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Spiritual Concepts
Spiritual is the adjective for spirit. Spiritual may also refer to: Religion *Spirituality, a concern with matters of the spirit **Spiritual attack, an attack by Satan and his demons on a Christian **Spiritual body, a Christian term for resurrection **Spiritual but not religious, a religious categorization **Spiritual bypass, a "tendency to use spiritual ideas and practices to sidestep or avoid facing unresolved emotional issues, psychological wounds, and unfinished developmental tasks" **Spiritual communion, a Christian practice of desiring union with Jesus Christ in the Eucharist ** Spiritual crisis, a form of identity crisis where an individual experiences drastic changes to their meaning system typically because of a spontaneous spiritual experience **Spiritual death, absence of spirituality ** Spiritual development, the development of the personality towards a religious or spiritual desired better personality **Spiritual direction, the practice of being with people as they a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spirit (vital Essence)
In folk belief In folkloristics, folk belief or folk-belief is a broad genre of folklore that is often expressed in narratives, customs, rituals, foodways, proverbs, and rhymes. It also includes a wide variety of behaviors, expressions, and beliefs. Examples of ..., spirit is the vitalism, vital principle or animating essence within all life, living things. As recently as 1628 and 1633 respectively, both William Harvey and René Descartes still speculated that somewhere within the body, in a special locality, there was a "vital spirit" or "vital force", which animated the whole bodily frame, just as the engine in a factory moves the machinery in it. Overview People have frequently conceived of spirit as a supernatural being, or non-physical entity; for example, a demon, ghost, fairy, or angel. In ancient Islamic terminology however, the term ''spirit'' (''rūḥ''), applies only to "pure" spirits, but not to other invisible creatures, such as jinn, Shaitan, demons and angels ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spiritual Formation
Spiritual formation may refer either to the process and practices by which a person may progress in one's spiritual or religious life or to a movement in Protestant Christianity that emphasizes these processes and practices. The processes may include, but are not limited to, * Specific techniques of prayer and meditation * A lifestyle integrating spiritual disciplines or exercises * Understanding and practice of historical religious philosophy and techniques *The knowledge and expression of the truth of God and of self There are numerous definitions of spiritual formation and no definitive depiction due to the breadth of the concept and the numerous perspectives from which religious persons may approach it. From a Christian standpoint, most would argue that it is identical with sanctification as understood as a progressive and gradual process of maturation. It is often referred to as "being conformed to the image of Christ," being made holy, or the formation of virtue and characte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spiritual Retreat
The meaning of a spiritual retreat can be different for different religious communities. Spiritual retreats are an integral part of many Hindu, Jewish, Buddhist, Christian and Sufi communities. In Hinduism and Buddhism, meditative retreats are seen by some as an intimate way of deepening powers of concentration and insight. Retreats are also popular in Christian churches, and were established in today's form by St. Ignatius of Loyola (14911556), in his Spiritual Exercises. Ignatius was later to be made patron saint of spiritual retreats by Pope Pius XI in 1922. Many Protestants, Catholics and Orthodox Christians partake in and organize spiritual retreats each year. Meditative retreats are an important practice in Sufism, the mystical path of Islam. The Sufi teacher Ibn Arabi's book ''Journey to the Lord of Power (Risālat al-Anwār)'' is a guide to the inner journey that was published over 700 years ago. Buddhism A retreat can either be a time of solitude or a community expe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spiritual Reading
{{No footnotes, date=March 2011 Spiritual reading is a practice of reading books and articles about spirituality with the purpose of growing in holiness. Spiritual reading is devoted to the reading of lives of saints, writings of Doctors and the Fathers of the Church, theological works written by holy people, and doctrinal writings of Church authorities. It is different from lectio divina which focuses on the bible. The biblical basis is St. Paul's advice "Attend to reading" (1 Tim 4:13) which meant that Timothy his disciple should "apply to the reading of holy books, not in a passing way and for a short time, but regularly and for a considerable time," said St. Alphonsus Liguori, Doctor of the Catholic Church on Moral theology. St. Bernard of Clairvaux said that "spiritual reading and prayer are the arms by which hell is conquered and paradise won." Basis and advantages The biblical basis of this practice is St. Paul's advice to his disciple Timothy whom he appointed bishop. St ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spiritual Psychology
Transpersonal psychology, or spiritual psychology, is a sub-field or school of psychology that integrates the spiritual and transcendent aspects of the human experience with the framework of modern psychology. The ''transpersonal'' is defined as "experiences in which the sense of identity or self extends beyond (trans) the individual or personal to encompass wider aspects of humankind, life, psyche or cosmos".Walsh, R. & Vaughan, F. "On transpersonal definitions". ''Journal of Transpersonal Psychology'', 25 (2) 125-182, 1993 It has also been defined as "development beyond conventional, personal or individual levels". Issues considered in transpersonal psychology include spiritual self-development, self beyond the ego, peak experiences, mystical experiences, systemic trance, spiritual crises, spiritual evolution, religious conversion, altered states of consciousness, spiritual practices, and other sublime and/or unusually expanded experiences of living. The discipline attempt ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spiritual Practice
A spiritual practice or spiritual discipline (often including spiritual exercises) is the regular or full-time performance of actions and activities undertaken for the purpose of inducing spiritual experiences and cultivating spiritual development. A common metaphor used in the spiritual traditions of the world's great religions is that of walking a path. Therefore, a spiritual practice moves a person along a path towards a goal. The goal is variously referred to as salvation, liberation or union (with God). A person who walks such a path is sometimes referred to as a wayfarer or a pilgrim. Religion Abrahamic religions Judaism Jewish spiritual practices may include prayer (including the Shema and Amidah), reciting blessings, Jewish meditation, Torah study, following dietary laws of kashrut, observing Shabbat, fasting, practices of teshuvah, giving tzedakah, and performing deeds of loving-kindness. ''Kavanah'' is the directing of the heart to achieve higher contemplative t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spiritual Possession
Spirit possession is an unusual or altered state of consciousness and associated behaviors purportedly caused by the control of a human body by spirits, ghosts, demons, or gods. The concept of spirit possession exists in many cultures and religions, including Buddhism, Christianity,Mark 5:9, Luke 8:30 Haitian Vodou, Hinduism, Islam, Wicca, and Southeast Asian, African, and Native American traditions. Depending on the cultural context in which it is found, possession may be considered voluntary or involuntary and may be considered to have beneficial or detrimental effects on the host. In a 1969 study funded by the National Institute of Mental Health, spirit possession beliefs were found to exist in 74% of a sample of 488 societies in all parts of the world, with the highest numbers of believing societies in Pacific cultures and the lowest incidence among Native Americans of both North and South America. As Pentecostal and Charismatic Christian churches move into both African ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spiritual Philosophy
Spiritual philosophy is any philosophy or teaching that pertains to spirituality. It may incorporate religious or esoteric themes. It can include any belief or thought system that embraces the existence of a reality that cannot be physically perceived . Concepts of spiritual philosophy are not universal and differ depending on one’s religious and cultural backgrounds . Spiritual philosophy can also be solely based on one’s personal and experiential connections . The use of the term ‘spiritual philosophy’ in European culture has its origin in the Catholic concept of living one’s life and practising God’s words through the Holy Spirit. In the 19th century, the concept became more mainstream and evolved to encompass other religions and non-religious relationships with sacred, spiritual and supernatural beliefs. The notions of spiritual philosophy, for some individuals, diverge from the long-standing history and tradition of institutionalised religion with believers of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spiritual Opportunism
Spiritual opportunism refers to the exploitation of spiritual ideas (or of the spirituality of others, or of spiritual authority): for personal gain, partisan interests or selfish motives. Usually the implication is that doing so is unprincipled in some way, although it may cause no harm and involve no abuse. In other words, religion becomes a means to achieve something that is alien to it, or things are projected into religion that do not belong there. Any human being has at least some kind of spiritual sense, developed through personal reflection or undeveloped but evident from lifestyle and communications, which defines the meta-meanings of human existence, the purpose of life, the meaning of the universe and one's own place in it, and so on. This belief system may, or may not be expressed through the categories and concepts of a religion; it could be only assumed, rather than explicit. Whatever the case, such beliefs can be used in a way that they become a source of profit. If ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spiritual Naturalism
Spiritual naturalism, or naturalistic spirituality combines a naturalist approach to spiritual ways of looking at the world. Spiritual naturalism may have first been proposed by Joris-Karl Huysmans in 1895 in his book ''En Route''. Coming into prominence as a writer during the 1870s, Huysmans quickly established himself among a rising group of writers, the so-called Naturalist school, of whom Émile Zola was the acknowledged head...With Là-bas (1891), a novel which reflected the aesthetics of the spiritualist revival and the contemporary interest in the occult, Huysmans formulated for the first time an aesthetic theory which sought to synthesize the mundane and the transcendent: "spiritual Naturalism". Long before the term spiritual naturalism was coined by Huysmans, there is evidence of the value system of spiritual naturalism in Stoicism: "Virtue consists in a will that is in agreement with Nature". Terminology Spirituality Spirituality (from the Latin root ''spiritus' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spiritual Materialism
''Spiritual materialism'' is a term coined by Chögyam Trungpa in his book ''Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism''. The book is a compendium of his talks explaining Buddhism given while opening the Karma Dzong meditation center in Boulder, Colorado. He expands on the concept in later seminars that became books such as '' Work, Sex, Money''. He uses the term to describe mistakes spiritual seekers commit which turn the pursuit of spirituality into an ego building and confusion creating endeavor, based on the idea that ego development is counter to spiritual progress.Ferrer (2001) p.35 Conventionally, it is used to describe capitalist and spiritual narcissism, commercial efforts such as "new age" bookstores and wealthy lecturers on spirituality; it might also mean the attempt to build up a list of credentials or accumulate teachings in order to present oneself as a more realized or holy person.Potter and Potter (2006) pp.102-103 Author Jorge Ferrer equates the terms "Spiritual ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spiritual Literature
Spiritual literature is a genre of literature, in which usually involves the personal spiritual experience of the author, in form of diary, autobiography, self-dialogue etc.. Famous spiritual literature * ''Vägmärken'' (''Markings'') by Dag Hammarskjöld (1963) * ''Old Path White Clouds:Walking in the Footsteps of the Buddha'' by Thích Nhất Hạnh (1991) * ''The Seven Storey Mountain'' by Thomas Merton Thomas Merton (January 31, 1915 – December 10, 1968) was an American Trappist monk, writer, theologian, mystic, poet, social activist and scholar of comparative religion. On May 26, 1949, he was ordained to the Catholic priesthood and giv ... (1948) Literary genres Religious literature {{Lit-genre-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
