Are you a religious or spiritual?

The places of worship are full to the brim. 

There is no dearth of religious preachers. 

More and more people are becoming 𝙧𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙞𝙤𝙪𝙨, proudly donning the distinct symbols of their religions. 

Being 𝙧𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙞𝙤𝙪𝙨 is good but 𝙗𝙚𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙨𝙥𝙞𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙪𝙖𝙡 is more desirable. 

Is there any difference between being 𝙧𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙞𝙤𝙪𝙨 and being 𝙨𝙥𝙞𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙪𝙖𝙡? 

Every religion has three ingredients : 

(𝙖) 𝙍𝙞𝙩𝙪𝙖𝙡𝙨. 

(𝙗) 𝙎𝙮𝙢𝙗𝙤𝙡𝙨. 

(𝙘) 𝙎𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙖𝙧𝙙𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙗𝙚𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙞𝙤𝙪𝙧. 

𝙍𝙞𝙩𝙪𝙖𝙡𝙨 are different for different religions. For example, a Hindu has to perform यज्ञ - a ritual done in front of sacred fire (अग्नि) with mantras. 

The followers of different religions revere different 𝙎𝙮𝙢𝙗𝙤𝙡𝙨. "Swastika" in Hinduism, "Lotus flower" in Buddhism, "Crescent" in Islam hold utmost significance. 

It's interesting to find that although the above two ingredients differ from religion to religion, the third one namely 𝙎𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙖𝙧𝙙𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙗𝙚𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙞𝙤𝙪𝙧 remain same for all the religions! 

𝙎𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙖𝙧𝙙𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙗𝙚𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙞𝙤𝙪𝙧 are the ethics that must be adhered to. 

In fact this ingredient comprises the 𝙘𝙤𝙧𝙚 or 𝙨𝙥𝙞𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙪𝙖𝙡 𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙩 of any religion. 

Surprisingly, most of the adherents discard the essence and hold tightly only the less significant ingredients! 

I have found that all religions, without any exception, teach three 𝙎𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙖𝙧𝙙𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙗𝙚𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙞𝙤𝙪𝙧 : 

(𝙖) 𝘾𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙖𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙤𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙙𝙨 𝙖𝙡𝙡. 

(𝙗) 𝙀𝙡𝙞𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙤𝙛 𝙨𝙪𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙛𝙡𝙪𝙤𝙪𝙨 𝙙𝙚𝙨𝙞𝙧𝙚𝙨. 

(𝙘) 𝘼𝙘𝙘𝙚𝙥𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙤𝙛 𝘼𝙡𝙢𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙮 𝙬𝙝𝙤𝙡𝙚𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙚𝙙𝙡𝙮. 

A person who gives importance to 𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙪𝙖𝙡𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙨𝙮𝙢𝙗𝙤𝙡𝙨 is religious, those who give more weight to the 𝙎𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙖𝙧𝙙𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙗𝙚𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙞𝙤𝙪𝙧 are spiritual. 

In the initial stages, being religious is fine. 

But with time one has to make advancement and become spiritual. 

If one is only religious and not spiritual, then there is much possibility of one becoming a hardliner. 

Definitely such a hardliner would do disservice to the society. 

~ Sanjay Gargish ~