In the book “Oneness” by Rasha, it is written that
Your mentalized tracking of the journey is merely a fascinating footnote for you of the actual work being undertaken here. For your cognitive grasp of the process is far less significant than the manifestation of the emotion your circumstances are stimulating.
In other words, the spiritual journey is a journey of the soul, which is reflected in our heart. We can also say that a spiritual journey is a journey of the heart. The vices – lust, anger, greed, ego, attachment – and virtues – compassion, love, kindness, forgiveness, joy – all are emotions and not intellectual concepts. We have egoistic thoughts, angry thoughts, lustful thoughts, greedy thoughts, compassionate thoughts, kind thoughts, loving thoughts – this categorization means that thoughts in themselves are not important; what is important about them is the feeling they generate or correspond to.
So, our spiritual journey – described by many as a journey from fear to love – is not about intellectual concepts and mental knowledge. The spiritual journey is a journey of the heart where we move from lower emotions (animalistic or bestial) such as lust, greed, anger, fear, depression, despair, vengeance to higher emotions (noble or angelic) such as love, joy, compassion, hope, faith etc.
It does not mean that intellectual knowledge is useless or needs to be avoided. Rather, intellectual knowledge can be helpful in undertaking this spiritual journey. However, if this intellectual knowledge is taken as an end in itself, rather than as a means to the spiritual journey, it becomes counter-productive.
“Wisdom”, which can be defined as experiential knowledge (understanding gained through walking on the path of spirituality), is much more useful than any intellectual knowledge. We all might say “I am a soul” and nothing might change in our lives, but a person who starts to realise that he is a soul, his life undergoes a tremendous change. When it becomes to dawn on us that we are souls, it can be quite intimidating, because all our lives we spend believing we are bodies. A realisation that we are souls can shake up the foundations of our lives.
But such changes occur only in the life of an individual who is realizing this understanding, not in the life of a person who just knows it intellectually.
Everybody says that he or she believes in God. But no one understands what believing in God means. When a person begins to realise the existence of God in his life, his life takes on a new meaning; his priorities change; he does not remain the same person he was before this realisation.
To answer the title question “IS RELIGION ABOUT KNOWLEDGE?”:
No, religion is not about just knowledge. It is a journey of the heart (emotions) or the soul. However, intellectual knowledge can be useful in the religion as long as it helps us on our spiritual path.