In the purest form of religion there is no dogma, guilt or repentance. No scare tactics, and no one telling you how to live. Spirituality is simple, straightforward and straight to the Source. Never asking much from you besides time put in as a passive meditator. Active spirituality or karma spirituality always helps but anything using the mind/ego can turn counterproductive. Just sitting still and going in is spiritually productive, for longer periods determines how spiritual you really are. Mentally inactive meditation is the ultimate worship to God. There is nothing closer to God than that. It’s the waiting room for enlightenment, the doorway to the Soul, waiting there in mental repose for that door to open is called the Samadhi State, the ultimate worship.
Today’s western religions have bypassed true spirituality and settled for commercialism with an easy process to salvation. A textbook hierarchy for the leaders, and everybody else is pretty much winging it. The lack of good leadership is a common mistake, there is a need for real spiritual training and enlightened overseers. Most religions in essence are the lazy mans guide to spirituality with little time put in with donations, prayer and service, which can provide some help but again it can be counterproductive. Western and eastern religions have this problem with the masses, the superpowers linked to their Gods and Gurus makes it an impossible climb for the public. Old school spirituality probably had a good reason but trying to pacify the masses is not working. Miracles teach nothing except worship. Nobody should be worshiping anything or anybody in the universe, that should be reserved for the Godly Soul. We are the children of God. Every spiritual leader from time was just like us living without superpowers but God-Realized.
Real teachers will never lie for power or money, nor talk and dress the way you want them too. The path is to establish faith in you that your Soul is Eternal, and only you have the power to act on that. The majority of superpowers linked to spiritual leaders is fictional. The worshiping must be done from within oneself for the Eternal Soul is your only escape hatch.
Your Eternal Soul is the only faith you need to believe in. Not anybody from any book, they are there to help, that’s all. This Godly substance within you is your only salvation, nothing outside can compare to that including Gods and Gurus. Of course the great ones can guide you however you have to be willing to do the work. The real teachers guide by telling you what it is and what it is not. What not to fall for, what not to do and what to do. Honing you inward by helping you remove obstacles, giving you a path that’s already proven to work. I can only tell you about the path that worked for me. We are not here to help you tackle life’s issues. There are plenty of professionals for that.
If the teacher does not instruct along these spiritual lines and focuses on used phrases, passed stories and affirmations, means there is no path. If they focus on restricting your diet, penance and show sexual misconduct, you might want to reconsider and move on. When a real guide is absent then the physical stuff takes over.
When you have a steady diet of meditation then everything falls into place. You are doing the best you can, and the only thing that needs feeding is your continual desire to see God, and know your real Self. It has to be your top desire so you’re relentless and fearless in order to achieve the ultimate recognization. Once recognized, it’s not that you live in bliss, always joyful, happy and full of love afterwards, however there is contentment and mind control with the additional perk of avoiding the afterlife drama. When you find your way to God the world/universe, deaths sting and the afterlife can’t control you unless you want it too. You’re above that now. Master of the universe! No joke, the universe is just a sidestep. No achievement in the universe is greater than bypassing its power over you! And it can be done without religion or the study of any religious book. As my teacher said after my question of being stranded on a deserted island without any idea of religion or spirituality “they too can attain Self-Realization” (God-Enlightenment). Good guidance is extremely important for it allows one to cut corners and years off. Any path will be difficult and requires steadfast determination. If anyone tells you any differently then they are mistaken. There is no easy path to salvation. You can’t stumble into enlightenment with meltdowns, drugs or near death experience because of the strong universal link. It is well beyond the universe and life.