Part 1 (Spirituality) Lecture on Spirituality & Development to students at Cambridge University -- explains why misconceptions about knowledge in west make it difficult to understand spirituality
This article is about the spirituality of everyday life, and spirituality means turning everything we do no matter how mundane into a spiritual practice
Part 1 (Spirituality) Lecture on Spirituality & Development to students at Cambridge University -- explains why misconceptions about knowledge in west make it difficult to understand spirituality
This article is about the spirituality of everyday life, and spirituality means turning everything we do no matter how mundane into a spiritual practice
The 5 most powerful self-beliefs that ignite human behaviorJonathan Dunnemann
These beliefs drive our underlying motives, which influence our purpose, characteristics, interests, and idiosyncratic attributes that determine who we are and what we achieve.
Measure developed by Child Trends for the Flourishing Children Project, funded by the Templeton Foundation.
You may calculate a total score by associating the following numeric values with the answer options: Not at all=0; A little=1; Somewhat=2; A lot=3; and Completely=4. The maximum score for this scale equals 60.
2017 Edelman TRUST BAROMETER™- Global ResultsEdelman
The 2017 Edelman TRUST BAROMETER™ reveals that trust is in crisis around the world. The general population’s trust in the institutions of business, government, NGOs, and media declined broadly, a phenomenon not recorded since Edelman began tracking trust in 2001.
For more information, visit www.edelman.com/trust2017
January 17, 2017 Correction: A previous version of this report incorrectly represented the data associated with “Leave the EU” and “Remain in the EU” on slide 30. The numbers reflected have been updated.
Copyright (c) 2017 Daniel J. Edelman, Inc. All rights reserved.
This slide presentation contains quotes from my book with the text inserted into my photographs.
A Fruit-Bearing Spirituality is available on Amazon.com
Spirituality - as a word - continues to be a confusing word, often used in multi-disciplinary contexts, within various religions, faiths, non faith contexts, businesses and various corporate and global considerations.
The book, published in 2013 itself is the fruit of Doctoral Research conducted over a four year period within a charity which offered multidisciplinary care to Disabled People.
Therefore, the understanding of spirituality emerged as a living theory from the bottom up as it were not through a top down rationalistic theoretical approach but a merging of the two - which is PRAXIS - when theory and practice inform each other in an on-going cycle
Unconventional Thinking
The Greatest Creator
Time, Space, and the Universe
Humanity and Human Life
LIFE
Physical and Spiritual Healthcare
Revelations
Self-improvement and Self-cultivation
Life’s Wisdom
Preaching Tao
Celestial Cultivation
The Attainment of Buddhahood
The Nonmaterial World
Xuefeng Corpus
Chanyuan celestial Corpus
The slide presentation contains some content and other relevant text to accompany my book, A Fruit-Bearing Spirituality published in Dec 2013 by Circle Books, John Hunt Publishing, UK. It is a more simple version of my Doctoral Thesis with four years of Participative Action Research about Spirituality Praxis (Practice - Theory)_
Become a better leader and manager by clarifying your thinking - understand not what you think but also how you think and why you think that way you do .... Learn the Power of Spiral Dynamics and improve the quality of your working life
Karma yoga chapter v we help ourselves, not the world.Ravi Ramakrishnan
Swami #Vivekananda Bengali: , Shāmi Bibekānondo; 12 January 1863 – 4 July 1902), born #Narendranath Datta, was an Indian Hindu monk, a chief disciple of the 19th-century Indian mystic Ramakrishna. He was a key figure in the introduction of the Indian philosophies of# Vedanta and #Yoga to the Western world and is credited with raising #interfaith awareness, bringing Hinduism to the status of a major world religion during the late 19th century. He was a major force in the revival of Hinduism in India, and contributed to the concept of nationalism in colonial India. Vivekananda founded the #Ramakrishna Math and the Ramakrishna Mission. He is perhaps best known for his speech which began, "Sisters and brothers of America ...," in which he introduced Hinduism at the Parliament of the World's Religions in Chicago in 1893.
Born into an aristocratic Bengali family of Calcutta, Vivekananda was inclined towards spirituality. He was influenced by his Guru, Ramakrishna Deva, from whom he learnt that all living beings were an embodiment of the divine self; therefore, service to God could be rendered by service to mankind. After Ramakrishna's death, Vivekananda toured the Indian subcontinent extensively and acquired first-hand knowledge of the conditions prevailing in British India. He later traveled to the United States, representing India at the 1893 Parliament of the World Religions. Vivekananda conducted hundreds of public and private lectures and classes, disseminating tenets of Hindu philosophy in the United States, England and Europe. In India, Vivekananda is regarded as a patriotic saint and his birthday is celebrated there as National Youth Day.
What is the teaching of the Buddha?
Is it a religion, or is it really something else—something we don’t even have a word for?
Why does Buddhism have so many rules?
Is there a scientific basis for integrity, ethics, morality, right and wrong?
What are the benefits of precepts like truthfulness, mindfulness and renunciation?
Aren’t they just outmoded beliefs?
Unity or oneness is the goal.
Mindfulness misdefined as open, receptive, pre-verbal awareness.
The Buddha does not speak with final authority because of cultural differences.
Idealism or perfection is unrealistic, against human nature.
Suttas should not be read as literal descriptions but as poetic mythology.
The Suttas encourage meditative activism.
Unity or oneness is the goal.
"The rise of black power had a profound effect upon the appearance of black theology. When Carmichael and other radical black activists separated themselves from King's absolute commitment to nonviolence by proclaiming black power, white Christians especially members of the clergy, called upon their black brothers and sisters in the gospel to denounce black power as unChristian. To the surprise of white Christians, the National Committee of Negro Churchmen (NNC); later to become NCBC) refused to follow their advice and instead wrote a "Black Power Statement" that was published in the New York Time, July 31, 1966.
The Theology of Spirituality: It's Growing Importance Amid the Transformation...Jonathan Dunnemann
Abstract: This article raises issues surrounding the theology of spirituality as a relatively new theological focus. It argues that, faced with a changing world and numerous new (or perceived as new) phenomena, the theology of spirituality, as a scholarly area examining spiritual experience, is becoming a branch of
theological research of increasing importance. The first part of this article focuses on the ever-growing areas of interest found within the theology of spirituality, a growth stemming from the core of the field itself (agere sequitur esse). The second part emphasizes the newer areas of interest within the theology
of spirituality. These new horizons arise from the pluralism of theology itself and the criteria used in differentiating theological disciplines, such as ethno-geographic, doctrinal, and ascetic-practical concerns. In particular, amid a fast-changing world in which information and mutual contact have become incredibly accessible, the interpenetration of cultures and traditions can not only be of great value but also carry the dangers of a chaotic eclecticism. As this accessibility becomes ever easier and more pervasive, contemporary human beings can thus become confused, not only about their worldviews but also concerning their spiritual and religious beliefs. Thus, research into the theology of spirituality is becoming increasingly more important.
Using an interdisciplinary approach and a phenomenological, hermeneutic, mystagogical methodology, this paper explores how children describe the deep fruits of meditation in their lives. Seventy children, aged 7 to 11, from four Irish primary schools were interviewed; all had engaged in meditation as a whole-school practice for at least two-years beforehand. The study sought to elicit from children their experience, if any, of the transcendent in meditation. It concludes that children can and do enjoy deep states of consciousness and that meditation has the capacity to nourish the innate spirituality of the child. It highlights the importance of personal spiritual experience for children and supports the introduction of meditation in primary schools.
ASSESSMENT OF CHARACTER STRENGTHS AMONG YOUTH: THE VALUES IN ACTION INVENTORY...Jonathan Dunnemann
Raising virtuous children is an ultimate goal not only of all parents and educators but also of all societies. Across different eras and cultures, identifying character strengths (virtues) and cultivating them in children and youth have been among the chief interests of philosophers, theologians, and educators. With a few exceptions, these topics have been neglected by psychologists. However, the emerging field of positive psychology specifically emphasizes
building the good life by identifying individual strengths of character and fostering them (Seligman, 2002). Character strengths are now receiving attention by psychologists interested in positive youth development.
African American spirituality provides a rich lens into the heart and soul of the black church experience, often overlooked in the Christian spiritual formation literature. By addressing this lacuna, this essay focuses on three primary shaping qualities o f history: the effects of slavery, the Civil Rights Movement under Dr. Martin Luther King’s leadership, and the emergence of the Black Church. Lour spiritual practices that influence African American spirituality highlight the historical and cultural context of being “forged in the fiery furnace,” including worship, preaching and Scripture, the community of faith and prayer, and community outreach. The essay concludes by recognizing four areas o f the lived experiences of African Americans from which the global church can glean: (1) persevering in pain and suffering, (2) turning to God for strength, (3) experiencing a living and passionate faith, and (4) affirming God’s intention for freedom and justice to be afforded to every individual.
Strengths Building, Resilience, and the Bible: A Story-Based Curriculum for A...Jonathan Dunnemann
Depression is the leading cause of illness and disability in adolescents worldwide. Resilience training, founded on principles of positive psychology, is correlated with lower depression and
substance misuse in U.S. adolescents and military personnel. However, resilience training has focused primarily on secular interventions using western material. Religion is strongly correlated
with lower depression and also with well-being in developing countries. Ninety percent of adolescents live in developing countries, and at least two-thirds are oral learners who prefer
learning through stories and drama. This paper proposes a Bible story based curriculum that trains students in problem solving skills, character strengths, and both spiritual and secular
research-tested principles for resilience and well-being. The Bible is available by audio recording in 751 languages and offers a broad base of archetypal stories for teaching resilience. The
program is easily reproducible, culturally adaptable, respectful of all religions, and specifically crafted for oral learners. Through audio recordings to maintain fidelity, train the trainer programs
for dissemination and support of national and community leaders, the proposed curriculum for Global Resilience Oral Workshops (GROW) has potential to lower depression and lift well-being
in adolescents around the world.
Historical criticism attempts to read texts in their original situations, informed by literary and cultural conventions reconstructed from comparable texts and artifacts. African American interpretation extends this approach to questions about race and social location for the ancient text, its reception
history, and its modern readers. It arose as a corrective and alternative to white supremacist use of the Bible in moral and political arguments regarding race, civil rights, and social justice. Accordingly, African American interpretation has combined the
insights of abolitionists and activists with academic tools to demonstrate how biblical interpretation can function as an instrument of oppression, obfuscation, or opportunity. Of course, most of these developments have occurred in the larger framework of American Christianity. Yet, its analyses reach
beyond that specific setting, touching on the connections between the Bible and race in public discourse generally, whether in government, academia, or popular culture.
Appropriating Universality: The Coltranes and 1960s SpiritualityJonathan Dunnemann
The role of the Black Protestant Church has figured prominently in scholarly discussions of African American music culture, and to some extent its importance has been explored with respect to jazz. However, with the exception of the Nation of Islam, the influence of Eastern religious practices among black Americans has not been significantly researched nor have adequate connections been made between these spiritual pursuits and the musical innovations they inspired. Nevertheless, since the mid-’60s, black American artists have explored Yoga, Hinduism, various sects of Buddhism, Ahmadiya Islam, and Bahá’í. The
aesthetic impact of these pursuits has been multi-dimensional and far-reaching. In their study of Asian philosophy and religion, jazz musicians have been exposed to the sounds and musical processes they have discovered in the cultures from which these traditions have emerged. One can hear this influence in musical borrowings, such as the use of traditional instrumentation, the reworking of melodic material from folk and classical genres, and the incorporation of indigenous
improvisational and compositional techniques. Though less audible, Eastern spiritual traditions have also exerted a more abstract philosophical influence that has shaped jazz aesthetics, inspiring jazz musicians to dissolve formal and stylistic boundaries and produce works of great originality. Contextualizing the spiritual explorations of John and Alice Coltrane within American religious culture and liberation movements of the 1960s, this essay explores the way that
their eclectic appropriation of Eastern spiritual concepts and their commitment to spiritual universality not only inspired musical innovation, but also provided a counter-hegemonic, political, and cultural critique.
Who Is Jesus Christ for Us Today?
To say that Jesus Christ is the truth of the Christian story calls for further examination. It is one thing to assert that the New Testament describes Jesus as the Oppressed One who came to liberate the poor and the weak (Chap. 4); but it is quite another to ask, Who is Jesus Christ for us today? If twentieth-century Christians are to speak the truth for their sociohistorical situation, they cannot merely repeat the story of what Jesus did and said in Palestine, as if it were selfinterpreting for us today. Truth is more than the retelling of the biblical story. Truth is the divine happening that invades our contemporary situation, revealing the meaning of the past for the present so that we
are made new creatures for the future. It is therefore our commitment to the divine truth, as witnessed to in the biblical story, that requires us to investigate the connection between Jesus' words and deeds in firstcentury Palestine and our existence today. This is the crux of the christological issue that no Christian theology can avoid.
The pivotal role of religion and spirituality in the lives of African Americans marks this ethnoracial group as a particularly important target for attention in research on the psychology and sociology of religion. In this chapter we endeavor to achieve three ends: First, we briefly review literature on meanings of religiosity and spirituality among African Americans. Second, we review the literature on the link between religiosity, spirituality, and health among African Americans. Finally, we examine findings regarding the pathways by which religion and spirituality may achieve its ends.
Transformative Pedagogy, Black Theology and Participative forms of PraxisJonathan Dunnemann
"This formative analysis is... on the significant developments in religious education by and for Black people, principally in the US. ..., I describe my own participative approaches to Black theology by means of transformative pedagogy, which utilizes interactive exercises as a means of combining the insights of the aforementioned ideas and themes into a transformative mode of teaching and learning."
"..., I have attempted to combine the radical intent of transformative education arising from the Freirerian tradition with Black liberation theology in order to develop a more participative and interactive mode of theo-pedagogical engagement that moves intellectual discourse beyond mere theorizing into more praxis based forms of practice.
Development of a Program for the Empowerment of Black Single Mother Families ...Jonathan Dunnemann
The most rapid growing family type in the United States is the single parent family. It is the dominant family type in the African-American community. According to the United States Bureau of the Census (2010), 69% of all Black children are born to single mothers. Single mother families are at a dramatically greater risk for drug and alcohol abuse, mental illness, suicide, poor educational performance, teen pregnancy, and criminality (National Center for Health Statistics, 1993).
Black Males, Social Imagery, and the Disruption of Pathological IdentitiesJonathan Dunnemann
Throughout the history of the U.S., racialized groups have often had their experiences profoundly shaped by social imagery in ways that have created tremendous hardships in the quest for
self-actualization and a healthy sense of self.
The purpose of this article is to shed light on the manner in which Black males have been one of the primary victims of negative social imagery and how the remnants of these constructions continue to have contemporary influences, ....
Homily: The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity Sunday 2024.docxJames Knipper
Countless volumes have been written trying to explain the mystery of three persons in one true God, leaving us to resort to metaphors such as the three-leaf clover to try to comprehend the Divinity. Many of us grew up with the quintessential pyramidal Trinity structure of God at the top and Son and Spirit in opposite corners. But what if we looked at this ‘mystery’ from a different perspective? What if we shifted our language of God as a being towards the concept of God as love? What if we focused more on the relationship within the Trinity versus the persons of the Trinity? What if stopped looking at God as a noun…and instead considered God as a verb? Check it out…
Lesson 9 - Resisting Temptation Along the Way.pptxCelso Napoleon
Lesson 9 - Resisting Temptation Along the Way
SBs – Sunday Bible School
Adult Bible Lessons 2nd quarter 2024 CPAD
MAGAZINE: THE CAREER THAT IS PROPOSED TO US: The Path of Salvation, Holiness and Perseverance to Reach Heaven
Commentator: Pastor Osiel Gomes
Presentation: Missionary Celso Napoleon
Renewed in Grace
The Book of Joshua is the sixth book in the Hebrew Bible and the Old Testament, and is the first book of the Deuteronomistic history, the story of Israel from the conquest of Canaan to the Babylonian exile.
The Chakra System in our body - A Portal to Interdimensional Consciousness.pptxBharat Technology
each chakra is studied in greater detail, several steps have been included to
strengthen your personal intention to open each chakra more fully. These are designed
to draw forth the highest benefit for your spiritual growth.
The Good News, newsletter for June 2024 is hereNoHo FUMC
Our monthly newsletter is available to read online. We hope you will join us each Sunday in person for our worship service. Make sure to subscribe and follow us on YouTube and social media.
What Should be the Christian View of Anime?Joe Muraguri
We will learn what Anime is and see what a Christian should consider before watching anime movies? We will also learn a little bit of Shintoism religion and hentai (the craze of internet pornography today).
The PBHP DYC ~ Reflections on The Dhamma (English).pptxOH TEIK BIN
A PowerPoint Presentation based on the Dhamma Reflections for the PBHP DYC for the years 1993 – 2012. To motivate and inspire DYC members to keep on practicing the Dhamma and to do the meritorious deed of Dhammaduta work.
The texts are in English.
For the Video with audio narration, comments and texts in English, please check out the Link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zF2g_43NEa0
In Jude 17-23 Jude shifts from piling up examples of false teachers from the Old Testament to a series of practical exhortations that flow from apostolic instruction. He preserves for us what may well have been part of the apostolic catechism for the first generation of Christ-followers. In these instructions Jude exhorts the believer to deal with 3 different groups of people: scoffers who are "devoid of the Spirit", believers who have come under the influence of scoffers and believers who are so entrenched in false teaching that they need rescue and pose some real spiritual risk for the rescuer. In all of this Jude emphasizes Jesus' call to rescue straying sheep, leaving the 99 safely behind and pursuing the 1.
2. 20 Education I
whose roots have penetrated into all fields of human endeavor
and labor. He receives his nourishment from the daily life of
the world, and he fills the treasury of his experience from life
as a whole; but in the meantime he has branches extending high
into the sky. Branches nourish the tree with the rays of the Sun
and even with the rays the of stars. Thus the tree, the spiritual
person, nourishes himself from the earthly life and from the
energies of space and produces his fruits, his creative labor
and service. He gathers the honey of experiences from life
and the ideas, inspirations, and impressions from the Higher
Worlds. He lives a balanced life between these two worlds.
A spiritual person is not lost in space, nor is he lost in
matter. With his greater values, he enriches his life and makes
his material values manifest the values of spiritual realms.
Spirituality is a natural tendency of the human soul to
aspire toward perfection, beauty, and light. Spirituality is right
relationship with Higher Worlds and higher principles. Spiri-
tuality is the blooming of the seed of the human spirit. It is
only spiritual people who bring the future to humanity; who
bring vision and direction to humanity. Spiritual people are
the vanguard of life on the planet. Without them, the world
would end in chaos.
To be spiritual means to grow toward light, beauty, and
wisdom. One cannot be spiritual without having fruits on his
branches. One is more spiritual if his fruits serve people, help-
ing them transform their lives and make themselves spiritual.
This is what Christ said: “By their fruits you will know what
they are.”
A spiritual person is not suspended in space. He is rooted
on earth and has branches extending into Higher Worlds. To
be rooted on earth means that you have a rich harvest of indi-
vidual, family, group, national, and international experiences
3. Chapter 2 Seven Characteristics 21
gathered through moments of crisis, conflicts, stress, and
strain; through moments of labor and rest; through moments
of success, failure, joy, and achievement. To have branches
extending toward Higher Worlds means that you have enough
sensitivity to receive light and guidance from sources in space.
If you are not grounded “above and below,” you are float-
ing in space, and you cannot be a spiritual person, a practical
and idealistic person. If you are only grounded on earth, your
fruits will be poisonous. They will be fruits of crime, exploi-
tation, fabrication, forgery, self-interest…. The world is full
of such criminals.
If you are only grounded in space, you are useless and an
object of ridicule.You must be grounded on earth and in heaven
in order to be a Path from darkness to Light, from the unreal
to the Real, from chaos to Beauty.
Once a criminal told me that he was a fruitful tree. He
was a drug dealer. He said, “Everywhere I have fruits. I nourish
people.” He did not realize what a future he was preparing for
himself, filling his pockets with dollars and wasting them on
gambling tables or to further his crimes.
Those who are grounded above and below are pillars of
light, leading humanity to its spiritual destiny.
Once a young man told me a very sad story. He said, “I
went to buy a car, and I noticed that the seller had religious
books in his garage and pictures of saints on the walls. I fig-
ured that he was a spiritual man and a safe person to buy a car
from. So when he named his price I agreed to it.
“I took the car and drove away.After one mile, the car —
which was supposedly in ‘excellent condition’ —stopped in
the street and I had to have it towed to my home. I went to his
house and told him what happened. He became very angry and
4. 22 Education I
told me that what happened to me, happened because I had no
faith….
“Later, when I pressured him, he admitted that he had put
certain other liquids into the gas tank to make it run tempo-
rarily despite a serious problem with the engine.
“I said to him, ‘I feel so bad that you showed yourself to
be a religious person, when in your essence you are a liar.’”
This is the difference between a religious person and a
spiritual person. A religious person may be grounded only in
matter, but a spiritual person is grounded above and below, and
all his activities are guided and controlled by the above.
Spirituality has seven main characteristics:
1. A spiritual person demonstrates continuous striving
toward perfection, and perseverance and stability in his own
dharma.
A spiritual person is a person who always, everywhere,
and in everything tries to be perfect. In all his thinking, speech,
and actions he tries to be accurate, precise, clear, and perfect.
This applies to everything he does. He tries his best when he is
writing or typing a letter, when he is preparing a speech, when
he is cleaning his kitchen, bedroom or yard. He tries to be
perfect in his duties and responsibilities at work in the factory
or office. He has an urge to improve all that he does — cook-
ing, ironing, shaving, dressing, relationships, business….
If your relations at home are in a mess, no matter how
many face-lifts you have, your ugly spirit will always appear.
Once three boys came to see me and talk about religion.
They were members of a certain religious cult. When they
approached,Ismelledaverybadsmellaroundthem.Theywere
so busy spreading “the good news” that they had no time to
wash away their bad smell.
5. Chapter 2 Seven Characteristics 23
I said to them, “I do not drink water from a dirty cup. Go
andwashyourself,changeyourclothes,andthenlet’stalkabout
noble ideas.”
Let us consider “perseverance and stability in your own
dharma.” Dharma is the field of action chosen by your Soul.
Once you find it, be steady and stable in it. Some people jump
like rabbits from one field to another, with many logical ex-
cuses to justify their lack of perseverance and stability.
Whether you are a doctor, lawyer, dentist, or engineer, that is
your dharma.Try to perform your duty in the best way you can,
without jumping from one dharma to another. You can free
yourself from your dharma when you perform it with all your
heart and carry it to a state of relative perfection.
2. A spiritual person has a wholehearted dedication to
his labor, without counting hours and days, without holding
various expectations in his heart, and without giving up in front
of difficulties.
Your labor must be done for the sake of doing it, with
love and dedication, without counting the time.All dedicated
people have surpassed this limitation. If it is necessary, they
work until morning; they work at breakfast, lunch, and dinner;
they work on vacation. For them, time is not important; the
work is important.
Some people know that they must work eight hours, but
even within that limit of eight hours they continuously look at
their watches, as if they were in prison and were going to be
freed in eight hours. Labor reaches perfection only when time
is forgotten and expectation about the labor no longer exists.
When time and expectations control our actions, we be-
come the slaves of time and reward, and the labor cannot reach
perfection — which means that we cannot perfect ourselves.
Life is progressed by those people whose labor is not con-
6. 24 Education I
trolled by time and various expectations related to their per-
sonal interests.
The labor of great leaders, educators, philosophers, art-
ists, religious leaders, scientists, and financiers changed the
world because they did not limit their labor in time and be-
cause they carried on their work even if their labor was re-
jected. The strange thing is that such people had great abun-
dance and the greatest fun in life. Life acts in righteousness,
and not even a penny is lost in the computer of life. You can
see that without such giants, we would not have culture, beauty,
law, and order in the world.
Abraham Lincoln, H.P. Blavatsky, Helena Roerich, and
many other thousands of dedicated souls throughout centu-
ries carried the torch of labor without expectation and without
counting the time. Can you imagine Jesus limiting His work
to five days weekly, six or seven hours daily? Can you imagine
Him having expectations for the healings and wisdom He of-
fered?
Dedication and commitment are two powerful forces
which either destroy any obstacle or make the obstacles assist
the labor.Aspiritual person progresses in spite of difficulties.
Difficulties nourish his soul and make him invincible.
3. A spiritual person lives by his conscience, in the light
of the Teaching, and in the presence of the Hierarchy.
Once I asked a judge, “Do you really believe that laws
can transform people?”
He said, “That is a very sensitive question….”
No one can transform himself without following the
voice of his conscience, without following a sublime Teach-
ing, without living in the presence of the Hierarchy. Laws are
formulated possibly to catch those who do not obey their con-
science, who do not follow certain lofty principles, and who
7. Chapter 2 Seven Characteristics 25
do not have any sense of the presence of Great Ones. If your
conscience is not active, no matter how many Bibles are read
over your head, you will remain the same sneaky person.
The conscience is the inner law that unfolds and devel-
ops when you have a Teaching and when you live in the pres-
ence of the Hierarchy. Hierarchy is formed by all those liber-
ated Souls who anxiously watch the members of humanity and
try to inspire them with Beauty, Goodness, Righteousness, Joy,
and Freedom.
To live in the light of Hierarchy means to think, to speak,
and to act as if thousands of eyes are watching you. If for one
day we lived in such a state of consciousness, our lives would
change substantially. For example, tomorrow morning make a
decision to live in the light of the Hierarchy and see if you can
do it. This means that you will do your labor in the best way
you can; you will think right, speak right, and behave right in
all your relations.
In the presence of Great Ones, you will at least hesitate
to lie, cheat, or use malice, slander and gossip as your weap-
ons.You will avoid treason.You will withdraw from any plan
to harm or hurt people. You will be more dedicated in your
labor, and you will try to live a life that will be pleasant in the
eyes of Great Ones.
4. The spiritual person has an inclusive and expanding
approach to all issues of life. This means that he is broad-
minded and tolerant and that he looks at all issues of life from
many viewpoints. He has no religious, dogmatic, traditional,
ideological, racial, or national barriers in his mind. He re-
spects the freedom of religion. He respects the rights of people
who are trying to perfect themselves in their own ways.
He tries to observe the issues of life not as events but as
results or effects of certain hidden or subjective causes or
8. 26 Education I
energies. He does not jump to hasty and narrow conclusions
but waits until all the evidence is accumulated and analyzed.
He does not judge by the measures given to him by his tradi-
tions or education, but he uses various measures to understand
the issues.
People measure things by what they are themselves. For
many people, a mountain is the size of their thumb because
they can hold their thumb in front of their eyes and cover a
mountain….
Fanatics have played many games throughout centuries.
They have said, “Because you are a woman, you have no
rights…. Because you are black, you have no rights…. Be-
cause you are not Christian, you have no rights…. Because
you do not obey our ideology, you are a witch.” This psychol-
ogy continues under many covers in high places, and we miss
the essence, the substance, and do not allow others the free-
dom to grow. Instead we waste time, energy, and lives to bring
people into the confines of our measures.
A spiritual person can belong to any race, tradition, reli-
gion, or ideology, but he has a deep understanding of the race,
traditions, religion, and ideologies of others. This is because
he does not live as a separated human being but as a soul who
can identify with all human beings.
It is not your religion that leads you to God; it is your
spirituality that takes you to God.
5. A spiritual person carries out all his activities, speech,
and thoughts in the sphere of three major laws:
a.the Law of Cause and Effect
b. the Law of Reincarnation
c. the Laws of Synthesis, Attraction, and
Economy
9. Chapter 2 Seven Characteristics 27
He realizes that his every thought, word, and action will
produce a similar thought, word, and action in his life. The
reactions to his actions will follow, as night follows day. Be-
cause of this, he is extremely careful that he does not compli-
cate his life by creating continuous obstacles on his path. He
is always watchful. He thinks, “If I think this way, speak or act
that way, what will be the effect upon my life now and upon my
future?”
Remember that all that you are and all that happens to
you are the fruits of your thoughts, words, and actions.
A spiritual person observes the Law of Reincarnation. In
the Bhagavad Gita, we read:
Those who are full of hate and cruelty are the
lowest of human beings. I hurl them into the
wombs of evil ones through the cycles of birth
and death.
Entering into the wombs of evil ones, these
deluded beings, birth after birth, are unable
to reach Me, and enter into even worse condi-
tions.1
On the other hand, we read:
Having reached Me, these great Souls have
attained perfection. They are no more subject
to incarnation, which is temporary and the
womb of sorrow.2
You decide your future life-conditions by the way you
lived your life in the past. Spiritual people will be born into
those conditions in which they will gather wisdom, have the
chance to develop their talents and be of service to people,
10. 28 Education I
and intelligently pay their karma left from the past. Their lives
will be a hard but joyful labor.
Some people do not believe in reincarnation.That is okay,
but many still believe that they will live after they die. To die
means to take an existence in the Other Worlds. That is the
same as reincarnation. Instead of thinking about a worldly fu-
ture, think about a future after death. Take it into consider-
ation and think, “What will be my future after my body dies?”
The spiritual person lives under the Laws of Economy,
Attraction, and Synthesis. He economizes time, energy, mat-
ter, and space. He attracts currents of Beauty, Goodness, Righ-
teousness, Joy, and Freedom. He sees the unity in diversity.
He sees the one goal in many diversities. He can collect unre-
lated objects and build a mechanism. He has the power to unify
and synthesize. He creates focuses with diverse rays.
In the British Royal Air Force, I had a captain who was
working in the control tower. One day he asked me to take his
civilian jacket and put leather patches on the elbows because
the elbows were worn out. I wondered why he was not buying a
new jacket. I thought that maybe he was too stingy to buy a
new jacket.
I took the jacket to a shop and had the patches sewn on.
When I brought the jacket back to him, he looked in my eyes
and said, “How much did it cost?”
“Twodollars.”
“How much would a new jacket cost?”
“Seventy-five dollars.”
“Well,” he said, “I have two students in college in Lon-
don. I am paying their expenses for their education. Now they
have another 73 dollars in credit.
1. The Bhagavad Gita 16:19-20, trans. by H. (Torkom) Saraydarian.
2. Ibid., 8:15.
11. Chapter 2 Seven Characteristics 29
“Don’t think that I am a cheap man,” he added. “But who
cares how I am dressed in these deserts if two orphans are
going to be graduated because of my savings?”
He was a spiritual man, although he never spoke about
religion.
There was a heart surgeon in a certain group who was
loaded with money. The group needed 10,000 dollars to pave
their driveway in order to receive their license to operate a
new center. I visited him and asked if he could do the group a
favor. He thought for a few minutes and said, “I will call you
next week.”
That week he went to Las Vegas and lost 50,000 dollars
in one night.Aweek later I called him and asked if he had made
a decision about the money. “Well,” he said, “I lost 50,000
dollars last week, and I cannot afford another 10,000 dollars.”
“Thankyou,”Isaid.
Years passed, and he fell down and hurt his spine. I vis-
ited his home and wished him health. When I was leaving he
said, “I know that I hurt your feelings by not helping you in the
past, but I couldn’t do otherwise. One needs to be economical
in order to survive.”
“Sometimes,” I said, “generosity saves us from future
troubles.”
Wise people know how not to waste money and to use it
for the need.
6. The spiritual person lives in the realization that he is
an immortal spiritual being, charged with the power of unlim-
ited creativity.
The spiritual person knows that he is an immortal, spirit-
ual being who is not attached to the changes in life and to ma-
terial values at the expense of higher values. Success and fail-
12. 30 Education I
ure do not affect his course of action, or his dedication to the
service of humanity.
For a mortal being, the only purpose of life is to enjoy
life, no matter whether his behavior hurts other people or not.
Such a person exploits other people for his self-interest, but a
person who has the awareness of immortality is not blinded
with earthly measures. Rather, he sees things and approaches
life from worldly and spiritual angles and then uses his life-
experiences to pave the way for spiritual victories.
The awareness of immortality gives you the sense of bal-
ance, fearlessness, detachment, strength, and courage.All great
works are done by those who were not and are not attached to
their shells.
7. The spiritual person is aware that his victory is mea-
sured by the joy that he has in his heart.
What is the joy that fills the heart of the spiritual person,
whether he is in storms or in sunshine, whether he is beaten or
victorious, whether he is healthy or sick? That joy springs from
the memories in his heart that he did his best to serve, uplift,
transform, and encourage pilgrims on the Path. It is the joy of
sharing his love and wisdom. It is the joy of daringness and
striving in spite of conditions.
One day my Uncle came home in great joy. “Uncle,” I
said,“whathappened?”
“You may laugh at me, but I will tell you,” he said. “I was
buying a watermelon and a small boy came who didn’t have
enough money to buy one for himself. I chose the biggest wa-
termelon and gave it to him. It was so overwhelming to see
both his joy and to see how hard he tried to roll it home….
Eventually I carried the watermelon to his home and I felt so
happy….”
13. Chapter 2 Seven Characteristics 31
A spiritual person can enjoy life even in creating such
events.
What will you feel if you help a person find the right way
of living, or if you create a striving toward perfection in a soul,
or if you wipe the tears falling from the eyes of one of your
fellowmen?
A spiritual person has a deep well of memories of ser-
vice, sacrifice, dedication, love, and the protection of those
who are attacked…and he brings out of this well the joyful
memories to enlighten his path every time he treads through
dark nights.
A spiritual person is a normal and up-to-date person. He
is not a fanatic or a show-off. His spirituality is not artificial,
and he does not need to advertise it. His spirituality is known
to others by the way he lives, creates, and relates to life in
general.
Sometimes people think that the spiritual person is a soft,
jellylike person who can fit into any condition without creat-
ing a noise. This is a false image of the spiritual person. On
the contrary, the spiritual person is a fighter. He stands up and
risks his life for the truth. He risks his life to protect the inno-
cent. He fights against the spreading dangers of drugs, prosti-
tution, and crime, as well as the misuse of the discoveries of
science and technology. However, his fight is not to gain per-
sonal advantage or votes of popularity; it is a fight for the Com-
mon Good.
It is only a spiritual person who can stand against dark
activities and help his fellowman enter the light. The spiritual
person hates ugliness, crime, injustice, depression, and sla-
very. He does not hate them emotionally, but he sees in them
the germs of decay and he fights like a physician to eliminate
14. 32 Education I
the germs, even trying to save those who have been contami-
nated by the germs.
A spiritual person opposes things such as drug dealers,
prostitutes, hypocrites, those who exploit, those who work for
organized crime…, but in the meantime he tries to gain their
souls and to defeat the weaknesses of their personalities.
A spiritual person stands against darkness and tries to
dispel it with his light.Aspiritual person is always enlightened
by the light of compassion, without losing his measures of
righteousness.