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 
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.
God was and is always my best friend in life.
The way of the livingness as my religion supports me to connect more and more deep to God and teh divine in me and bring that through my body into the world.
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
So true religion is first about connecting to ourselves. And then things start deepening, if we want to take it further. First we touch upon the “Kingdom of God” which even touching it lightly, is already the greatest feeling we could experience.
“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.