Spirituality differs from religiosity

Spirituality differs from religiosity

By Rahayu Ratnaningsih

JAKARTA (JP): Religious demonstrations that lead to violence
seem to have gained momentum in Indonesia. From the one that
demanded the closure of night entertainment premises, perceived
to be the center of vice and prostitution, to the one demanding
the dismissal of certain high-ranking officials, perceived to be
lacking in moral values, to the one calling for a holy war and
the annihilation of followers of other religions.

And these people claim to be religious.

Perhaps so, because to be religious does not take as much as
it does to be spiritual. To be religious, perhaps, one needs to
grow beards, or shave heads, dress a certain way, speak in a
certain manner, perform certain rituals a specified number of
times and unconditionally cling to certain doctrines and dogmas.

In the words of Ken Wilber, the leading theorist of
transpersonal psychology and a philosopher himself: "To be
spiritual has to do with actual experience, not mere beliefs;
with God as the Ground of Being, not a cosmic Daddy figure; with
awakening to one's true Self; not praying for one's little self;
with the disciplining of awareness, not preachy and churchy
moralisms about drinking and smoking and sexing; with Spirit
found in everyone's Heart, not anything done in this or that
church". Within this frame of reference, Mahatma Gandhi is
spiritual; Khomeini is religious.

The Dalai Lama, Abdurrahman Wahid (Gus Dur), Nurcholis Madjid,
Romo Mangun, Albert Einstein, Martin Luther King, Emerson, Victor
Frankl are spiritual. K.H. Zainuddin MZ, Amien Rais, Billy
Graham, Pat Robertson and many other Bible-thumping evangelists
on television are religious.

The religious and the spiritual can be found in every
religious tradition or lack thereof, and their true identity is
readily revealed with every word they utter and every sign of
false pride or insecurity they project.

The religious lack depth, but the spiritual are indeed deep,
like a never-drying well. The religious are often irrational, the
spiritual are transrational. The religious do not believe in the
omnipotence of their God, although they appear and claim to
staunchly do so, hence the need to rush into the streets to
defend Him.

The spiritual do not see anything or anyone to be defended as
this and that is a false distinction. As the Upanishads put it,
"Wherever there is other, there is fear".

Out of this fear grows resentment. As Wilber put it, "If we
are going to insist on identifying with just the little self in
here, than others are going to bruise it, insult it, injure it.
The ego, then, is kept in existence by a collection of emotional
insults, it carries its personal bruises as the fabric of its
very existence. It actively collects hurts and insults, even
while resenting them, because without its bruises, it would be,
literally, nothing."

One does not have to have a religion to be spiritual but one
definitely needs to cling to a superficial and literal
interpretation of a religion to be religious. The religious do
not believe in equality of all mankind; the spiritual feel a
strong connection with and marvels at the whole universe.

The religious see others who do not share their beliefs as
potential enemies; the spiritual do not see relevance in
categories and labels. The religious insist that those who do not
believe in their version of God are destined to be burned in hell
for ever after, no discussion. The spiritual find virtue in every
religion, tradition, culture and people.

The religious shove religious dogma down your throat. The
spiritual meditate, hold dialogs and discuss. The religious often
revel in "divine" and "sacred" destruction.

The spiritual nurture, construct and allow growth. The
religious insist on superficial sameness and conformity, but the
spiritual celebrate differences and freedom of expression and the
intellectual quest while deep down they are all one and the same.
Religiousness is often fascist, while spiritualness is
intellectual humanist.

The religious are easily incited even by a simple innocent
gesture because, as previously mentioned, their very existence
depends on injury and insults. The spiritual are contemplative in
all of life's ups and downs. People who are religious feel the
need to show their piety, while those who are spiritual are
content with what they know about themselves.

The religious worship a petty, discriminatory, whimsical and
vindictive god, while the spiritual find God in the core of their
beings. The religious have produced countless wars and bloodshed
throughout history. The spiritual do not believe in the illusory
glory of war. The religious manipulate religion for their own
gain. The spiritual are too decent to preach what they do not
believe or practice themselves.

Religiousness is mythical while spiritualness is mystical.
Mysticism is evolutionary and progressive, not evolutionary and
regressive.

The Dalai Lama said, "My religion is loving kindness." Gus
Dur is not guilt ridden to find solace in a Hindu temple. Romo
Mangun, a Catholic priest and Gus Dur's "most beloved brother,"
dedicated the better part of his life for the well-being of poor
Muslims. Amien Rais cried that "our patience has worn thin, we
should defend our brothers". Zainuddin MZ called for Muslims not
to vote for nonbelievers simply because they are not people of
equal worth. Pat Robertson pities the "pathetic, stray" Hindus
for not (exclusively) taking the sacred blood of Jesus. We can
easily sift the chaff from the wheat.

What we desperately need is not a religion, but a spiritual
movement based on a perennial philosophy -- a perennial universal
meaning that transcends all the tremendously varying esoteric or
mythical aspects of religions. Religion divides while
spirituality unites. Religion is dogma while spirituality is
experience. Is it a call for a synthesis of many different
religions?

The answer is not a simple yes or no and it depends on each
individual's perspective: different people have different levels
of readiness. Different people find different security in
different dogmas or sets of beliefs. Only one thing is eternally
true; that truth can only be found in the deepest core of our own
beings. Truth is not found in the streets, in the boisterous
speeches of priests or monks or ulemas, from holy books, or is it
from people of authority. The only advice is if you meet the
Buddha on the road, kill him.

The writer is director of the Satori Foundation, a center for
the study and development of human excellence through training in
mind programming and meditation techniques.