On January 11, 2016, I began a daily practice of writing a joke meditation of the day, called Cracked Pot Meditations. I was still recovering from the treatment of cancer, and I was having very challenging cognitive issues, so I chose just to put something simple and easy to write every day. Posting it to the blog allowed me to hold myself accountable. Some of those meditations were poorly written and unedited. I have gone back and begun editing these and adding an illustration, starting with the April 27th meditation. I hope you enjoy.
Meditation for August 29th
The Differences Between Spirituality and Religion
Some people claim to be spiritual rather than religious. No one but me will say that I am religious and not spiritual. Some say that religion is for people who are afraid to go to hell, and that spirituality is for people who have already been to hell. Still, I say that spirituality is for people who haven’t enjoyed hell, and religion is for people who think hell kicks ass.
What are the differences? Being a published blogger, I have some answers.
Religion has clear guidelines; spirituality is just willy-nilly
Religion has been around for a long time and has evolved slowly over the years, but it has largely remained the same. The last significant change to religion was when some desert nomads claimed that there was one true God, not many. The fact that religion is stable, transparent, and set in stone makes religion easy to follow.
Spirituality is usually a massive pile of shit that people with no business being in a position of authority take handfuls of this shit and state that this mix of eastern and western spiritual practices is cool. Have you noticed how flaky spiritual people are? Why believe in something so fluid by people who can’t be counted on?
Religion is based on fear; spirituality is based on nothing better to do
Most religious people are scared. They are scared of death and what happens to those they love after they die. Religion has a beginning, but it also has a violent end. Religion helps people prepare for such horrible situations that, when they actually happen, turn out to be alright.
Spirituality can arise from being bored and living in a comfortable home, with plenty of time on your hands, so why not learn how to meditate and practice yoga? Spiritual people often strive to maintain comfort and tend to avoid sacrifice. Spirituality is a selfish practice.
Religion tells you the truth; spirituality is just made up as you go
The great thing about religious dogma is that it’s true even if it isn’t. Religion is based on certain truths that the Gods, or God, wants you, their creation, to know. Faith will always win over facts.
Spirituality is something that develops as a person grows, often drawing from the best aspects of various religions from less developed parts of the world. It’s just whatever is easiest or more fun rather than true, so it’s just made up as the person goes. There aren’t any truths in spirituality.
Religion differs from other religions, while spirituality is distinct.
There isn’t one religion. There are three or four. Other adorable little cults consider themselves religions, but really, they are just slivers off the main trees of religion. These religions are not self-centered, and even some sects of the same religion are not fond of one another, but at least there is a clear, defining sect that one can be a part of.
Spirituality is everywhere. They say that there is right in all religions, but that is like saying all college football teams are good. THERE IS A SCIENTIFIC RANKING SYSTEM HERE! How can anyone believe in something that is so wishy-washy? There needs to be something to believe in violently, and spirituality isn’t that.
Religion makes you belong, spirituality makes you alone and weird
Religion is a place we can find community and practice everyday rituals. We marry at church, we become adults at church, we bless our children at church, and we celebrate our lives after we pass on at church. We find our friends and family in church.
When you burn incense, practice yoga, and read self-help books, you sit there with your cats, wishing you had a friend. You are weird, and no one wants to be around you. You wonder how people find dates, and ask how people found dates before dating apps. Church. The answer is church. Instead, you are on Tinder or Hinge listing all this weird shit you are into and how you don’t like pictures of people with fish. So you end up alone with your cats.
Religion offers rewards and punishments, whereas spirituality encompasses concepts such as karma and reincarnation.
Religion believes that God loves us like children, which makes sense since he, or she, made us. And like a father or a mother, God punishes us when we’re bad. He, or she, believes that we should only believe that he, or she, is our parent. He, or she, believes that we follow his, or her, list of morals, and that we help others to find this path. When we don’t, we do not get to be with them after we die, and we suffer in a lake of fire and fry.
Spirituality is all about karma. We aren’t nice; we stub our toe. We live a shitty life, and we come back as a worm. In fact, there are no rules when it comes to karma or reincarnation, just that it happens. At least with religion, you can have a good life even if you are an asshole, and you only have one life. YOLO, bitches!
Religion makes you follow others’ journeys; spirituality makes you make up your own journey.
Jesus, Muhammad, Buddha, Tim Allen. These are all religious figures that we look to as examples of a blessed life. We all go through material greed. We all go through a time of depression and regret. We are all tempted by more power and wealth, and then we often abandon our possessions to live in caves and teach others. This is following others. All the saints are the same way. That is why all religious people don’t have jobs, homes, families, or a lot of possessions; they are homeless, shouting their lessons from street corners.
Spiritual people are selfish job-having, home-living, family-making, possession-having charlatans shouting from gyms, coffee shops, and bars about the greatness of yoga, CrossFit, and deprivation tanks. Spiritual people make everything up as they go, but that makes them sad and directionless. They have fallen for the devil’s temptations.
Spirituality and religion don’t mix.
There is no such thing as spirituality in religion. Religion is the four walls and administration that dictates our morals and ethics, and spirituality is just mumbo jumbo crap found in bookstores, colleges, and coffee shops, you know, where communism was invented. There is no greater enemy of religion than communism. Religion is fixed and spirituality is not, so they can’t coexist, despite the bumper sticker.