DANUCO, JUSTINE CHLOE N.

UTS 9:30-10:30 MWF

SPIRITUALITY AND RELIGIOSITY

1. Definition, and differences and similarites of Spirituality and Religiosity

According to Christina Puchalski, MD, Director of the George Washington Institute for Spirituality and Health,
“spirituality is the aspect of humanity that refers to the way individuals seek and express meaning and purpose and the
way they experience their connectedness to the moment, to self, to others, to nature, and to the significant or sacred.”
Also, it a person’s subjective experience of a sacred dimension and the deepest values and meanings by which people
live, often in context separate from organized religious institutions, such as a belief in a supernatural (beyond the
known and observable) realm, personal growth, a quest for an ultimate or sacred meaning, religious experience, or an
encounter with one’s own “inner dimension”.

On the other hand, religiosity is, according to Iddagoda and his colleague (2017), the extent to which a person
believes in and venerates the founder, gods, goddesses of the relevant religion, practices the relevant teaching and
participates in the relevant activities.

DIFFERENCES AND SIMILARITIES OF

SPIRITUALITY AND RELIGIOSITY

Spirituality Religiosity

- Concerned with how a - Concerned with how one

person should follow his or should act in accordance with
- belief in the set of rules, practices, rites
her heart, and encourages
a higher in his religion
to listen to one’s intuition
power of
some kind

- There is no standard and - the desire - There is a standard of what

there are no corresponding to form a is right or wrong and promise
rewards or punishments. connection of rewards and punishments
The only reward is the in consequence of one’s
person’s inner happiness actions
2. Basing from the above discussion on spirituality and religiosity, I am more spiritual than religious. The first concrete
manifestation of this is that, I do not act solely in accordance with the rules or practices of my religion but on what I
believe is right or wrong, my beliefs and on my intuition. I do not do good, for example giving food to the hungry,
because I want to go to heaven or for the promised rewards but instead, because I want to help and I think that it is
good. Second manifestation is, I do not immediately believe the truths set out by my religion because I want to discover
the truths myself. This is another difference between spirituality and religiosity. I once questioned something about my
religion in an essay we were tasked to write and I got reprimanded indirectly by my teacher. The third manifestation my
actions are not driven by fear that I might suffer punishments, but by love. This is another difference between
spirituality and religiosity. When I am contemplating on an act I am about to do, I do not think that “Ahh I won’t do this
because I don’t want to go to hell or be punished by God”, I think that I will not do the act because it will hurt others.

3. On the conception of the self, my spirituality is the basis of my values, beliefs, attitude, and perception of the things
around me. My spirituality determines how I act and the factors I consider as I make my decisions. One specific personal
experience is when I shouted and argued back at my brother because I was pissed on what he said that I was lazy,
“walang kwenta” and other curses when he was the one pushing all the responsibilities to me; when all he did was eat
and sleep. He got angry and hurt me, like punching me in the arm, and I felt very, very angry to the point that I wanted
to punch him multiple times in the face and scream and yell at him. Of course, I did not do that. I cried and kept the
anger inside me. Every time that happened, I forgive him a short while after because I know that he’s just sad and he’s a
person too who is imperfect and who could easily be subjected to his surroundings and emotions. Because even if he’s
actions were unreasonable, we are still connected as he is my brother. I understood that we are all the same and we are
connected with each other. I just prayed that he will change and find something that will make him happy and now, we
rarely fight. Being spiritual made me forgiving and understanding of others. It made me realize who I am as a person,
fragile, a crier, etc.

References:

Iddagoda, A., & Opatha, H. H. D. N. P. (2017). Religiosity: Towards a Conceptualization and an Operationalization. Sri
Lankan Journal of Human Resource Management, 7(1), 1-11. Retrieved from
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/324080591_Religiosity_Towards_A_Conceptualization_and_An_Operat
ionalization.

Krentzman, A. R. (n.d.). What is Spirituality?. Taking Charge of Your Health and Wellbeing. Retrieved from
https://www.takingcharge.csh.umn.edu/what-spirituality.
https://blog.mindvalley.com/religion-and-spirituality/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spirituality