Hi Debbie, great article. I know these words 'religious' and 'spiritual' can mean very different things to different people. For some people, spirituality has to exist within an organized religion, while for others it most definitely does not. I have been on both sides of that fence, and no longer associate myself solely with one religion, including Buddhism, mostly because I found so many common truths and practices across different religions, when I dove into studying the mystic arms of each. I draw on many different practices and resources in my own journey, and so even though I would say Buddhism is still my primary reference point, I don't choose to label myself as 'Buddhist' any longer. So in that sense, you could say I am spiritual but not religious.
Looong - just a side note on Wikipedia. For Buddhism, I often find it a very good resource, but there are sometimes 'gaps' int what is covered, because it is all volunteer. So I always check other sites like Buddhanet or AccesstoInsight, as well as my library of books, etc. for other views. So I don't think anyone is saying Wikipedia is bad, just that it's slippery as a sole resource, because of the volunteer editing thing. Usually, problems are caught pretty quickly, but sometimes it can be a few days.
