Spiritual but not religious!

Hello Readers,

I think winter has already started showering frozen flakes in most parts. Here while am penning this down, I see no trace of cold breeze in south east part of India. I hated my last London winter so much, but now I miss it terribly not because I wanted to feel the warmth but because my winter collection will be lying in the closet waiting for their turn. Am I bugging too much about my wardrobe love? Can't help it folks.

I was really busy although my lines are waiting to be phrased n blogged. My blog posts often are comments/elaborate thoughts that ponder in my mind while observing some people/deeds. So is this one.

 Spiritual but not Religious!!! A lot of us would have heard about this phrase many a times and many of us would have stated it too. But as I was reading Swami Vivekananda's speeches, the man who was regarded as one of great spiritual gurus made no distinction between spirituality and religion. In his words it is religion which teaches us spirituality. This might seem very confusing to those have believed and have been believing that Spirituality and Religion are both distinct. This is because, most of us are surely not aware about the essence of these terms. We simply think that being religious narrows our thoughts and will never embrace broader horizons. And we believe that "I am spiritual" statement is a way prove that we are very open minded. This has certainly come from our celebrities who often state that they are not religious but spiritual. Of course I myself never really gave a thought about the terms. Although I am neither too spiritual nor too religious.

After reading Swamiji's speeches, I have clearly understood that religion is the entry pass for spiritual world. However, when we use the term religion, we tend to narrow our thoughts to one particular religion mostly our own religion. If one knows how to travel through the path of religion to reach the spiritual realms, there would never be a question of confusion about leading a religious life. Our ancient Gurus have taught in similar fashion. 

But today, spirituality has become a separate entity. Most gurus/preachers today preach spirituality as different practice that has not much to do with religion. I have seen some of my friends stating that they are spiritual, just because they follow a famous spiritual guru. And those who say spiritual but not religious...surprisingly from what I have observed most of these are very much biased and religion obsessed.

Moreover, when you just think about turning spiritual, what motivates you (other than a Spiritual Guru)???.  

As I mentioned that the greatest guru himself clearly said that the two terms are intertwined...now for those who would want to state the above phrase, you better give it a double check!

Cheers

Vennela