How do I distinguish religion from faith?

I compare religion with a school. It has teachings, an organisation and rules for learning, giving people a direction and a systematic way to study. Faith is more like a spirit that we believe in inwardly and are willing to put into practice. We do not necessarily have to join an organisation before we can hold that belief.

Some people are suited to entering a school, while others can study independently. What matters is more than the name we adopt: we need to understand what we are learning. Religious structures can support transmission and give learning a direction, but we also need to understand the principles. We cannot merely follow rules without knowing why. This is the comparison I use to explain the relationship between the two.

Sheng Zhen Men also uses arrangements resembling a school so that everyone can learn step by step. At the same time, we hope to bring our understanding of faith back into how we live each day and find a stable direction in life. How outsiders classify us is not the most important thing. We should ask what we believe, whether the principles we have learned help us understand more clearly, and whether our lives are improving.