I have chatted with people on a Spiritualist forum who claim to be spiritual rather than religious. Some, not all, don’t believe in god and don’t think of themselves as Christians. Some of them claim to be psychics and some mediums. I’m a little confused. I’m not psychic nor am I a medium. I don’t believe in God but I do believe that there is something God-like in all of us. And I do not think of myself as a Christian. And I feel more spiritual than religious. Hope I haven’t offended anyone. I speak only for myself and it is what I feel and believe.

Now my point is… Am I deluding myself? Is it possible to be spiritual (as in having a belief in things metaphysical) without being religious, and without being a Christian and without believing in God?

This thread sparked this post.

https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/spirit...ure-26127.html

I think a person could be spiritually aware that one is a part of a much bigger picture and be aware that there must be a purpose to life, not just to "live".
I think a spiritual person is also looking for answers to many question even if one does not have a specific belief.
Sometimes spiritual thinking does lead one to a religious belief that most agrees with a person's spiritual awareness.

About not belonging to a definite religion, I think one could be spiritual without belonging to any religion,
But personally for me as I believe in an afterlife, I think finding the right path to God is necessary in order to gain benefit for the afterlife.

firmbeliever,

Thank you. That made a lot of sense. It also makes me think even more about what I believe. Being older and being aware that I do not want to become set and ridged in my beliefs, I seem to question them a lot.

I think I'm sitting on the fence about an after-life. And yet I do experience, sense a presence, a sense of being taken care of. But I'm always looking for a logical explanation as a way of staying grounded. I realise I am prone to flights of fancy. But are they simply flights of fancy or are they more than that. Do you understand?

When a spiritually aware person has flights of fancy, I think it should not be taken lightly,unlike say a less aware person... I think:)

firmbeliever,

Thanks again.

I have had some stuff going on in my life and I have worked hard to understand it. I read many books on many subjects. I am now very comfortable to describe myself as personally and spiritually aware.

Can still get some funny looks from other people though if it ever comes up in conversation and I'm just being honest about it. ;)

Why not share some of your flights of fancy to see if they are as rare as you think they are;)

Lol! Lol! You just have to read some of my posts. Lol

I personally do not believe that you have to subscribe to particular religious school of thought in order to spiritual or feel close to God. Every person believes something different or religion or God is different to every person. You don't have to feel the same, worship the same or love God the same as anyone else. What I think is important is that feeling of connectedness to something outside of ourself and that there is something larger in this life then us.

We all struggle with what we believe or trying to find that niche or a belief system. There is nothing wrong with stumbling a bit before feeling 100% in what you believe.

GlindaofOz,

Thank you. That makes good sense. Always felt one way inside and was privately comfortable with it. It was just when it came to other people that it was hard to share what I really believed. Growing up in Glasgow in the fifties and sixties no one discussed religion let along spiritualism. Feel like I have come into my own over the last ten years or so. I have recently been on other forums where I discovered people like me who were comfortable to admit things like not thinking of themselves as Christian and not believing in God. This opened a very old and very rusty door for me. And I wanted to share these new thoughts on here where I trusted people I feel I had worked with for some time. Thanks again for taking the time to reply.

I believe that we all have a spirit in us, but not all of us have the same spirit ;)

Marily,

Thank you for that. Yes I do believe we all have a God-like spirit in us and that we can consciously use it to improve on our personal and spiritual growth.

I have wanted to chime in on this for a while now, but I can never work out quite what I want to say.

For me, spirituality is something that comes from within, religion is something that comes from a book. That's the difference.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Capuchin

I have wanted to chime in on this for a while now, but I can never work out quite what I want to say.

For me, spirituality is something that comes from within, religion is something that comes from a book. That's the difference.

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Capuchin,
I think I can understand your thinking,religion(here I mean Islam) for an outsider may seem like it is only about a book.

But for me personally spirituality and religion are not very far from each other.
My spirit believes in my religion and my religion gives substance to my spirit.:)

Oh yes, religion can replace spirituality, certainly. It's like a consensus effect, wanting a feeling of belonging, and having the same beliefs as large group of people gives you that.

I think that if what you believe is from a book, then you no longer believe what you feel, instead you've been taught what to believe and to me that isn't very spiritual.

I am quite spiritual, I have things that I believe in for comfort, but these things aren't part of the physical world, they're part of me, part of my spirit. I've never needed a book to tell me what I feel inside.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Capuchin

Oh yes, religion can replace spirituality, certainly. It's like a concensus effect, wanting a feeling of belonging, and having the same beliefs as large group of people gives you that.

I think that if what you believe is from a book, then you no longer believe what you feel, instead you've been taught what to believe and to me that isn't very spiritual.

I am quite spiritual, I have things that I believe in for comfort, but these things aren't part of the physical world, they're part of me, part of my spirit. I've never needed a book to tell me what I feel inside.

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Sorry to be making it seem like I run the thread,but I would like to answer Capuchin on this.

Nice to know you are spiritual too Capuchin.

About religion replacing spirituality or wanting to belong or being in a group is not the way I feel about my religion.I believe because I know it to be the truth even if I cannot convince others that it is the truth.
And I know for a fact that when I meet my death I answer to the Almighty alone and I know I am trying to follow His guidelines when I follow the Quran.

For example I am different from my very own family regarding Islam and spirituality because I wish to follow Islam more thoroughly than them.And this sort of alienates me a bit from them.In a sense sometimes it makes me different. They too follow the same guidelines but we have different views on certain parts of my religion.(I hope I am not confusing more than clarifying).
I grew up with Islam,but I wasn't into religion that much while growing up,it was just out of habit that I followed my religion.
After I started to realise my purpose as a human being(which was after an accident involving me and my baby) I started to look for the answers in my religion and suddenly everything made sense of who I am,what I am, and where I wish to be in the future and beyond. The accident made me think that I did not wish to die as I was now, I wanted to be following the truth.

I hope you understand what I am trying to say,not all who follow religion do so to belong or to just feel good.There is something beyond this world that makes sense.:)

If you had not grown up in that environment, would you have come to the same decisions? Seriously?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Capuchin

If you had not grown up in that environment, would you have come to the same decisions? seriously?

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That is hard to say...
But I think even if I grew up somewhere else but got to know Islam, then I am sure I will not look anywhere else.

I would like to mention that I had part of my education in India in a Christian school run by missionaries,where I got to be with students from Hinduism(of different sects),Buddhism,Jainism,Christianity denominations,Shia muslims,Sikhs.So I did get to see many religions in action from 7th grade till I finished my 12th.

firmbeliever,

It's my thread. You run it if you like. You have been very helpful. It's the least I can do. Besides I'm enjoying it very much. So you go right ahead. ;)

Thanks Rose... :)

Hello Bluerose,
I personally believe that true spirituality comes from seeking the knowledge of God, through a diligent study of his Word and applying that knowledge in one's life. If I had to choice between having a form of spirituality and being religious, I would choose to have spirituality. Why? Because true spirituality is the opposite of sensuality or worldliness. It is the sincere desire for God's approval, the desire to do God's will. There are many religions and many religious people, but they are missing spirituality which leads to true satisfaction in finding the true God.

To obtain true spirituality one must conquer the selfish desire for prestige and honor among men. Seeking glory for ourselves is worldliness; seeking glory that is from the only true God shows spirituality. Most religions or religious denominational leaders look for prestige and honor for themselves and do not give all honor and glory to God.

True spirituality, then, is a dynamic force, based on an accurate knowledge. Where do we find that accurate knowledge? By sincere and diligent research of God's Word, the Bible. We need to compare our inner heart felt feelings with the (spirit) person we as humans refer to as God. The God of the Bible, is a spirit, and if what we learn is true and spiritual, the accurate knowledge we learn will transform our life and gives an inspiring purpose to one's life. It transforms one's whole personality. I tend to believe that one can not obtain true spirituality and not believe in the spirit being we call “God” “Supreme one” “Almighty” “Creator”.

A person who claims to be spiritual or have spirituality, usually believe in God or a superior being but does not follow any religious teachings of any denomination. Remember most religions of this world are man made, true spirituality and the following of what God teaches us is for the spiritual minded person/s.

True spirituality is from the spirit person we call God. We can not obtain true spirituality and not believe in God. We can though obtain true spirituality and not follow this worlds religious teaching that are against God.. Those who wish spirituality use God's Word as a guide as to what they put into their minds: “Whatever things are true, whatever things are of serious concern, whatever things are righteous, whatever things are chaste, whatever things are lovable, whatever things are well spoken of, whatever virtue there is and whatever praiseworthy thing there is, continue considering these things.”—Phil. 4:8.

We were born with a spiritual need but not with faith. In fact, “faith is not a possession of all people.” 2 Thessalonians 3:2 Faith brings satisfaction and makes us a spiritual person/s.Where can we find satisfying spiritual guidance? Many in the past and even today look to established religion for help in fulfilling their spiritual needs. Also many have turned their backs on organized religion. A survey of 90 high-level managers and executives found that “people differentiate strongly between religion and spirituality,” states Training & Development. The survey respondents viewed religion as “intolerant and divisive,” whereas spirituality was seen as “universal and broadly inclusive.” There are those of the younger generation who believe in God, or some kind of superior or supernatural force, but do not see the church as important or helpful in expressing their spirituality.” Why? Because many of the religious denominations of the world, (and there are many) lead the people in lies and deceptions. They gather people for themselves. They want money and the church follower to follow them and give them honor, not God.

Many religious denominations are mixed up in political intrigue and moral hypocrisy and are drenched in innocent blood from countless religious wars. Because of running away from this hypocritical and deceptive religious teachings, they have also rejected the true source of spirituality, God's word, the Bible! They do this because they feel the Bible condones and approve of such practices. This is because many churches that claim to read the Bible and follow it, do not! When the Bible teaches something some churches do not agree with, they do their own thing.

The Bible condemns hypocrisy and lawlessness. Jesus said to the religious leaders of his day: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you resemble whitewashed graves, which outwardly indeed appear beautiful but inside are full of dead men's bones and of every sort of uncleanness. In that way you also, outwardly indeed, appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.” Matthew 23:27, 28. When something is whitewashed, it covers the dirt underneath with whitewash which is like paint. White wash was used before paint came to be.

The Bible encourages the spiritual person to remain neutral in all political affairs. Instead of urging believer to kill their neighbor in wars, it directs that they should be willing to die for one another.

The spiritual person believe that they are created in God's image. While this does not mean that humans resemble God in a physical way, it does mean that humans have the ability to reflect God's personality traits, including the capacity for spiritual things, or spirituality. Having said that it is logical to believe that God would also provide us with the means to satisfy our spiritual needs, as well as proper direction by which we can distinguish between what is beneficial and what is harmful to us spiritually.

In conclusion, to answer your interesting question: “Now my point is… Am I deluding myself? Is it possible to be spiritual (as in having a belief in things metaphysical) without being religious, and without being a Christian and without believing in God?”
My reply is Yes, you can have a form of spirituality in the sense of searching for God and honest answers to the questions you may have concerning, life, death, universe, morality and other questions.

One does not need to believe in the religions of this world. “Most are false and deceptive and not originating with God, nor are they spiritual.No one can not be a complete spiritual person, mature and not believe in God. One can also not be a mature spiritual person without being a follower of Jesus Christ and following his example closely. A spiritual person who has reached spiritual maturity will obey all God's requirements as Jesus did. It will become more valued then food. Why? Just as physical food sustains our physical life, spiritual food sustain our spirituality and gives us life.
I hope this has helped you some.

You stated: “Hope I haven't offended anyone. I speak only for myself and it is what I feel and believe. “

Always speak what you feel in your heart and remember that there will always be those who disagree with what you say. Don't every let them make you feel that what you have to say is wrong or not important. It is and who knows, maybe what they are saying is wrong. I personally thought that this was a great question.

Take care,
Hope12