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Spiritual Practices
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 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Religious Experience
A religious experience (sometimes known as a spiritual experience, sacred experience, mystical experience) is a subjectivity, subjective experience which is interpreted within a religious framework. The concept originated in the 19th century, as a defense against the growing rationalism of Western world, Western society. William James popularised the concept. In some religions, this is said to sometimes result in unverified personal gnosis. Many religious and mystical traditions see religious experiences (particularly the knowledge which comes with them) as revelations caused by divine agency rather than ordinary natural processes. They are considered real encounters with God or gods, or real contact with higher-order realities of which humans are not ordinarily aware. Skeptics may hold that religious experience is an evolved feature of the human brain amenable to normal scientific study. The commonalities and differences between religious experiences across different cultures ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fasting
Fasting is the act of refraining from eating, and sometimes drinking. However, from a purely physiological context, "fasting" may refer to the metabolic status of a person who has not eaten overnight (before "breakfast"), or to the metabolic state achieved after complete digestion and absorption of a meal. Metabolic changes in the fasting state begin after absorption of a meal (typically 3–5 hours after eating). A '' diagnostic fast'' refers to prolonged fasting from 1–100 hours (depending on age), conducted under observation, to facilitate the investigation of a health complication (usually hypoglycemia). Many people may also fast as part of a medical procedure or a check-up, such as preceding a colonoscopy or surgery, or before certain medical tests. '' Intermittent fasting'' is a technique sometimes used for weight loss or other health benefits that incorporates regular fasting into a person's dietary schedule. Fasting may also be part of a religious ritual, often asso ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fasting In Christianity
Fasting is practiced in various religions. Examples include Lent in Christianity and Yom Kippur, Tisha B'av, Fast of Esther, Fast of Gedalia, the Seventeenth of Tammuz, and the Tenth of Tevet in Judaism. Muslims fast during the month of Ramadan each year. The fast includes refraining from consuming any food or liquid from the break of dawn until sunset. Details of fasting practices differ. Oriental Orthodox Christians and Eastern Orthodox Christians fast during specified fasting seasons of the year, which include not only the better-known Great Lent, but also fasts on every Wednesday and Friday (except on special holidays), together with extended fasting periods before Christmas (the Nativity Fast), after Easter (the Apostles Fast) and in early August (the Dormition Fast). Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) fast for a full 24-hour period once per month – usually before the main meal on the first Saturday of the month and ending with the ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prayer In Christianity
Christian prayer is an important activity in Christianity, and there are several different forms used for this practice. Christian prayers are diverse: they can be completely spontaneous, or read entirely from a text, such as from a breviary, which contains the canonical hours that are said at fixed prayer times. While praying, certain gestures usually accompany the prayers, including folding one's hands, bowing one's head, kneeling (often in the kneeler of a pew in corporate worship or the kneeler of a prie-dieu in private worship), and prostration. The most prominent prayer among Christians is the Lord's Prayer, which according to the gospel accounts (e.g. Matthew 6:9-13) is how Jesus taught his disciples to pray. The injunction for Christians to pray the Lord's Prayer thrice daily was given in '' Didache'' 8, 2 f., which, in turn, was influenced by the Jewish practice of praying thrice daily found in the Old Testament, specifically in , which suggests "evening and morni ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Home Altar
A home altar or family altar is a shrine kept in the home of some Western Christian families used for Christian prayer and family worship. Home altars often contain a cross or crucifix, an image of Jesus Christ, a copy of the Bible (especially a Family Bible), a breviary and/or other prayer book, a daily devotional, and prayer beads, among other religious articles specific to the individual's Christian denomination, for example, the images of the saints for Catholics, the Small Catechism for Lutherans, and the Anglican prayer beads for Anglicans. History ''The Christian Treasury'' traces the origin of the family altar to the prophet Abraham erecting one in the Old Testament (). Since at least the 2nd century, believers such as Hipparchus, hung or painted a Christian cross, to which they prostrated in front of, on the eastern wall of their home in order to indicate the eastward direction of prayer during the seven fixed prayer times, as an "expression of their undying beli ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jewish Holidays
Jewish holidays, also known as Jewish festivals or ''Yamim Tovim'' (, or singular , in transliterated Hebrew []), are holidays observed by Jews throughout the Hebrew calendar.This article focuses on practices of mainstream Rabbinic Judaism. Karaite Judaism#The calendar, Karaite Jews and Samaritans#Samaritanism, Samaritans also observe the biblical festivals, but not in an identical fashion and not always at exactly the same time. They include religious, cultural and national elements, derived from four sources: '' mitzvot'' ("biblical commandments"), rabbinic mandates, the history of Judaism, and the State of Israel. Jewish holidays occur on the same dates every year in the Hebrew calendar, but the dates vary in the Gregorian. This is because the Hebrew calendar is a lunisolar calendar (based on the cycles of both the sun and moon), whereas the Gregorian is a solar calendar. Each holiday can only occur on certain days of the week, four for most, but five for holidays in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
High Holy Days
In Judaism, the High Holy Days, also known as High Holidays or Days of Awe (Yamim Noraim; , ''Yāmīm Nōrāʾīm'') consist of: #strictly, the holidays of Rosh Hashanah ("Jewish New Year") and Yom Kippur ("Day of Atonement"); #by extension, the period of ten days including those holidays, known also as the Ten Days of Repentance (); or, #by a further extension, the entire 40-day penitential period in the Jewish year from Rosh Chodesh Elul to Yom Kippur, traditionally taken to represent the forty days Moses spent on Mount Sinai before coming down with the second ("replacement") set of the Tablets of Stone. Etymology The term High Holy Days most probably derives from the popular English phrase, "high days and holy days". The Hebrew equivalent, "''Yamim Noraim''" (), is neither Biblical nor Talmudic. Professor Ismar Elbogen avers that it was a medieval usage, reflecting a change in the mood of Rosh Hashanah from a predominantly joyous celebration to a more subdued day that wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elul
Elul (Hebrew language, Hebrew: , Hebrew language#Modern Hebrew, Standard , Tiberian vocalization, Tiberian ) is the twelfth month of the civil year and the sixth month of the Jewish religious year, religious year in the Hebrew calendar. It is a month of 29 days. Elul usually occurs in August–September on the Gregorian calendar. Etymology The name of the month Elul, like the names of the rest of the Hebrew calendar months, was brought from the Babylonian captivity, and originated from the Akkadian word for "harvest". A similar month name was also used in Akkadian language, Akkadian, in the form ''Elūlu''. The month is known as ''Araḫ Ulūlu'' "harvest month" in the Babylonian calendar. The only difference is that in the Babylonian calendar, Ulūlu can serve as a leap month, while in the Jewish calendar, only Adar can serve as a leap month. Eylül is also the name for September in Turkish language, Turkish; this is derived from ''ʾAylūl'', used in Iraq and the Levant (see A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Teshuvah
Repentance ( /tʃuvɑː/; "return") is one element of atoning for sin in Judaism. Judaism recognizes that everybody sins on occasion, but that people can stop or minimize those occasions in the future by repenting for past transgressions. Thus, the primary purpose of repentance in Judaism is ethical self-transformation.Telushkin, Joseph. ''A Code of Jewish Ethics: Volume 1 - You Shall Be Holy''. New York: Bell Tower, 2006. p. 152-173. Maimonides defines the essence of repentance as follows: A Jewish penitent is traditionally known as a ''baal teshuva''. How to repent According to ''Gates of Repentance'', a standard work of Jewish ethics written by Rabbenu Yonah of Gerona, a sinner repents by: * regretting/acknowledging the sin; * forsaking the sin (see below); * worrying about the future consequences of the sin; * acting and speaking with humility; * acting in a way opposite to that of the sin (for example, for the sin of lying, one should speak the truth); * understand ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Meditation
Meditation is a practice in which an individual uses a technique to train attention and awareness and detach from reflexive, "discursive thinking", achieving a mentally clear and emotionally calm and stable state, while not judging the meditation process itself. Techniques are broadly classified into focused (or concentrative) and open monitoring methods. Focused methods involve attention to specific objects like breath or mantras, while open monitoring includes mindfulness and awareness of mental events. Meditation is practiced in numerous religious traditions, though it is also practised independently from any religious or spiritual influences for its health benefits. The earliest records of meditation ('' dhyana'') are found in the Upanishads, and meditation plays a salient role in the contemplative repertoire of Jainism, Buddhism and Hinduism. Meditation-like techniques are also known in Judaism, Christianity and Islam, in the context of remembrance of and prayer and dev ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kavanah
Kavanah, kavvanah, or kavana (, plural ''kawwānot'') means "intention" or "sincere feeling, direction of the heart". It is a theological concept in Rabbinic Judaism about a worshiper's state of mind, heart, sincerity, devotion, and emotional absorption during prayers. It is the mindset often described as necessary for rituals and prayers. ' In Hasidic Judaism, a tradition emphasizing piety, kavana is the emotional devotion and self-effacing absorption during prayers rather than a liturgical, recitation-driven religiosity. In Kabbalah, esoteric Jewish mysticism, kavana refers to the practice where the devotee concentrates on the secret meanings of prayer letters and words, sometimes referring to the permutations of the Tetragrammaton. Some kavanot are particular to the tradition of Kabbalah during meditation. Kavana is a much-debated subject among scholars, with traditional sources accepting that ritual without at least minimal kavana is insufficient. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
