“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
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...
Hundred Schools Of Thought The Hundred Schools of Thought (諸子百家; zhūzǐ bǎijiā) were philosophies and schools that flourished from the 6th century BC to 221 BC during the Spring and Autumn period and the Warring States period of ancient China. An era of substantial discrimination in China, it was fraught with chaos and bloody battles, but...
Rectification Of Names The rectification of names (正名; Zhèngmíng; Cheng-ming) is originally a doctrine of feudal Confucian designations and relationships, behaving accordingly to ensure social harmony. Without such accordance society would essentially crumble and “undertakings would not be completed.” Mencius extended the doctrine to include questions of political legitimacy. When Confucius was asked what he...
Shintoism Shintoism or Shinto (神道; Shintō) is a native religion of Japan and was once its state religion. It involves the worship of kami, which can be translated to mean “sacred spirits which take the form of things and concepts important to life, such as wind, rain, mountains, trees, rivers, and fertility.” Some kami are local and...
Shinto Shrine A Shinto shrine (神社, jinja, shinsha, “place of the god(s)”) is a structure whose main purpose is to house (“enshrine”) one or more kami, the deities of the Shinto religion. Overview Structurally, a Shinto shrine typically comprises several buildings. The honden (本殿, meaning: “main hall”) is where a shrine’s patron kami is/are enshrined. The honden may be absent...
Women In Shinto Women occupy a unique role in the indigenous Japanese traditions of Shinto, including a unique form of participation as temple stewards and shamans, or miko. Though a ban on female Shinto priests was lifted during World War II, the number of women priests in Shinto is a small fraction of...
Miko A miko (巫女), or shrine maiden, is a young priestess who works at a Shinto shrine. Miko were once likely seen as shamans, but are understood in modern Japanese culture to be an institutionalized role in daily life, trained to perform tasks, ranging from sacred cleansing to performing the sacred Kagura dance. Appearance Main article: Miko clothing The traditional attire of a miko is a pair of...
Misogi Misogi (禊) is a Japanese Shinto practice of ritual purification by washing the entire body. Misogi is related to another Shinto purification ritual called Harae – thus both being collectively referred to as misogiharae (禊祓). Background Every year, many people take pilgrimages to sacred waterfalls, lakes and rivers, either alone or in small groups, to perform misogi. Mount Ontake, the Kii...
Obon Festival Obon (お盆) or just Bon (盆) is a Japanese Buddhist custom to honor the spirits of one’s ancestors. This Buddhist–Confucian custom has evolved into a family reunion holiday during which people return to ancestral family places and visit and clean their ancestors’ graves when the spirits of ancestors are supposed to revisit the household altars. It has been...
