RELIGIONS, RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCES AND prescribed.

A concrete example of this is the belief

SPIRITUALITY during the Medieval period that if you contradict the
teachings of the Catholic Church, you are considered a
Overview
heretic. However, today, religion as an institution
This introductory module aims to shed light on the seems to be caught in a kind of stalemate. In this age
nature and aspects of religion. Religion is a vital part of religious extremism, environmental exploitation,
of human life. It is one tool used in answering most of racial discrimination, and family disintegration,
our existential questions - about life, about existence. religion most often gets the blame. Admittedly,
However, despite our everyday encounter with religion has been a real factor in shaping conflicts in
religion, it is still often misunderstood. Therefore, this world history – and it continues to be. Religion plays a
lesson will give us an idea of how religion, together central role in world conflict. Some claim religion to
with all the complicated terms surrounding it, can and have hampered a nation’s growth, that religion is a
must be understood. roadblock to progress. Religious doctrines, beliefs, and
practices cause grave misunderstanding among
MODULE 1: INTRODUCTION cultures and nations. But this is only brought by the
From the beginning of human civilization, religion has misconception that one religion should be above the
always been a vital component of the human other. Religion is so beautifully woven into society
condition. It gave us a system of orientation on what that it addresses questions that we, as humans,
we should live for or die for. Our constant pursuit of cannot find an immediate answer to. Religion is simply
religion is a search for an answer to our existential misunderstood today. To talk, therefore, about
and spiritual burdens. Thus, religion functions as an religion is deemed of utmost importance – religion
anchor at the core of humanity’s existence. Most of yesterday, religion today, and religion tomorrow. This
the time, it is religion that provides meaning and course should be able to make you realize that
sense to our daily existence. Humans, as journeying religion, when properly understood, can be the
beings – homo viator – always seeks to find something solution to the problems it has itself caused.
– or Someone – greater than themselves. Hence, we Aside from religions and their respective traditions,
give in to a specific religion that fulfills our search for this course should also be able to elucidate on
certainty that determines the course of our lives. God religious experience. The notion of “religious
made us, and we made religion in order to help us in experience” that will be discussed in this subject is
our quest for answers. less of the mystical side of religious experience and
Perhaps, when you were younger, you tend to ask more of the day-to-day religious experience, or the
your parents or yourself the questions “where did day-to-day experience of God in ordinary life. With
everything come from?”, or, “who created us?”. These this approach, we must go back to our raw
questions only go to show that even at a very young experience, to see everything as manifestations of
age, we acknowledge the fact that we are not something greater than ourselves. The religious
independent beings who can exist without a creator. experience should be a day to day experience. The
Logical thinking would always bring us to a concept of goal is to experience God on a daily basis. The way
a maker, which we often identify as God. This is the one experiences God, even in the most ordinary
very reason why human civilization has established things, can never be discounted.
countless religions over the course of thousands of Spirituality is treated almost in the same way. We will
years. As a matter of fact, a German philosopher talk about spirituality not in the strict, monastic sense
named Erich Fromm argued that religion is an but more on the simple way of life of the ordinary
expression of our basic human needs, and all cultures believer. The discussion dwells mostly on the ideals
will always have it. We can never get away from this which believers follow in order to live a good life, in
because it is an inevitable truth of our existence. accordance with the teachings of their religion.
Looking at the world’s history, it is difficult to not Spirituality here is treated as a path with different
notice how religions have affected our present lives, signposts, stopovers, and layovers, but still leads to
whether in a good or a bad way. There even came a the same, single destination.
point in the western narrative where religion became This subject does not aim to expose various religions
the end-all and be-all of everything; what was in order to be subjected to comparison – after all, no
considered as true was what the religious teachings religion is better than the other – but to see each
religious tradition as it is and find similarities with him, religion, just like opium, clouds the mind of the
other religious traditions. This way, we may be able to people in order to not recognize the oppressions
find that which is greater than ourselves, regardless of existing in society. These are only some of the
our religion. definitions of religion and there are thousands more
out there.
Religions, religious experience, and spirituality must
be understood with care. A single misstep can lead It is true that the discussions about religions have
the believer, the family, and the society in the wrong come a long way; however, no matter how hard these
direction. But with influence both on the personal and scholars try to explain religion to us, we will never
the societal level, religion, when properly understood, understand the concept if the definition does not fit
must transform the believer and, eventually, move our context. It’s like the scene of a baby boomer
society forward. In every religion is an element of trying to explain how life must be lived to someone
transcendence, and a vision of searching for the who belongs to the generation Z. It will only remain
deepest values of humanity that can only be found unknown and misunderstood. In this journey in
through an authentic connection with the destination, knowing religion, we must not fall into the trap of
the Supreme Being – God. subscribing to only one definition, or else we might
just end up imposing the prejudices and biases of the
ON RELIGION
person explaining the concept rather than really
There is much controversy and little clarity as to the knowing the concept for what it is. Hence – and this is
etymology of the word “religion”, and this topic has very important – I encourage all of you to suspend all
been debated since. One such perspective was your prior knowledge and judgment on religion in
presented by the philosopher Cicero who proposed order to really know the essence of this subject we
the Latin relegere, which roughly means “to read or are trying to explore. To know the meaning of religion,
go through again in speech or thought”. On the other it must first be lived, explored, and experienced. In
hand, the most commonly accepted etymology is the this way, we might be able to create a fuller
Latin religare, which means “to bind”. However, understanding of religion. Alluding to the ideas of
Cicero and other early etymologists all share in the William James, we must first acknowledge the fact
idea that religion is a system which binds a human that in our journey in knowing religion, it is very likely
person to a social, moral, and legal duty or contract that we might not find a single essence or
and compels that same person to follow or avoid explanation. However, that does not mean that the
particular courses of actions. journey is not worth taking, because every meaning
we find is equally important. It will take an open mind
The said definitions of religion only provide us with its to understand religion.
nominal meaning, but do not give us a full and real
understanding of the concept. In other words, they I hope that at the end of this course, although given
only explain the word “religion” but never made us only six weeks, we will be able to find our own unique
understand what the concept really means. Maybe, definition of religion using the basic knowledge that
that is the funny thing about religion – we keep trying we will learn.
to give it some definition, but it still, up to this day,
FUNDAMENTAL FEATURES OF RELIGION
remains as a mystery waiting to be discovered. As a
matter of fact, numerous scholars, philosophers, Some of the basic fundamental features of religion are
sociologists, theologians, etc., have attempted to the following:
explain what religion is. For example, the German
Cosmological Dimension
idealist Immanuel Kant said that “religion is the
recognition of all our duties as divine commands.” For Religion is an avenue to answer big questions about
Kant, religion is never separated from ethics as a way our existence. It provides explanations about our
of life. Also, Emile Durkheim, a French sociologist, faith, the universe, creation, nature, meaning, and
described religion from a sociological perspective. He form of the universe and the place of humanity in it.
defined religion as, “a set of ceremonial actions, Religion tries to put meaning into the world. Religion
assembling the group, heightening its emotion, and achieves this through myths, theories and visions of
focusing its member on symbols of their common the creation, nature, meaning and forms of the
belongingness.” Further, Karl Marx would say that universe, and our place in it.
religion is the “opium of the masses”. According to
Soteriological Dimension mainly involves the necessary knowledge and
appreciation of the supreme being or beings. All forms
Religion provides a scheme for salvation. Most
of religious devotional systems are considered
religions, if not all, have their soteriological or salvific
expressions of the divine.
dimension. It tries to give an answer to the question
“what happens after death?” and how do we make RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE
sure we have a good destination when we die, e.g.,
Religious experiences can be characterized generally
heaven and earth for Christians, samsara and moksha
as experiences that seem to the person having them
for Hindus, and nirvana for Buddhists.
to be of some objective reality and to have some
Anthropological Dimension religious import. That reality can be an individual, a
state of affairs, a fact, or even an absence, depending
While religion teaches us to live together properly, it
on the religious tradition the experience is a part of. A
also teaches us that there is more than this mundane
wide variety of kinds of experience fall under the
world. It encourages us to seek beyond the finite
general rubric of religious experience. The concept is
human experience and aspire for what is greater
vague, and the multiplicity of kinds of experiences
which our mind could not comprehend.
that fall under it makes it difficult to capture in any
Symbolic Dimension general account. Part of that vagueness comes from
the term ‘religion,’ which is difficult to define in any
Religions have symbols and rituals. Symbols are signs way that does not either rule out institutions that
used for sacred objects or ideas and are used to give clearly are religions, or include terms that can only be
meaning to human behavior. Religious rituals and understood in the light of a prior understanding of
practices are prescribed, repeated behaviors with what religions are. Nevertheless, we can make some
desired and intended outcomes for the enrichment of progress in elucidating the concept by distinguishing it
the religion and the person. Symbols and rituals help from distinct but related concepts.
in creating a sound tradition and transform through
religious tradition, e.g., cross for Christians, “om” for First, religious experience is to be distinguished from
Hindus, and male circumcision of Jews. religious feelings, in the same way that experience in
general is to be distinguished from feelings in general.
Moral Dimension A feeling of elation, for example, even if it occurs in a
Every religion provides a moral compass. All religions religious context, does not count in itself as a religious
have a sense that there is a right way to live and act – experience, even if the subject later comes to think
morality. To live a moral life is to live out the precepts that the feeling was caused by some objective reality
of the religion. The idea of good and evil has been an of religious significance. An analogy with sense
effective doctrine in providing us with moral guidance. experience is helpful here. If a subject feels a general
It must be noted, however, that the major religions feeling of happiness, not on account of anything in
vary in their definitions of what constitutes a good particular, and later comes to believe the feeling was
life, and the line between moral philosophy and caused by the presence of a particular person, that
religion is far from clear. fact does not transform the feeling of happiness into a
perception of the person. Just as a mental event, to be
Organizational Dimension a perception of an object, must in some sense seem to
All religions recognize an authority. Religious matters be an experience of that object, a religiously oriented
are often settled by religious authorities. Most mental event, to be a religious experience, must in
religions today are headed by priests or pastors who some way seem to be an experience of a religiously
undergo years of training and education to fulfill their significant reality. So, although religious feelings may
religious role as leaders. In other religions, the be involved in many, or even most, religious
emphasis is placed on an internal authority and experiences, they are not the same thing. Discussions
personal understanding of how to live in the world. of religious experience in terms of feelings, like
Schleiermacher’s (1998) “feeling of absolute
Theological Dimension dependence,” or Otto’s (1923) feeling of the
numinous, were important early contributions to
Religions introduce the existence and nature of a
theorizing about religious experience, but some have
supreme being. This is the defining feature of religion.
since then argued (see Gellman 2001 and Alston 1991,
A god is the primary object of all religious practice and
for example) that religious affective states are not all
devotion. The understanding of a particular religion
there is to religious experience. To account for the So now, what is spirituality? The word spirituality is
experiences qua experiences, we must go beyond impossible to define precisely, since it points to
subjective feelings. moments that can’t fully be captured in words. Some
people have said these moments are like an “oceanic
Religious experience is also to be distinguished from
feeling” because the experience feels as big as an
mystical experience. Although there is obviously a
ocean. Others call it a “peak experience” or a
close connection between the two, and mystical
“religious experience.”
experiences are religious experiences, not all religious
experiences qualify as mystical. The word ‘mysticism’ A quick answer to the question is that spirituality is
has been understood in many different ways. James concerned with the problems connected with the
(1902) took mysticism to necessarily involve spirit or soul. This definition presupposes that we are
ineffability, which would rule out many cases embodied spirits. What this means is that we are
commonly understood to be mystical. Alston (1991) composed of a body and a spirit. In addition,
adopted the term grudgingly as the best of a bad lot according to Sawan Ashram, “Spirituality…is the
and gave it a semi-technical meaning. But in its science of developing higher consciousness in Man on
common, non-technical sense, mysticism is a specific the level of the soul, and making one transcend from
religious system or practice, deliberately undertaken mere bodily consciousness into cosmic consciousness,
in order to come to some realization or insight, to so as to enable one to understand the working of the
come to unity with the divine, or to experience the divine plan.” Simply put, spirituality pertains to “self-
ultimate reality directly. At the very least, religious realization” and “God-realization”. Man has the innate
experiences form a broader category; many religious ability to transcend from the physical world to a
experiences, like those of Saint Paul, Arjuna, Moses, higher dimension of life which is the spiritual world. It
Muhammad, and many others come unsought, not as is a personal quest to seek something beyond the
the result of some deliberate practice undertaken to physical world. Thus, self-transcendence is very
produce an experience. essential in understanding one’s own spirituality.

SPIRITUALITY Definition’s worth considering

Spirituality, just like religion and religious experience, Brené Brown, author of Daring Greatly
is a concept we often hear but barely know what it
“Spirituality is recognizing and celebrating that we are
means. In order to understand what spirituality is let
all inextricably connected to each other by a power
us first discuss what spirituality is not.
greater than all of us, and that our connection to that
 Spirituality is not similar to spiritism, or the belief power and to one another is grounded in love and
that spirits exist apart from matter. It is also the compassion. Practicing spirituality brings a sense of
conviction that when the spirit splits from the perspective, meaning, and purpose to our lives.”
body, the spirit haunts the world as ghosts.
Stephen Covey, author of the 7 Habits of Highly
 Spirituality is not the same as Spiritualism, or the
Effective People
belief in the survival of the human personality and
in communication between the living and the “Spiritual intelligence represents our drive for
dead. An example of spiritualism is the use of a meaning and connection with the infinite. Spiritual
Ouija board. intelligence also helps us discern true principles that
 Spirituality is not mesmerism or animal are part of our conscience, and are symbolized by the
magnetism. Mesmerism is an activity that is compass. The compass is an excellent physical
performed which makes the subject dazed and be metaphor for principles, because it always points
subordinated to the operator. north.”
 Spirituality is not hypnotism.
 Spirituality is not similar to religiosity. Religiosity is Lisa Miller, author of The Spiritual Child
oftentimes confused with spirituality. Religiosity “Spirituality is an inner sense of relationship to a
concerns itself with religion, traditions, and higher power that is loving and guiding. The word we
beliefs; hence, it is man-made, external, and give to this higher power might be God, nature, spirit,
visible to the eye. Religiosity is the outward show the universe, the creator, or other words that
of religion. represent a divine presence. But the important point
is that spirituality encompasses our relationship and
dialogue with this higher presence.”

To put things into context, this example might help.

Imagine that you have every material thing that you
would want and need. You have a nice house and a
car. Your bank accounts are loaded with money. You
can afford to go to different places. You get to eat
whatever you want whenever you want it. However,
all of these nice things do not guarantee you a happy
and contented life. There is something that goes
beyond the material realm because we are embodied
spirits. This is perhaps a manifestation of our
spirituality. We always seek something beyond what
we can see, touch, hear, smell, and feel. We have an
inner dimension where we experience reality.

Spirituality can exist without religion. A person does

not have to believe in any religion in order to pursue
spiritual growth. However, we may say that both
religiosity and spirituality would grow more if they are
practiced together. The terms “religious but not
spiritual” and “spiritual but not religious” are
becoming a trend today. The problem with the former
is that there is a practice of religion but lacks an
internalization. An example of which is a person who
attends worships regularly but does not embody the
teachings of their religion. On the other hand, the
danger with the latter is that everything is possible if
spirituality is not guided by religion. However, if
spirituality and religiosity will be practiced together, it
would produce a better outcome. Spirituality can give
better meaning to religiosity while religiosity can
guide our spirituality.

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION

In this module, we have tried to elucidate different

concepts such as religion, religious experience and
spirituality. We have learned that there are many
ways to define each concept that is why it is necessary
for us to keep an open mind in order to understand
them properly. The study of religion is harder and
more technical than we think it is. However, as we
move along our discussions and start studying a
particular religion, these concepts will hopefully make
more sense to us.