The word religion comes from the latin word ligare: to join, or link, classically understood to mean the linking of human and divine, and in Sanskrit is called yoga, "to unite"-is achieved through the death of the ego, that which causes the division.
What constitutes a religion is subject to much dispute in the field of theology and among ordinary people. We might begin by defining religion as a system of beliefs based on humanity's attempt to explain the universe and natural phenomena?, often involving one or more deities or other supernatural forces. Religious adherents tend to gather together to celebrate holy days and to pray?, but solitary practice is also usually just as important. Most religions also have a code of laws to be followed, like the Ten Commandments of Old Testament, and some have specific texts they hold as sacred, and totally different from other writings.
Religions are systems of belief which typically deal with:
• the divine, the sacred and the supernatural,
• our purpose as beings, on earth, in this life and possible other states of being,
• what happens to us when we die and how to prepare for that,
• the nature of Deity (or Deities) (or God) and what She, He, They, It wants from us,
• our relationships with Deity(-ies), the sacred, ancestors, other people, and the world around us, that is, how to behave well in relationship.