As Baba Ram Dass, spiritual teacher and author of the book Be Here Now, observes:

'The spiritual journey is individual, highly personal. It cannot be organised or regulated. It isn't true that everybody should follow one path. Listen to your own truth.'

While many people in Britain and Europe are turning away from religion for various reasons, many more are searching for spiritual meaning in their lives.

Religion, with its various creeds and dogmas, has been seen by some as dividing the world and its peoples, especially in an age where we are becoming more conscious of living in a 'global village'.

Religion in decline?
This is not to say that religion or faith does not still play a vital role in the lives of many. In fact, in the 2001 census1, 37.3 million people in England and Wales stated that their religion was Christian and 3.1% of the population in England stated their religion as Muslim, while only 7.7 million people stated that they had no religion. (The question relating to religion was entirely voluntary, and over 4 million people chose not answer.)

While we wait to see if the 2011 census reveals a significant downturn in the number of people who define themselves as religious, spirituality in the wider sense is becoming increasingly important in our day-to-day lives. More and more people are using their own personal form of spirituality to provide the answers to the big questions that have intrigued human beings over millennia, such as 'why am I here?' and 'what's it all about?'.

So, what is the difference between spirituality and religion?
While both religion and spirituality involve having a sense or belief that there is, or may be, 'something bigger' than the universe, religion is more organised and often tells people what they should believe and how they should behave.

Spirituality does act as a guide for the way people live their lives, but where religion is often a tangible, external thing, spirituality comes from within. It causes people to seek answers without providing the answers. And many people who have a sense of spirituality do not belong to a religion.

Spiritual, religious - or a bit of both?
So where do you place yourself on the spiritual scale? Browse the rest of the Spirituality section to find some of your own answers.

In You gotta have soul, Jake Potter investigates why spirituality is important to our well-being and satisfaction with life.

Making sense of life takes a look at the many ways we find meaning in the world around us, from the rites and rituals of religion to the solidarity of a community. And Jenny Woods examines how spirituality is fast becoming a buzz word in the work place in Employ your spiritual side.

Have you got a story to tell? Or any comments or questions about this article? If so, contact us today!

1 Census 2001, Ethnicity and religion in England and Wales.

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