“Windows To Spirituality”
The Spiritual Life is an interfaith web-based community that celebrates and honors the many paths to God. We are dedicated to teaching and expressing a positive and practical approach to life. Our beliefs are in harmony with the basic tenets of the world’s most popular religions and spiritual traditions. As a loving and supportive spiritual community we encourage each person to pray regularly, think clearly, feel openly, and love expansively.
We believe that the purpose of our creation is to reach our utmost goals regarding belief, knowledge, and spirituality; to reflect on the universe, humanity, God, and thus prove our value as human beings. Click to continue
Caste System In India The caste system in India is the paradigmatic ethnographic example of caste. It has its origins in ancient India and was transformed by various ruling elites in medieval, early-modern, and modern India, especially the Mughal Empire and the British Raj. It is today the basis of affirmative action programmes in India. The caste system consists...
Swami Vivekananda Swami Vivekananda (12 January 1863 – 4 July 1902), born Narendranath Datta, was an Indian Hindu monk, philosopher, and author. He was a chief disciple of the 19th-century Indian mystic Ramakrishna. Influenced by Western esotericism, he was a key figure in the introduction of the Indian darsanas (teachings, practices) of Vedanta...
Adi Shankara Adi Shankara (8th cent. CE), also called Adi Shankaracharya (आदि शङ्कर, आदि शङ्कराचार्य, Ādi Śaṅkarācāryaḥ, ‘First Shankara’), was an Indian Vedic scholar and teacher (acharya), whose works present a harmonizing reading of the sastras, with liberating knowledge of the self at its core, synthesizing the Advaita Vedanta teachings of his time. Due to his later fame,...
Mimamsa or Mīmāṃsā Mimamsa or Mīmāṁsā (मीमांसा) is a Sanskrit word that means “reflection“ or “critical investigation” and thus refers to a tradition of contemplation which reflected on the meanings of certain Vedic texts. This tradition is also known as Pūrva-Mīmāṁsā because of its focus on the earlier (pūrva) Vedic texts dealing with ritual actions, and...
Hinduism And Judaism Hinduism and Judaism are among the oldest existing religions in the world, although Judaism came much later. The two share some similarities and interactions throughout both the ancient and modern worlds. Theological similarities Scholarly efforts to compare Hinduism and Judaism were popular during the Enlightenment era, in the process of arguing the deistic worldview. Hananya Goodman states that Hinduism...
Samskara (rite of passage) Samskara (saṃskāra or samskara) are rites of passage in a human being’s life described in ancient Sanskrit texts, as well as a concept in the karma theory of Indian philosophies. The word literally means “putting together, making perfect, getting ready, to prepare”, or “a sacred or sanctifying ceremony” in ancient...
What Is Hinduism? Hinduism, known as Sanātana Dharma, (सनातन धर्म) and Vaidika-Dharma by most Hindus, is a worldwide religious tradition rooted in Indian culture and based on the teachings of the Vedas. Hinduism is the third largest religion, with a following of over one billion people, encompassing many diverse beliefs and schools. The scholarly estimates...
Sanatana Dharma Sanatana Dharma or Sanātana Dharma (सनातन धर्म, meaning “eternal dharma“, “eternal order“) is an endonym used by scholars to refer to Hinduism. It refers to the “eternal” truth and teachings of Hinduism. It can also be translated as “the natural and eternal way to live”. The term is used in Indian...
What Is Jainism? Jainism, traditionally known as Jain Dharma, is a dharmic religion with its origins in the prehistory of India, still practiced today by several million people. Jainism has as its religious ideal the perfection of man’s nature. The universe is seen as being eternal—having no beginning and no end—precluding God from being...
Guru Gobind Singh Guru Gobind Singh (22 December 1666 – 7 October 1708), born Gobind Das or Gobind Rai was the tenth Sikh Guru, a spiritual master, warrior, poet, and philosopher. When his father, Guru Tegh Bahadur, was executed by Aurangzeb, Guru Gobind Singh was formally installed as the leader of the Sikhs at the age of nine, becoming the tenth and...
Janamsakhis The Janamsakhis (ਜਨਮਸਾਖੀ, Janam-sākhī, lit. birth stories), are legendary biographies of Guru Nanak – the founder of Sikhism. Popular in Sikh history, these texts are considered by scholars as imaginary hagiographies of his life story, full of miracles and travels, built on a Sikh oral tradition and some historical facts. The first Janamsakhis were composed between 50...
Sects Of Sikhism Sects of Sikhism or Sub-traditions, also known as Samparda in Punjabi language are sub-traditions within Sikhism that believe in different approaches to practicing the religion. While all sampradas believe in Waheguru and one creator, do not believe in idol worship or caste system, different interpretation have emerged over time, some of...
Sikh Gurus The Sikh Gurus (ਸਿੱਖ ਗੁਰੂ) are the spiritual masters of Sikhism, who established this religion over the course of about two and a half centuries, beginning in 1469. The year 1469 marks the birth of Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism. He was succeeded by nine other gurus until, in...
Singh Sabha Movement The Singh Sabha Movement was a Sikh movement that began in Punjab in the 1870s in reaction to the proselytising activities of Christians, Hindu reform movements (Brahmo Samajis, Arya Samaj) and Muslims (Aligarh movement and Ahmadiyah). The movement was founded in an era when the Sikh Empire had been dissolved and annexed by the British, the Khalsa had lost its prestige,...
Waheguru Waheguru or Vahiguru also spelt and pronounced Vahguru, is the distinctive name of the Supreme Being in the Sikh dispensation, like YHWH in Judaism and Allah in Islam. In Sikh Scripture, the Guru Granth Sahib, the term does not figure in the compositions of the Gurus, though it occurs therein, both as Vahiguru and...
Five Virtues In Sikhism, the Five Virtues are fundamental qualities which one should develop in order to reach Mukti, or to reunite or merge with God. The Sikh Gurus taught that these positive human qualities were Sat (truth), Daya (compassion), Santokh (contentment), Nimrata (humility), and Pyaar (love). Sat Sat is the virtue of truthful living, which means practising “righteousness,...
List Of Sikh Festivals This is the list of festivals observed by the followers of the Sikh religion. Festival Date Observed Description Maghi January 14 This festival commemorates the Battle of Muktsar and was initially chosen by Sri Guru Amar Das Ji for Sikhs to attend the Gurdwara. Parkash Utsav...
Religion In Vietnam The majority of Vietnamese do not follow any organized religion, instead participating in one or more practices of folk religions, such as venerating ancestors, or praying to deities, especially during Tết and other festivals. Folk religions were founded on endemic cultural beliefs that were historically affected by Confucianism and Taoism from China, as...
Confucian Church The Confucian church (孔教会; Kǒng jiàohuì or Rú jiàohuì) is a Confucian religious and social institution of the congregational type. It was first proposed by Kang Youwei (1858–1927) near the end of the 19th century, as a state religion of Qing China following a European model. The “Confucian church” model was later replicated by overseas Chinese communities, who established independent Confucian churches...
What Is Confucianism? Confucianism (儒家, rújiā, literally “The School of the Scholars“; or, less accurately, 孔教 kŏng jiào, “The Religion of Kong”) is an East Asian school of ethical, philosophical, and (more contentiously) religious thought originally developed from the teachings of the early Chinese sage Confucius (551 – 479 B.C.E.). As a school of thought, it...
Confucianism Explained By Confucianism is meant the complex system of moral, social, political, and religious teaching built up by Confucius on the ancient Chinese traditions, and perpetuated as the State religion down to the present day. Confucianism aims at making not simply the man of virtue, but the man of...
Progressive Confucianism Progressive Confucianism (进步儒学; jìn bù rú xué) is a term of philosophy coined by Stephen C. Angle in his book Contemporary Confucian Political Philosophy: Toward Progressive Confucianism (2012). Progressive Confucianism refers to a contemporary approach of Confucianism that aims to promote individual and collective moral progress. It explores themes such as political authority and morality, the rule of...
Religious Confucianism Religious Confucianism is an interpretation of Confucianism as a religion. It originated in the time of Confucius with his defense of traditional religious institutions of his time such as the Jongmyo rites, and the Ritual Music System. The Chinese name for Religious Confucianism is Rujiao (儒教; rujiao), in contrast with Secular Confucianism which...
