“Windows To Spirituality”
Spirituality
Spirituality may refer to an ultimate or an alleged immaterial reality, an inner path enabling a person to discover the essence of his/her being, or the “deepest values and meanings by which people live.”
Spiritual practices, including yoga, fasting, meditation, prayer and contemplation, are intended to develop an individual’s inner life; spiritual experience includes that of connectedness with a larger reality, yielding a more comprehensive self; with other individuals or the human community; with nature or the cosmos; or with the divine realm. Music, poetry, and literature would help to attain perfect inner peace.
Meditation is a practice where an individual uses a technique – such as mindfulness, or focusing their mind on a particular object, thought or activity – to train attention and awareness, and achieve a mentally clear and emotionally calm state.
Yoga (योग) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India. Yoga is one of the six orthodox schools of Hindu philosophical traditions. There is a broad variety of yoga schools, practices, and goals in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. The term “yoga” in the Western world often denotes a modern form of Hatha yoga, which includes the physical practice of postures called asanas.
Sufism, mystical Islamic belief and practice in which Muslims seek to find the truth of divine love and knowledge through direct personal experience of God. It consists of a variety of mystical paths that are designed to ascertain the nature of humanity and of God and to facilitate the experience of the presence of divine love and wisdom in the world.
Poetry is a form of art in which language is used for its aesthetic qualities, in addition to, or instead of, its apparent meaning.
Music is human expression in the medium of time using the structures of sounds or tones and silence. It is expressed in terms of pitch, rhythm, harmony, and timbre.
Mary (Poem) This article covers the life of Mary, (Mother of Jesus) as a poem. Mary was a 1st-century BC Galilean Jewish woman of Nazareth, and the mother of Jesus, according to the New Testament and the Quran. Mary Hannah, the grandmother of Jesus, the mother of Mary, the wife of Aaron, the mother-in-law of Zachariah, the daughter...
Ascetical Theology Ascetical theology is the organized study or presentation of spiritual teachings found in Christian Scripture and the Church Fathers that help the faithful to more perfectly follow Christ and attain Christian perfection. Christian asceticism is commonly thought to imply self-denial for a spiritual purpose. The term ascetical theology is used primarily in Roman Catholic theology; Eastern Orthodox theology carries its own distinct...
Prayer, Meditation, And Contemplation In Christianity This article covers prayer, meditation, and contemplation in Christianity. Prayer has been an essential part of Christianity since its earliest days. Prayer is an integral element of the Christian faith and permeates all forms of Christian worship. Prayer in Christianity is the tradition of communicating with God, either in...
Eastern Christian Monasticism Eastern Christian Monasticism is the life followed by monks and nuns of the Eastern Orthodox Church, Oriental Orthodoxy, the Church of the East and Eastern Catholicism. Eastern monasticism is founded on the Rule of St Basil and is sometimes thus referred to as Basilian. History Christian monasticism began in the Eastern Mediterranean in Syria, Palestine and Egypt where the Desert...
Satipatthana Satipatthana (Satipaṭṭhāna; smṛtyupasthāna) is an important Buddhist term which means “the establishment of mindfulness“ or “presence of mindfulness,” or alternatively “foundations of mindfulness,” aiding the development of a wholesome state of mind. In the Buddhist tradition, especially Theravada Buddhism, applying mindful attention to four domains, the body, feelings, the mind,...
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...
Spiritualism And Telepathy Is There Any Truth in Supranormal Phenomena Such as Spiritualism and Telepathy? The spirit does not belong to this visible world. It issues from the world of unconditioned existence where Divine commands are carried out instantly without the mediation of causes. However, like energy requiring cords or...
Telepathy Telepathy (feeling, perception, passion, affliction, experience) is the purported vicarious transmission of information from one person’s mind to another’s without using any known human sensory channels or physical interaction. The term was first coined in 1882 by the classical scholar Frederic W. H. Myers, a founder of the Society...
Soul Music Soul music (often referred to simply as soul) is a popular music genre that originated in the African American community throughout the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It has its roots in African-American gospel music and rhythm and blues. Soul music became popular for dancing and listening in the United States, where...
Spirituality And Religion In The Workplace This article examines the relationship between spirituality and religion in the workplace. What is the meaning of work in my life? Does my work contribute something meaningful to society? Is it reasonable to expect to have a job in which I really love what...
Monastic Silence Monastic silence is a spiritual practice recommended in a variety of religious traditions for purposes including facilitation of approaching deity, and achieving elevated states of spiritual purity. It may be in accordance with a monk’s formal vow of silence, but can also engage laity who have not taken vows, or novices who...
Spiritual Communion Spiritual communion is a Christian practice of desiring union with Jesus Christ in the Eucharist. It is used as a preparation for Mass and by individuals who cannot receive Holy Communion. This practice is well established in Lutheran, Anglican, and Methodist churches, as well as in the Catholic Church, where it has been highly recommended by many saints,...
Spiritual Ecology Spiritual Ecology is an emerging field in religion, conservation, and academia recognizing that there is a spiritual facet to all issues related to conservation, environmentalism, and earth stewardship. Proponents of Spiritual Ecology assert a need for contemporary conservation work to include spiritual elements and for contemporary religion and spirituality to include awareness...
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...
Spiritual Christianity Spiritual Christianity (духовное христианство) is the group of belief systems held by so-called folk Protestants (narodnye protestanty), including non-Eastern Orthodox indigenous faith tribes and new religious movements that emerged in the Russian Empire. Their origins are varied: some from Protestant movements imported from Europe to Russia by missionaries, travelers and workers; some due to disgust of...
William Shakespeare William Shakespeare (26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world’s greatest dramatist. He is often called England’s national poet and the “Bard of Avon” (or simply “the Bard”). His extant works, including collaborations,...
Haiku Haiku (俳句) is a type of short form poetry originally from Japan. Traditional Japanese haiku consist of three phrases that contain a kireji, or “cutting word”, 17 on (phonetic units similar to syllables) in a 5, 7, 5 pattern and a kigo, or seasonal reference. Similar poems that do not adhere to these rules are generally classified...
Ghazal The ghazal (Arabic: غَزَل, Bengali: গজল, Hindi-Urdu: ग़ज़ल/غزَل, Persian: غزل, Azerbaijani: qəzəl, Turkish: gazel, Uzbek: gʻazal, Gujarati: ગઝલ) is a form of amatory poem or ode, originating in Arabic poetry. A ghazal may be understood as a poetic expression of both the pain of loss or separation and the beauty of love in spite of that pain. The ghazal...
Waka In Poetry Waka (和歌, “Japanese poem”) is a type of poetry in classical Japanese literature. Although waka in modern Japanese is written as 和歌, in the past it was also written as 倭歌, and a variant name is yamato-uta (大和歌). Etymology The word waka has two different but related meanings: the original meaning was “poetry in Japanese” and encompassed several...
Villanelle A villanelle, also known as villanesque, is a nineteen-line poetic form consisting of five tercets followed by a quatrain. There are two refrains and two repeating rhymes, with the first and third line of the first tercet repeated alternately at the end of each subsequent stanza until the last stanza, which includes both repeated lines. The villanelle is an...
