{"id":6,"date":"2010-06-17T15:33:02","date_gmt":"2010-06-17T15:33:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/practicalspirituality\/2010\/06\/are-spirituality-and-religion-the-same.html"},"modified":"2010-06-17T15:33:02","modified_gmt":"2010-06-17T15:33:02","slug":"are-spirituality-and-religion-the-same","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/2010\/06\/are-spirituality-and-religion-the-same.html","title":{"rendered":"Are Spirituality and Religion The Same?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"iStock_000009925974Large.jpg\"<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

If we think of spirituality as our
\ndeepest experience of The Sacred, in the world and within us, then we see that
\nreligion may be a support to exploring and experiencing these elements. The
\nreligions of the world are vast repositories of practices and philosophies that
\npoint us toward The Sacred. They offer timeless wisdom and sophisticated
\nsystems that can advance the soul. Yet, if we understand that spirituality is
\nultimately about a person’s sense of identity, connection, and meaning, then it
\nis equally true that religion is <\/span>not<\/i><\/span> <\/span>necessary<\/i><\/span> either.<\/span>  <\/span><\/span>Sometimes religion may even be an obstacle to
\nspirituality.<\/span><\/p>\n

A religion is typically a social
\norganization built around common beliefs and practices that reflect a shared assumption
\nabout the nature of The Sacred and the Self. There are many people who find
\ntheir spirituality ignited and fed by their religion. Spirituality and religion
\nmay function in harmony. We must not forget all the good work, charity, and
\nservice that is done in the name of religion. There is also great value in
\nunderstanding and honoring your heritage: your language, your ancestors, your
\ntraditions. These strong foundations can bring great meaning and stability to a
\nspiritual path.<\/span><\/p>\n

In contrast, for some their
\nspirituality will never closely follow a religious community or prescription. For
\nmany, religion becomes a barrier to spirituality, and feeds off fear, a desire
\nto belong, and a lack of willingness to truly question and explore the nature
\nof life, the self, and The Sacred. The gift of religion is its capacity to
\npreserve and transmit teachings of philosophies and practices that, if engaged
\nwith a spiritual focus, can serve as powerful vehicles of connection and
\nawareness of The Sacred. When politics and ego get involved, religion can be
\ndangerous. While I believe that a conscious spiritual practice, supported by
\nguides and community is essential to a life of peace and balance, I have not
\nfound religion to be necessary. There are many ways to find these elements.<\/span><\/p>\n


<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

Excerpt from Return to the Sacred<\/font><\/i><\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If we think of spirituality as our deepest experience of The Sacred, in the world and within us, then we see that religion may be a support to exploring and experiencing these elements. The religions of the world are vast repositories of practices and philosophies that point us toward The Sacred. They offer timeless wisdom…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[18,21,22,67],"class_list":["post-6","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-spirituality","tag-jonathan-ellerby","tag-religion","tag-return-to-the-sacred","tag-spirituality"],"yoast_head":"\nAre Spirituality and Religion The Same? - Practical Spirituality<\/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\/practicalspirituality\/2010\/06\/are-spirituality-and-religion-the-same.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Are Spirituality and Religion The Same? - Practical Spirituality\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"If we think of spirituality as our deepest experience of The Sacred, in the world and within us, then we see that religion may be a support to exploring and experiencing these elements. The religions of the world are vast repositories of practices and philosophies that point us toward The Sacred. They offer timeless wisdom…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/2010\/06\/are-spirituality-and-religion-the-same.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Practical Spirituality\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2010-06-17T15:33:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/practicalspirituality\/files\/import\/assets_c\/2010\/06\/iStock_000009925974Large-thumb-100x100-15189.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jonathan Ellerby\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Are Spirituality and Religion The Same? - Practical Spirituality","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/2010\/06\/are-spirituality-and-religion-the-same.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Are Spirituality and Religion The Same? - Practical Spirituality","og_description":"If we think of spirituality as our deepest experience of The Sacred, in the world and within us, then we see that religion may be a support to exploring and experiencing these elements. The religions of the world are vast repositories of practices and philosophies that point us toward The Sacred. They offer timeless wisdom…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/2010\/06\/are-spirituality-and-religion-the-same.html","og_site_name":"Practical Spirituality","article_published_time":"2010-06-17T15:33:02+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/practicalspirituality\/files\/import\/assets_c\/2010\/06\/iStock_000009925974Large-thumb-100x100-15189.jpg"}],"author":"Jonathan Ellerby","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/2010\/06\/are-spirituality-and-religion-the-same.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/2010\/06\/are-spirituality-and-religion-the-same.html","name":"Are Spirituality and Religion The Same? - Practical Spirituality","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/2010\/06\/are-spirituality-and-religion-the-same.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/2010\/06\/are-spirituality-and-religion-the-same.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/practicalspirituality\/files\/import\/assets_c\/2010\/06\/iStock_000009925974Large-thumb-100x100-15189.jpg","datePublished":"2010-06-17T15:33:02+00:00","dateModified":"2010-06-17T15:33:02+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/#\/schema\/person\/1e6e315f058fe48ff9fbb7e18623a0ee"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/2010\/06\/are-spirituality-and-religion-the-same.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/2010\/06\/are-spirituality-and-religion-the-same.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/2010\/06\/are-spirituality-and-religion-the-same.html#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/practicalspirituality\/files\/import\/assets_c\/2010\/06\/iStock_000009925974Large-thumb-100x100-15189.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/practicalspirituality\/files\/import\/assets_c\/2010\/06\/iStock_000009925974Large-thumb-100x100-15189.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/2010\/06\/are-spirituality-and-religion-the-same.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Are Spirituality and Religion The Same?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/","name":"Practical Spirituality","description":"Spirituality","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/#\/schema\/person\/1e6e315f058fe48ff9fbb7e18623a0ee","name":"Jonathan Ellerby","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/895\/8954139ebab28e38697498462f724370x96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/895\/8954139ebab28e38697498462f724370x96.jpg","caption":"Jonathan Ellerby"},"description":"Featured as an expert in films, print, television, and radio, Jonathan Ellerby, Ph.D., is the author of \"Return to the Sacred\" and the Spiritual Program Director for the internationally acclaimed Canyon Ranch Health Resort in Tucson, Arizona. Jonathan\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s background includes a PhD in Comparative Religion with a focus on health and healing systems, as well as training and work as a hospital chaplain, Interfaith Minister, executive consultant and coach.","sameAs":["http:\/\/jonathanellerby.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/author\/jellerby"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}