Religion Vs Spirituality 

It was great to have a Hindu mother and Christian father. It really helped me to understand the different religious perspectives. I was much influenced by the Institutional church from my childhood. At one point of my life I was so influenced by the christian missionaries that I was about to become a catholic priests. But it was my mother who intelligently asked me to reflect on my decision and then take final call to join or not to join. I found the suggestion from my mother to be appropriate. So I started getting myself engaged with catholic church more consciously to know it through and through. It really helped me to know the institution better and finally take a decision not to be the priest. I will share the reasons for this decision in this blog of mine. Before I explain it let me explain what is institutional religion for me.

Religion for me is the "opium of the people". It is one of the most frequently paraphrased statements of German philosopher and economist Karl Marx. The full quote from Karl Marx translates as: "Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people". I was always confused with religion and spirituality. It was just few years back I understood the difference. According to me religion is the institutional arrangements to manage the congregation of people on the basis of biases, prejudices, fears and rewards. It is to organize the rituals to reinforce the majoritarian ideals to manipulate things to establish a hierarchical system. I always felt that the managers in this institutions firmly believe that there is "No God" and hence they become heartless and soulless. Its because of this believe, I suppose, that they can allow any kind of violence and bigotry ideas to be percolated down among the people. Religion, according to me makes people really narrow minded and look through specific coloured glasses. Religious people always try to establish their ideals as rights over the other ideas. Actually the institutions of religion survive because of the insecurity that prevails among the people.The greed among the people grease it's tools. The fundamentalist attitude among the people is the fruit that these religious institution helps to bear at the end of the day. Its obvious that people cannot stay in vacuum. Where as Spirituality is a broad concept with room for many perspectives. In general, it includes a sense of connection to something bigger than ourselves, and it typically involves a search for meaning in life. As such, it is a universal human experience—something that touches us all. People may describe a spiritual experience as sacred or transcendent or simply a deep sense of aliveness and inter connectedness. Some may find that their spiritual life is intricately linked to their association with a church, temple, mosque, or synagogue. Others may pray or find comfort in a personal relationship with God or a higher power. Still others seek meaning through their connections to nature or art.