Religion and spirituality

What is religion? Religion is the way of life. It is a means of perfecting the life on earth as well as creating a perfection in the hereafter. Religion aims at purifying the soul, taking away the defects that occur in it and creating a being worth liking. Religion is not just a worship of God but it is something more. It is a spiritual awakening. A mere performance of rituals doesn’t make a man religious if his spirit is not awakened. The very foundation of religion lies in spirituality. Spirituality means looking beyond the physical body. It goes deep down in the very foundation of existence. It is the acceptance of God as the Supreme Power, the Creator and the Suatainer. It is the acknowledgement of the fact that the souls are bound to perform certain duties. The most important duty is to bow down before its Creator. But that alone is not spirituality. An equally important aspect of spirituality is love and humility. The prostration should come out of humility and love. The person prostrating should acknowledge that his position is a very humble one and is one amongst the many other souls. There cannot be pride in a true prostration. The prostration should come out of the love for his Lord. It should be a declaration of love. And love is the acme of all emotions that a human heart is capable of feeling. Love is the complete negation of the feeling of self. It is a complete surrender to the beloved. And who can be a better beloved than the One who is all knowing and all powerful. Love for the Lord alone can empower a man to follow religion and lead his life in a pious manner. And love for the Lord also means that he should love each and every creation of his Lord. For if he cannot love that is manifest, how can he love that which is beyond his imagination? How can he love his Lord, if he cannot love that which the Lord has created? Without love he cannot obey any command. Fear is not a sufficient incentive for the soul to surrender. Love alone can control it. Without love there cannot be spirituality and without spirituality there cannot be religion. Without spirituality there can only be misguided youth and chaos. To bring about peace, it is necessary that every instance of hate or pride be removed.