"Spirituality is not a way of life, it is life.
To truly embody spirituality it must become a verb."- Julia Butterfly Hill, on Spiritual Activation
A Brief Historical Survey
of Spiritual Traditions
by P.T. Mistlberger
The Difference Between Spirituality and Religion
Before delving into the history of humanity’s spiritual and religious traditions, it will be useful to define and clarify the difference between spirituality and religion.
There is a marked difference between spirituality and religion, with the former being the original “prototype” from which the latter eventually developed. Almost all bona fide spiritual schools, no matter how loosely organized, begin with the impact of a deeply realized or awakened person. Depending on the communication skills and/or charismatic force of this person, a following usually forms around him or her, with the size and quality of the following being roughly commensurate with the depth and clarity of the teacher’s awareness (though there are no fast rules here. Jesus may be said to have been roughly comparable to Buddha in terms of depth of understanding, but Buddha had a much larger following).
In time, if the following grows to a certain number, an organization of sorts inevitably begins to develop around the teacher. The “organization” is usually led by a particular follower, or followers, who are strong-willed and highly devoted to the teacher. In time, after the teacher’s death, the organization may grow in complexity (or dwindle and disappear). In the case of where the organization flourishes, there eventually comes a time when it is run by “second generation” followers who may never have met the original teacher. At this point, the organization is becoming a religion. It teachings usually consist of written “scriptures” that were either spoken or scribed by the original teacher.
In the case of “high impact” teachers who had large followings, there is usually no one spiritual successor. There may often be a group-succession, where a body of close followers assumes administrative control of the organization upon the teacher’s passing.
In other cases, a direct spiritual successor may be appointed, in which case a lineage is begun. In these cases, where the successor is a worthy and qualified leader, the chances of maintaining the purity of the original teachings are good. In essence, what distinguishes spirituality from religion is the focus of the teaching material. In pure spirituality, the focus of the material is on understanding Consciousness and the Present Moment. Everything is ultimately geared toward that. As such, the dignity and integrity of the individual is upheld, above all else. In a spiritual school, the individual is, fundamentally, more important than the organization.
In a religion, the reverse is true....>
http://www.geocities.com/annubis33/HistoryofSpirituality/TEXT1.html------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Actually, I believe there is an important distinction to be made between religion and spirituality. Religion I take to be concerned with faith in the claims to salvation of one faith tradition or another, an aspect of which is acceptance of some form of metaphysical or supernatural reality, including perhaps an idea of heaven or nirvana. Connected with this are religious teachings or dogma, ritual, prayer, and so on. Spirituality I take to be concerned with those qualities of the human spirit - such as love and compassion, patience, tolerance, forgiveness, contentment, a sense of responsibility, a sense of harmony - which bring happiness to both self and others. While ritual and prayer, along with the questions of nirvana and salvation, are directly connected to religious faith, these inner qualities need not be, however. There is thus no reason why the individual should not develop them, even to a high degree, without recourse to any religious or metaphysical belief system. That is why I sometimes say that religion is something we can perhaps do without. What we cannot do without are these basic spiritual qualities." - His Holiness, The Dalai Lama in Ethics for the New Millennium, p. 22
"But we love trees, we love the snow, the friends we have, the world we share
And you find magic from your God, and we find magic everywhere"- Folk Singer Dar Williams from her song, The Christians and the Pagans
"The heart has its reasons which reason knows nothing of."- Blaise Pascal
"I'm not an Atheist because I just can't be that certain."- Mike Rosen, Radio KOA 850 talk show host
Wednesday, December 19, 2007, 10:56 am