake in the World: 108 Practices to Live a Divinely Inspired Life<\/a>. A visionary, dreamer and teacher, she\u2019s devoted to nurturing the spiritual in everyday life. She leads workshops on spiritual practices at the Sophia Institute and other venues in the U.S. and Europe. Her mind\/body\/spirit articles, essays and stories appear in publications around the globe and were broadcast by BBC World Services Radio. She has spent over fifteen years practicing meditation, working with dreams and doing spiritual practices. Visit her online at http:\/\/www.awakeintheworld.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cReligion is a defense to a true religious experience,\u201d said\u00a0Joseph Campbell.\u00a0 The spiritual journey is different than following a fixed dogma or doing ritual worship once or twice a week.\u00a0 Very often people use church attendance or participation in organized religions and spiritual retreats as ways to socialize, meet new mates and find entertainment. A…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":409,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29,10,4,26,125,3],"tags":[346,716,345,714,653,713,715],"class_list":["post-1140","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-buddhism","category-faith","category-inspiration","category-meditation","category-oneness","category-spiritual-practice","tag-awake-in-the-world","tag-contemplation","tag-debra-moffitt","tag-joseph-campbell","tag-religion-versus-spirituality","tag-religious-experience","tag-self-awareness"],"yoast_head":"\nAre Your Religious, Spiritual or Both? - Awake in the World<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/awakeintheworld\/2012\/04\/are-your-religious-spiritual-or-both.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Are Your Religious, Spiritual or Both? - Awake in the World\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cReligion is a defense to a true religious experience,\u201d said\u00a0Joseph Campbell.\u00a0 The spiritual journey is different than following a fixed dogma or doing ritual worship once or twice a week.\u00a0 Very often people use church attendance or participation in organized religions and spiritual retreats as ways to socialize, meet new mates and find entertainment. 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