I have always found the words ‘religion’ and ‘God’ quite annoying and I didn’t really know why until I started questioning their meaning and re-interpretation – or misinterpretation to be more exact. I never knew how the word religion was originally used and what it really meant: because it had never been truly explained to me, I never knew the true meaning of religion.
Having grown up sailing around the world, and having met many different people from different cultures and organised religions, I didn’t understand how they all had a religion with a ‘god’ and their god was better than someone else’s God. And their religions were all so different. It never felt right… like seriously, we are all essentially the same, we are all one humanity but how can we have so many people with a different idea about religion and who is to say which one is right? The various Gods and organised religions and all the stories made me feel a little uneasy and untrusting, as in which one is the right one? I didn’t feel that any really sat well with me so I decided I didn’t want a religion at all.
What I chose for myself instead was to connect to nature and to myself and to trust in what I felt. In nature, away from the busy-ness and distractions, I was most able to connect to me and be still.
So I was religion-less, or so I thought for quite some time, until I came across Serge Benhayon who presented on true religion and how the word religion has been bastardised, and then it all suddenly made sense to me. It was not religion that I had a problem with, it was its misinterpretation that I reacted to. It was the separation that I noticed around the world, that was created by “my religion is better than yours” and “you will go to hell if you sin etc.”
As I began to understand the real meaning of the word, I had to ask myself why I avoided the word or why it made me feel uncomfortable and why so many people react to it. Since then I have learnt that the religious way of being is the relationship I have with myself and nature reflects a divine design which inspires me to reconnect more deeply with myself.
My religion is about reconnecting to me first and foremost. We are all one and the same and we are all connected. The more I develop the relationship with myself, the more I will be able to understand life and those around me. So instead of needing a shrine, temple or church, all I ever need is a deep connection to me.
My religion is now The Way of The Livingness, and it is essentially about the relationship that I have with myself first and foremost and how that then has an effect on everyone else. It is forever expanding as do I, and there is no right or wrong but a constant returning back to who I really am, each and every day.
By Rosie Bason, Goonellabah, NSW
Related Reading:
What is true religion?
No Time For Religion
What hurts – Religion Itself, or the Bastardisation of Religion?
Words on Serge Benhayon 
“all I ever need is a deep connection to me” Deepening our connection to our inner-heart we re-connect to God.
I dislike intensely what we have all contributed and fed, the lie behind the word religion which to me is a returning back to something we once knew intimately our relationship with God which is our relationship with the universe.
There is a part of us that has willfully used the word religion to go to war, abuse, control, dictate, rob, maim, kill, slaughter, rape, suppress the list is endless as is the cruelty we have all engaged in. We have falsified the sacredness of God the universe which is a beholding love and replicated an ugly monster of our own making. Eventually we will discover that we have accepted so much less than the purity we all are, we have created a monstrous life and the only way to bring it under control is to stop feeding it with our emotional outburst, our abusive cruelty towards ourselves and others.
For me religion is the name for my relationship with God. That’s it. The first and foremost relationship in life. Could it be that people defend their religion so much because they don’t want to admit it’s not the whole, true, form of religion but as mentioned, a twisted, misinterpreted version.
It feels to me that we are never not in religion, and being ‘religious’ only means having that awareness of being in religion – just like the name The Way of The Livingness suggests, it is a way that is The Way.
“It was not religion that I had a problem with, it was its misinterpretation that I reacted to.” Thank you Rosie I only can agree. I very much appreciate that you wrote this wonderful and very needed blog about religion and what all comes with it. People can now choose what they want to believe or not!
I total agree with you esteraltmiks and Rosie, the word religion has been deliberately misinterpreted so that people are put off from ever wanting to reconnect to God, which is the truth of who we are. The energy used to resist our knowing of God is exhausting which is why there is so much illness and disease in the world. If we were to stop resisting, we would know God instantly because we are Gods ourselves.
True religion brings us to a sacred place where we are openly exploring life and the philosophy and science that a true religion brings, then as it all comes together our sacredness becomes our responsibility for everything.
Same Rosie, the word religion used to mean many things to me, now through Universal Medicine and the way of The Livingness I feel I have come home and understand what it is truly about.
Rosie this is the most simplest and most gorgeous way to describe religion and in this it keeps it totally accessible to us all. “My religion is about reconnecting to me first and foremost. We are all one and the same and we are all connected. The more I develop the relationship with myself, the more I will be able to understand life and those around me. So instead of needing a shrine, temple or church, all I ever need is a deep connection to me.”
If we have a problem with the word religion, it is not that we have a problem with the word religion but rather that we have a problem with the institutionalised version of this word. Hence why we can find religion oppressive or controlling or dominating or something we do not want to be a part of – but this is the false version of the word religion. And if there is a false version then there must be a true version to explore.
“. . . there is no right or wrong but a constant returning back to who I really am, each and every day.” If that way of living would be the base of each religion then the world would have only one religion as we are all one.
Rosie like you I have discovered that the word religion has been totally misrepresented to the point where I feel it doesn’t bare any resemblance to the true meaning of the word.
I am rediscovering its true meaning which I feel like you is a reconnection to me first this naturally enables me to connect to other people effortlessly because I can feel that we are all the same.
Once we start to truly connect within everything else unfolds ✨
To me religion is the connection within, the connection I have with divinity and how I live in accordance with this .. this is always work in progress for me.
At school we did RE….Religious Education and none of it really made sense to me because it was explained in a way that made all the stories sound like fairy tales and I couldn’t connect to any of them, so I dismissed RE and the word Religion as being almost mythical but not relatable to the modern day world. But like you Rosie I did connect to nature and the stars and when I had a problem in life this is what I turned to. Through The Way of The Livingness I now have a much deeper understanding of the true meaning of Religion and that we are returning to what we already know but have long forgotten.
‘It was not religion that I had a problem with, it was its misinterpretation that I reacted to. ‘ I wonder how many people in the world feel the same; deeply religious people who have been turned off or take the nearest fit to what they know to be true.
I ran away from religion for most my life as I could feel the fakeness in it. Now however I embrace it as I have found true religion, the religion that is in my inner heart.
Rosie I agree with you there are so many different religions with their version of God which one is true? The word God has been misinterpreted throughout history so that I don’t feel I have a relationship with the word anymore and to me that’s the trick to get humanity to be confused or turned off by the word so that we turn away from the only thing that can save us which is our connection back to our soul, divinity, the universe.
It’s such a trick to get us to turn our backs on the only thing that can save us, our connection back to soul, divinity and the universe.
Spot on Karin, for our true power lies in our deep connection, so if you trick people to seek outside of themselves then they will not access their true power.
Karin we have been sold so many lies we are held in a web of them, I agree with you the only thing that can save us is our connection back to our soul and the universe. This understanding will break the bonds of lies that entangle us.
Thank you for bringing back the simplicity to the word religion – it is about re-connection, with ourselves first and foremost.
When life is organized around something that is not true, and we reject it, what we reject is also not true. Neither is true.
I used to react to the words religion and God too Rosie. Now that I understand their true meaning it makes sense why I reacted to the false version because deep down I do know what religion means and who God is.
Our relationship with ourselves determines our relationships with everything else in the universe.
Call it religion or not either way is is a connection to the all.
Religion, love, intimacy… so many beautiful words that need their true meaning restored.
These words are Truly Sacred Chris, along with so many other words that have been shifted away from there energetic meaning, and bringing back the energetic science of words is upon us in this era.
We are all in religion, all of the time, whether we ‘believe’ in God or have a relationship with God or not – the fact is that we cannot escape ourselves, and that is what religion is really about: building a deep relationship with ourselves, restoring our connecting back to our soul and learning to live from there, instead of the load of ideals, beliefs, expectations that we accept and/or put upon ourselves.
Religion is actually really simple. When we return to who we are and build a relationship with ourselves we also start to build relationship with God. No wonder the word has been so corrupted and bastardised because in truth we do not need churches, priests bishops, cardinals or a Pope all we have to do is connect to our inner heart and we can feel God everywhere. We have been sold a humongous lie just so the Church has control over its people, by making them believe they have to go through the church to get to God.
Rosie I can really relate with what you have shared here as I have hated religion in how it has been presented as well .. the bastardised versions. What came to me while reading your blog is when you said ‘What I chose for myself instead was to connect to nature and to myself and to trust in what I felt.’ (which again is similar to me as I felt at one and a stillness with me when I was in nature) was that could this have been true religion for you if it was you connecting to you while being in nature? As from my understanding true religion is the deeper connection we have with ourselves and the universe. It is the innate knowing that we all have but maybe do not just listen to. And Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine expand on this allowing no gaps but instead for all to be known as there is no secret in true religion its is pretty simple (how we live) and beautifull.
So many people panic when they hear the word “religion” because of the abuse that has been done in the name of religion. We have to come to understand what true religion is because when it is lived no abuse is possible.
I can understand why people react to the word religion because I once did too. Now I understand that true religion cannot have any violence or abuse. It just makes it so clear to me what religions we have in the world that are true and what are not.
Yes, it exposes what is true religion and what is not.
The word ‘religion’ has been so misrepresented and made so complicated, so divisive with all its re-interpretations and bastardisation of the word. When in fact it means the complete opposite simply, by first connecting to oneself which then allows a true connection to others.
It seems too that that since time began there has been a movement that has not wanted humanity to know the truth about religion and its meaning. The truth has been twisted so much that it is taught that God is Judgmental, vengeful, angry and woe betide you if you get on the wrong side of him. This is the complete opposite of the truth of who he is, which is pure love; he doesn’t reside in any special building but is all around us as he is the very air we breathe.
Rosie what you have shared is so beautifully expressed and very clear and shows me just how far away we have strayed from the true meaning of religion when we can go to war with each other all in the name of religion. If we were truly religious to live within our hearts there is no way we could harm ourselves or another person, so there would be no wars.
I simply didn’t feel I had a relationship with what is called religion and I wasn’t interested in love beyond one-on-one relationships. I realised I missed out on a lot.
The word Religion has been misinterpreted in many ways, yet true religion is about returning, “So instead of needing a shrine, temple or church, all I ever need is a deep connection to me.”
Understanding the true meaning of the word ‘religion’ as presented by Serge Benhayon brings a stillness within me as I know I know this is true and The Way of The Livingness is religion that is open to all.
I listened to The way of The livingness sermon 63 and I came to a realisation very quickly that I have re-interpreted and misinterpreted the word of God to mean something outside of myself and that I can never obtain his love because I am so unworthy of it. And I can feel the ugliness of this in my body.
We have been so lied to when it comes to the meaning of God and this is deliberate as it keeps us away from the one thing we actually crave the most which is the intimacy with ourselves and God as one. We have yet to fully come to the understanding that we are being played with by an as yet unseen force that is doing everything in its power to delay our return and I hate the deceit and the tactics used by this force that uses other people’s emptiness of knowing and connecting to God to once again misinterpret what is so badly needed in this world which is our connection back to God.
I love how you have expressed that nature is an inspiration to be held by in your religious way in life with yourself,how it inspires you with its divine co-ordination to go deeper in to your religious aspects of living.
It is deeply settling and inspiring all in one when you feel and realise the unchangeable truth, that our relationship with God is innate through our connection to our Soul, and as such we only choose to live with this divine connection or resist, ignore or deny it. When we do live in connection to our Soul we naturally live a religious life bringing the imprints of love through our everyday living.
When we are considering anything or any word from a misinterpretation, our understanding of it is going to be immediately skewed, which in turn may incite an emotional reaction of some kind.
And the emotional reaction makes us able to ignore what we would have felt when hearing the word as it was expressed in truth.
This is because deep down we do know the true meaning of many words and our reaction to them is often related to the hurt of being lied to by the many words our society throughout history have skewed.
“It never felt right… like seriously, we are all essentially the same, we are all one humanity but how can we have so many people with a different idea about religion and who is to say which one is right?” I know and I am realising more and more how we have to be aware of any moment we feel something is not quite right as it is often than we feel it is not true. It is then about learning that it is not about then rejecting it but pondering on what is the truth we deep inside ourselves.
“It was not religion that I had a problem with, it was its misinterpretation that I reacted to. It was the separation that I noticed around the world, that was created by “my religion is better than yours” and “you will go to hell if you sin etc.” I would say the same Rosie. Looking into many religions as I did when younger left me feeling cold. Coming to the Way of the Livingness and understanding the true meaning of the word religion has transformed my distrust of religion into something I understand and love.
What a great gift we have been given… To actually embrace and refresh the word religion
“It was not religion that I had a problem with, it was its misinterpretation that I reacted to.” – I think it’s beautiful to be able to realise this, to see the potential in the word religion and not just associate it with things that are done in it’s name but that we can clearly see are not loving.
So many people have been scared by how they were treated by conventional religions. The Royal Commissions around the world into sexual abuse amongst the clergy is telling us how extensive the harm caused has been. It is a travesty that people now connect this abuse with the word religion when it has nothing to do with the true meaning of what religion is.
Connecting to that inner place of stillness often feels easier in nature, where there are potentially less distractions, but this stillness is always available to us, anywhere and at any time. Our job is to remember that, and to make choices that help us to tap into it and to feel it – not letting the outer world, our thoughts, activities etc, override and dominate what is so natural to us. Our natural innate stillness is a resource of endless depth and potential that never runs away or runs out.
“It is forever expanding as do I, and there is no right or wrong but a constant returning back to who I really am, each and every day.” right and wrong dominate most religions with their sets of beliefs, when true religion is simply a returning back to who we truly are by connecting and ever deepening the love we hold within.
It is so lovely to re-imprint words simply for ourselves, in our everyday conversation things like God and religion,… Even love 🙂
So very true Chris and what we learn about ourselves and others in this process is priceless.
We have been robbed of our true and natural knowing of religion by the many false re-interpretations that we are exposed to from very young. So many people, including me, give up on religion and God because of the false things we react to. Through Universal Medicine I have also rediscovered the religion that I knew like the rhythm of my breath as a child.
“It was not religion that I had a problem with, it was its misinterpretation that I reacted to.” I feel this is true for many people and the religion The Way of The Livingness offers the truth that is felt within that a reconnection to the Divine essence is to know who you are and a reconnection to God that is equally within each and every one of us.
Many people I know react to the word religion and I can relate to this myself. Since coming to The Way of The Livingness I started to return to the true meaning of religion. Now, I do not have an issue with religion because I have a better understanding of what it truly means and how I can live religiously.
That is super important Rosie how there is no right and wrong but only a returning to who we are and that’s to basically deepen our relationship with our body to connect to the truth in our innermost.
I went to nature as my place, because it did not seat with me that there was a God for each idea, the universe is one and it makes sense that there is one God within and of that universe, competition should not and is not part of true religion. Reacquainting myself with the true meaning of religion I can see how that is universal, there for all, a reconnection and knowing of true religion is not decided by any more than a way of living and being. A Godly way is felt, talking about is not it, it is lived way.
It really is worth talking about religion and God Just to keep ferreting out within us, any old prejudices and conditioning that the misuse of these words has instilled within us.
My Religion now is called “The Way of the Livingness” it is the way to live what is true in connecting and returning to our innate divine essence that lives within, not a set of beliefs or ideals but the living of who we truly are.
There is indeed no right or wrong way, it is about deepening the relationship with yourself and feeling the grandness of God in that relationship just as it is reflected in all that is around us in nature.
‘My religion is about reconnecting to me first and foremost. We are all one and the same and we are all connected.’ I love the simplicity of this and it’s so true. When I connect with me first I can feel we are all connected.
“It was not religion that I had a problem with, it was its misinterpretation that I reacted to.” This is the same for a lot of people, including myself. So many atrocious things have been done in the name of religion so it is no wonder that we have a problem with the word. What is important through is that we see through the bastardisation and let ourselves connect with what is truly religious.
I always felt very uncomfortable around ‘religious’ people… I thought I would say the wrong thing or do the wrong thing and be judged for it, so from a very early age I saw religion as right and wrong. I see now how religion and God has been bastardised into condemning and judgement hence many wars in the name of religion.
I heard Serge Benhayon talk about the word and I realised that I had had a major issue with it and the way that he talked about it being a re connection and rebinding in life, well that I could get and when I pondered it I already knew the truth of it, it is within us all this knowing it as much part of life as the air we breath.
To re-connect and re-bind in life – the true meaning of the word Religion that makes sense as a vibration felt in my body, not empty words that make me pull back.
Absolutely – I agree, I feel the same why when I relate to this true meaning of religion.
Religion has everything to do with connecting to our divine essence and nothing to do with an organised set of beliefs and ideals.
“Since then I have learnt that the religious way of being is the relationship I have with myself and nature reflects a divine design which inspires me to reconnect more deeply with myself.”
Well you can’t get a more simple understanding of religion than that. Hallelujah I say! Oh…and that is my religion as well.
I can fully relate to reacting to the misinterpretation of religion. It feels like a wedge that separates us from others. The relationship with self and observing the harmony of nature is what I now bring to everyone I meet.
It is very understandable that you found ideas of God and religion annoying Rosie, because you already knew the truth about it and were registering the false reinterpreted energy of the related versions of it being circulated. So beautiful that the Way of The Livingness has come to us – the future has arrived!
It makes sense to me that God is within us all and something we can all connect too. It never made sense that some would have ‘greater’ access or ‘be saved’ if they believed certain things. True love is about brotherhood and that includes every person.
‘…how can we have so many people with a different idea about religion and who is to say which one is right? I like to keep things simple and when I ponder all the different religions in our world it seems to me they are all about Love. So how we manage to create wars, fights and divisions over such a unifying truth is mystifying – unless we all have different versions of love too. My sense is, that once we know the true essence of love in our hearts there will only be one religion – as it seems every world teacher has proposed.
‘The Way of The Livingness’ is my religion too – and at last I have a religion that truly makes sense.
Same here Richard, not only does it makes sense, when we truly live The Way of The Livingness we have the power to really change the world.
Rosie, what a wealth of experience you have to draw upon with regard to ideals and beliefs about religion from your travels around the world. This totally exposes how diverse the meaning of the word religion has become, straying away from that which is true.
“Having grown up sailing around the world, and having met many different people from different cultures and organised religions, I didn’t understand how they all had a religion with a ‘god’ and their god was better than someone else’s God”.
Rosie, thank you for a clear and inspiring blog on understanding the true meaning of the world religion and the simplicity of being in re-connection with ourselves.
“The more I develop the relationship with myself, the more I will be able to understand life and those around me. So instead of needing a shrine, temple or church, all I ever need is a deep connection to me”.
I live in a very culturally diverse city where there are many different religions and religious beliefs. What I see sometimes is when religion is brought up between people who are of different faiths there is this unsaid but felt non the less of just tolerating the other. Doesn’t this expose how religion has been bastardised? Because there is no tolerating in brotherhood.
I am really loving and appreciating the name ‘The Way of The Livingness’ – how each word represents what it says it is, the aliveness of it, none of it means nothing, and how that represents a true religion.
Yes, there is no misunderstanding here, live the love you are and want to see in the world.
What a crime it is that the word Religion has been taken from its original meaning and turned into a label for organised groups with common beliefs. It is time the word religion was returned.
To put relationships in a box is such an reduction of their potential. Our relationship with God is no different. It is borderless and therefore a continuous deepening.
Very true Lucy, I have certainly done this with my relationship with God and this is why I often doubted He even existed. Now, I have no doubt that God is very much part of our life, we may choose to shut Him out but He is always with us every step of the way.
Yep, ever patient, ever loving, ever all around us.
This description of religion fits absolutely with everything that I feel true religion to be.
It is the greatest human tragedy that we have been made to fear, despise, reject, ignore or bastardise our innate godliness. This is how the ‘son of God’ became the ‘son of man’ and why we are now on a path of evolution that will lead us back to the divinity that lives within us and not further away from it.
Anything that annoys me or that I react to I will first stop and change the momentum–live the truth of what I know. Then I will go deeper to understand why the world chooses the way they do and I feel closer to them again.
Just about any child can ask question of any ” un-religion ” and know it cannot be true , but what makes it look true is that so many adults ” believe ” in it.
So we feed what is not true by accepting and not questioning it. We have a lot to learn from children.
“My religion is now The Way of The Livingness, and it is essentially about the relationship that I have with myself first and foremost and how that then has an effect on everyone else..” We so need to have a relationship with ourselves first. If not how can we truly express and communicate with others?
The only way back home to God and thus our innate godliness is through the deep love and warmth of our inner heart. We could sail the seas for a hundred years in search of the true religion or the ‘real’ God, but if we do not look deep inside us we will drown in a sea of irony and illusion that is designed to take us way off course and spend lifetimes in an outward quest for a truth that we always and without exception, carry in our heart.
It is so interesting that this title links in with a thought that entered my head this morning on my way to work. So often people will ask me what is your faith and I am quick to say my religion as I know that this is the connection with God and me and no other denominator is needed.
I love this blog and I love reading how so many people now are claiming that religion does not belong to an institution but instead resides within us all.
Yes if it is dividing and separating then there is no love.
There is a new era, and eventually humanity will catch up… it is inevitable because we are all… one heart.
There is no vast structure of what love is or who we are.. It is a multidimensional beingness that is constantly expanding.. Hence there is no grip possible, only to truly allow all the love that there is — to be in our way of living in the most will-full commitment we can allow.
I wish this was explained to me when I was young and feeling all this confusion and hypocrisy around the religions I was witnessing being practised. I love how much we know even when we think we don’t. We are born absolutely clear on what life is all about, society just hasn’t quite got to supporting that concept yet.
Yes, we do know so much as children, but often we are not supported to honour and feel that inner knowing… and instead we go searching and get lost as we grow older.
The gorgeous thing about not needing a shrine or a temple or a church is that you are always with you everywhere that you go, so there is no need to go anywhere to feel religious because you are with you and that is all that is required to know that God is here, and that he loves us all equally.
Religion is our natural right, it allows us to know ourselves as being interconnected with the all and in sync with the flow of the Universe.
We come into a world that is ongoing. We have to establish a relationship with many things and, obviously, we have no option but to observe what people do in the name of whatever word and decide whether we go along or we react to it. In either case, if what transpires and people learn to identify with a word does not honour the true of that word, we will have a walking distortion of truth that only gets reproduced over time.
Religion is simply that which supports us to return to the great love that we are. If we put conditions on love, then it ceases to be love and becomes instead that which delays our return to it.
Bringing life back to everything being a reflection of my relationship with my inner divine essence and reconnecting to it and not the misinterpretation of who I am makes life one big school. I learn from situations and forever growing rather than believing I know it all and never change or expand my understanding of other people or that theres is more going on beyond the five senses.
I too had always felt quite religion-less, even though I was exposed to Church of England as a younger child and then Catholicism, neither felt true or something that I wanted to be a part of. Later in life I could feel for myself that any form of organised religion just didn’t feel true, yet when I learned of what the true origins of religion were all about, that it was about relationships, to myself to others, now that made sense. It was simple and felt clear, unencumbered by other peoples views and rules.
Having just spent the day with lots of people with many differing religions it is great to see and feel that in truth it is all about connection, when we truly connect with another we know deep down we are all equally divine.
The my religion is better than yours concept is alive and well today – the irony being that many religions are supposed to be based on equality of all but in reality, could it be that you are only considered equal when you are in alignment with that particular religions beliefs?
It is so wonderful how ‘The Way of the Livingness’ is restoring the clarity and truth of our words
And with this I have so much more understanding of the misunderstandings!
This makes it so clear that being religious is about having a relationship with something through which we get to know ourselves, or at least attempt to.
It simply is crazy. We are an intelligent species (or are we). There are so many different interpretations of the word God in the world today, hotly debated, defended and abused. It seems remarkable and utterly insane that we have not found the common element, that divinity and love within and spent millenia developing that rather than fighting about it.
True, so much energy spent on fighting and resisting rather than coming together to support and understand each other and know that it is all one and the same and we are all brothers and sisters.
The God I have discovered though connecting to my inner-heart is something of a completely different dimension to the one I heard about in Sunday School. The latter turned me off no end and I finally refused to go to Sunday School which my parents were fine about. I began to re-sense God again in my teens, just from a sense of life’s possibility. Then after my first baby died I turned even more to God for wisdom. But it wasn’t until I met Serge Benhayon that the truth of God began to be re-revealed to me.
I can relate to what you’ve shared in a way Rosie… the word Religion and God used to make me a bit uncomfortable, like they were not really referring to something real, but on the other hand, I couldn’t dismiss them. I knew organised religion was not true so had no issue with expressing that, but couldn’t ever dismiss the notion of God or of there being something fundamental to life that we were all missing.
Connecting to myself and feeling the stillness within I know means everything to me and although I do not live this consistently I am learning to respond to doing something about it when I am not connected to myself. This knowing of feeling still within my body is gently becoming my priority in my livingness.
It is easy to see that there really is no such a thing as being religion-less when we consider the true meaning of religion being about our connection with God, ourselves and each other. What we do with our natural religious nature is up to us but it does not make us religion-less. We can be religious about not being religious!
Yes and this just shows you how mixed up and misunderstood the word religion has been. I was pretty religious about not being religious that is for sure.
When filling out forms which asks me to tick what religion I am I feel proud to tick ‘other’ then to write The Way of The Livingness. This is my religion.
Me too…. it actually feels great to claim my religion and not be ashamed or feel weird about having a religion in the first place finally.
I have not filled in a form lately which has asked me what religion am I but if a form was to be filled in today there would be no holding back to state The Way of my Livingness is my religion. It feels amazing to have re-discovered what the truth of religion means to me which I have always known and to feel it claimed in my body after a period of my life attending chapel and then living in reaction to God and the word religion.
Great what you share that religion for you is your connection in returning back to your self, your “The Way of the Livingness,” no right or wrong way.This is also true for me, my journey is also to connect and return back to who I am.
It does indeed feel bonkers that we have all these 7 billion people that make up humanity, with the same essence, the same physiology, living in the same natural world of night and day, of gravity and the stars…. and to have created such a jumbled concept of our divinity that has been twisted a millions different ways. If you take a step back it is almost unbelievable until you bring in that player the Spirit and its alignment to a different source of energy and you start to realise how it works, where the nudge happens, how we get off course.
Having awareness and being open to understand more and not be afraid to go there is the key. Turning the blind eye, burying your head in the sand like I have tried to do in the past just doesn’t work.
There are many distractions, tricks, and ways we can avoid our relationship with God, but in every moment, we can surrender and be held in an ever-expanding love.
True, we can fight it, resist it, try and wriggle out of it but when we let go, and stop the struggle we are so held and supported.
That’s absolutely true Rosie. And more than we can ever even imagine. It is a love that pours through unseen, but deeply touches the heart of many.
Beautiful to read Rosie. I love the simplicity of what Religion truly is, developing and expanding the connection to ourselves;
“My religion is about reconnecting to me first and foremost. We are all one and the same and we are all connected. The more I develop the relationship with myself, the more I will be able to understand life and those around me.”
Good point Shirley, and what it shows is how disconnected to ourselves the world really is, because if it were the case that everyone were taught to connect to themselves first and foremost, then we all be connected and have way much more love and understanding for each other.
“So instead of needing a shrine, temple or church, all I ever need is a deep connection to me.” this sums up everyting as it is through our connection to our bodies that we know ourselves as all knowing sons of God.
Connecting to that depth inside – its free, always available, instant, and never tarnishes. Knowing it is there is huge, and then allowing it to be that simple… equally huge.
Absolutely it is our connection to our bodies that brings the deeper awareness that we are all knowing sons of God, it is not what all societies make it out to be to find God you have to go to a Shrine, Temple or Church.
As what you say Rosi, we can end up thinking we are not religious because all the bastardisation and misinterpretation of the word religion we experience in life but with accepting this lie we actually are lost as without that connection with the source of who we are we become the puppets of something else, another source that is not divine but the opposite and completely against our nature and that what holds the universe
I so relate to what you say Rosie- “The various Gods and organised religions and all the stories made me feel a little uneasy and untrusting, as in which one is the right one? I didn’t feel that any really sat well with me so I decided I didn’t want a religion at all.” It was the same for me. None of it made sense, our family went to church on Christmas eve, I was made to go to church until I was 14 and was able to say no to this, and after that I never bothered about it anymore at all. Through the presentations by Serge Benhayon and the teachings of Universal Medicine I have been able to feel a totally different understanding of religion ( yes feel it) and the reconnection to my self within was the first step to embracing God, the Universe, the ALL more and more each day. Now I feel this connection to my self and God all of the time and it feels lovely when I notice the confirmations of this dropped along my daily livingness.
‘I didn’t understand how they all had a religion with a ‘god’ and their god was better than someone else’s God.’ Interesting how even with religion and God, there seems to be competition as to which one is the best, when in truth there is only one God, he is just seen from many ideals and beliefs all of which take away from who he truly is.
Like Rosie shares, I was always quite confused by the separation of the many different religions. But I knew, without a skeric of doubt that what Jesus offered was absolute, but Catholics didn’t live with the same quality I could feel Jesus offered. This is what had me lost, alone and given up in life. Because I knew there was a quality that it was possible to live, but even those who “followed” Jesus through religion did not live it, so how could it be possible to do so. I am learning it is possible and it comes from within, as Rosie shared with our relationship with our selves, this to me makes my relationship with myself Sacred, as it is through this connection that I am beginning to live my life with the quality Jesus left for us all to choose.
Only when we do not have a connection anymore with who we truly are, come from and are here for on this planet earth, the bastardized religion can take a hold on you. You actually then can say that we have lost our religion as that is the word that describes the activity of the connection with who we in truth are.
Well explained Nico, our connection to our true self is so important as without this we are lost and wandering looking for something to connect to outside …
Indeed Karina, without this religious connection we are lost and puppets for all the forces that are at play, letting us think that we are Okay and can come away with it. But at the end we have to pay a bill, mostly through illness or disease in the body. We can only recover from this abuse by reinstating that religion into our lives again and through this connection we will naturally take care for our bodies and follow its clear guidance of how to live a loving life as a livingness.
Now here is a word that, if re-claimed, would be extraordinarily healing for the whole of humanity . Imagine… just by living in a way that reflected the truth of a word, and then talking about that word with the energy that comes from living the truth of that word having the power to disentangle a whole race from eons of disinformation …. Now that IS inspiring!
And isn’t that exactly what we are here to do to the best of our ability?
Religion as a re-connection rather than a seeking of divinity in a shrine, temple, ritual or church makes sense to me too.
When rereading this I became aware of when I completely turned my back on God, and said I could do it myself, then within a day I had smashed my body up so bad I then renounced the renunciation and asked for forgiveness. At this time I also started to look for love and asked and asked everyone I could talk to about what they felt love was, and no one could give me an answer. Being fooled by many imposters when I finally found Serge Benhayon who presented the undeniable truth about religion and love, it was difficult to get through the many layers of lies. Then the unraveling of all the reinterpretations started, and this is still been unloaded today, as our beliefs are not all they are cut out to be. The half truths and lies configured my body in such a way that the truth is sometimes not accepted or is covered by the reinterpretation and beliefs, so I would think I was onto the truth, but it was the truth that exposed the lies, bringing the feeling I had got it when these were only the first baby steps toward honesty.
In being honest love was also too big a step, so gentleness was the first place that was felt in my body, even though at times I did get a taste of what true love is all about.
I can relate to this Greg, love was too much for me at times, I had to take it slow and build myself up and let go of a lot of hurts before I could allow more love into my body. Also, I didn’t think I was worthy of it so had to break down that belief!
I absolutely love what you share here because we have been fed so many lies and at times, we hear a half truth (and it sounds really good, all the right words, and it fits our pictures of what we want to see and accept) but with this, we get led along thinking this is it, when in fact, it is a distraction and quite far from the truth. It is just another ideal and belief that takes us on another path further away from ourselves, sometimes without us realising at all.
So true Rosie, distraction is the name of the game and it comes at us from every direction, we could actually say that it is of our own creation and it comes at us from every direction.
We chose distraction. We think it comes at us, but really we are creating it and choosing it as a way of avoiding responsibility and our grandness, for while we are distracted, we don’t have to live up to our potential and live and express the love we are.
We distract our-self because we don’t want to feel the rejection that we went through because we could not live in our grandness. Because if we stay in our fullness the ‘Love we are’ becomes our natural expression.
I find it really inspiring that you stopped and began to question your avoidance and discomfort for it was through that that you discovered the beauty and power of connection with yourself and the religiosity within that.
I question a lot, and dare to go there too, even when it is uncomfortable and especially when I realise that I am avoiding something at that often leads to something quite special. About 5 years ago I met a very delicate, feminine woman and at first she irritated me and then I realised that it was because she was reflecting another way to be as a woman. So, rather than stay in the irritation, I decided to get to know her and learn from her and today we have the best relationship and I have learnt so much from her. It was a choice, because I could have so easily dismissed her and not gotten to know her and picked her apart and found every reason not to be her friend.
It is all about the relationship with our divine essence. But I know so very well the reaction to the word religion and that which it is made up to be. Religion we all know from birth and even before, but it is of our own choosing to go with the disconnection we see outside us as a child or stay with it, when we chose the first, we luckily always have the choice to reconnect and let ourselves out in full.
It is such a blessing when we recover the true meaning of words, and feel the effects of the true vibration of these words in our lives
Super powerful and then I question why are words so twisted so that we are not so powerful!
The “re-interpretation – or misinterpretation to be more exact” of religious words is there only to cause more separation and the truth is, the closer the teaching is to the truth the more it gets nudged away from the truth. So many words have different meanings from their original roots and the oldest writings date back to religious texts. The misinterpretation of words started from those 3000 BC texts because none of the teachings were ever written down by the teacher they were all verbal. If you are not living in the same energy as the teacher then your interpretation will never be true. So is it any wonder that words have been bastardised and why have they been bastardised?
And when one looks at The Way of The Livingness it brings a truth to all the major religions as they were delivered by a soul-connected student of the Ageless Wisdom!
Rosie, for me too nature was my religion as this was where I felt closest to God, until I found Serge Benhayon and and his presentations on religion. Now The Way of The Livingness is my religion… the simplicity and all inclusiveness it encompasses.
I too realized that I did not have a problem with religion once I realized that the word religion had been bastardized and that the religion I was brought up in was not true religion. Since I started attending The Way of the Livingness which is a very inclusive and practical true religion I have totally committed to a religious way of life and love it.
Spot on Mary-Louise, as what you have shared about religion has turned my life around and I am now also fully committed to The Way of The Livingness as my religious way of living. With The Way of The Livingness it is always to the best of our ability, and not about perfection, but simply living and expressing the truth.
Yes, even if you mess up, get it wrong.. there is no going to hell or out with you! That is what I love. No perfection as you say Greg.
That is what love is, and it is also what I Love Rosie, we go oops and move on from the realisation we have had.
True religion is connecting to the truth of who we are, which is all encompassing love….only to be found deeply within. A religious life therefore is bringing this love into the world and expressing it in all that we do.
Growing up churches to me always felt a little cold and heartless, and religion felt removed and dictorial I now know what true religion is and can see it is what all of us have been missing for so long – the real and true connection back to ourselves and to our divinity.
Yes I can actually say that I have a healthy relationship with religion….now. I never used to, I used to just be so disinterested in all the organised religions. I didn’t think they had any merit, they were complicated and awful. They didn’t empower or feeling loving. But true religion, developing an unfolding relationship with my soul is another story…..that is worth connecting to.
I still am disinterested by organised religions…. I see through them more today than ever before and really appreciate that I never got into them or brought up in them.
There is a deep deep beauty in the word religion. It is a word that in truth brings great healing. If we understood the origins of this words meaning, what it is and what it represents in truth our relationship with it would be vastly different. But it is now a word that divides, sees others as lesser or ourselves as better than, it conquers and kills in the name of, plus a whole lot more. We blame religion for a lot of the evil we see in the world because of what religion has become. So our understanding of what religion is had become as far away from the truth of it’s origins as we could possibly get it. So why the gulf? Why are we not even asking if what we think is religion is true? Is it asking us to return to God, which is love?
Is it because we are afraid of questioning because if we do the whole house will fall down? I suspect we need to believe there is more to life than us and therefore even though we know it is a bastardisation, it is ‘better’ than the void we settle for the ‘less’. Personally I can feel with every cell in my being that I am part of a bigger universe and as such I have a responsibility to live that way, constantly in connection with the love we are from and therefore are.
“My religion is about reconnecting to me first and foremost. We are all one and the same and we are all connected. The more I develop the relationship with myself, the more I will be able to understand life and those around me.”
When I first begun to read this blog, I thought I hadn’t read it but then a few lines in and I had remembered I had, I also remembered how much I enjoyed it the first time. It’s crazy and makes no sense that we would start wars in the name of God. I love the paragraph above as it is a simple quote that brings with it the simplicity of true Religion.
I love what you have shared here Sarah Karam – My religion is about reconnecting to me first and foremost. A very different account of what is often prompted through various institutionalised religions. To bring ourselves in the lime light reminds us of our equalness to God and how we work in union with the relationship not one of praise and glorifying one over another.
We are indeed reacting to so many words… Religion , God, Love… hmmm it appears that so many of the ‘big ones’ have been corrupted, so that it is extremely hard to get to the true meaning AND experience. A coincidence? I think not.
Having been brought up as a Catholic I was always under the impression that religion came from the outside and it was there to fill my soul. There was always an outer source that was giving me the directions of how to live and there was never an equalness. Reading the work and teachings of Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine I am able to understand that the fear of not being enough has now been released from knowing we are all equal. Searching for God through religion when God is waiting patiently for us to connect to our own Godliness from within.
“The more I develop the relationship with myself, the more I will be able to understand life and those around me. So instead of needing a shrine, temple or church, all I ever need is a deep connection to me.” I love this, because it shows how if we simply foster this inner connection in ourselves and each other, it supports everyone to naturally be more empowered, aware and loving. So simple yet so profound.
Allowing God to be known, and be part of the everyday has started for me with that inner connection. Through practising connecting with myself with the Gentle Breath Meditation, the connection has grown, and the awareness of God being with me is developing.
If I was asked about my relationship with religion and used the definition that the churches and society in general subscribe to I could easily say “no, I’m not religious”. However, if I consider my relationship with myself, others, the universe and ultimately divinity and my connection to God, then yes, I am most certainly religious in every aspect.
So simply and beautifully expressed Rosie. The Way of the Livingness is a true religion as we are encouraged to connect deeply to ourselves, others and to God; and for these connections to be ever evolving.
How delightful reading about your deepening relationship with yourself and with religion. “It is forever expanding as do I, and there is no right or wrong but a constant returning back to who I really am, each and every day” this statement alone shows how ridiculous it is to imagine we can pitch people against each other because of religion!
Religion is a very personal relationship with the magnificent all that surrounds and communicates with us in many ways. We are shown what is true and what is not. It is our choice to listen and truly allow ourselves to feel and enjoy the beauty that we are.
I had an interesting conversation with a new staff member about religion recently, and he said, he was not religious because it had lost its meaning and replaced by rituals. It should never be about buildings, instructions and rules. We are all the same, and God exists in everyone equally and how would the world look if everyone lived that way! The world around us is changing. We did not get where we are at now overnight but, we are on our way back to who we all truly are, sons and daughters of God!
Having been a student of The Way of the Livingness for some years now, I can look back and see all the many ways this religion has brought understandings that have transformed the way I live life, and who I know myself to be. The awareness of God and the world is now part of who I am.
‘…instead of needing a shrine, temple or church, all I ever need is a deep connection to me…’ This understanding eschews the notion of ‘church on Sunday’ and expands it to an expression that is in every move we make… if we so choose. And if we do choose it, we could then say true religion is a responsibility we joyfully hold for ourselves to live our love every day.
Yes, why only live it on Sunday?! I live it each and every day, no day being more religious or more important than another.
The religions I saw around me as I was growing up didn’t feel true for me. Many of them had aspects of truth but I always felt the whole truth was missing.
It is a strange concept that we can go looking, searching and on missions to find God, Love, the truth and the ancient so-called mysteries, and yet within our very own body we have it all. When we stop, surrender and listen to the silence there is nothing but truth.
It is strange that we are taught to go find instead of to open up to what is within. Why is it that so many of us are led in the opposite direction? Away instead of within!
I would say that there are many who can relate to your blog Rosie, and many who would otherwise be religious who have not claimed themselves to be so merely because of what has actually been done in the name of religion.
Totally.. and for that reason I write and share… so that others may be inspired by what I have worked out for myself.
One thing that stood out for me of reading this blog today is that there is no right and wrong but actually only my connection with God. God knows no right or wrong and he will never judge or condemn someone as he is holding all people on this planet earth in the same love as he is as we are his children, equal to him.
I can feel how I have been quite flippant about words in the past, not appreciating their value and power at all. Yet I can also feel how this attitude created – and still creates at times – tension in me where a word is not being used in alignment with its true energetic meaning. I sense that everyone can feel this but on the whole we just accept it and get on with our lives. As I become more aware, this tension gets ‘louder’ and harder to ignore. It feels like a distortion in the body where the two opposing energies meet – the true and the false. The reinterpretation of words is far more destructive than I used to appreciate, creating separation between people and hence disagreement, argument, aggression, violence and even war. Coming back to the truth of the energetic meaning of words is very powerful and healing in my experience – and it has the power to unite us rather than create division.
There are so many words and actions that we just accept and get on with our lives. It is great when we do stop to question or just to go wait a minute, I am not sure if I like the way this feels. We all can feel and we can all stop the roller coaster ride that so many of us get caught in, if we don’t fear to be the one that speaks up.
When I was younger I could feel there was something far more than our physical bodies and us just living our lives out on earth and so I wanted to commit to this absolute love I felt so at the age of 11 I decided to get myself Christened and confirmed to the church. I loved some of the concept of what was taught that we are essentially a family and it was about brotherhood but soon I could feel mostly what was presented was not true it and did not feel right so I left.. I still carried this knowing throughout my life but writing this now I can see I felt like God was a dirty word!!! Oh my goodness I have only just realised this! I would feel embarrassed or ashamed or just want to keep what I could feel silently to myself and not have to speak with anyone about this .. after all in our everyday lives how often do we speak about God? What I can also feel whilst writing this is how much more I would like to claim this knowing and deepen this innate relationship that I know to be true. There is more to unfold. It is just our choice as to whether we want to connect to the truth and feel this or not! Thank you for writing this as unexpectedly it has helped me heal beliefs I was holding onto that I did not even know were there! I can also really relate with how when in nature you automatically felt this connection and support to reconnect to the innate stillness we all hold within as I feel that too.
Vicky, what a great testament to the power of God and the connection we all have! God will always be, and been just a choice away for everyone!
Thanks Vicky, I loved that the blog triggered things within you to heal. It would be great for you to write more on God and your whole experience on it as I am sure there are many more like you that will learn heaps as we all open up and share.
Just knowing the true meaning of the word religion turns around how you can be religious. From it being limited to churches and temples to it being a way of living where we can be religious the whole time.
‘The more I develop the relationship with myself, the more I will be able to understand life and those around me. So instead of needing a shrine, temple or church, all I ever need is a deep connection to me.’ yes it is so simple Rosie that the human mind cannot comprehend it, so used to complication it is! What a prison the mind has created to incarcerate the magnificence that we truly are!
Throughout history there have always been those who are here to help humanity to reconnect to the truth of existence, the essence of life , and our true purpose, Serge Benhayon is doing this right now.
In a way it was a blessing that you were exposed to so many different religions. It exposed the fact that none of them felt true. A great place to start which must have saved you a great deal of searching. It makes total sense that the truth is found within each and every one of us, and that is what unifies us all.
It sure is a blessing that I was exposed to so many different religions. I really appreciate that I had such a wide open view of life growing up which gives me so much more understanding, acceptance and love of people from all walks of life.
I rejected organised religion way back, and had a picture of God that was in complete separation to me. None of it made any sense or felt real to me, no matter how it was packaged. Now, as I come to know myself I can feel the fire of God in my heart and it is perfectly natural to be religious and my connection with God is simply there.
It is amazing how children are so good at seeing through a lot of the falsities of human life. It is a sign that if as adults we let go of the ideals and beliefs adopted along the way, and start observing with the simplicity of our heart we too would start questioning much of what we see.
Children are great at questioning but why is it that as adults we stop that. Is it because we don’t like the answers, is it because we just don’t want to have to be responsible or change?
Hah! You have got something there Rosie. Not wanting to be responsible or change. Truly reflecting on something and being open to the insights often does require responsibility and change. Are we prepared to stick our neck above the parapet and share what we see? Are we prepared to rock the boat and accept possible grumbles along the way, knowing truth will always be the most loving option for everyone in the end? At the end of the day are we committed to love above comfort and safety?
I am committed to love above comfort and safety but to be honest, I haven’t always been… in fact I used to like to bury my head in the sand and hope things would magically change, or I would prefer to blame than to look at my part in it all, staying comfortable in my own little world… Glad that I don’t do that anymore, so appreciate having the awareness I do these days.
“It was not religion that I had a problem with, it was its misinterpretation that I reacted to” I think you speak for many of us when you say this Rosie, I know I still can sometimes have a problem with the word religion and God due to how bastardised these words have become and how they have been used to control and manipulate which is the complete opposite of their true meaning. Serge Benhayon has reminded us all the truth of these words which confirms each and everyone of us are equal sons of God.
I also reacted about religion for a long time. This reaction came from the fact that although I wasn’t fully connected, I always knew from my deep inside what was and was not true around me. And what I was told to be religious didn’t resonate as a truth in me, but as a creation I had to believe in. I felt manipulation in that, not the Love that used to be named but not lived. It wasn’t until I knew about The Way of the Livingness that I experienced that the words I heard and the energy behind them were one and the same.
Coherence and integrity are pillars where true religion resides.
Love and Religion are not strange and unreachable concepts for me anymore, but an experience that I am able to live in every detail of my life, (as everyone can).
I grew up in a Catholic family and went to Catholic schools when growing up but then as I moved into my own life religion never really had a part in this and it was not something that I thought about. I never really thought much about God, I just got on with life. Now as I reflect on this I do feel a deep connection to God: for me this comes in my interaction with people and nature. I am reminded of something very grand and much bigger than what we see in moments of deep connection with myself and others.
You bring a really clear understanding of true religion and the simplicity of what religion is ” It is forever expanding as do I, and there is no right or wrong but a constant returning back to who I really am, each and every day.” It is thanks to Serge Benhayon that we are learning and coming back to the truth of religion and to who we really are by the way of the livingness which is our greatest gift and living way forever.
So beautifully said, my true religion is also to connect more deeply with myself and then I am connected with the all.
It is a blessing to discover what the meaning of religion truly is and choose to return to connecting to this truth. Without this awareness, I am actually contributing to all the false ideals and beliefs of what I and many think religion is.
It was shared with me yesterday that religion in a practical sense could be looked at in terms of grocery items. Religion is making sure that we don’t run out of an item we use so that it is well stocked and available for all. I always love the practical approach as it makes it so real and relatable and not just a concept or idea.
I love turning on its head the concept that it is somehow self-indulgent to take care of our relationship with ourselves… in fact is this one of the most shocking deviations from truth, since it is actually our first responsibility to be honest, loving, tender, understanding and respectful with ourselves so that we can be all of these in life with others?
I have always felt closer to God in nature and when I am just naturally being with myself than anywhere else formally recognised as a place of God. As Rosie says, “My religion is about reconnecting to me first and foremost. We are all one and the same and we are all connected. The more I develop the relationship with myself, the more I will be able to understand life and those around me.” These feel like words to live by.
I, and I am sure many of us as children had a sense of true religion and understood our relationship with God. Yet as we grow up in a world that lives far from living in connection to this inner-knowing or our sense of truth, we notice that mostly everyone is not living in this way. In-truth our reaction to today’s religion highlights the fact that we do indeed still sense that there is more to religion as we currently know it, that we are here to live with a deeper connection to ourselves, each other and with God. Living in this way is possible and as you have shared has also been my experience – ‘My religion is now The Way of The Livingness, and it is essentially about the relationship that I have with myself first and foremost and how that then has an effect on everyone else.’
I like your sense Rosie that the words ‘religion’ and ‘God’ were annoying. What you describe to me is the tension we feel between what we know to be the truth of these words and the meanings we have given them – that are in discord with what we feel. It is annoying, you are right and in the annoyance there is an opportunity for us all to realise that our common definitions of these words are out of sync with our innate understanding. The question is, which ‘definition’ do we accept and live?
Reading this Richard, made me think of how often we override what we feel, the tension for example that could be highlighting some much much bigger… do we just override and accept or should we dig deeper to understand why there is the tension in the first place. It is at times not so comfortable but oh so freeing once we realise what is actually going on and stop the over riding and numbing to not feel in the first place.
I am learning to catch myself when I override such feelings. I did it yesterday when for a rare moment I felt bored. My instant reaction was to occupy myself and get busy, but I could also sense that there is something deeper to be understood here. I then saw how often I use being busy to avoid feeling a lack of true purpose in life and that we are not just here to occupy time but to live with true purpose. Digging deeper always offers something of value in my experience. It may not feel comfortable, but in my experience comfort becomes discomfort anyway after a short while.
I love having purpose in my life and I love that my life is full of it. It hasn’t always been that way, but I sure do prefer it now.
It seems religion has been taken to the extreme of people looking for it to help or support them instead of first looking within. What you share here Rosie makes so much sense in that the quality of the relationship we have with ourselves first is essentially the foundation for any relationships we have thereafter.
Yes that is true HM, it is as if in not having the relationship with self, you go to your organised religion to be saved… and this is such a shame as you will not connect or find any healing until you re connect within, for it is within that you find you are a son of God and don’t actually have to go anywhere.
From my own personal experience I feel that we have allowed the various Religions to dictate to humanity who or what God is and not liking the versions they have handed down to us because we know in our hearts they are not the truth of God we have rejected all versions of God. So effectively we seem to have thrown the baby out with the bath water as the saying goes.
I would say that no one has explained the true meaning of the word religion for many an age, and main stream religions have taken advantage of this by misinterpreting the life of Jeshua and others before him. It’s only since meeting Serge Benhayon have I heard the true meaning of the word religion and it makes sense that it should be this way and concurs with what my Dad used to say that you didn’t have to go to Church to find God as God resides within us.
It is such a moment of clarity and responsibility when we accept that God is within us… no more excuses.
It is so simple, true religion is about a loving relation with ourselves first and foremost, one that holds us all as equals and connects us to everyone and everything in our world.
Whatever our relationship with religion, I feel the greatest starting point can be to ask, do we love others regardless of their religious choice. If the answer is no then we are not in religion but using a form of it for our own means.
Great point Stephen G.
That is a great point Stephen. I don’t mind what your religion is, or the colour of your skin, to me we are all equal. I find it shocking how so many live and get all upset about refugees and this is my country etc and not yours and I guess its a whole other blog that I could write about but a lot of these beliefs that separate people stem from their religion.
I also was travelling a lot and was interested in the variety of religions. It always astonished me how many different religions existed claiming to be the one and only concerning christian religions there are so many with different aspects. This brought to me the conclusion that relgion must be self made as how can it be that there is one God and thousand different beliefs how to connect to God?
The way of the livingness makes sense to me as it does not claim to be the only religion but is showing a way back to God which is working, all encompassing and not exclusive.
The key there being, all encompassing, not exclusive, as it is for all and no one gets left out or left behind.
When I was growing up i thought God was the super unrelatable-to-life ever all mighty being who is greater and far more powerful than I would ever be. Talk about relationship with God issues! I now know that God is more relatable, super loving and the most understanding being I know who is actually there with us all each and every day if I allow Him to be there
‘My religion is about reconnecting to me first and foremost. We are all one and the same and we are all connected. The more I develop the relationship with myself, the more I will be able to understand life and those around me. So instead of needing a shrine, temple or church, all I ever need is a deep connection to me.’ Well said Rosie,
I love this religion like you simple share its “about the relationship that we have with ourselve first and foremost and how that then has an effect on everyone else.” So simple and no complication, we are all connected together there is no need for temples, shrines and churches.
Religion is definitely something that I feel inside myself, and comes from my own connection to the Soul. The soul is what is part of God, so without connection to that how can we truly know God?
To know myself, who I truly am, is the greatest relationship I can have …and peeling back the layers of ‘what I am note ‘s the most incredible journey of love, self discovery and empowerment. Thank you Serge Benhayon for your absolute dedication in showing us the Love that we truly are.
I agree Jenny, the peeling back, the letting go of who we are not, even though at times, it can be quite hard as we actually think that our way of living, our behaviours and mannerism are us when in fact, they are just ways that we have learnt and taken on, like wearing an old coat that is not you but has become like a second layer of skin.
You make perfect sense Rosie, how can we have a relationship with something larger or grander than ourselves such as Nature or God without having a connection to ourselves first?
The more I develop the relationship with myself, the more I will be able to understand life and those around me. Absolutely Rosie, having a strong and committed self relationship is the key to everything.
I have met many people who have had a similar reaction to seeing so many different religious practises that do not make sense to them and so decide to abandon religion all together, but in my view this simply adds to the bastardisation of the word religion and does not change anything, when instead we could embrace what religion is from our inner-hearts back out in to the world and be deeply religious despite what the majority of the world thinks it is or should look like. Religion is a word that belongs to people and not to institutions but only by people stepping up to live this word in its true meaning will there be great change – whereas to stand back, reject and judge changes naught.
This says it all about religion Rosie: ‘It is forever expanding as do I, and there is no right or wrong but a constant returning back to who I really am, each and every day.’ Scientists have shared with the world that the universe is forever expanding and it sounds like this simple and powerful religion of connecting with yourself first and foremost is keeping up with the universe as it expands.
How beautiful Rosie ‘ My religion is about reconnecting to me first and foremost.’ and in that connection we discover the love we truly are, and that the same Love is within us all. We are all absolutely One.
What is so great about what you share here Rosie is how simple it actually is to live true religion. No fancy temples, elaborate dogmas, confining rules or imposing beliefs required, just a love lived in full to the best of our ability, that is then able to be shared with all others.
Misinterpretation is a killer if we are willing to accept it as ‘truth’.
I love this … “The more I develop the relationship with myself, the more I will be able to understand life and those around me. So instead of needing a shrine, temple or church, all I ever need is a deep connection to me…” In other words, one’s body becomes their temple.
I have such a healthier relationship with religion since understanding more about the origins of the word and how others have lived in the past that isn’t related to the current version of organised religion. I understand that it starts with my relationship with me, then with the all.
It is always empowering to come back to truth – that because we do know truth that our reaction towards the bastardization of what is truth is what we have to be honest about, and once again choose to express from truth is a re-correction for the whole world.
Rosie you have brought up a fantastic subject here about the many choices that are available with the different kinds of organised religions. And it makes me wonder if any of them are a true presentation of choice, or if they are in fact man-made manifestations which we have brought about to ourselves as a way to avoid re-connecting with the very thing that we are missing the most: true soul-full-re-connection.
“The more I develop the relationship with myself, the more I will be able to understand life and those around me.” This is such a wise and loving choice to appreciate who we are in our own fullness and loveliness and with that we expand our hearts to encompass all equally, in their essence. Labels, names, groups, beliefs, countries of origin etc. don’t alter what is truly in our hearts.
While I knew that God existed, because of the way religion portrayed him, I dismissed him out of my life. There was nowhere I could turn to that made sense of God. The bible stories felt like fairy tales and no one was really able to talk about religion in a way that I could relate to. The Way of the Livingness answered all the questions I ever had and then offered even more than I ever expected. Up to this point I was on the never ending quest, searching for something that would satisfy my yearning that there had to be more to life than what was offered in either religion, spiritual new age or the numbness of daily living.
‘…it was its misinterpretation that I reacted to…’ In our reaction, we avoid aspects of life we could otherwise be bringing truth to.
Very true Kylie. While the initial reaction is easy to understand in the sense that we are programmed to react to all that is not love, if we do not respond with stating and living what is true, we allow for the misinterpreted version to reign as ‘truth’ and thus we get swallowed by all that is not of the truth we are born from.
I can relate to what you are saying here Rosie. I will never forget, when a little girl, first hearing from a neighbour about their Catholicism. There was talk about confession of Sins and ‘going to purgatory’ and to ‘hell’. This, I could not relate to, and remember saying to Mum, ‘I don’t feel like a sinner’, as I was full of bounce and joy. A bit later when I was around 12 or 13 dad began to tell me about all the different religions which I found interesting and thought I would explore Buddhism. But I never found anything that felt right to me, that didn’t have some mad ritual or ceremony that felt like play-acting. Like you I found The Way of the Livingness and I have experienced anything so beautiful, so natural, and so harmonious and all-encompassing.
In the past few years I have been aware of an embarrassment to use the words religious about myself. The pictures of what being religious meant are so strong and ingrained and the bastardisation of the word so heavy that it was never a word I wanted to use for myself or something I wanted to associate with. I have preferred to keep it secret rather than wade through the mud that society has accepted as religion.
I would never have considered myself ‘religious’ because what I saw when I looked out into the world of religion was so much that went against what I would have said to be sacred, loving and all-encompassing. However, as Serge Benhayon has presented the truth about religion being a way of living that lives with great respect and love for all, I soon realised that this our natural way and religion as it is today, like many other aspects of life, has swayed from its true meaning.
It is important and significant when we claim back the true meaning of words. I have been inspired by hearing the original definition of religion because it confirmed the preciousness I had felt about it before I got confused by all the interpretations under current mainstream ‘religions’.
My whole view on Religion has completely changed since meeting with Serge Benhayon and connecting to the presentations of The Way of The Livingness. I have a much clearer view and know that we are all one equally so and Sons of the One God.
Isn’t it interesting that we are taught nowhere that there is an original meaning of things and what it is? Imagine if we knew that and could assess anything against the original meaning (a word that was the reflection of the livingness and carried its imprint). The world would not be like the one we know.
I didn’t ever feel that religion was true in the past, there was so much that didn’t make sense in my body and there were many unanswered questions. But I accepted what I was told, thinking that maybe it was my understanding that was at fault. Now I understand it was the whole bastardised version of religion that was not only nonsensical but also harmful. My understanding of true religion is now a beautiful support in my life.
“I didn’t feel that any really sat well with me so I decided I didn’t want a religion at all.” I remember thinking this as well, and this is what the misinterpretation of a word does on a large scale, we think the current religions are what religion truly is and because we don’t like them, we do not like religion. But in fact it is not that we don’t like religion, we just don’t like the organisations who use the word religion.
Everything that religious ceremony shares around funerals is a load of old codswallop. We have commemoration, mourning, sacred ground, mummification, tribute, memorial, commemorative, service, bereavement, lamentation, grieving, remembrance, respects, lamenting, nostalgic, elegiac, nostalgic, sorrowful, melancholy and solemn all off these create complications around passing over and end up in a wake that becomes a celebration, which ends up in the same energy as a wedding! When you have felt this and the difference when someone passes over and you hold nothing but joy in your body the difference is palpable. Life is simple when lived in true love, living with a loving responsibility, is simple so that reincarnation is understood. How far as a humanity are we away from this simple truth, which has become obvious because we have to us the word true in-front of love as it has been shown that it no longer holds its true meaning so therefore is open to the reinterpreted versions of love. Religion and reincarnation are two of the many other words that have to be felt so the true meanings can be understood. True love has the qualities of stillness, joy, harmony, responsibility and truth so that you can never waver from these to the best of your ability once you understand divine purpose. True love as shared is a far cry from emotional love, which only creates complications and separation.
I like how you say we are all the same and how can we possibly have so many views on God. It shows that it is our beliefs that bring separation but not truly who we are.
Most people’s resistance to being more open with the term religion, and even applying it philosophically to life is because of the vast damage that has been done in the name of religion. Religion, however, like money, is not the root of all evil in itself, but merely the tool that can be used either way. That is important, for as they say, a true craftsman never blames their tools for the state of his workmanship.
This is great wisdom that you have shared Adam, and if I may add, the way we can obtain the wealth that is available from religion and money plus any words that have had the true meaning turned up side down is to understand what words represent in truth so we need the understanding of these words energetically. When we understand words energetically they can be felt as a truth or a lie. Then as an expression the truth that comes from God is felt in the wording as being true and there is no need for a crafted relationship with words as that can bring in reinterpretation as has happened with the bastardisation of words.
A quiet, clear call for us to take responsibility for the way we use our tools (in this case language) – thank you, Adam.
It is amazing Rosie to have a relationship with religion, and The Way of The Livingness is the most beautiful religion that I know of on this earth. There is nothing else that is so all encompassing and supportive.
‘My religion is about reconnecting to me first and foremost.’ Super simple and because I have me with me all the time I can be religious wherever I am.
The relationship with ourselves is something many of us do not attend to in life. We skip from home to work and work from home, attending to family life, shopping, cooking, paying bills and all else that goes with life. The trick is that through having a relationship with ourselves, that is a relationship loved, endeared and attended to, all the other aspects of life become bright and life itself transforms.
Thank you Rosie. Seeing religion in our relationship with ourselves and making it a relationship that then has an effect on everyone and everything around us which brings a level of responsibility we often struggle to live on a daily basis. The Way of the Livingness has offered some very practical tools for how to make this way of living in connection with and to ourselves a practical and consistent way of being.
To be able to speak and sing about God and religion and feel the truth of the words flow through me is now possible and very beautiful, natural and powerful . But it has taken a lot of letting go of the conditions imposed on these words that have been violated, desecrated and bound up for centuries.
Religion is about re-connection, it is about our relationship with all things, big and small.
How interesting is it that organised religion took us the furthermost away from our self that was possible. Imagine all the people over the ages who have given away their power to an infallibility pope when true power is to be found within.
Religion has such a hold over its parishioners that I feel it is possible that as they pass-over they are controlled by the rituals and rites to be born into the same religious group? This is a ploy to stop or hold back our evolution.
I am intrigued (but not remotely surprised) to read that the current Pope appears to be back-tracking on some of his promises of zero-tolerance on any child abuse within the Catholic Church. He is no more than a puppet and the string-pullers will always win.
I can remember being really keen to go to Sunday school, but the reality clearly didn’t match my natural expectations of deepening my relationship with God, because after a few weeks I refused to go anymore. Attempting to fit the true wonders of our connection and relationship with God into tiny little pigeon holes of belief, ideals and conditioned behaviour just cuts off our connection to the deeply wise intelligence and supreme love of our Father that permeates every molecule of life.
Rosie I too grew up confused by religion and not understanding why there were so many versions of it. Serge Benhayon has made it so clear what the true meaning is – and I am also discovering how my relationship with myself, others and the universe and nature is religion and how this is ever deepening and expanding.
Religion is a way of life and we all choose that for ourselves, even if a particular religion we were brought up with is one of the major organised religions, how we follow its dogma will always be personal, for some there is doubt, for others a blind following. It can present a sense of belonging, a sense of doing good, a sense of purpose, What I love about The Way of The Livingness is its complete lack of dogma, only simple presentations of The Way it Is and it is then up to us to choose with awareness how to be, how to move, how to breathe, how to express.
Carmel bring on the lack of dogma and I also love the opportunity for the Magic Of God to open up as part of The Way of The Livingness. We have a choice to live in alignment to God, our soul and divinity. We are free to express in all our glory without needing a set of rules but simply a set of universal principles. Having religion being about a way of life it shows that everyone is religious it just depends what quality of religion one chooses and how true that is.
‘My religion is about reconnecting to me first and foremost.’ I’m very much appreciating the simplicity of this. So often religion is shrouded in secrecy and complication – like one has to go through certain rites of passage to earn certain levels when really it is accessible in a simple choice to be with oneself in connection. So simple it’s possible!
Religion is so personal. It is something very precious to our heart. To actually live what we know takes courage and dedication, and shows the whole world what we hold dear. To live our religion is to make it public. Do we dare do this?
Absolutely agree with this blog. Firstly we need to utterly re-define the word religion before any deeper conversations are had on the subject. My sense is that the bastardisation of that word is what enables so much of the evil that is caused through our current organised religions.
Love your last two comments Otto, very exposing what we are discussing here and no wonder it is a subject that is often frowned upon and you dare not speak up about and now…. No more silence I say. No more just agreeing to keep people in the comfort of their beliefs. Let’s get real and honest no matter what.
Who was it that bastardised the word religion? The religions themselves. Move the goal posts and no-one knows that you are missing the true target. Until that is, Serge Benhayon starts to present that truth and then our bodies (who have known all along) wake up and show us the reality of what we have been living. The catholic church will crumble from the inside unable to continue to shore up the evil within its foundations as the truth blows through its catacombs.
Religion is a fantastic example of something that has been bastardised to the core. So many people in the world have suffered because of what they think is religion, but in truth no one has ever suffered because of religion. When known in its true form, all that pretends to be religion is exposed.
That is a great point, they have suffered from everything that was not religion, because with true religion, there is no suffering at all.
Thanks Shirley-Ann. As I read the word picture of God being outside of us in your comment, I straight away thought of the guy with the white beard up in the clouds… like where does such ingrained imagery come from? The stuff we are fed and the pictures that we hold onto unconsciously really are misleading.
The more I dedicate my life to be a certain quality, the more I feel religious in little moments in life – like waking up, or the first moments of the day and how I choose to live them, I feel like as a human race we are missing out on so many little beautiful moments in life, and many of the ceremonies and rituals that can support us to know that we are so much more than what we think we are.
It is true what you share here Meg, the magic is found in the moments, and they can be any where, not just in nature but most of all, when you are present and connected.
And if this is true, then one can immediately understand why the religious organisations would be so opposed to humanity understanding and embracing true religion, because if that were to occur then they would be rendered nought immediately. So, from this understanding it becomes very easy to see why and to what extent they purposefully design their ‘religions’ to weild so much power and control over their congregations and precisely and expertly do every single thing that they can to keep their congregations as far away as possible from this one unifying truth.
True relationship is all about relationship, with ourselves, with everyone and with nature – in fact with every aspect of our lives. Staying true to ourselves is the most loving and powerful thing we can do.
Beautifully said Sue. Staying true to ourselves is being with God.
Nature offers us the opportunity to come into ourselves and feel the harmony that is deeply known to us… True Religion is a never ceasing connection with our inner-most truth and with the all.
It is significant that although you were turned off by the interpretation of religion you witnessed around you, you found solace in your own way of connecting to yourself, to nature and to what you felt. How telling that what you chose was your own natural innate connection to religion. A clear sign that we do not need institutions or dogmas to tell us how to live a relationship which is a fundamental part of our essence.
Very true. We do not need any institutions to tell us and we do know deep within.
As children we tend to be more connected to a deep wisdom within ourselves and naturally follow this innate wisdom. What is disturbing us is education and society having their way and plan with us, their expectations and imaginations of us, of the world and of life.
I love that religion simply means a re-connection, it makes life so simple, life is about connection so life is naturally about religion. No need for special buildings or special people, just me and my connection.
Absolutely – so simple. True religion is super simple and always in connection with ourselves and all of life.
Such simplicity makes a mockery of the whole edifice. I love it!
I feel that so many of us are totally naturally religious as children and then get turned off it by the divisive and conflicting versions of religion. What I love about this article is that it makes it clear we never lose our religious nature we simply ‘think’ we are not religious. When I came across The Way of the Livingness it was a re-awakening of that which I have always known and held precious in my relationship with a bigger picture… religion.
So true, I was very religious as a child and had a deep connection with other people and nature. I tried going to church and even when to a Catholic school but it just didn’t match my knowing of what religion was and is. The re-interpretation was so polar opposite of what I knew to be true I found myself rejecting religion rather than the re-interpretation.
It is lovely to read how so many of us had this same feeling as children, that the religion that we were shown wasn’t quite adding up or wasn’t quite it. We all know.
So true, I felt the same the re-awakening of that which I had already had known was true within me about religion, ” The Way of the Livingness”
My relationship with religion was a up and down. As my family was not so much in religion but I was in love with Jesus and was searching for some true religious community. But all I did found was not feeling right for me. So did leave religion behind me and called me an atheist, finding my ‘religion’ in good food and a ‘good life’. But this was not really satisfying me.When I found Universal Medicine and the Way of the Livingness, I was not consciously searching for a true religion and community – but I found it. And I am very joyful about it. It was and is like coming home.
I know!! I always wanted to know more about Jesus but then felt like it was all a big lie the stories I was told about Jesus. None of it made sense, so not only words have been messed with and basterdized but so has history. This is such a shame.
Religion has so much to hide and an area that is often buried or ignored is about how we passing-over, so that we are all kept in the dark. The point about passing-over is that we are responsible for what we do before we pass-over and that after death how we are then trapped by the energy we have lived in. Everything that religious ceremony shares around funerals is a load of old codswallop. As I am getting closer to passing-over the understandings that I am coming to about how any type of sacramental, observance, ritual, rite and ceremony hold us back from being able to making it to heaven. Heaven is simply available to everyone equally so that when the truth of how we live as a student of The Livingness is known, and how simple and obtainable heaven is. As a Student of The Livingness we do not bring any judgement only the love of God so we connect to that true love and love is known because it is lived as heaven on earth.
Yes, passing over and death are viewed so differently depending on which religion you align to. I always find it fascinating that anyone would believe that you don’t re-incarnate when we know we are more than just this body and we have that sense of we have been here before.
Re-incarnation like love, death and so many other words has been reinterpreted over millennia so that the lies gradually become accepted as normal. Even when the truth is staring you in the face the revelation of that truth can be denied because God has allowed free will, but when the truth is lived in the body a true understanding of words is available. Thank you Rosie, my feeling is that when I have any belief it comes from a lie as the truth can be felt in the body and it is confirming of my connection to God.
Even though I have spent a large part of this life searching for the truth and my purpose in life, it never made sense why so many different institutionalised religions and philosophies had so many differing versions of the truth and God. Once I understood that the truth of who I am in essence is love it was easier to understand that there is one unified truth where we are all the same in essence love.
Once we understand that religion is about the relationship – with ourself, with each other, with God and with life – it becomes clear that it is not the differences that matter, but what within us is one and the same.
And I so appreciate that Serge Benhayon was not afraid to speak up and share on what true religion is, what the word really means and to show another way that makes sense 100%.
Like you Rosie I could never relate to organised religion and had also heard the history from my father about the Inquisition and the massacres by the Catholic Church so I kept away from Churches and always found people who had ‘found’ Jesus an embarrassment (my judgment which I have now dropped!) to talk with. Thank heavens for The Way of The Livingness presented by Serge Benhayon – a true religion that encompasses religion, philosophy, science and medicine all in one awareness and knowing.
Yes it is interesting how the different religions are in competition with each other and need manipulation and threats to convince people to join as a member.
True religion is not in need of all this, it is not even in need of any members as it is in the heart of everyone, patiently waiting there to be connected to and lived by anyone who chooses it so.
It is true that a lot of religions have a sacred place or shrine – but this immediately puts these places as more than others and more than ourselves. What I love about your blog Rosie is you bring it back to the importance of the connection with ourselves first.
Yes having a shrine or that is more than you or giving your power away to a Guru or spiritual leader does not let you see and appreciate that you are an equal son of God.
Humanity has so bastardized words and their true meaning and religion is definitely one of those words. Religion used to mean to me a sense of belonging to something but that is not what religion is all about. Religion is simply about re-connecting with myself and when I do that I know that I am part and parcel of the universe so there is no need to belong to anything as we belong simply by being who we truly are.
That is so true and so beautifully expressed Elizabeth. “Religion is simply about re-connecting with myself and when I do that I know that I am part and parcel of the universe so there is no need to belong to anything as we belong simply by being who we truly are.”
“My Relationship with Religion” – at school being raised catholic was secular, exclusive and quietly ignored for being [sandal-wearing] ‘square’ or ‘bookish’. My relationship with religion today – is the ever deepening relationship i have with myself, and this in relation to universal truth and love. There is everything fashionably and timelessly stylish in such religion.
The two religions seem worlds apart.
I too rejected organised religion and connected to nature Rosie. Nature I could feel. It made sense and I felt safe and connected. Now I can embrace God and the word religion through The Way of the Livingness and connect to my own divinity, knowing God in everything I do.
Yes I agree Rosie . . . “The more I develop the relationship with myself, the more I will be able to understand life and those around me.” . . . I am certainly finding this to be true. Having been brought up in an organised religion put me off mainstream religions for even as a child I could not understand the contradictions in what I was seeing. The pope draped in gold sitting on what to me as a child was a throne getting people to kiss his jeweled ring on his finger while the Biafran children were starving to death . . . .pictures of these children were constantly shown to us and we were constantly told that we were lucky to not be starving like these children . . . so we gave our pocket money to feed them while the overfed pope sat in the vatican . . . it all seemed strange to me. Not to mention the wars over the course of history that were fought in the name of God. A God that judged us harshly and condemned us to hell for eternity for making a mistake seemed extreme and not in keeping with the God of Love I have always held in my heart. The Way of The Livingness takes us back the heart and has us live from here. This is a religion I can relate to and understand as living from our heart we realise the enormous responsibility we have to not add to the trauma, chaos, pain and suffering of the world by living in the full integrity of who we are.
Stories like yours need to be shared. I am sure there are many that were brought up like you and felt the same way but fear speaking up about what they experienced in their religious up bringing.
I think you have captured what millions or even billions of people in the world have done. We have seen the religions on offer and thought ‘no thank you’ to the misinterpretation they offered. But no one is saying they are a misinterpretation, so we react and quietly walk away from God and religion grumbling under our breath about them. It makes so much sense when you realise that religion was never meant to be the misinterpretations we have on offer and is something to reconnect back to within ourselves
I can just imagine a cartoon skit of this…. and yet it is not funny, it is sad that so many have walked away grumbling and feeling disheartened and not understanding why they feel one way and what they see as religion is the opposite.
The separation in the world caused by the beliefs of organised mainstream religions should be enough for us to query what is going on. These religions purport to be ‘love’, ‘truth’ and ‘brotherhood’ but action the opposite, sometimes in the most obvious and barbaric of ways, sometimes perniciously subtle. But always with the purpose of separating us from connecting to our true divinity and innate connection to God. To be able to embrace the word religion in its truest sense through The Way of The Livingness, with every cell of my body, is utterly divine as I am learning to live what Love,Truth and Brotherhood truly mean.
I always felt annoyance around the word religion as I was growing up too Rosie as there were many things in religion as I thought religion was then, that just didn’t make sense. Why, for instance should we need to go to a specific place of worship to worship our God when God is everywhere, always? It was only through the Way of the Livingness that I realised the word religion was not wrong, it was the way it had been misinterpreted that I had reacted to. The Way of the Livingness is True Religion and is all about re-connection, knowing that we are all Sons of God, equally so and the simplicity of this is beautiful.
It’s interesting how we often judge another or label them for the institutionalised religion they choose to belong to, instead of seeing them for themselves.
That is an excellent point, and in itself just shows how we have separated so much based on religion when we are all the same.
There was a time when I thought that true religion was to be subservient to a greater power that is representative of a divine source on earth. Now I understand and I know that True Religion is the living quality of life in a continual and forever deepening re-connection with God within me, as it is equally within everybody.
It now makes sense why so many people, myself included, have avoided going to church – deep down we all sense that no church is ever needed to connect us with God. It is all a matter of being present and connected with ourselves and God is right there, no fuss or fanfare.
The fact that we can react to religion shows us that we do know what it truly is and therefore everything it is not.
Yes, otherwise we wouldn’t react in the first place. The reaction is because of our inner knowing!!
No church service that I ever went to gave me the true understanding of religion like Universal Medicine and Serge. Bringing it back to the simplicity of life and making everything within your day/life absolutely about love and true quality in all that you do. Now that’s a religion I adore in all of its simplicity and power.
It is so lovely to know that ‘there is no right or wrong but a constant returning back to who I really am, each and every day’ as we progress through the cycles we are living, we have the opportunity to learn the consequences of our choices with no judgment.
‘we are all one humanity but how can we have so many people with a different idea about religion and who is to say which one is right?’ – An excellent question, and as is the case with a lot of words/ideas there are so many different interpretations it’s impossible to know which one is true! Thus, as you’ve shared, it’s so vital to feel for ourselves what’s truly behind a word, situation or relationship, and then support others to do the same.
Beautiful, Rosie – “The more I develop the relationship with myself, the more I will be able to understand life and those around me.” This is a simple yet powerful principle to live life by.
Reading your last paragraph Rosie gave me a great moment to deeply appreciate that it is Truth that The Way of The Livingness returns us all to.
Thank you Rosie, I love the simplicity of all you have shared which brings Truth to the word religion. I agree and would probably say that most people avoid this word or any claim to being religious because the misinterpretation and misuse has caused separation for so so so long. A very clever trick considering the simplicity of its real meaning and how it is simply about our relationship with ourselves and therefore the all. The Way of The Livingness is a way of living that supports All of humanity and what is super magic is this happens even when the majority are not choosing this way for themselves 🙂
‘So instead of needing a shrine, temple or church, all I ever need is a deep connection to me’ – I love this Rosie and really appreciate your sharing and how you can see the importance of connecting to you first. I agree that when I am more connected to myself then I am more connected to others and life around me – I am more aware of what is going on and this allows me to appreciate a lot more.
I could handle the ‘God’ word but not the ‘Religion’ one. It took the very patient, persistent and wise presentations of Serge Benhayon to break down all the resistance to the word that I had built up around it in reaction to my experience of institutionalized religion. So a huge Thank You to Serge, for helping me to restore my natural relationship with God and my naturally religious expression in everyday life.
Like you Rosie, I thought that I was “religion-less”, staying as far as possible away from anything I perceived to be religious as it all felt wrong to me. To finally understand that I am not, and have never been, “religion-less” was an amazing moment. Suddenly so much in my life began to make sense, particularly the fact that I don’t need a church or any other building to connect with God as I can do that by simply being with me.
It is so easy for us to see now why religion has been so re-interpreted to suit the fancies of people. This is because of the very real responsibility required to live truly and lovingly for true religion to be there, rather than just put ‘religious duties’ in a box and do it ( a few Hail Mary’s here and a few church visits there) and then tick the box forgetting about the principles for the rest of the week, or ‘religiously’ re-enacting those principles in a distorted way. As a race we run a mile from true responsibility.
Beautiful Rosie, simple, and exactly my experience of religion and what is required, the deepening of relationship with our souls.
I love the distinction you make here Rosie, its not the true meaning of the word religion we don’t like, it the fact that it has been reinterpreted and misrepresented from it’s true meaning. Religion is about our return to god together so anything that divides humanity is not representing god and is not actually religion.
There are a lot of words that have been re-interpreted and when we can feel this, it can evoke a feeling of annoyance because we know that what is being presented is not true and that the thing is not a true representation of the word itself. It is common for us to blame the thing rather than realise that it is the wrongly used word for that thing. Hence we write off things quickly rather than stopping to feel what has happened in that situation. Religion is one of those words, where true religion is a far cry from what religion is currently portrayed as in our society. When we realise this, then it opens up an understanding to look further, and yet the damage is done at the same time, as people become wary of the word religion due to its bastardisation, and hence are more likely to turn away from something that is naturally a beautiful thing in our life, something that holds the key for the return for all of us to a true home, Of course there are different versions of the word religion and one has to be astute about feeling which one is the true representation and which ones are not. Universal Medicine has been instrumental in supporting me to understand this more and hence open up and trust True Religion.
I completely understand when you share about being annoyed by the words religion and God, so I also in my own way used to have a question mark against the words and other words as well like love, responsibility, harmony, joy, and the list could be end-less because so many words have been reinterpreted. Why? Could it be to keep us from the true understanding we are all equal the Sons of God because to me this has become the logical answer that is trying to keep humanity in the dark. Thank you Rosie and also to Serge Benhayon for bringing so much light the truth is now seen from all the misinterpreted lies.
There can be few words that strike such a negative chord, that arise such emotions in people, particularly loathsome dread, fear, disinterest, disaffection, mistrust. But it is not the word we need not trust, but the abuse of what the word actually means. The ageless wisdom through Universal Medicine, through Serge Benhayon, has taught what this word really gives us, and when we understand this we can find it isn’t really the word that is the problem but the misinterpretation. Religion is in us all, that doesn’t have to be hard to accept.
When I used to think about religion I would think of the division and disharmony created when people hold tight to a particular religious philosophy. Since making The Way of the Livingness my religion I have found it is not possible to feel anything other than brotherhood with those around us when one experiences the love felt when we reconnect to and live from our divine essence.
The simplicity in which you have explained how you, and I would say most people, feel about ‘religion’ the way it has been interpreted, is something we sorely need to hear. In fact we need to spell it out from the roof tops and no longer fly under the radar and pretend we don’t see what is going on in the name of ‘religion’.
‘What I chose for myself instead was to connect to nature and to myself and to trust in what I felt.’ I was brought up as a Catholic and its teachings never really made sense to me. However being in nature did. Getting out in the fresh air and going for walks with our dogs, or simply playing in the garden filled me with joy. I was connected to the seasons and to the cycles of nature and felt a settlement in my body at those times. Leaning that our bodies are naturally aligned with those cycles and have cycles of their own really support in the appreciation of what nature reflects and offers.
“like seriously, we are all essentially the same, we are all one humanity” – RB
We are and if I read it like this I am wondering why I don’t simply accept this fact and live from here. I know this to be true, life showed me the truth of this over and over again – yet I’m loathing life with my undealt ‘stuff’. Not that I am to blame myself, but the simplicity of what’s being shared here’s asking me to stop shying away. And to open myself truly up to guidance to live this innate fact. In this process I can feel that my relationship with religion and God is growing. That I’m starting to re-claim my inner truth and knowing that God is my best friend and always there to support me. My part is to surrender. And I’ve got a tendency to let God do the work and not wanting to see my own part in it. Which too God is fine, he just holds. And appreciates every step I do take. How beautiful and inspiring is this. The Grandness of life, if you would ask me.
Yes I was in massive reaction to the many misinterpretations of religion and very dismissive of all the contradictions that I observed but underneath there was a deep longing to feel a greater connection to myself and the universe which I now have since choosing to make The Way of The Livingness my religion.
We are blessed to know true religion lives within and for our lives to be guided by love, purpose, brotherhood and nothing else.
Yes absolutely, true religion lives within, and our way of livingness is guided by love, purpose and brotherhood it is that simple. The more open and honest we are, we are the clearing the connection.
It is bemusing that society seems intent on defining religion as belonging to a mainstream belief. A truly religious relationship with life cannot be defined by such tight and dogmatic parameters.
And we feel this all along – that mainstream religions do not make any sense in their divisiveness and conflict creation – we know the potential for unification.
Understanding the true meaning of religion gives a completely different understanding of what religion means to the one that is generally presented, accepted and lived. When truly practiced with its true meaning there is no separation between what is said and what is lived. The Way of The Livingness is the religion that delivers this.
“What I chose for myself instead was to connect to nature and to myself and to trust in what I felt.” It was my route too, but I became a bit too immersed in it and forgot about people! Meeting the Way of the Livingness has restored the balance, so that now I know I can connect to God within me, within nature and within everyone I meet, an awesome shift by someone who wanted nothing better than to live as a hermit in the woods!
‘The more I develop the relationship with myself, the more I will be able to understand life and those around me.’ This is what I am finding too, the more I am able to observe how I react or respond in different situations, the more responsibility I have in all my relationships, and the more easily I can understand other people’s behaviour without reacting.
Imagine a large family where the siblings argued with one another about who know their parents best. And each member of the family also sets up rules and strategies on how to best gain the approval of their parents and claims whoever doesn’t go with those particular strategy is unworthy of the love of the parents and should be chucked out of the house. And some the members even start fighting with one another and hating one another over all of this. Wouldn’t we be horrified? How come we have this exact picture go on worldwide with members of the human family claiming they know God best and carrying out the same craziness on a bigger scale?
That is a great point. We are one large family and we are in dispute because we are not seeing and feeling the one common truth. We have gotten caught up in stories, ideals and beliefs rather than trusting what we know and feel deep within.
This is brilliant! I love your simple and humble explanation on religion, I resonate with it deeply. I have never heard it with quite the authority and down to earthness as what you have delivered here.
Thanks Sarah, I have been looking at the word religion and my reaction to it for the last few years and finally felt like I have a better understanding of it and thought it was time to write about it. How often do we feel things so strongly but hold back from sharing it in case others will react or if we get it wrong?
People like you, that are willing to put themselves on the line, right or wrong, inspire me to no end. Writing is a huge commitment and writing about Religion is very brave, love it!
Thanks Sarah, I was fine writing it but did feel a bit exposed when it was published and here I realise how it is so easy to hold back and hide rather than speak up. I have always found it easy to write but speaking up and showing myself now that is another thing… and an area that I am willing to work on as I don’t want to be the one that could have… but didn’t because I made it about me rather than considered everyone and how sometimes we have to step outside our comfort zone as it is for all and not just for me.
There’s no wrong or right. That is, there’s no wrong or right. Really, there’s no wrong or right. I’ve not been raised with anyone (!!) explaining or using the word Religion in its original (true) meaning. All religions tell us what to do and what not to do. How is this possible as true love is unconditional so would never ever tell you what to do. It can share how to live your life in true relationship to it, but it is up to each and every one to re-discover this for themselves. How magnificent is life that it makes it possible to offer each and every one of us exactly what they need in order to evolve back to who we are, back to the sphere we come from, back to the One God.
Coming from organised religion to true love may be very difficult. Knowing true love it is much easier to see that religion naturally arises from such love.
True Religion is a forever unfolding… allowing the lived Truth of ages old to reawaken and once more be lived.
We all know truth deep within, and so when truth is presented to us, it is a confirmation of what we already know and feel… and this is why The Way of The Livingness makes so much sense.
“but how can we have so many people with a different idea about religion and who is to say which one is right? ” this important question you raise, is also answered by you when you say that you “didn’t feel that any really sat well with me so I decided I didn’t want a religion at all.”
It is such a trick of the human spirit to keep us confused about religion so many of us withdraw from it all. But as you explain later, it is the bastardisation of religion that we react to, and to be truly religious, is actually quite simple. It is about – as you say – building a relationship with yourself and the world around you.
The relationship we have with ourselves, this can be such a solid thing, and to take this out to the world is the antidote to the corruption that envelops so much of human existence. The more we have love in our bodies as our choice, the easier it is to reflect another way of living and expose the rot that is found in much of our culture, industry and political regimes.
It is true liberation knowing that there is no right or wrong, no sins and nothing to feel guilty about. We are already all we need to be, it is simply a matter of re-connecting to ourselves.
Yes that belief of right or wrong or you are a bad person because you messed up and you will have to suffer is so very very damaging!
How freeing it is when we are presented with the truth – and that is what happened to me when I first heard Serge present on the word religion – at last everything made sense and fell into place. I too had puzzled about why I felt so ambivalent towards the word ‘religion’ not realising that words are very powerful and that when they have been bastardised their power is distorted and the essence perverted. As a child I did not feel able to question what was presented – after all ‘I was only a child’ and ‘knew my place’ and it is only now in my later life that I can decide what is true for me and make choices from that deep inner knowing, which was there as a child – but lay dormant and impotent until I claimed my truth and began to live life again.
Wouldn’t it be fantastic if children were taught to feel what is true to them, what feels right for them rather than be taught that you are only a child, what would you know! When a child is free to connect to their inner wisdom and are treated as an equal son of god, they are awesome and can teach adults a lot!
I love the inspiration offered from people who live and express from their soul.. even if it is in moments – these reflections inspire other to be love. This is the purpose of religion.
Yes, to truly connect to who you are – re-lig-ion (‘lig’ means to tie up, to connect).
I remember always feeling there must be something more than just life, there must be a god as I knew there was a part of me that knew this truth. But the religions that were there always scared me a lot, I never felt at ease with the stories from the bible or any other religion. It was in coming to learn about the way of the livingness that there wasn’t anything like this in true religion, it is in relating to ourselves in the most precious way, relating to our divinity and that of the whole of humanity.
It’s interesting to look back and see what it was we were still able to connect to, that confirmed God, despite having given up on religion. Whether that was nature, the wonder of science, perhaps philosophy, but something we knew, resonated deeply at our innermost.
Yes, even with all the doubt, there was an inner knowing but because of all the ideals and beliefs, there was an uncertainty. This I believe is because for me, I hadn’t learnt to trust that inner wisdom that I know I have today.
I used to find the word religion, I would use the word, I would feel smarted, slated in the face, indignant….I felt hurt…in truth….religion is used in so many ways that are not about actual religion. I have found a simplification, relating my relationships with God through my body and allowing my loved quality to speak for itself, the body does not lie, true rebinding, a religious life is felt.
“It was not religion that I had a problem with, it was its misinterpretation that I reacted to”. Though it is the interpretations that we react to, they also lure one into excuses for not having to be responsible. True religion does not afford us this indulgence but in return it gives one true freedom as we accept and take up the responsibility of our choices instead of surrendering ourselves over to the misinterpreted ideals and beliefs of others.
This blog is inspirational, because you have really stopped to look at how religion, or the bastardised version of this word, has been playing out amongst society all over the world, and with this worldly view you are very wise to comment on the fact that we are a one humanity that is being separated into parts by a word that actually has no separation in its truest meaning at all.
“The various Gods and organised religions and all the stories made me feel a little uneasy and untrusting”. Yes me too, so I backed off the lot. It’s not God’s fault, it seems to be the want of mankind to thwart the Divine teachings in such a way to ensure that we do not live what is so inherent within us, True Brotherhood. What an immense grace to have re-connected with the simple truth of religion via the teachings of Serge Benhayon, a return to the reality of equality, responsibility, simplicity and a doctrine free relationship with God that lies waiting to lovingly embrace us, within us all.
‘how can we have so many people with a different idea about religion and who is to say which one is right?’ I have always had this feeling too. That if what one person said to be true was so then what another said could not be – I have always felt that there must be one truth which is true for everyone, else how could it be truth otherwise.
I have never had a problem with the word God or religion, and always felt connected to divinity without fully understanding or having words to express how I felt. The problem I had was how religion was sold and in one section of my family it was a sold and imposed force. Yet words did not always match actions. There were many contradictions, little brotherhood, integrity, honesty or true love. I witnessed exploitation. In the end I accepted (and still do) people’s choice to follow a particular religion and path and I went my own way, the only one in my family to do so. I experienced many ‘wilderness’ years before meeting Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine. At last a religion and way of being that felt true and I could relate to. It took a while to fully embody the truth of these presentations, and after years of neglect and confusion, am beginning to re-connect once more with my inner divinity.
It is a fact that most religions separate us from what is true and that puts many of us off, as even if someones religion is rugby or car racing, they tend to stick with their own and not be open to the all and these types of things are just distractions which do keep us in separation.
Thank you for your sharing Rosie. Very simply put but clear and concise. I agree that for me the journey ended when I found Universal Medicine and Serge Benhayons presentations of The Way of The Livingness. This to me is true Religion!
‘My religion is about reconnecting to me first and foremost. We are all one and the same and we are all connected.’ This is very different from the self-less God-centred religion many of us were brought up with. We tried to be good, confessed our sins when we were bad, and it was all about worshipping God and venerating the saints, not about reconnecting to our innermost, or about feeling just how connected we are to all of humanity, and seeing ourselves as equal sons of God.
The shrine, temple or church many are so desperately looking for is actually in our inner hearts the temple inside there where our true religion resides.
How golden a key this is… if this were widely known it would save much seeking and delay in arriving at our own centre and as such the door to the universe.
Indeed Deborah, and to add, it would turn our societies into a place where we live together in brotherhood, a way of living together we all know so well and are seeking for in all the relationships we have.
“It was not religion that I had a problem with, it was its misinterpretation that I reacted to.”- I too realised that was why I reacted to being in the catholic religion which is based on rules, right and wrong, and instils fear- if you sin you will go to hell, however if you go to confession you will all be absolved. But where is the self responsibility? I also saw priests and people of the congregation live a life of contradiction, to what was being preached and this confused me and made me question what I had been blindly following.
I didn’t feel a foundation of love in it at all. Thanks to Serge Benhayon I have a deeper understanding on the true meaning of religion.
That is one thing that I absolutely adore about Serge Benhayon, he lives and walks his talk. I have never seen him say one thing and do the opposite. A real role model.
Today I learnt on a deeper level what it means to be in true religious connection with my body. It feels very still, yet very powerful and extremely loving. Untouchable. I now understand both the importance of our body as well as the power of this vehicle when it’s connected to (true) love, that is the fiery source where we all come from.
‘I have always found the words ‘religion’ and ‘God’ quite annoying’ Our reactions instantly show us that there is discord between what we know to be true and what is being played out in front of us. The way these words have been used in discordance with their truth has caused enormous and varied reaction in which it takes the real deal – the truth of God and Religion in order to understand that we were reacting to the discord and never the truth of what the words represent to begin with.
I love how you have explained this Kylie and from our reactions, if we are open, we can learn so much!
Thank you Rosie, yes Religion for me is not an optional lifestyle choice, or a behaviour I reserve for a Sunday morning only. It is the way I connect to God, the universe and all of us in each and every moment. The more I do this in my life, the greater the Love I feel inside. So for me, Religion is a remembering of why we are here and what it truly means to be. Without this inner connection or light inside then I just find I am lost at sea, sailing aimlessly.
Yes it is the misinterpretation we react to and that feels so horrible because we know deep inside what true religion is. I feel very blessed to know The Way of The Livingness now and know what and how simple true religion actually is.
Nature is for sure a gift from God as a support and guide back to our own connection. With the deepening connection to our own essence and beauty with the same wonder and appreciation we can have for nature, the equality of how we are all part of the same grand design starts to reveal and we come back to understanding we are all one with God – there is no separateness to be felt.
“It was not religion that I had a problem with, it was its misinterpretation that I reacted to.” – and this is what I feel a vast majority of people have done, been turned off religion because of what they see in the world in the name of religion.
The fact that so many people have a history of reacting to the falseness in the way religion has been portrayed in the world shows that we have an inherent and fundamental connection with religion and it deeply hurts when such a profound aspect of our life is misrepresented and bastardised,
The moment we choose to re-connect to our innermost selves, we are in effect religious – this based on the true meaning of religion.
Each and every blog here on religion is a testament to The Way of The Livingness demonstrating how enriching it is to connect deeply to ourselves and each other..
Abby I completely agree, its a world changing set of blogs that show that their is a true Religion, with each one I find my relationship with religion deepening and I am becoming more embracing of the true beauty that religion is.
Yes indeed, Rosie. When we are deeply connected to ourselves we are in union with God, as we are reminded that we are forever held within his body.
Religion “had never been truly explained to me, I never knew the true meaning of religion.” This could be said of so many words. Take for example the true meaning of Love, Joy, or Spirit and Soul, once I had been given the gift of reconnecting to the truth of these words, through presentations by Serge Benhayon, it completely changed my understanding of the world and of myself. The power of words is life-defining, it is therefore crucial to know the truth of their origin and what they were formed to represent.
I agree, I never knew the true meaning of spirit or soul or love and it changes every thing when you have understanding. Nothing like being in a country and not knowing a single word of the language or worse, thinking they mean the opposite of what they do.
‘the relationship that I have with myself first and foremost and how that then has an effect on everyone else.’ This is a key presentation of The Way of The Livingness. When this relationship with self is built anything is possible.
“how can we have so many people with a different idea about religion and who is to say which one is right? ” this is the one thing that always got to me, how can so many people base their life on something that by virtue means so many others are wrong who base their life on it, all saying there are many ways to God. To me none of these ways stacked up and rightfully so as when you start to feel that its your own connection to God and in that connection your very personal yet universal religion that I felt I had come home.
‘My religion is about reconnecting to me first and foremost’, when we understand this there is no need for a leader, church, shrine, guru, someone to follow as it is the relationship we have withourselves and our bodies that supports the choices we make.
I too was ‘religion-less’ until meeting Serge Benhayon and it took a while to break down my reactions to the word, but the truth of what was presented is undeniable. When I really connected to the proper meaning of the word, I could see how I have been religious about many things, but not all of them have been holy! What a joy to have the real meaning and purpose of religion righted again through Serge’s persistence to restore its real meaning in a world that has deliberately abused this divine and natural expression.
When I step back and reflect back on my lack of relationship with religion and where I am today is life times away! The effort spent avoiding something that I felt was wrong, to the point of physically contracting with just the mention of anything religious. The Way of The Livingness is simple because it starts with the truth of what has always been within us all.
‘My religion is about reconnecting to me first and foremost’, simple and true. Without need of dogma, ritual, buildings, priests, shamans or gurus, we are free to connect to infinity, love and brotherhood.
It is crazy what we have made religion to be while it is something very simple, the relationship with ourselves, who we are and where we come from, thus our relationship with God.
“it is essentially about the relationship that I have with myself first and foremost” we must claim this with all our might.
To have a relationship with religion is truly a gift that brings more to our life and vitality that is far from the experience I have had with religion growing up. Religion was always looked upon as something was fed and we were given the answers for the why questions. Whether it came from the scriptures or a person who was representing the church. How wonderful would it be to share this understanding with our future generations? To experience religion as who we are and our relationships with the world. They say our young can bring words of wisdom with their ability to love life and be so playful. This combined with the teaching of the Ancient Wisdom from Serge Benhayon could be the ultimate act of love between one another.
I don’t have so much difficulty with the word ‘religion’ but I do still find it hard to talk about God to someone who does not believe in the existence of God, because I cannot back up what I say with absolute physical proof in my body. That is for me to work on, because I know that the more I tune into my body, the more I will feel God.
Carmel that’s a great point, and something I also find. I know it but there is still part of me that uses the physical to backup what I feel rather than living and claiming what I feel regardless of the physicality. Something for me to look at that makes me see how I am still security based and looking out for self rather than living the wisdom we can all connect to.
I like that, security based. For me, I don’t have to see it or touch it to know it. There are some things that I just know and I don’t need science to prove it or any thing to justify it.
Serge Benhayon has presented that when we truly understand religion we realise that everything is religion – this just goes to show how much of an illusion is required to keep us from returning to the simple truth.
Yes we are religious in the way we eat, the way we speak, the way we are with each other, we are religious everyday, not just on Sundays.
“We are all one and the same and we are all connected.” And in my limited experience of travelling I came to see that also, no matter what the religion being practiced, Christianity Hinduism Buddhism etc these man made divisions are really superficial. We are one humanity, we are all equal and we are all God’s Children and in our essence we are all the same. The Way of the Livingness is the only religion that I know of that this is part of its foundation, knowing that there is no separation in fact that that is really an impossibility and this is one of the reasons that I have chosen The Way of The Livingness religion to be lived in my everyday.
“instead of needing a shrine, temple or church, all I ever need is a deep connection to me” Absolutely Rosie, and we are reminded of that deep connection and the love within when we see all of that space around us and feel all of the love that is contained with it. With this, you always feel completely held and supported and know, that our essence and our bodies, are that temple.
‘With this, you always feel completely held and supported and know, that our essence and our bodies, are that temple.’ I agree Julie. There is no longer a striving to be or get somewhere, but a surrendering to the here and now and appreciation of all that we are and our true worth.
Very honest sharing Rosie, i love it. I agree the word ‘religion’ brings up much for many. You bring a simplicity to it, simply it is our relationship with us, the connection we have with ourself and then we take this out to all. What is this connection to us? It is the connection to the essence of who we are and this essence is our connection to something greater, that is love. So religion is about love, living loving relationships with us and everyone, and the world.
Karoline what you have shared here ‘so religion is about love, living loving relationships with us and everyone, and the world’ sums up true religion and at the same time sums up why traditional religion is not true.
It is true that we don’t need a ‘shrine, temple or church’ and that religion is about our deep connection to our innermost, to God and to all – a very good point – and yet it is lovely to congregate together with students of The Way of the Livingness and that happens in a meeting place or hall. What seems important is that the religion doesn’t get identified with that hall and become about that outside thing, but it is simply used as a supportive meeting place.
Yes, Lyndy, getting together then becomes simply a celebration of how we live in communion with God in our daily lives.
Absolutely Janet.
It does not matter where we, students of The Way of The Livingness, congregate the experience is always joyful and confirming. It is the coming together that is the catalyst, not where.
Rosie this is such a great question ‘how can we have so many people with a different idea about religion and who is to say which one is right?’ and the answer is because our ideas are exactly that ‘ideas’. An idea is something that exists outside of the body, true religion is a knowing that comes from within the body. Once we all return to true religion our feelings about what religion is will all be identical. Just to be clear the feeling will be identical but we will have many different ways of expressing exactly the same thing and what’s more important is, we will all know beyond a shadow of a doubt that we are all talking about the same God.
Serge Benhayon brings the word religion back to its true home and rightful place. How absolutely beautiful it is to be embracing true religion as connection in everyday life.
oh I love how you have written this! “What has been done in the name of religion is a travesty of such proportions mankind is barely able to comprehend, but comprehend it must if we are to break free of it’s stranglehold. For it has been growing like a pernicious weed that has wrapped around our eyes and ears for way too long, causing us to be deaf to its abuse”. This needs to be on billboards!
This phrase about religion: “instead of needing a shrine, temple or church, all I ever need is a deep connection to me” touches my heart and shows how far we have turned this most natural expression into a caricature and a cliché.
True religion is our relationship with everything, starting first and foremost with ourselves.
‘My religion is about reconnecting to me first and foremost.’ This makes so much sense to me, especially once there is an acceptance or a deep feeling that there is a hugeness there to connect to because of where we are from. The more I connect and the deeper I go there more I realise what depth there is to connect to!
Educators and pastors in schools teach Religion quite likely without considering the origins or meaning of the word itself. Therefore we have no real education in Religion but an assumed truth – when there is none.
I too have traveled the world and seen many cultures and religions – and what I have found is that beyond the religious faith or culture we are all intrinsically the same, everyone laughs and cries and loves and has lost and actually if we could see past this labels more often to the people who are underneath we would find far more similarities than differences.
This is so true… so many similarities for we are all one and the same.
“So instead of needing a shrine, temple or church, all I ever need is a deep connection to me.” – beautiful Rosie, so simply said.
There is so much we look outside ourselves to create and experience, do we ever stop to consider exploring what is more deeply and discover what our natural qualities are, what ones we express and what we don’t etc..
“I have learnt that the religious way of being is the relationship I have with myself…” … so simple and yet so profound.
So true Rosie… “…nature reflects a divine design which inspires me to reconnect more deeply with myself.” There are no coincidences, only divine constellations… and the Magic of God in nature is one such amazing constellation.
I always found it confusing how there were so many people who believed such different things as well – surely at least 90% of it had to be wrong. But what if the core of religion is true – we know we are part of something so much grander than human life – but the tenets of each religion have been written from the human perspective, rather than the from the grandness we come from and are innately part of.
I remember as a very young child thinking it was really strange that there were so different churches in my very small home town, there were the Baptists, the Methodists, Anglicans, Jehovah Witnesses and of course the Catholics of which I was one. I could even then at that very young age feel the separation, rivalry and how one lot thought they were right which meant all the others were wrong and they were going to burn in the fires of hell for eternity.
and my holy day is different to your holy day…. and you have to worship god on this day but why not live it and love everyday?
What a beautiful religion Rosie. It wasn’t until another child imposed their religious beliefs on me when I was in primary school that I understood how harmful and dishonest the bastardisation of religion was. This other child’s beliefs were bizarre to me and my beliefs were bizarre to her. Each of us had been taught that the other was ‘less; in some way. This meant that we were not able to simply connect with each other as children. No true religion can support anything less than equality and oneness.
And so begins the separation from when we are young, and the confusion.. and the question of who is right?
What a beautiful blog. I am sure lots of people will be able to relate to this. The Way of the Livingness is just that, it is us being alive and well in our bodies free from any impediments and impositions, free to be who we truly are and discovering/uncovering more love in each and every day.
I once read a quote that said that ‘people with golden hearts make any system work’. When we make love our religion, we see beyond our differences into that which unites us all no matter what ‘system’ we may live in or adhere to.
“… it was its misinterpretation that I reacted to,” and for me the abuse of power that the misinterpretation is engineered to deliver. How can a entire race of Divine people consider themselves in any way superior to one another when we all come from the same source, all live within the same body of God and are all equal Sons of our Divine Father?
Human beings have accepted so much the idea of competition that we also use it in religious matters. Through that, we do not bring the divine into the human but the human into the divine.
“I didn’t understand how they all had a religion with a ‘god’ and their god was better than someone else’s God. And their religions were all so different. It never felt right…” I felt the same puzzlement Rosie. If we are all children of God how could God have preference for one child more than the other depending on their beliefs? The true meaning of religion is so simple, isn’t it? A re-connection with self…from there understanding of others is truly possible and a way lived that encompasses the all.
“I never knew how the word religion was originally used and what it really meant: because it had never been truly explained to me, I never knew the true meaning of religion.” same here, it shows that if we do not pass on, raise our children or discuss among ourselves the truth of certain words we end up blindly going along with things that are sometimes if not many times the opposite of the truth. We accept that and we call it normal.
It’s interesting how many people world wide react t the word religion, is that because we know the truth in out bodies yet have chosen deliberately so, to start so far away from it. Therefor it’s easy to blame other people, and what we see around us than take responsibility for ourselves. The fact is we have allowed religion to become what it is thought of – it’s now we who have to claim this back again, not by words, but by how we live. Just like Jesus did, he didn’t preach or tell others what to do, he lived a simple life and people were inspired by him.
“My religion is about reconnecting to me first and foremost. We are all one and the same and we are all connected. The more I develop the relationship with myself, the more I will be able to understand life and those around me. So instead of needing a shrine, temple or church, all I ever need is a deep connection to me.”
This is a crucial truth and wisdom , which needs to be chosen every moment anew.
Rosie, your description of true religion feels so simple and true, ‘it is essentially about the relationship that I have with myself first and foremost and how that then has an effect on everyone else.’ I can feel how far away from this so many religions that I have come across are; that they are not simple and have made connecting to God about being in a place of worship rather than it being about a connection within. It is very beautiful to read about The Way of the Livingness and how ‘We are all one and the same and we are all connected.’ This is what I feel when I meet people, no matter what culture or country they are from, I feel the sameness and the equality.
So beautifully expressed and in keeping with my experiences as I grew up and the deep understanding I have also come to in connection with myself, with religion, and with God. Thank you to you and thank you Serge Benhayon.
It is only when we look outside of our own religion that we can see the similarities and differences between all the religions, and we become more aware of the control mechanisms in place that govern people’s lives. What I love about The Way of The Livingness is that we are inspired to feel for ourselves what is true and not just rely on what is presented, so there is no fixed dogma, although we learn about the energetic laws, i.e. what happens when we make certain choices, but these are not rules for us to follow blindly, just natural occurrences that are the consequences of our actions.
So simple and foundational Rosie, I love this… “My religion is about reconnecting to me first and foremost. We are all one and the same and we are all connected. The more I develop the relationship with myself, the more I will be able to understand life and those around me. So instead of needing a shrine, temple or church, all I ever need is a deep connection to me…”
‘ it was its misinterpretation that I reacted to’ … there are so many things I’ve reacted to and reading this this today Rosie, I’m considering is it the thing I’ve reacted to or in fact it’s misinterpretation? And in fact isn’t reaction then a great way to stay in that misinterpretation rather than feel deeply what the truth might be, like you do here with religion. What if my reactions towards those misinterpretations are in fact great distractions away from feeling the truth of that word (religion) or that way of being? And what if I know that staying in reaction means I do not have to address where I am at with something and deal with the hurts I may have … and what if my reaction is a way I do not live the truth of what I know?
Good thing to consider Monica, reactions get me all the time! Its an old pattern of behaviour that I sometimes do without even realising I am doing it until after. Its as if it is not me because I don’t really want to react that way but sure enough there are times I do. When I am present and in the moment, I can choose to change it in the moment, re create instead of re-act… but I am still working on that.
In re-action there is no real responsibility …. ouch! I only just figured that out.. because in a way we are just on automatic pilot…. but who is the pilot? Ah that is another blog I wrote about… https://truthaboutuniversalmedicine.com/2013/05/31/connection-choice-energy-are-you-the-pilot-or-is-autopilot-running-you/
What a beautiful and simple explanation of religion. You write: “I came across Serge Benhayon who presented on true religion and how the word religion has been bastardised” – audio excerpts and quotes from some of those many presentation on religion by Serge Benhayon can be found here: http://www.unimedliving.com/unimedpedia/word-index/unimedpedia-religion.html at Unimedpedia Religion, which provides a good insight into the true religion we naturally feel as children and know in our inner-hearts.
“It was not religion that I had a problem with, it was its misinterpretation that I reacted to.” I feel the same Rosie. All the hellfire and damnation being dished out to those that don’t have the same religious beliefs as each other certainly turned me off religion, until I too felt the truth of true religion for myself. I now know myself to be a deeply religious person. My religion is The Way of the Livingness.
Rosie, I too have had a problem with the word religion in the past, because of the way it has been played out in the world- wars have been created because of it, past horrific atrocities have occurred in the name of religion e.g. Cathars, Dark Ages, to now in modern time- suicidal bombings. However, by understanding that its true meaning has been bastardised and knowing that the temple of God is actually deep within the hearts of us all, and feeling this as truth, has been life changing for me, thanks to Serge Benhayon at Universal Medicine. I now know all I have a responsibility for is my daily connection with me, and this is how to reconnect to who I truly am.
This sums it up for me also – ‘It was not religion that I had a problem with, it was its misinterpretation that I reacted to.’ I can say now unreservedly that I love religion and being religious; being able to feel the truth and how there truly is in the reality of religion.
“I didn’t understand how they all had a religion with a ‘god’ and their god was better than someone else’s God. And their religions were all so different. It never felt right… like seriously, we are all essentially the same, we are all one humanity but how can we have so many people with a different idea about religion and who is to say which one is right?”.
No wonder that we’ve been overwhelmed with all these different dogmatic systems of organised religion around us. Now that I’m learning my own relationship with God and the Grand Plan to restore brotherhood, I can let go of all the beliefs around God and Religion. Any religion can only be true if at the core of its foundation is to grow / evolve people without telling what to do or not to do. I know for myself now that I can’t tell anyone what to do or how to live, I only can share how I live my life and how important it is to re-learn to listen to our inner voice. Because it is this voice that is naturally connected to the true religion inside of us.
Religion and God have come heavily laden with authority, structure, rules and expectations. Today these man made definitions are all being exposed and the absolute disregard of humanity they espouse is being challenged. Religion is simple – it is felt from within and is the connection to our innermost and to all others in brotherhood. There is no separative component to this as we are all in essence a reflection of the love in each other. God is in the breath and in every living thing – God is what we are held in everyday.
Who would have thought that everything is within the word religion and that we are truly religious when we come from our own essence and express that in everything that we do every day. Super simple and absolute magic.
Faith in who I am is showing me that I have a divine connection that is unwavering thanks to Serge Benhayon and The Way of The Livingness.
I have been hugely inspired by witnessing such level of care and responsibility as a basic foundation lived by Serge Benhayon and demonstrated by Universal Medicine.
There are trainings that teach people what to say and how to behave in order to convey a certain impression. Advertising and marketing also research the best way to attract customers in this way. Yet when we realise that there is an energetic outplay behind our words and actions far greater than what we can see and hear, it becomes obvious that it is far more honest and responsible to take care of the energy and intent behind our expression.
This blog touches on a much much bigger and ill accepted issue that is pervading humanity and that is the acceptance of our different truths to the point where we tolerate our brothers and not see each other as equals. This is a great issue because all the problems we face today will never ever be solved unless we reunite as one once again
When true religion is known, there is absolutely nothing to recoil from.
So true Kylie, I feel the word ‘religion’ has been given a bad name by our wayward spirit.
Quite the opposite Kylie, when true religion is known then there is a feeling of wanting to surrender back into it and embrace it in full.
Thank you Rosie, I can very much relate to this – ‘It was not religion that I had a problem with, it was its misinterpretation that I reacted to.’ – Coming from a place of huge reaction towards religions and their belief systems, today I know that true religion simply means re-connection with myself and by that, my soul. No dogmas needed.
I love your sharing here Rosie. I was brought up in one of the major religions and I can’t say that I knew what religion actually meant either. There was a belief in God and a few of rules on how to live, but no-one ever had ever explained what the word itself actually meant, what the origins of the word meant and what this means to our everyday life. Understanding the origins of the word religion has had quite an effect on my own understanding of life and as a result I no longer have an issue with the word.
Coming back to the true meaning of words can allow us to see how far we have come from living the truth of who we are in essence.
Rosie I love this “As I began to understand the real meaning of the word, I had to ask myself why I avoided the word or why it made me feel uncomfortable and why so many people react to it.” as its the experience I’ve also had, It amazes me how I don’t react to that word today when I did before, it shows how words get twisted – energy runs us and until we heal these configurations we are trapped. I also love how its our movements that free us and not our mind.
I get this sickly feeling when I think about the way the one thing that is supposed to unify (religion), has done exactly the opposite and created some of the deepest separation – it’s sad, very, very sad.
‘It was not religion that I had a problem with, it was its misinterpretation that I reacted to.’ A fair point that I think the majority of us can relate to. Underneath we all know what feels true even if we are practicing an organised religion and I think that unless you are an absolute fundamentalist most would grapple with those bastardisations within their own religions. Knowing that religion simply means to reconnect keeps everything beautifully simple and yet offers a vastness of awareness once we realise what we are reconnecting to.
“How much simpler it is to have a personal relationship with God after all he is the very space around us..?” This one question could change the world, if we stopped to feel the love that we are constantly held in.
Very simple and clear writing about how we are religious by nature and thus ‘So instead of needing a shrine, temple or church, all I ever need is a deep connection to me.’
I grew up thinking being religious was just so uncool. It was only when I understood its true meaning that I could see previously I had also been reacting to its misinterpretation and thus for that period shutting myself down to the possibility of finding its true meaning. it is amazing how destructive the bastardisation of words can be.
People’s interpretations of religion is what causes the problems. The original messages from our wise brothers like Jesus and Mohamed have been changed over the years. This is why I used to be quite dismissive of religious people because it my mind they were following something that really didn’t make sense. The message of love was not there and a lot of what I felt was separation and division. The Way of The Livingness has love and brotherhood at its core, with no chosen ones. This is a religion that makes sense to me.
This takes me back to being a child sitting in church and feeling the incongruence between what was being said and how people felt and were living. Something just did not add up. There was an absence of lived joy and harmony. Today I would call it an absence of Livingness. We might do better to observe the true wisdom of children whilst they are still connected to their innate ability to feel and sense, rather than indoctrinate them with beliefs and ideals. Perhaps they are the truly wise ones in this world.
“… there is no right or wrong but a constant returning back to who I really am, each and every day.” True religion is based on getting to know who we really are, to become more and more aware of our innate inner love and wisdom, something that can never be abandoned or defiled, just buried by false ideals and the trauma of choosing to separate from God. This shift in appreciation of the true meaning of the word ‘religion’, to ‘re-align’ brings an immense healing to so many who have reacted to the false interpretations and ensuing organisations that promulgate fake ideas and pointless rituals, which lead us a long way away from the truth. No wonder then we have such a knee jerk reaction to the word, Serge Benhayon certainly has his work cut out re-introducing the real meaning and practice of religion.
When we reinterpret a word to suit the needs of others then we can make it become exactly what we want it to be, and this is what religion has done to the word Religion. It is so bastardised it has none of the essence it was originally brought forth with, and I feel this is why there is so much reaction to the word today. When you hear it’s true meaning it makes so much mores sense and is felt with every cell of my body to be true.
My experience with religion was also a reaction to what was being presented. Religion became the tablespoon of cod liver oil you were told to swallow when you were small because it was good for you. What a difference it is of returning to the light after all the years of walking in the darkness.
‘My religion is about reconnecting to me first and foremost’ and since this is the key to connecting to everyone else and God, there is nothing more sacred.
So true Matilda, the feeling of sacredness that is within unites, unifies and re-binds us all, and it starts with self as you so simply explain.
I can understand how confusing it must have been meeting people from many different countries all with different religions, who were all saying that their God was the only one. It was challenging enough growing up in a town where there were only few different religions but that was enough to confuse me a lot because none of them actually made sense to me. How simple is to now understand that religion is the relationship with ourselves, first and foremost, and from building this relationship with self we naturally find ourselves in relationship with others and this world.
Those that go to church weekly or even daily – how do they live the rest of their life? I do not go to church as my religion is not based upon this ‘version’ of God. However, the same and pertinent question remains. Is my relationship with God a 24/7 commitment and rhythm? Or is it something I turn on in times of need, celebration or reflection?
As a young child I felt like you described it here Rosie, connected to nature and myself knowing that God is within me. But in my later years I decided to search for God outside in order to conform with my family. This was hurting me for many years until I chose again to quit church and religion.
Now I am in this knowing again that God is within me and when I am connected I express him in my way of being and moving. In this Universal Medicine and Serge Benhayon are a huge support to get to feel, understand and live this truth more and more.
The biggest lie that most organised religions sell is their complexity and they spin it this way so as to enslave us to them. It’s the perfect sales pitch – making us believe that we need a product. So here’s a question? Why does it have to be so perfectly and intricately designed this way? Why do they have to work so hard, build such impressive buildings and create such terrifying images as hell? Because when true religion is so easily and so readily available to us all, a gigantic illusion has to be constructed to get us away from it. In fact we should look at the brilliance of the evil of organised religion and marvel at it – because it in fact reflects to us the majesty of what it is trying to counter, or what we all hold within us, what is available to us all every second of every day. Humbling and inspiring.
These words Otto are powerful! “we should look at the brilliance of the evil of organised religion and marvel at it – because it in fact reflects to us the majesty of what it is trying to counter, or what we all hold within us, what is available to us all every second of every day.” It really is something to appreciate, this is big!
I find it very supportive to try to really understand and be aware of the fullness and force of evil because that then supports me to appreciate the even greater depths of the love that are within us all and that the evil is trying to counter.
In the past, I wouldn’t have said that I felt I was particularly religious. I actually didn’t want to be associated with any religion because it felt they were all controlling and I didn’t feel they were about love. They all felt like they had the answers, one was better than the other, they weren’t all equal, which was very important to me, that people felt they were equal. So I really loved your line here “My religion is about reconnecting to me first and foremost” this to me is what religion is about, reconnecting to oneself.
“My religion is about reconnecting to me first and foremost.” Rosie that is my religion too. I also had reacted to the misinterpretation of the word religion and I am very appreciative that I had met Serge Benhayon who had help me to re-connect to the true meaning of religion.
‘instead of needing a shrine, temple or church, all I ever need is a deep connection to me’ this is beautiful to read because it reminds us that everything we ever need in terms of religion is deep within our own bodies, and that from our innermost we can access the wisdom of the ages, and know how to be in our families and in society.
Well said Carmel – there is no need to keep searching outside of ourselves, all we need is already carried within, in each and every one of us.
Interesting really isn’t it as so many have been led to believe that it is outside of ourselves or you have to go to this or that leader, priest or holy person or Guru. So many have been searching for lifetimes, looking outside and never realising that they are a son of god themselves and we all have it equally within.
The very thing we are naturally united by has been used to separate us! This was the same understanding with me ‘It was not religion that I had a problem with, it was its misinterpretation that I reacted to. It was the separation that I noticed around the world, that was created by “my religion is better than yours” and “you will go to hell if you sin etc.”’ And as you say it has zero to do with a building or shine but rather the innate connection we all have, that is equal within. As Yeshua said ‘the kingdom of God is within you’ this is the truth.
“So I was religion-less, or so I thought for quite some time, until I came across Serge Benhayon who presented on true religion and how the word religion has been bastardised, and then it all suddenly made sense to me” – i was raised catholic and at school, being this faith was seen/regarded as being ‘prim and proper’, or ‘a good girl’.. which never sat well with me because i thought it was/i was ‘bookish and square’, i.e. no fun (!) At the same time i remember as a child feeling touched with the ceremony and order of religion, the incense, prayer, hymns, and understood about adoration…Yet i still felt myself removed from it/religion, and it was only for ‘holy people/priests/nuns’. When Serge Benhayon presented on Religion i felt re-joined, myself a ‘straight person’ an integral part of it; that i am religion along with the universe in all its divine order. There was (and is) never any doubt in my mind and heart about the sanctity of this all-encompassing true religion – The Way of The Livingness.
This is great what you have shared Zofia, I too have never had a doubt about the ‘sanctity’ and truth of ‘this all-encompassing true religion – The Way of The Livingness’.
Even the prim and proper, or good girl picture is dishonest as I have met many that fall in this category but outside of the church they are far from it and there for me is just another lie. You cannot live one thing under one roof, ie church and then live another at home…… and then same applies now, I cant live one thing at work and then another at home. It needs to be all one and the same, and the way I am with people no matter where I am.
As soon as I read ceremony, order, incense, prayer I realised I do this everyday, in the way that I move, the way I set things up in my home or work and how things flow. Even the way you prepare a meal can be a ceremony.
Thank you Rosie, it just shows you how true religion is a relationship to a thing, you, thought, ideal, sculpture, image or God – something you believe in and trust as it. I trust my inner-knowings and my connection to God through my way and livingness from that space that is harmonious within. My religion is The Way of The Livingness. It’s empowering to me and has the same intent for all.
Until only recently I’ve actually never asked God for support (or anyone else who has power). Since I’ve started asking for support I’m enjoying the responses. Usually I receive them in a way that I can’t think of or imagine. Sometimes it’s in a word, sometimes in a series of experiences, sometimes in a song. But what I find beautiful is the unwavering support. As well as the lightness that comes with it. It is a very equal relationship, a very normal one – yet extremely loving! I start to love asking for support to God and building a relationship – which means being in religion – with him.
This is great what you have shared Floris, I am inspired to asked for more support from God.
Me too, I had given up asking for support a long time ago because even the idea of asking god for support had been warped by ideals and beliefs but I don’t need to be stuck in any of those anymore!
Wow, realising it’s never been religion I’ve had an issue with but the miss-interpretation of it is awesome. I can let go of any misgivings I thought I had about religion and allow myself to understand true religion. How beautiful the simplicity of, ‘My religion is about reconnecting to me first and foremost.’
Love your definition of religion here Rosie – developing a deep connection with self and from there with everything and everyone. By this definition, I am proud to say I am religious!
‘My religion is now The Way of The Livingness’ I read this and said to myself mine too and then I realised that I never thought I would ever start a sentence with ‘My religion is….’ for all the reasons you describe above. How could there be multiple Gods all claiming to be ‘the God’ and why did we need to go to a church or religious building to feel a connection, all these questions and others made no sense until I understood the meaning of true religion.
That is true – there are a lot of misinterpretations in religion and they seem quite obvious and, from the outside looking in, the question has often been for me how come that so many of us accept these interpretations, even really crude ones?
Is it because so many others have accepted them, so we doubt what we feel, or we are afraid to speak up in case we are put down and made fun of?
You’ve highlighted the importance of discerning for ourselves the truth behind a situation or word, and not falling for any possible bastardised interpretations that are so much easier to follow or believe.
Yes. ‘Easier to follow’ only in the ‘safety in numbers’ model to life. Developing awareness for the truth we know inside is what makes life simpler and clearer.
Yes easy to follow blindly, to give our power away but not easy really because we have to go against what our body knows to be true and to do this, its like swimming upstream and it can be exhausting.
Rosie your experience is one that I and many others share. Traditional religion just ain’t it and we all know it. Those that go along with it know on some level that it’s a shady representation of the true thing because we are all able to feel and read energy and so the true energetic quality of every-thing is known to every-one of us. I’m not singling out only those that are involved in traditional religion because all of us are responsible for not, up until very recently having true religion established here on Earth. Rosie I am with you whole heartedly when I say that ‘The Way of The Livingness’ is my religion and my connection with myself is the living way.
If we put a group of young children together they are naturally in ‘religion’ with each other. It is what we have done in the name of religion that has tainted it and made it a no go zone for many. I have lately enjoyed reading a few blogs about the truth of religion, and how it is as I experience within myself. My religion is love, the deep connection I feel with myself with nature people and the world around me. There is more that unites us than separates us in truth.
The simplicity of The Way of The Livingness is very beautiful and practical too. It supports us to bring the divine into our daily life, expression and relationships, as it is something that is innate in all of us and so available to be connected or re-connected with all of the time.
I think most people react to the interpretation man has of religions because if we look at it honestly it has been pretty messed up for a long time.
This may be true, however in that reaction lies an irresponsibility to accept our part in it. For everyone of us that is not living our true religion enables and supports another to become lost in any of these false religions.
Yes very true, I feel like I have been so irresponsible in knowing this and only now writing about it. In writing about it, we already see how many people know about it too, but we are all waiting for someone else to lead the way or to stand up and speak about it in case we get it wrong or in case people react.
Yes, I may use these excuses not to speak my truth but they really are just excuses. And I know this because every time that I have spoken my truth or claimed what I feel then the result has never been the negative that I created in my head.
Love this Rosie… “My religion is now The Way of The Livingness, and it is essentially about the relationship that I have with myself first and foremost and how that then has an effect on everyone else. It is forever expanding as do I, and there is no right or wrong but a constant returning back to who I really am, each and every day.”
‘I have always found the words ‘religion’ and ‘God’ quite annoying and I didn’t really know why until I started questioning their meaning and re-interpretation – or misinterpretation to be more exact’. I know what you mean Rosie. Any talk of the Churches and religion in my home town when I was a child used to make me feel sick. I could , like every other child, feel how untrue it was and what lay behind it. Why did none of us really speak up about what we registered. I know for myself I thought that I was out-of-step with everyone (even though my Dad thought the Church was evil). I used to feel general society around me as one big thing that was going on that everyone else seemed to know about but not me. I knew the truth of my own being and did not doubt it, but I could not match that with the way that society was ‘doing’ it’ and only claimed my authority in bits and pieces.
When I was a child I often posed the question why there are so many different religions when there is only one God.
There is only one truth, but there are lots of different ways to lie.
Especially when we get caught up in me, myself and I. When there is an investment in self, people can do some very sad and crazy things.
If a religion is true there is no need to prove it is right or wrong, you just know the truth of it. Institutionalized religions have lost the connection to the truth and therefore are easily bastardised by people with invested interests. Like you Rosie, I found that connecting to nature supported me to connect to myself and I could not find a true religion until I came across The Way of the Livingness which reminded me to reconnect to the truth within. There’s no need for a church or a priest but it is lovely to gather together to confirm and reflect to each other our love of God and our path of service and especially to have the reflection from Serge Benhayon who lives his life in total service and who holds us all as equals in our potential to evolve.
The word religion has been bastardised so much to the point that we deny we are religious or that there is even a God.
It is well worth considering that Religion itself is widely accepted in society and the notion of God.
Whilst we have deviated far from the truth of Religion and Religion has been bastardised and skewed in many respects, with all manner of ill and atrocity conducted in the purity of Religions name, Religion itself and God is deeply known to us all as a whole for we are of God and this is an undeniable truth.
Hi! I’ve been really enjoying the thought provoking depth of your posts. So i’d like to nominate your blog for a Liebster Award.
If you happen to be at all interested in participating in that sort of thing, here’s the link: https://storybehindthecloth.wordpress.com/2017/02/26/liebster-award/
Otherwise, i really just wanted to give you the extra little bit of recognition. 🙂
I’m sure your blog speaks for many people – people who think they are not religious and who think they have a problem with God but who in truth have no problem with either, only the bastardisation of both.
I love this Nikki. And am sure too that this is true for many people, and actually the more we talk about it the more people will be able to share their quiet, always relationships with God and being religious.
Yes most definitely, we all need to talk about this and share what we have always felt, break the silence, and break the following blindly and not speaking up in case another get offended. They may only get offended because when we talk about it, they have to feel how they have dismissed their own feelings for so long and got caught up in a belief that may not feel true to them. And from my own experience, it can be hard at times to admit we have been lost, or that we have invested our time, money and life into something that never quite felt right.
Beautiful, Rosie. I too am enjoying a naturally religious way of life again thanks to the Way of The Livingness, which has reminded me and opened me up again to the direct experience I remember as a child, that we are all equally and constantly held in God’s love.
I reacted to the word religion as well. but at the same time everything inside me longed for being in religion. As long as religion was something outside of me – manmade religion – I only could be in reaction or denial as it was in contradiction to what a part of me knew religion to be in truth. Now that I know religion to be my connection and union with me, God and everything there is as an equal part of the whole, I can embrace the word and be religious once again.
Yes, being religious in that way is very joyful.
Rosie it sounds very much as though your ‘religion’ has always been ‘The Way of the Livingness’, just not so formally captured and understood. The essence of what you described as your ‘way’, IS the essence of what ‘The Way of the Livingness’ represents.
Thanks Jenny, you are right, I have a feeling that I have known it forever too, just never really claimed it or named it.
The Way of The Livingness delivers the first written text from the person who is teaching the religion. There is no reinterpretation to get in the way of what is presented by Serge Benhayon. Thank you Rosie, I feel as you do that this is a true religion, I also feel it needs to be studied and understood because it presents the undeniable energetic truth.
Beautifully expressed Rosie. When I think about the many major so called religions of the world I get this heavy feeling full of complexity and huge amount of energy wasted in trying to conform; of punishment, blame, and giving myself away to ideals and beliefs and a “higher power”, separation and confusion. When I am with myself and walking with a sense of space around me, connection with all of nature of which every one of us human beings are a part, I feel light and free, able to take responsibility for my choices, enjoy life without attachment, feel the equalness of us all, and know the stillness within. With all this I can feel this way of one Universal Love is true religion.
When understanding the true meaning of religion from the actions that occur in the name of the religion couldn’t seem further from the true expression of the word.
Yes, as with many words and pillars within society, they have deviated far from their origins and true purity however we each allow this to occur when we abandon the deeper and true truth we all know.
So true, we are feeling it and we abandon it but then often want to blame others for the fact that we have made this choice.
Rosie this is a very simple loving knowing of True Religion from within and really beautiful to read and know how we all know this inside as children and is always within us all. It makes sense and resonates deeply within ” My religion is about reconnecting to me first and foremost.” The confusion, division and complication of religions presented to us in the world is a good way of keeping the truth of our livingness away from us and is pure evil in effect and does not come from love
The one thing that many religions miss is that it is through connection to our body that we will know God. The Way of the Livingness clearly represents this true foundation of religion and Rosie, in her sharing above brings this fact to us in her writing and clear connection to her body and honour of the world in which we live.
So true Leigh. It is through our bodies that we come to feel our godliness, the quality of love within, the depth of stillness, the spaciousness, the joy and connection to truth. Beautiful.
Thanks for pointing this out Leigh and Victoria as it gives me a moment to really appreciate that the more I have cared for my body, and treated myself as a divine being, the more godly and amazing I feel and the more I am able to see and appreciate the divine-ness in all those around me.
True Rosie, and appreciating and honouring our bodies, our ‘temple’, is not a selfish act as it is naturally in respect to the greater body we live within, and the quality we bring to the world has an effect on us all.
You hit the nail bang on the head here Rosie. Your travels around the world revealed to you so many people with different ‘ideas’ about religion – and in these differences there is an absence of agreement, unity and oneness. But when we stop seeking to be right, let go of our ideas and reconnect to our innate ability to feel what is true, then there is unity. We can feel that true religion is about love and that the very same love is in fact our true nature. All the different labels, ideas, beliefs etc are secondary to what we know in our hearts. Thank you for sharing your wisdom here.
Thank you Richard, and what I felt as I was reading your comment is, it doesn’t matter where you come from or what language you speak because love is understood by all.
For so long we have allowed the word ‘religion’ to get in the way of us and God – as some kind of authority/expert that knew better – and many reacted to the obvious lie they could feel. The true meaning of the word religion restores and confirms the power we all have, the direct connection with the Divinity.
Beautiful Rosie. It really is that simple.
I used to feel uncomfortable with the word religion because of the rules it would impose on its congregation, there was no room for exploring and finding out for yourself. “It was not religion that I had a problem with, it was its misinterpretation that I reacted to” for me too Rosie, but I didn’t really understand this until like you I heard the true meaning of religion through Serge Benhayon and I could feel what was presented with every cell of my body. I could feel my body sigh with relief a relief that what I had felt as a child was being confirmed.
I know that sigh of relief, like oh my god, finally someone is saying that some thing about religion that my whole body is resonating with. Finally I am hearing about religion and it does not leave anyone out or anyone less than another!
“My religion is now The Way of The Livingness, and it is essentially about the relationship that I have with myself first and foremost and how that then has an effect on everyone else. It is forever expanding as do I, and there is no right or wrong but a constant returning back to who I really am” Thank you Rosie, beautiful in the simplicity and truth and a religious way of being that is equal for all.
Now I feel back at how I felt as a child growing up it actually did not make sense that there were so many different religions and it would even make less sense why there was so much war about religion. I accepted it as normal and ‘the way the world is’ yet deep inside I felt confused and hurt and it did not feel right. I love how confident you were and made it about connection with yourself. Many things are confusing in the world but if we connect to ourselves it is easier to discern what is the truth and what is not.
“So instead of needing a shrine, temple or church, all I ever need is a deep connection to me.” Such a beautiful appreciation of true Religion Rosie, thank you. And Serge Benhayon takes us straight there, on the very first encounter, handing us back the reins to our connection with God, supporting, inspiring us to deepen this in every aspect of our very normal lives, forever expanding our connection to the Divine within us.
Rosie I had the same feeling as a kid with your sharing “I didn’t understand how they all had a religion with a ‘god’ and their god was better than someone else’s God.” and today I love how simple and purposeful your religion is, as its a religion we can all choose to have equally – that of connection with ourself first.
It is the separation that religions we see around the world cause, that puts so many people off the word or the idea of it. It is so amazing to know the true meaning of the word and know there is nothing to shy away from because no matter how many interpretations there are of the word or what it is we can’t get away from the fact that we are all connected and no matter how far we have strayed from the true path we will still all remain one until we all wake up to this fact so we can move on as one.
You stated simply and succinctly what Religion truly is. Thank you Rosie.
A beautiful post Rosie, thankyou. Connecting with ourselves first is so important because from that relationship everything else flows – our connection with the divine, with people, nature – everything.
I’m only now beginning to fully understand what true religion is. It is my connection to God reflected in the way I breath, move, eat, choose to live and relate to myself, others and nature. It is universal. All rests with me, no intermediaries required.
This realization “It was not religion that I had a problem with, it was its misinterpretation that I reacted to.” is good to have found. As ‘religion’ itself is not a problem, neither a special ‘religion’ is to blame on something – but the misinterpretation and the acting of this brings it.
What I love about this article is the absolute clarity you had as a child of the waywardness of a humanity that has so many different definitions for the words God and Religion, and that you could absolutely feel that this set up created conflict and division. We all know this and it is simply a question of how honest and aware we are prepared to be.
So true, we all know and feel this, but it is as if everyone is in fear of speaking up. I know that I even felt a little apprehensive writing about it and the fact that it may ruffle some people’s feathers or upset their long held beliefs.
The word ‘religion’ and ‘god’ invite different reactions from different people and often leads to oppositional behaviours and firery debate. If those that go into full-on reaction had the understanding that religion and god is really about relationship and connection to ourselves and unity, and not the religions around the world which are structured to separate people – how different our world would be. No longer would we be living in comparison, competition, rivalry and arrogance, people would be free to be who they truly are with the one common ingredient ‘Love’.
This blog speaks of all that religion truly is – with such beautiful simplicity…
No “shrine, temple or church” required – religion is about our connection, and our intrinsic interconnectedness with God and the All. It is our relationship with everything in life, founded in the knowing that we are all held by Him.
This is my way also Rosie, The Way of The Livingness – at once deeply personal, and simultaneously so universally embracing.
We have to ask what’s going on, when there is such deep-rooted divisiveness over ‘religion’ in this world today, when there and has been such catastrophic bloodshed, control and separation between our fellow man over ‘religion’?
Something has clearly been very, very off – that we could go along as we have, saying yes to that which purports itself to be about brotherhood, about equality between all men, about doing no harm and about Love, His Love… when what’s been called ‘religion’ has transgressed all that one would think must surely be its basic tenets.
Well said Rosie Bason – that which would leave us divided, struck at its root.
What a great sharing in this light and reflective blog. What has stood out was the need to search for religions to belong to is not possible when we connect to ourselves and the God we know. The relationship does not call for lavish regalia, ceremonies and the need to confirm to a truth that may not feel true to each person, but a inner knowing that there is a way of being that brings more detail to loving one’s self and another that comes from within. Could it be possible that the most powerful place of religion comes from our heart?
Depending on what family we are born into, religion is going to be presented in many different ways and have the flavour of beliefs of what generations have lived before. And then most of us are walking around reacting to the untruths we have been brought up seeing and feeling. Blogs like yours Rosie are a great way to ask ourselves questions of what really is true and what we have taken on about religion. Thanks for your honest sharing.
If a religion is true, wouldn’t it be all encompassing of every religion, everyone and everything in the whole world? What if this religion is not something outside of us, but it is us?
The notion that ‘my religion is the only one and everyone else is wrong’ has always been one of the greatest sticking points for me, leading me to feel that in every religion there may have been some truth in the beginning, but that over the ages people have added in their own interpretation, so it becomes a ‘story’ rather than anything that is actually true. There is absolutely no doubt for me that The Way of the Livingness is true religion, every cell in my body is telling me so. I can feel how it confirms me and everyone else in the divinity that we already are, inviting us to deepen our connection with our selves, each other and with every thing.
Great piece Rosie, and your line here holds true for so many people: “It was not religion that I had a problem with, it was its misinterpretation that I reacted to” – yes, and not knowing this simple realisation for oneself, it is no wonder why then the chaos, wars and blood spilt being in such reaction. Misinterpretation covering the true truth of what is so very beautiful [religion].
‘In nature, away from the busy-ness and distractions, I was most able to connect to me and be still’ …. me too, Rosie. Growing up, I felt a far greater understanding for nature than people. Nature does not judge or ask for anything, it consistently presents all that it is offering us a seemingly simple, yet deeply profound reflection.
The connection we have with ourselves allows us to move in a way that can support us to either move from love or not love. True religion means we can move freely from one loving expression to another if we so choose to. These movements then impact everything else in and around our lives tenfold.
Beautifully shared Rosie. You remind me that I felt exactly the same way about religion as a child. It always felt awful when my class was separated into different religious groups for our various ‘religious’ studies. This separation then carried over into the classroom and seemed to go against everything the religions preached. The doctrines of religion are easily undone when we each express how we truly feel.
This reminds me of one school that my daughter attended, and the only reason she asked to go to one particular religious study group was because they got lollies, where as the non religious group didn’t. I had to laugh at the time, thinking that they had to use lollies to make the children come.
All must come from within first, and then express outwards. For if we take on from the outside first we have lost ourselves and our expressions.
‘It was not religion that I had a problem with, it was its misinterpretation that I reacted to.’ That’s spot on Rosie, and I suspect many people’s issue. A lot of us resonate with God and religion at the quieter, personal level but struggle with the organised aspects of it – the misinterpretation – with the distortion of simple, key and universal messages, with the pomp and misuse of power, and the perils of institutionalisation.
In so many religions control and misuse of power results in really warped ways of living with skewed images of how things ‘should’ be lived. Religion has been given a bad name over history and current days. So refreshing to have one that is aligned to nature and universal laws rather than man made!
I came to the same conclusion – it is not religion I had a problem with but the reinterpretation and bastardisation of the word and what it stands for that I strongly reacted to. Thank God for The Way of The Livingness.
This line – ‘the more I develop the relationship with myself, the more I will be able to understand life and those around me.’ – turns the notion of being selfish on its head. Because according to this notion, when you make it about me, you don’t make it about others. But here when you make it about developing a connection and relationship to yourself, it brings this natural understanding of life and those around you. Love it.
And when we make it about everyone, we get taken care of naturally and everyone is taken care of. No one gets left out, no matter what.
Beautifully simple and gorgeously true Rosie. True religion is anything that re-establishes our connection with our true self, be that a leaf, a word, the smile from a child, a set of values etc. There are some great quotes and audio on this subject here: http://www.unimedliving.com/unimedpedia/word-index/unimedpedia-religion.html
‘It was not religion that I had a problem with, it was its misinterpretation that I reacted to’ I think this is the case for many, myself included…. Which is a shame, for true religion is deeply beautiful… shrine, church, temple and religious dogma free.
It is so odd how there seems to be so much judgement in peoples connection their Gods. I too found this really hard to match with the love God is.
Thank you Rosie for writing this so simply. Religion like most other words has been misinterpreted to lead us astray from the simplicity of truth. I, like you, loved nature and loved people, but religion gave me the creeps. When I was around 17 years old I was sitting in my bedroom (where I was boarding in Sydney) on a Saturday afternoon and the sunlight was filtering into the room in a most magical way through the leaves of the trees. I began to write some words about the sunlight and the leaves and I felt this oneness with God and I knew that there was God. I had no idea how I could then fit into any of the organisations or categories’ that were available. None of them felt right. Thank heavens for The Way of The Livingness! There is not one thing that doesn’t make sense in it.
I love how you describe sitting there in the room with the light coming in. We have all had such moments, and they can be super simple but the feeling is oh so grand and in that moment you know there is more than what just appears in front of your eyes, for after all, our eyes are just one of our senses and we can feel a lot more than what our eyes alone share with us.
I know just what you mean Rosie. And thanks for such a great blog.
Beautiful Lyndy. You remind me that we can receive messages from heaven if we connect to our soul and express.
For me true religion has to be a personal relationship with God, and that is through our reconnection to our inner heart. I used to think that connection to God was through prayer but it’s actually through my body and it’s something that is felt and known. It’s not a mental exercise, it’s actually a whole body experience. Expressing love (not emotional love) is a great way to be in connection to God.
True religion… “My religion is about reconnecting to me first and foremost. We are all one and the same and we are all connected.” How profound would the shift be in this world if we were all taught this from very young… even learning this as adults has had an extraordinary impact on many lives.
Beautiful sharing Rosie… I love the simplicity you bring to religion – its not all the complicated things we ‘do’ that is part of most religions, but a way of being with ourselves that is then naturally shared with all others.
It’s great to be reading that so many people are just like me and have felt the same way about the words god and religion. I knew the words always stirred people, but I always felt they annoyed me the most. Turns out, many of us have been known forever that the meaning of those words have just felt completely off and it’s great to finally have some understanding around why.
It is great isn’t it… as it confirms what you felt and that it was not just you thinking this seems mad! And as we speak up about it, it will allow others to question what they felt and may have never ever spoken about.
It is because of the bastardasation of the word religion that we’ve ended up fighting each other’s beliefs and ideals around the religious doctrines. Religion, Love, God, in fact they’re all the same. Leaving each and every one to find their own way back to themselves. Love keeps reflecting love knowing that we’ll one day choose to come back to ourselves, to love (again) The Way of The Livingness.
The Way of the Livingness is simple – it is about connection to and relationship with everything, starting with ourselves.
Thank you Rosie, a gorgeous expression of what religion is , and what it can truly mean for another. To be inspired by the connection that one lives and how to be more in your own truth and love by example, like the way has been shown through Universal Medicine, as possible way for another to live by. A beautiful exploration from my own point of view so far now.
It is in our connection that we are in relationship with god, it is an activity in stillness that can be in every movement. Religion can’t be a seperate part of life, as it is all through the body a connection to our divinity.
Great Blog Rosie, this particularly stood out: “you will go to hell if you sin etc.” This concept never made sense to me in fact I now realise it makes me very uncomfortable. In the past I just dismissed the whole concept because I didn’t like how it made me feel. These days, with a far greater understanding of what true religion is through ‘The Way of the Livingness’ and understanding there is much consciousness around the use of religion, I’m ok to be uncomfortable but stay with the feeling to discover what consciousness I may be holding in my body around ‘sin’ that is possibly an indoctrinated belief.
For a long time, a study of nature was considered to be a religion – referred to in the days of old as Paganism. In fact today, we see many rituals borrowed from that time – from the use of christmas trees, to other so called christian practices, that were in truth borrowed from Paganism. If one is to truly study nature, in a way that is conducted by way of observing its essence and not so much its form, then one will actually have more chance of discovering true religion than one will have by studying all the main religions in the world.
Thanks for sharing Adam, I didn’t know that about Paganism.
What I love about Nature is that it doesn’t lie and there are messages for everyone everywhere all the time.
It’s funny how we think we do or do not have ‘Religion’, like it is an optional clause we can activate or a club we can join should we wish. What your words remind me Rosie is that in reality we are always living with Religion, always returning to our connection with truth, it’s just a matter how much and how hard and how long we fight this. People talk about ‘religious wars’ which makes no sense, except for the fact that we actively battle our God given sixth sense.
Insightful Joseph. External ‘religious wars’ replicated in our own lives: daily battles (choices) between good and evil, love and harm, fire and prana, and resistance to truly connecting to our divinity.
Yes, often the the war is with our own connection and divinity!
I have read a few blogs recently where people describe how as children they always knew there was something wrong about how religion was being presented to them. Just goes to show the wisdom and knowing we all have as children and how we overwrite it
Yes, Children are so aware and sensitive and can tell when something doesn’t feel right and are often more comfortable at speaking up about it but as they grow older, many tend to shut down, not speak up and to just fit in with everyone else… even when every particle in their body is saying this does not feel right.
I agree Jane “elephants in the room” is a great way to explain how it was for me growing up, in later teen years, meeting people, ‘boys’, out in the public, going to work etc. – it was an unwritten law then that you did not talk about politics or religion – no matter how interesting or pressing it felt – and when stuck we were advised to ‘talk about the weather’!! One has to wonder just where did this pressure come from, to not engage in meaning-full conversation, rather it was deemed to be a triumph is one could ‘small talk’ their way through an entire evening – how unfortunate that this cloak of fear around expressing what was in one’s heart to express was ‘frowned upon’. Even that saying of my childhood is a very strange and limiting reaction to the truly divine and enquiring mind of a child. Much more fruitful it seems to me to encourage ones to engage honestly and with transparency the wonders of our divinity, the universe – and the truth of our connection with God, time, space and all of us.
Beautifully said Jane. I had an open and honest conversation with someone close to me recently. We talked about the fact that their religion tells them that the people they love (like me) will go to hell. They could not accept this as true even though they believed their religion is true. The lies sold by religion are easily undone when we communicate in love and connection without judgment.
I agree although it is more like a bleeding rhinoceros head than an elephant.
….in rooms littered with many such heads.
We often don’t let children have a voice because perhaps if we took note of what children presented we would need to start taking more responsibility for our own choices.
Very true and we would need to be more honest too!
I think we’ve all been affected by that. Hearing words that we feel is not honoured for what they truly mean. Let’s claim that back and not shy away from words such as God, Jesus, Religion, Christ. They mean something but maybe not what we are told they mean.
Yes, I have never read the bible, but I have heard so many different stories about Jesus and about his wife and there was a lot there that was not published or shared in truth.
Reading this blog and feeling in to the way I live my life and some of the choices that I make (many of which can seem quite extreme to lots of my friends and colleagues) I find it immensely self-supporting to embrace it is as my religion. The acceptance of that word in my body releases some very deep tension. There is still much more to feel but I can definitely say I have deeply, deeply missed a daily relationship with true religion.
That is a good point, and one that I am sure many can relate to. In our misunderstanding of religion, we have closed the door to something so divine and something that we have dearly missed.
Beautiful Otto. As my own understanding of true religion deepens, a quiet acceptance has emerged. I observe my evolving relationship with this new awareness as each day unfolds.
If the last paragraph of this blog is so deliciously simple. That’s it. Truly. All of religion in just one paragraph. Almost unfathomable when you see what destruction and devastation has been caused by the bastardisation of such a simple, glorious few words.
Thank you Otto, I had to go back and read my last paragraph and see the simplicity. There is so much in simplicity but we often seek and get lost in the complexity, always thinking it needs to be grander or bigger or better. What a set up.
Yep, I feel you on this one. I went from choosing religion out of fear (I don’t wanna go to hell), to running away from it to returning to it. Regardless of how we feel about it, the immutable fact is that we all can be truly religious by simply reconnecting to oneself – to our soul.
What a great blog Rosie – I can fully relate to what you say about the discomfort that used to be felt when anyone started speaking about religion. Serge Benhayon made sense of the truth of the word Religion and all of its true meaning to me, and from there everything was different with acceptance and appreciation of the true meaning of Religion, my old view was irrevocably changed.
“It was not religion that I had a problem with, it was its misinterpretation that I reacted to. It was the separation that I noticed around the world, that was created by “my religion is better than yours” and “you will go to hell if you sin etc.”
I used to feel really uncomfortable when I heard the words God and Religion also, I have since come to realise it was in particular the lack of connection, the separation that I felt with these words or rather the energy from which these words originate, that caused the true dis-ease. I know God and I am religious, I now have no doubt about this and it has not come from being told, but inspired to feel this knowing from within myself, from my body.
I can also state that I know God and am Religious in the true meaning of the word. Thank you Rosie and Samantha, I also used to feel uncomfortable around the word religion because all modern religious dogmas are based on separation in some way and not re-binding or re-connecting as the true meaning of religion as is presented in ancient texts and by The Way of The Livingness.
Love it Rosie! If religion is about having a relationship with the Divine, why does it bring up so much reaction, hate and vile behaviour in many? It is absurd and shows the real harm of how religion has come to be is not just from the vile destruction it has brought many, but in how it has turned people off from the word itself and what it is truly all about.
“My religion is about reconnecting to me first and foremost.” The simplicity of this is staggering when we consider the complexities, histories and rituals of all religions of the world. The Way of The Livingness brings this simplicity into life, that we know God, and what true religion is.
True religion is about connection with our Soul and living in the way that allows us to express it.