In chapter one on Confucius is quoted as saying "You are not able even to serve man. How can you serve the spirits?". (p.11) He believed in some higher power and was also said to have founded the idea of the Decree of Heaven therefore believed in another place, an afterlife.
Can a person have these beliefs without the belief in religion? Religion is an arbitrary creation of the human need to have order and to have someone else to blame for all the wrongs that have happened to them. Religion can also be seen as an organization made by "the man" to "keep his subjects in line". Religion can also be seen as societies motif to cope with humans natural death anxiety.
The basis of of religion is centered around one or many God figures. A lot of religions also focus on doing good either simply to better society or to better yourself to go to heaven after death. There is a focus on what Confucius called the Decree of Heaven which is a set of rules about how to act towards others. If someone can learn these morals outside of the organized religion then there is no point in participating in specific rituals.
Overall you can have a sense of the Decree of Heaven as well as God without having to participate in an organized religion of any kind. There are loads of people in this day and age who can relate to a specific religions beliefs while not participating in the logistics of being a 'true' member.
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