definition of 'religion'

Hello friends and fellow spiritual travelers

With a satisfactory conclusion for my book project in sight, my mind has turned to another
such project, the working title of which is, 21 Things You Need to Know
About God and Religion. While God is beyond definition, I have made a
stab at defining religion as follows:

RELIGION IS THE ATTITUDE OF ATTUNING TO THE CONSCIOUSNESS UNDERLYING THE UNIVERSES. RELIGION CONSISTS PRIMARILY OF THE REMOVAL OF OBSTACLES TO THAT ATTUNEMENT. WHILE SOME BELIEFS, MORAL CODES, SYMBOLIC FORMS AND SYMBOLIC PRACTICES
MAY BE EMPLOYED IN DISCARDING OBSTACLES AND IN DEVELOPING AND MAINTAINING THAT ATTUNEMENT, THEIR USE
INVOLVES DEDUCTION AND ULTIMATELY THOSE BELIEFS, FORMS AND PRACTICES MUST BE
DISCARDED AS THEY TOO ARE OBSTACLES TO ATTUNEMENT TO THE CONSCIOUSNESS WITH
WHICH THE UNIVERSES ARE IMBUED.

There have been dozens, if not hundreds, of attempts to define religion.
They all seem to me to be either too rational; too scholarly; too
partisan; too cultural; too political; or to contain words such as
'sacred', 'spiritual', and 'faith', which require definition themselves
for the definition of 'religion' to have meaning. Many other attempts
seem to have confused some beliefs, places, practices and individuals
with religion itself.

I would like to receive your comments on my above definition, particularly including any perceived short-comings. If you have your own
or a favourite definition of 'religion' send that as well.The task I
have asked of you is not a light one, nor one that will be completed
quickly and I will be very appreciative of the time involved in your
formulating a response.

Thanks in advance for your input.

Sankara/Peter

p.s. If you know a cleric, theologian or informed layperson who might be
interested in reviewing the definition and/or providing his/her own
definition, feel free to pass this email on to them, including my email
address.

Replies

Sita Chaitanya August 28, 2010 at 5:27pm

Maybe. I think religion is just rules. Attitude comes with spirituality, and you don't need religion for that. There are tons of religious people who follow all the rules and aren't spiritual at all. Maybe some few have both.

Do atheists believe they belong to a religion of atheism? I don't think of science as religion. It seems you want to encompass every possibility in your definition.

The Buddhist terminology of the void, the ones who believe there is no God, only void, it can still apply just as well to that. God is a void. I'm not Buddhist so I don't know what they believe. It's just a word.

Anyway you asked what people think. That's what i think and I think it's very simple.
Sita Chaitanya August 27, 2010 at 11:39pm

I would just define it as a set of rules by which one chooses to worship their version of God.
- Peter Beacham (Sankar) > Sita Chaitanya August 28, 2010 at 2:39pm
  
  Not all religions acknowledge God or a god - some forms of Buddhism for example. And, of course, atheism. And science. Is there not more to a religion than its rules? How about ritual, prayer? The 'rules' of a religion are useless unless one employs them with an appropriate attitude.

This reply was deleted.