A person is characterized by many qualities: caring, compassion, lack of conflict. He can be principled, conservative or liberal, soft or hard, soulful or spiritual. The word “spiritual” is now often used in different meanings: a believer, a representative of the clergy (clergy), simply an educated and cultured person.
No one will argue that the spirituality of a society depends on the people who make it up. When asking the question what is the spiritual essence of a person, you can hear many different opinions. Of course, everyone decides for themselves what degree of immersion in the spiritual to choose. Someone has just begun to follow the path to perfection, someone has already made significant progress along it, and for others this path seems so burdensome that they have turned away from it.
What is a spiritual person?
If you turn to dictionaries, you can see the emergence of the modern concept of “spiritual person”. At a time when there were few atheists, society was built on faith in God, and a divine spark was recognized in man. V.I. Dal did not include this concept in the dictionary at all (1863), and interpreted the word “spiritual” as “belonging to the spirit.” Regarding the use of the word “spiritual” in relation to a person, he gives the following interpretation: “Everything in him that relates to God, the soul, moral strength, mind and will.”
D. N. Ushakov also does not include the concept of “spiritual person” in the dictionary (1935-1940). He points to the colloquial use of the adjective in the combination “a person of clergy,” making a distinction between the spiritual and the secular. S.I. Ozhegov in 1949 described the word “spiritual” as relating to religion (music, academy, school).
S. A. Kuznetsov in 1998 distinguishes two understandings: the first - related to religion and the second - having a philosophical view of the world. It is interesting that the definition of a spiritually undeveloped person in the Dictionary of Synonyms looks more than unpresentable: redneck, backward, wretched.
Work
The soul goes through certain stages of development and growth.
The birth of a child is a real miracle. Communication with children brings a colossal amount of positive emotions and evokes high feelings. How can this be explained?
The baby's soul is pure. And the same pure soul of an adult is drawn to her. But she was imprisoned by strong walls consisting of past negative experiences, which contain grievances, failures and losses, anger and intolerance towards others.
Freeing the forces of the soul to achieve a state of love and peace, trust in the world and the Highest, and obtaining joy in life is the goal of many seekers.
Psychologists about spirituality
Since the end of the nineteenth century, psychology began to study spirituality as a psychological category. They found out the connections between the so-called spiritual activities, representing art and culture, and the human psyche. Afterwards there were more studies - collective spirituality, higher spirituality as a source of creative inspiration and others. As a result, it was established that human spirituality is something subjective. It cannot be explored through science.
It was determined that spirituality distinguishes a person from other forms of life and is of a social nature. A person can use spirituality, and from the extent to which he does this, he learns the meaning of his life and his role and place in it.
Now psychologists consider the physical, material nature of a person to be only part of him. The second part, no less important, is spirituality. That is, the totality of his moral and moral values. Considering man as a spiritual being, it became possible to talk about the psychology of spirituality.
Material desires
Desires are always associated with material objects: gross or subtle.
Gross material objects are perceptible objects that we can enjoy through our senses . That is, it is taste, smell, sound, sight and tactile sensations. Perceived objects produce various states of mind that can be described as “pleasure.” For example, when eating a tasty dish a person experiences one form of pleasure, and when touching a person for whom there is sympathy, another form of pleasure will be felt. But overall it's a pleasure. So, the interaction of the organs of perception with certain material objects gives rise to pleasure.
Subtle material objects are ideas that, when located in a person’s mind, bring him pleasure . The source of pleasure is no longer interaction with material objects, but the state of mind that arises as a result of the activity of the mind. Ideas can be: superiority, honor, possessiveness, rightness, and so on. That is, having proven a certain idea within oneself, a person experiences pleasure. For example, having gained respect for something, a person will enjoy this state, which will cause him to have a certain state of mind. These are the states that a person enjoys as a result of the emergence of a state of mind.
Also, subtle material objects are emotions, which are also a source of pleasure for a person if they are positive. Negative ones, accordingly, bring suffering to a person.
Emotions and ideas are material because they are in the mind. The mind is made of subtle matter and is material, although not tangible. There are enough material, but not tangible objects in the world, for example, sound or light.
Understanding material desires will greatly help determine which quality predominates in a person by identifying his main desires. The most manifest quality of everything is very clearly expressed in a person - in his words, actions and habits, as well as goals and plans.
Definition of a Spiritual Man
Psychologists admit that nowadays it is impossible to meet an absolutely spiritual person in society. This is a utopia, but everyone must strive for perfection. Then society will change its focus on destruction. In other words, peace and harmony with nature, society and oneself is the goal of modern man.
A spiritual person is characterized by high moral standards, he exhibits excellent qualities that characterize him as a balanced person, capable of high deeds, ready to help his neighbor. He strives for the truth, knows it and lives in accordance with it.
Man, as a spiritual being, cannot be satisfied with material well-being alone. He can and is ready to sacrifice it for the sake of satisfying his spiritual needs. There are cases in history when a person, having lost the meaning of life, faded away and even died. And, on the contrary, having an important goal (usually much more valuable than his own life), a person survived in the most difficult conditions. All these facts indicate that we cannot simplify human nature and reduce it only to physical well-being.
Filling and cleansing
John Holland opined:
Your soul is very wise and always attracts to itself what you need to learn in life.
To maintain mental health, serious work with the body and thoughts is necessary. It is thoughts that cause us to express both positive and negative emotions. And thoughts are born from experienced feelings.
The strength of the soul weakens from anger, envy, anger, hatred, resentment and the like that destroy it. And vice versa, it becomes greater when a person experiences joy, admiration, gratitude, sympathy, love, tenderness.
Experts recommend a unique set of “tools” for cleansing the body and filling it with strength, which will help get rid of negative thoughts and, as a result, lead to mental health.
Cleansing Tools:
- proper therapeutic fasting;
- fast;
- physical activities and exercises;
- bath practices;
- massage;
- hardening of the body.
Filling Tools:
- proper, healthy nutrition;
- trips;
- walks in the open air;
- creation;
- hobby.
In a healthy body healthy mind. Trite, but simple and true.
Freedom of the spiritual person
Lawyers have the concept of “the spirit and letter of the law.” Since everyone lives according to the laws that he has formed in his “I,” a spiritual and moral person will act according to the spirit of the law, and not according to the letter. Example: a work colleague offers an intimate meeting to a married man. My wife won't know about her. What choice will he make?
When a person is affected by any temptation, the unspiritual succumbs to it and loses his freedom - he becomes dependent on the temptation. A spiritual person will not lose freedom, will not be tempted. Psychiatrists say that the constant struggle with oneself to do what one does not want leads to neurosis. Therefore, spirituality preserves mental health - a person does what he wants, and he wants to follow moral ideals. He will stop respecting himself if he follows his desires.
The right to choose
All people have the right to choose how to live, how to act. What moral values should you have? A person who strives to get what he wants cares only about himself. Having received what he wants, he does not find satisfaction. A spiritual person thinks not only about himself. He sees his place in society, his role in it. And he correlates his own desires with what is higher and more significant than himself.
For some it is serving God, for others it is serving science. Such people are happy in what they can give—“it is more blessed to give than to receive,” as Acts 20:35 states. This is how spiritual people are.
Spirituality Brings Responsibility
A spiritually mature person realizes that along with the freedom to do what he considers right comes responsibility for the use of this freedom. Regarding this, there is the following example: an airplane can roll on the ground, but that is not what makes it an airplane. When it is already in the sky, then it becomes obvious that it is an airplane. Likewise with spirituality, there is still no situation in which a person’s spiritual qualities will manifest themselves; it is not visible. But when the decisive moment comes, his high moral essence becomes obvious to everyone - it manifests itself in this situation.
Psychology considers spirituality, freedom and responsibility as the most important components of personality. They are closely related. An unspiritual person will not want to take responsibility for his actions and will begin to look for someone to blame. A spiritual person, having made a mistake, admits it.
Taking advantage of the good weather, Arifes, Homer and I went for a wander along the Main embankment, thereby replacing the austere atmosphere of the professor’s office, which was quite boring to me, with the green-blue world of nature, illuminated by the sunlight pouring from the high heavens.
Looking at the sparkling surface of the river, I involuntarily remembered the Dnieper, spreading its mighty waters across the earth. The sky alone can see its vast expanses! And on warm Ukrainian nights, distant stars look into the water mirror, and the moon floating in the heights jealously casts its golden eye downwards. For a moment, green Dnieper steeps and Kyiv chestnuts floated before my eyes, as if in a fairytale dream, lighting spring candles of white and pink inflorescences. My involuntary sadness was noticed by Homer, but, not knowing its reason, he chose to remain delicately silent. Soon, having coped with the feelings that gripped me, I returned to the surrounding reality and, remembering Mistakel’s order, suggested that Arifes tell the professor about the spiritual qualities of man.
Any type of activity,” she turned to Homer, “determines the presence of certain data in the individual. In particular, to find answers to Basic Questions, the researcher is required to have a comprehensive, harmonious development. Therefore, it is of particular importance for the aspirant to choose the correct sequence in achieving the necessary qualities, in which the mentor helps him, pointing him in the right direction in order to avoid aimless wanderings. Anyone who independently chooses a path should first analyze their own psychological characteristics in detail, and then act on the basis of the results obtained. When developing yourself as a Personality, it is necessary, first of all, to get rid of lower thoughts and emotions. Otherwise, they will keep a person in one place, not giving him the opportunity to move a single step, regardless of all his good intentions, because they don’t put festive clothes on old rags. By allowing the leaden gray tones of misunderstanding to dominate his mind, the individual risks that they will gradually give way to the brownish shades of selfishness, laziness and self-aggrandizement. The dark brown color of the desire for material wealth for the purpose of enrichment, combined with constant fear for accumulated wealth, suits them well. This is followed by black tones of envy, jealousy and betrayal, escaping into the ominous blackness of destruction and destruction.
Only by shedding the beggarly attire of imperfection does the mover become worthy of donning new attire. And then the eyes of the aspirant truly become like mirrors into which his soul looks and adorns itself, dressing itself in the finest lace with intricate patterns of feelings. In them, the multi-colored range of human emotional manifestations is in perfect harmony with reasonable thoughts. Freed from the fog of delusion, the person turns his inner gaze to the pink background of Hope with the silver openwork of Faith on it. Then the blue of Wisdom appears, sparkling with diamonds of sublimely spiritualized feelings.
If you want to improve any quality, you must first understand the principle of its formation. Let's look at this using the example of virtue.
To study its nature, we use the structure described by the tenth arcana of the Holy Book of Tarot and called
the Tree of Life.
It recreates an analogue of the mechanism of manifestation of the One Universal Law, accessible to human consciousness. According to the structure of the Tree, there are two possible directions: upward - from the fruit, located in the dense world, to the root, located in the areas of subtle substances; and downwards - from the root to the fruit. The first of them reflects a certain pattern in the actions of an individual aimed at achieving such a quality as virtue, which is understood as the wise expression of the will of the aspirant, aimed at the common good. And the second allows you to analyze the practical implementation by a person of the virtue he already has.
If we take the fruit as the starting point, then the following logical chain is visible:
Like a plant reaching for the sun, a person intuitively rushes towards everything that is still unknown to him, but extremely attractive with its mystery. The thirst for new discoveries excites the mind, drawing us into the most interesting world of knowledge. Focusing on the inherent talent of human nature,
the individual begins to change many of his previously held ideas, arriving at more correct ones.
But, at the same time, the aspirant must tame the waywardness of his own character, replacing unreasonable stubbornness associated with selfish motives with the ability to self-critically analyze the decisions made. This causes increased activity of the intellect, and also promotes a calm and balanced perception of reality, freeing the mind from unnecessary overload due to excessive concentration on everyday worries. By achieving a harmonious
relationship between spiritual and material needs, the mover understands for himself the meaning of life and determines its purpose.
Then, through self-discipline, a person improves his moral principles, trying to treat people with understanding and mercy. Gradually, he reaches such a deep understanding of justice
that virtue itself appears to him in a completely different way, becoming an integral part of his spiritual structure.
When studying the direction from top to bottom, i.e. from root to fruit, one can get acquainted with the logical constructions of an individual who practically embodies virtue in everyday life:
Possessing virtue, striving to show kindness
, the essence of which is wise advice to those who need it.
But at the same time, you have to constantly control your own actions with your mind, impartially assessing the current situation. And if it signals the need to be careful,
then there is no need to interfere with what is happening to people, in order to avoid, in the future, complaints from them.
When help is really needed, it should be provided, but very carefully and tactfully. Over time, kindness turns into mercy
in the form of compassion.
Sympathizing with the troubles of others, one should help them find a way out of the difficult circumstances in which they find themselves. However, everything that an aspirant does does not go beyond the limits of his personal courage
.
And it, in harmonious combination with mercy, reflects the spiritual beauty
of a person.
Those who possess it recognize the right of everyone to life and self-improvement, thereby achieving a correct understanding of justice
.
As a result, the mover, showing humility
, wisely limits his requests.
Then there is a transition to wise moderation
in the manifestation of the individual's inherent virtue. Continuing to develop his idea of it, he is based on the experience he acquires.
In addition to the spiritual quality we have considered, there are a number of others. But the following are of particular importance for the esotericist: constant striving for Truth, courage and will, loyalty and devotion, non-judgment and forgiveness. Moreover, it will take a lot of patience and perseverance to find their modest snow-white robes among the colorful tinsel of the illusory.
Hunger for knowledge
makes human life interesting and meaningful. Like a bird soaring high, the mind rushes into the mysterious distance of the unknown. After all, wisdom alone is capable of illuminating the inner world of a developing personality, forever banishing from it the darkness of ignorance. However, we must remember: the difficult road to knowledge can only be mastered by those who walk along it, and not by those resting in the shadow of their own laziness. Anyone who consciously tries to avoid the difficulties encountered along the path of life is doomed in advance to encounter them again, but under more complicated circumstances, because it is still impossible to escape from oneself. Therefore, the best way to remove obstacles is to overcome them. Having achieved the necessary knowledge, the aspirant becomes much more confident in the position he occupies, which allows him to successfully cope with the trials sent down by fate and makes him much stronger. When creating your spiritual universe, you must always be guided by reason, which, like a compass, points in the right direction.
A person should never be ashamed of his shortcomings. On the contrary, he must show courage and determination
in identifying them and in striving to completely eradicate them, acting without fear or doubt. Cowardice consists precisely in trying not to notice personal mistakes, but discussing those around them with great zeal. Only those blinded by their own delusions act this way, and to get rid of them they will need to put in a lot of work. Courage is the ability to face the truth and resolutely reject the imperfect, even if this means going through mental shock.
The hardest thing is to fight with yourself. a strong-willed person can achieve victory in such a difficult fight.
a person capable of taming the waywardness of emotions with a firm hand. In other words, quite significant volitional efforts are needed to calm the raging ocean of feelings, because in the furious roar of their stormy waves it is impossible to hear the quiet, melodic sound of the flute of sublime spiritual impulses.
The mover must remain faithful and devoted
those high ideals that constitute his spiritual basis, like a bright star shining in the secret depths of consciousness. Its light, intuitively felt by everyone, breaking through the fog of misunderstanding and erroneous views, inexplicably attracts us, inspiring us with hope that helps us overcome any obstacles. Isn’t it the Divine Source that we turn to in the most difficult moments of life, asking to take away the bitter cup of suffering from us? Only those who have experienced severe mental pain know that sometimes it is simply impossible to find words with which to tell others about it - it is so great! And then, left alone with himself, a person finds in his heart the path leading to the Great Revelation. Only in these moments, having told the Almighty about our heart wound, do we gain Hope for its healing. And it, in the form of mental peace, comes to the sufferer, being a consequence of his conscious rejection of human imperfection, which is the cause of all troubles.
Qualities such as non-judgment and forgiveness
allow a spiritually developing personality, from the standpoint of his wisdom, to look at the world of people, accepting their actions as a completely natural course of events, which, in accordance with their inherent moral principles, could not be otherwise. The treasury of the soul contains everything: countless spiritual riches and worthless trinkets; but everyone chooses what in his opinion is of the greatest value. It is sad to see when, instead of diamonds of true feelings, they prefer only superficial emotional manifestations, like shards of glass shining brightly in the sun. But they are collected diligently, spending their entire lives on such a useless task. Unfortunately, many more will wander for a long time in the dark alleys of their own ignorance until they find the light coming from the depths of their own soul. Guided by the common good, one should, at the slightest opportunity, help accelerate the pace of development of others. However, it makes no sense to be offended by someone for choosing a longer road to the Truth - this means that this was his choice.
In addition to the basic qualities to which I have drawn your attention, Professor, the inner world of the aspirant contains many others. Figuratively speaking, the spiritual structure of an individual resembles the evening sky with stars lighting up on it. Moreover, the appearance of any of them is the result of the efforts of the person himself, who discovers whole constellations of new qualities. The mind of one who does not strive for improvement gradually plunges into the darkness of delusions, which is replaced over time by dark storm clouds of immoral thoughts - harbingers of a spiritual storm. Its hurricane wind is capable of destroying truly human ideals. But if you still find the strength to resist the destructive tornado that has burst into the soul, then its power will weaken and the sun of Hope will shine again in the azure of the brightened skies.
Taking the baton from Arifes, I continued to present to Homer the topic discussed in this conversation, but from the standpoint of neo-esotericism:
Research into various aspects of personality has made it possible to develop several systems of fundamental qualities.
To get acquainted with one of them, we will adhere to the principle of a three-level structure, represented in classical esotericism by the Cross of the Great Hierophant. The meaning of this symbol is to indicate the structure of the macrocosm. The ring here depicts the Divine Consciousness, which gave birth to the vertical trunk of emanation. At each of its energy levels, worlds of different degrees of density were formed, indicated by horizontal bars. The vertical itself supports and balances the existence of the entire Universe, being a channel for the movement of energy from the upper worlds to the lower ones and back. According to the Hermetic Law of Similarity, which states that the lower is similar to the upper, the cross of the Hierophant is also used to describe the microcosm, i.e. the inner universe of the individual. Following this approach, the circle symbolizes human consciousness, the ray of emanation of which is indicated by a vertical pillar passing through each of the three planes and realizing the relationship between them. Moreover, the upper level corresponds to the area of thought, the middle – feelings, and the lower – physical sensation. Rice.
2. Cross of St. Hierophant .
If the spiritual qualities of a person are represented in the form of a space that has a structure adequate to the Hierophant’s Cross, then the ring will personify the attributes of a pure
consciousness.
The concrete
, indicated by horizontal lines, are a reflection of the so-called
abstract ones
. They are: depth, purity, direction, activity, energy and harmony. They have the fullness of content, since in addition to their immediate meaning they also have its negation in the form of a diametrically opposite one. Now let's look at the positive pole of abstract qualities in more detail:
Depth
expresses the geometric parameters of an arbitrary space: its shape, internal structure and volume. And from the position of spiritual development, it determines the level of understanding of Reality achieved by the aspirant. The depth of thought reflects the number of connections between concepts and the ability to identify their central (essential) features. The depth of feelings provides the very possibility of transforming the states of consciousness responsible for world perception. Depth of awareness is the degree of self-identification with the object or problem being studied.
Purity
describes the qualitative state of a substance filling space, which has such characteristics as: uniformity, density, transparency and a number of others. In the spiritual aspect, this is the ability of an individual to see reality without distortion. Presence of subtlety of perception. The purity of the motives of the esoteric movement forms in the researcher a desire for knowledge devoid of egoistic motives, opening the way to high moral ideals.
Focus
similar to vectors pointing in different directions in space. For a person, direction means the orientation of his life path. The most important element of practice is the creation of a general direction in the personality structure, i.e. directions to states of consciousness that exceed human ones, ideally to the consciousness of the Supreme.
Under activity
implies the intensity of either the transformations carried out in the space itself, or its impact on external objects. In terms of a person, it acts as a measure of the efforts he makes for his own improvement.
Energy accumulates in each specific psychic space
certain quality and quantity. The energy potential of an individual is measured by spiritual strength. Any capabilities of the mover depend on it, from the ability to show patience and perseverance in striving for the intended goal to the practical achievement of new, enlightened states of consciousness.
Harmony
is expressed in a certain internal balance or smooth dynamics of space, established due to a certain relationship between all its parameters. A person’s harmonization of his spiritual attributes consists in their wise combination with each other, which allows him to more fully use the capabilities of his consciousness in solving the problems that confront him.
I described the above qualities on an intuitive level. The scientific method requires a different style of introducing concepts. And, despite their abstractness, they are very convenient for research in neo-esotericism, where a unified system for assessing the objects being studied is necessary. The practitioner must equally develop all the previously listed spiritual characteristics, because imperfection of at least one of them will cause disharmony in his inner world. For example, without a deep understanding, the correct formulation of the problem, and, consequently, its solution is impossible. An excess of depth, with a lack of purity and energy, makes the style of the mover cumbersome, leading to vague reasoning and complicating practical implementation. If the purity of feelings is insufficient, the individual lacks the subtlety of intuitive perception. The predominance of purity over depth contributes to the manifestation of excessive gullibility, going beyond the limits of reason, which will cause numerous mistakes and various everyday troubles. And uncertainty of purpose and indifference are characteristic of those who do not have a clear focus. In turn, a complex sense of purpose, together with a narrow worldview, leads to fanaticism. The presence of passivity in a person does not allow him to make independent decisions, making his life monotonous and uninteresting. However, due to excessive activity, excessive overexcitation occurs, which means that the aspirant complicates his path to the truth, which can only be comprehended by calm contemplation of reality. And, finally, insufficiency of psychic energy extremely complicates the process of self-improvement, excluding any practical implementation of the plan.
Striving to harmonize qualities, the esotericist makes a difficult ascent from one level of development to another, higher one. At the same time, after achieving harmony, a peace of balance sets in, which, after some time, has to be disrupted in order to restore internal progress. Directed disharmonization, applied at the right moment, leads to compensation of harmony by disequilibrium, giving rise to a new cycle of harmonization.
It should be remembered that without constant work on oneself, the practitioner risks finding himself at the bottom again. And then you will have to start all over again, because previous achievements will turn into their opposite. Human consciousness, like a lake, has not only the depth of understanding, but also the shallowness of thought. And the purity and transparency of feelings, allowing the mind to clearly see the truth, can be replaced by muddy and dark waters of imperfect sensory manifestations. This leads to unwanted emotional outbursts, from which the surface of the lake of consciousness becomes covered with small ripples, distorting the reflection in it.
In neo-esotericism, there are three approaches to practice to improve a person’s qualities. The first is based on the identification of the individual with his own sensations, considered as an integral property of his consciousness. The next two are characterized by the opposite, i.e. the practitioner separates himself from the sensations he experiences, identifying himself only with the flow of pure perception. Moreover, in one case, feelings and thoughts are considered living and fairly independent beings that feed on human psychic energy. They have their own life cycle and participate in the spiritual development of the mover, but sometimes they ignore his interests in pursuit of personal goals. Therefore, he often has to fight with such entities. According to another approach, all types of sensations are understood as a psychophysical substance generated by consciousness, of different quality and purpose. It serves only as a material, by consciously influencing which one can change its properties.
However, from the perspective of psychotechnics, all three types of practice are based on the same sequence of actions:
First, the aspirant must learn to track the thoughts and feelings that arise in him, in order to understand for himself, hidden within himself, the reasons for their occurrence. After which he begins to comprehend the art of controlling sensations, while simultaneously improving the previously mentioned fundamental qualities in them. As a result, the person achieves awareness of his inner world as a really existing one, assigning a dominant role in it to the highest spiritual principles. Then the practitioner can move on to the development of basic qualities in extremely abstract sensations, which are a generalization of those present in the human consciousness - mental, sensory, etc. vibrations. This is the level of working with sensation matrices. Through this practice, the mover improves his individual style. And ultimately, the esotericist must learn to manage the entire complex of his own stream of perception.
******
From Homer's notes:
Ø I will try to completely dispassionately evaluate my thoughts and feelings for their abstract characteristics (depth, purity, etc.). Should they be assessed relative to each other or compared with the ideal image of these qualities? Perhaps there will be two independent assessments: relative and absolute, although the latter itself is relative, but in relation to its own line of development. But first you need to construct ideal ones in your imagination, i.e. extremely developed sensations.
Ø I wonder if lower feelings and thoughts need to be uprooted from your consciousness or will they still be useful? I think again it's a matter of assessment. Absolutely negative qualities must be destroyed, but one must know them for the sake of orientation in human psychology. Other lower qualities retain their significance in their field of application, but are lower relative to some higher spiritual levels. An absolute assessment arises when compared with ideal ideas.
Read Chapter 10 Back to Contents.
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The spiritual sphere of social life
Human society is divided into spiritual and material spheres. Of course, the material sphere is important - it ensures physical existence. But in order to manifest himself as a spiritual person, he also needs a corresponding sphere.
The spiritual sphere of man includes religion, science, morality, culture, art, and law. Pedagogy has established that instilling the foundations of culture from an early age makes it possible to raise a harmonious, responsible personality. Doctors have found that the connections in the brain that are formed when playing musical instruments expand a person’s mathematical abilities. The development of creative abilities that art provides expands the scope of freedom and teaches you to make innovative decisions.
The spiritual realm has a powerful influence on the individual. The conclusion is obvious: man, as a social being, cannot fully develop without society.
Spiritual guidelines
Society has always had accepted norms that were considered spiritual guidelines. The Holy Scripture played a huge role in their formation. The two largest religions based on it - Christianity and Islam - are professed by 33% and 23% of the world population, respectively. Social, economic and criminal laws and the Constitutions of many countries are drawn up on the basis of the Ten Commandments.
The Golden Rule, found in Matthew 7:12, encourages people to do as they would like to be treated. This is not just maintaining neutrality according to the formula “do no harm to anyone, so that no harm will be done to you” and not a common saying calling for retribution “as you do to me, so I will to you.” This was taught by many ancient philosophers. Christ taught to actively do good, so that you yourself would be rewarded with good. And he added that this is the whole law and the prophets.
A person's spiritual orientation as an individual is even more closely tied to Scripture, even if he has never read it. Thanks to public morality, the concepts of good or bad, decent or dishonest, acceptable or unacceptable keep the individual within certain limits. Literature is built on the basis of public morality - a powerful means of cultivating spirituality. The author’s detailed description of the deep motives of the hero’s actions makes it possible to gain one’s own experience. Among the great writers who indicated spiritual guidelines are L. N. Tolstoy, F. M. Dostoevsky, A. P. Chekhov, C. Dickens, E. M. Remarque.
And people are coming...
It is also worth remembering the statement of St. John Chrysostom:
Nothing gives the soul so much strength as freedom from worries, and nothing makes it weak as much as the burden of worries.
Many people do not think about their soul. They are more concerned about acquiring various kinds of material values, receiving bodily pleasures and other things. And it's not their fault. Social standards and life values of society impose on us from early childhood that a person needs to acquire as many things as possible and achieve a prestigious position.
And only when experiencing suffering or going through difficult times, we think about the strength of the soul and body. We turn to the Supreme for help and support.
Few people consciously go in search of their spirituality. Fortunately, there are more and more of them. Those who complete the spiritual search come to know their own soul. They talk about the path they have traveled, convey Great Knowledge, which provides invaluable assistance to those who are going on a quest again.
Spiritual hero in literature
The purpose of the writer was expressed by A. S. Pushkin in the work “The Prophet”. It echoes the biblical account of the calling of the prophet Isaiah. In the book bearing the name of the prophet, chapter 6 is devoted to this. With a verb, that is, with a word, to burn the hearts of people - this is the task of a prophet and writer who is gifted with talent.
Daniel Defoe described the life of Robinson Crusoe far from civilization. With the moral values from the Bible, he created a beautiful world on the island. He did not go wild, but was melted down in a difficult ordeal.
Jonathan Swift endowed his Gulliver with moral qualities. Some of his actions have become household names.
The Little Prince Exupery amazes with the wisdom of simple logic based on love.
The heroes of Jane Eyre, A.I. Kuprin, Jack London, V. Kataev have accompanied many since childhood. They go through life's difficulties, their character qualities are worthy of emulation.
Soul Recognition
Probably, everyone has ever found themselves in a situation where, when meeting a stranger, it seems that you know him very well. He is so close, painfully dear. This meeting awakens you to experience the strongest emotions and feelings that shake you to the core. This phenomenon is called soul recognition.
It is unlikely that this person will “recognize” you. But this fact serves as proof that our souls communicate and are closely connected with one another. And this does not depend on our consciousness.
Esoteric science describes two types of connections that lead to each other and unite them with one destiny:
- karmic;
- and space.
Karmic connection is part of the normal order of evolution. Cosmic communication is supernormal in that it belongs to a completely different set of laws. This is one of the Great Mysteries. It is the lot of the initiated and is mentioned only for the reason that so many try to approach it without being initiated. That is, they experiment with the great forces of nature in complete ignorance of their character and power, which is very unsafe.
Personal qualities
In pedagogy, qualities are distinguished that are cultivated for the formation of a spiritual personality. This is the ability to take responsibility for one’s actions, understanding their impact on others. A spiritual person is, first of all, a moral person. He is characterized by honesty, decency, inner purity, nobility. He despises lies and theft. He is characterized by tolerance towards everyone, respect for people of the opposite sex, mutual assistance, caring for those in need, and self-control.
The behavior of such a person is not limited to the above qualities. He constantly works on himself to achieve even higher ideals. This is ensured by internal freedom - personal autonomy. He does not violate the laws of society not because of fear of punishment, but because they are the laws of his personality.
Find your soul
The soul has an invisible connection with the body. In some teachings it is described as a silver thread, which, at the moment of physical death of the body, releases the soul to freedom.
Is it possible to give a material description of the soul? Some practices use their own tools to describe its color, size, and flaws. Time will prove the veracity of such information.
We believe that the soul is invisible, because it is consciousness. And it belongs to a dimension where only true Light and Sound exist.
The outer expression of the soul is our attention. The mind is constantly busy commenting on life's report and distracts attention from the door leading to the Highest. The endless stream of thoughts can be stopped using various techniques (prayer, meditation, trance, etc.) and look inside yourself, discovering the power of the soul and the coordination of the will.
The influence of a socially spiritual person on society
No man has influenced history more than Jesus Christ. He taught his followers to spread what they learned. How many times have they been tried to destroy them, like Christ himself! But they still brought the truth to the world. The religion is named after their teacher, and the beginning of a new era is considered to be from his birth.
John Gutenberg invented the printing press to disseminate the Holy Scriptures, and it had a huge impact on culture around the world. Books became much cheaper and everyone could afford to buy them. Cyril and Methodius, Greek missionaries, created the Slavic alphabet for translating the Holy Scriptures and this enriched our language. Many Russian proverbs are actually taken from the Bible.
Leo Tolstoy highly valued the Word of God and in his works comprehensively considered good and evil. His novels were highly appreciated by M. Gandhi, who led the struggle for the liberation of India. He spoke about the importance of Christian teaching, that all the world's problems would be solved if people actually adhered to it.
As can be seen from these examples, even one spiritual person is an undoubted benefit to society.
Love
Words from the famous writer Erich Maria Remarque:
If your soul reaches out to someone, don’t resist... She’s the only one who knows exactly what we need!
It is impossible for a person to live without love. Each of us feels the need to satisfy emotional and sensory needs.
But how often is he deceived, mistaking for a true feeling simply physical dependence on another person, the opportunity to possess someone else’s will and feelings. Personal love makes a slave out of a person, who is attached to the object of desire and sees the meaning of life in his beloved, and only connects his future with him.
True love is the achievement of the strength of the soul. Unconditional, quiet, filled with trust, freedom, warmth and wisdom. She gives wings to her loved ones and does not impose any stereotypes or opinions.
The power of the human soul is capable of hearing the thoughts of other people's hearts and seeing their unity. And find real happiness in this unity.
