What is the difference between religion and spirituality?

Here's my crack at it from the peanut gallery:

A religion is an organized human belief system. It includes
organizational structures such as leaders and sub-leaders. There are
systems of rules and practice that guide the behavior of its
adherents.

Spirituality is a general belief that there are non-natural /
non-physical aspects of reality that must be considered and acted upon
if humans are to live happy fulfilled lives.

Augusta

That is VERY good!

My bet is that Nobody will ever top that.

You are hereby made a Prefect.

Congratulations.

Hi again, Bryan and Augusta. As you both know, I back my answers with
scriptures, so here goes..
Religion is the general following of a set of traditions by a group of
people. Some even regard the sport of Aussie rules football or soccer
as their religion. They follow all aspects of it on a daily and weekly
and yearly basis..in fact, they follow it "religiously". To do so
takes a certain amount of organisation by the individual, to attend
the3 games, and usually it requires that you be a member of an
official organization to gain the benefit of social contact. The
members of the mainline religions tend to follow the set traditions of
that religion, in a similar way. For example, Jews today still
practice the requirements set out in the Old Testament. Some claim
membership through family connections even if they never enter a
church or synagogue. The scripture at Matthew 7;21 points to those who
think they are doing the right thing by God, but are not. "Not
everyone saying to me, ' Lord, Lord,' will enter into the kingdom of
the heavens, but the one doing the will of my Father, who is in the
heavens, WILL".
SPIRITUALITY is the knowledge of the non physical world as expressed
by Augusta and it is only through the Bible that we are aware of it.
But if we consider ourselves to be spiritually aware, is it possible
to do it "solo". Many consider this is sufficient, but is it?.
Jesus asked all of us to learn about this [?] kingdom,[Matthew 6;9-14]
and spread the word to everyone else. Jesus told the few Apostles, and
they told many others, which resulted in seven congregations of
peoples around the Mediterranean. The writer of the book of
Revelations, [ John] mentions them all. Jesus said to the Apostles in
Matthew 10; 11.."Into whatever city or village you enter, search out
who is deserving and stay there until you leave". And [14], Wherever
anyone does not take you in or LISTEN TO YOUR WORDS, on going out of
that house or that city shake the dust off your feet". The idea was
for many people to know about God and Jesus. When the Apostles
eventually died, it was the responsibility of those who had accepted
WHAT they had been taught[told] to continue to tell others, basically
like ripples in a pond, until everyone in the world knew. To be
spiritual is to obey God`s directions, and worship Him alone. Jesus is
to be respected and obeyed because of being God`s son, but not
worshipped. Mary, Jesus` mother, is simply that, Jesus` very respected
mother who was blessed by God. No where does the Bible say she is the
mother of God. We are all aware of the religion that claims this.
Traditions of religion have got in the way of Bible truths,
And a final cruncher is this. If a person believes they are very
spiritual and are doing what God, through Jesus, wants them to do,
they are only doing it correctly if the rest of the world HATES
them..Matthew 10;22.."And you will be objects of hatred ON ACCOUNT OF
MY NAME. aND "God" is not a name, its a title.

For western religions one cannot really explore differences because
they are disparate terms, like, say, submarines and email. The only
link being that they are ostensibly mutually exclusive. Religion makes
reference to spirituality in the rhetoric so they become associated in
some minds, but those inclined to spirituality rarely piggyback
religion.

For Eastern, ethnic (not my term), animistic and ancient, spirituality
*is* what the West would define as religion.

I too like Augusta?s (the motorbike or the place?) "peanut gallery"
but would be inclined to substitute ?intangible? for ?non-natural
/non-physical?.

To illuminate the disparity between the two, which camp would claim this?
?Stand naked and alone on an ice field which stretches to infinity.
Then, you exult in the essence of being.?

Best

An advantage of religion is that, because it is more organized, it can
propagate well over time and space. Also, because it features
organized institutions such as a leadership structure, schools and
even courts, it can interact well with and influence other
institutions in society such as government, law, the military, etc...

So the social effects of religion have been stronger and more
long-lasting than unorganized forms of belief (spirituality). Consider
how the religions of Judaism, Buddhism, Christianity and Islam have
influenced and dictated the course of history and the development of
civilization. They have had effects on every aspect of human life and
have lasted millenia.

An awkward example. The mafia and other organized crime groups are
successful and difficult for authorities to deal with because they
pool together human resources and use these resources in a dynamic
concerted fashion. A lone criminal can accomplish much less and is
more likely to be caught.

I don't see why spirituality has to be about non-physicality. It
smacks of separation between spirit and body, which is not a universal
precept among spiritual types. Physical things can be 'spirited' or
'have spirit'. Dance, conversation (including tone and animated
gestures!), and posture can have spirit,  including things like mood,
attitude, and joie de vivre. Broadly, it is an expression and an
attitude, where we cannot separate one from the other. I see
spirituality as the individual and/or collective expression, as in the
phrase 'spirit of the proceedings'. Spirituality and religion overlap
in that religion provides a structure for expression of spirituality,
while spirituality does not require a consistent structure for its
expression. It ca find expression in any number of ways, even
spontaneously.

Physical things can express 'spirit'. Dance, conversation and posture
express spirit. One can be separated from the other.

Paint in a tube is just paint in a tube - physical. But once a person
with an intention spreads it onto a surface it takes on meaning - it
conveys spirit.

A cadaver on a gurney is just dormant flesh - physical. A month
before, it was dancing and alive, expressing spirit.

Religion is the path to god.the path is not important,only the destination is.

Spirituality to its full fledged extent is a God realized condition.An
involuntary discipline of practising religion.

Religion is a set of rules and laws which are to be followed by the
beleivers of that religion.

Spirituality -  Anyone can be part of a religion, but spiritualy means
how much you beleive in your religion.  How close your heart is to the
beleif in that religion and how faithfully you practice that religion.

in regard to godrealized's comment that 'buddhist's practice
Buddhism'- I don't want to be a pedant but...  'buddhism' is a term
that was created by westerners in the 19th century to describe the the
'religious' or 'spiritual' practices in particular eastern societies.

Buddha taught 'anguish and the ending of anguish'.  A METHODOLOGY
rather than a belief system

On metaphysics he was pretty quiet.

'buddhism' was linked to the coining of the term (by T H Huxley,
1869), 'agnostic' strangely enough - I think it inspired the term.

'agnosticism' was originally meant (if I remember correctly)to mean -
the belief in purposely making a thourough and complete examination of
things and pratice it. 'Do not pretend that conclusions are certian
which are not demonstrated or demonsrtable'.

Source:  As well as experience and a bit of reading over time:
'buddhism without belilefs' - Stephen Batchelor (being pedantic, my
memory of it)