Definition of "Spiritual Development"

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trumpet_is_cool
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Definition of "Spiritual Development"

Post: # 4076Post trumpet_is_cool »

How do you define "Spiritual Development" ? What is it ? How do you "develop spiritual" ?

Just curious... ;-)
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bomohwkl
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Post: # 4077Post bomohwkl »

According to Tom

"spiritual developement" is equivalent to "intellectual development" or "development of the abilities of the MIND" . Specifically, the ability to make CHOICES and learn from their consequences.
And also according to Tom
Intellect is an ability to understand
However, I used to agree to the above defination but I dont think I agree anymore.

The development of intellect is ONLY a very small part of the equation of spiritual development. The ability to understand can be more or less quantified by I.Q.

Too much emphasis has been placed upon left brain development. What about right brain development? It is important to strike a balance between right and left brain functions.


Spiritual development is the development of the MIND and cultivation of love.

The function of mind encompasses more than the ability to understand. Creativity, originality of thoughts, humour, expression of languages, intuition and psychic abilities are all functions of the minds!!

Cultivation of love is advised to minimize the suffering of self and others.
Hence, by this way, the mind will experience higher bliss during its existence.
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Alisima
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Post: # 4082Post Alisima »

Spiritual development, huh?

Well, that is development in some sort of 'spiritual' dimension. Highly vague.

Upon a search of the word 'spiritual' the thesarus returned this: "Concerned with or affecting the spirit or soul" and "Lacking material body or form or substance".

So lets just define spiritual as, 'concerning with the spirit'. That give us this: Spiritual development is developing the spirit.

But then what is 'the spirit'??

My thesarus returned this: "The immaterial part of a person; the actuating cause of an individual life" and "The vital principle or animating force within living things."

This still is very vague, and highly open for speculation and assumption. I think that is what Tom did when he defined spiritual development like this:
"spiritual developement" is equivalent to "intellectual development" or "development of the abilities of the MIND". Specifically, the ability to make CHOICES and learn from their consequences.
To truly understand why this above is an erroneous assumption, one must understand more things including, mind, ego and self. Let us not take discussion again.

What I do want to do is to answer your question, I think that 'spiritual development is breaking the false assumptions you have about yourself, but nevertheless is still part of the same false assumptions'. One of those false assumptions is 'the believe that you are a seperate identity.'

In other words, 'spiritual development is that which helps you dissolve the ego'.

Lets stop here, I know many don't agree. And those who do agree, don't need me telling what they already know.

I have only one thing to add here.

Have you ever investigated which part of you is your ego?? Because there is one. Inside your head. And that ego is making a whole lot of errors regarding your self. Try to find out what part of you is your ego, and what part is not. This gives you an idea of what you need to overcome, what you need to detach from. Because you are NOT your mind. Your mind is inside your head, and it has nothing to do with what you are.
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trumpet_is_cool
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Post: # 4084Post trumpet_is_cool »

Just found a text in TP that could answer my question :
'You should always bear in mind this main point: An Astral body, in all cases,
must conform to Universal Law, and, by following nature as closely as possible, it
can achieve the ultimate goal by the fastest path.’
For me that means (very simplified): Life your life - follow the Universal Law
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bomohwkl
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Post: # 4085Post bomohwkl »

For me that means (very simplified): Life your life - follow the Universal Law
Good answer. But what are the Universal laws? Probably we just know a very very small number of the laws. I think we should list all the universal laws which has been indirectly expressed in this forum.
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Yothu
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Post: # 4086Post Yothu »

bomohwkl wrote:
For me that means (very simplified): Life your life - follow the Universal Law
Good answer. But what are the Universal laws? Probably we just know a very very small number of the laws. I think we should list all the universal laws which has been indirectly expressed in this forum.
I believe the "Good Quotes"-thread is such a listing, isn't it?
If you do what you've always done, you'll get what you always got.
Bastian
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Post: # 4088Post Bastian »

bomohwkl wrote:I think we should list all the universal laws which has been indirectly expressed in this forum.
On thiaoouba.com there is a section with some info in Hebrew(mostly english though?). I remember seeing that they had carefully listed out the universal laws that were mentioned in TP.
"All things derive their life from it [Tao] All things return to it, and it contains them." -- Tao Teh Ching
Vesko
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Post: # 4106Post Vesko »

The answer is contained in the following sentence on page 127: "...by following nature as closely as possible, it [an astral body] can achieve the ultimate goal by the fastest path." Therefore, we could say that spiritual development is to develop harmony with nature in all respects, both mental and material, the final goal of spiritual perfection being the lack of anything unnatural left to remove from oneself.
Do you REALLY practice meditation? If your REALLY do, do you practice a GOOD method? Are you sure this is REALLY so?
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bomohwkl
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Post: # 4108Post bomohwkl »

Bastian wrote
On thiaoouba.com there is a section with some info in Hebrew(mostly english though?). I remember seeing that they had carefully listed out the universal laws that were mentioned in TP.
Couldn't find!! :(

yothun wrote
I believe the "Good Quotes"-thread is such a listing, isn't it?
All those quotes seem to suggest how much suffering are there and ways to minimize suffering.

To develop spiritually is to minimize suffering???
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Yothu
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Post: # 4109Post Yothu »

bomohwkl wrote:To develop spiritually is to minimize suffering???
Correct me if I am wrong. In a nutshell: Buddha says life is suffering. Introspection and meditation is a way to cease this suffering through enlightenment. Suffering is generated by ignorance. If one - by spiritual development - eliminates ignorance, one will be truly happy.

Makes sense to me, at least. In my mind the process of spiritual development is like creating a piece of art. You draw or paint or whatever until you do not perceive anything that disturbs you. Your piece of art may not be perfect, but you have reached a point where you are happy with it.
If you do what you've always done, you'll get what you always got.
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bomohwkl
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Post: # 4122Post bomohwkl »

yothu wrote
Correct me if I am wrong. In a nutshell: Buddha says life is suffering. Introspection and meditation is a way to cease this suffering through enlightenment. Suffering is generated by ignorance. If one - by spiritual development - eliminates ignorance, one will be truly happy
Some people said ignorance is a bliss!! Hence we have people who are happy and ignorant...... How can you reconcile the defination of spiritual development?
Being happy doesn't mean the person is spiritually advanced.
People on earth uses various way to minimizing suffering. Could it that to develop spiritually we have to minimize the suffering by conscious control of our thoughts and actions?
Correct me if I am wrong, Universal laws not only apply to physical world but also in the domian of consciousness.



In TP
'You should always bear in mind this main point: An Astral body, in all cases,
must conform to Universal Law, and, by following nature as closely as possible, it
can achieve the ultimate goal by the fastest path.’
Let assume that by conforming the Universal laws is by following the nature as close as possible.
Running in contrary with universal laws will always results in suffering. It is also important to note that suffering doesn't always mean that you are running against the universal laws. Lots of people has been prosecuted/assassinated/tortured while preaching the truth.
Perhaps, for the latter, we might need some enlightenment from Buddhism.

Buddha said
When other people hurt us, we should be thinking this way......
This is because he could not help himself.
This is just because of my own wrong actions in the past that have led to the result.
This is only because my mistakes in conduct that have led to such happenings.
This is only because my own mind was at the wrong place.

Nobody is without mistakes!
The preconditioning to adversity in life is indeed quite helpful for my own cultivation.
All living beings are messagers bringing me lessons in cultivation. and I surely own them a great deal of gratitute! My ability to tolerate adverity patiently is making all Buddhas happy for my progress in cultivation.
This will help me accumulate a tremendous amount of merit and virtue.
Let's say we agree on the above statement.
Then to develop spiritually is to minimize suffering via conscious control of our consciouness even the suffering induced is not directly resulted from your own good deeds. I think, this is the better defination of spiritual development I am going to adopt. To exercise control of our consciousness is to minimize suffering. It requires intelligence and MORE ON SELF-DISCIPLINE.
Last edited by bomohwkl on Thu Aug 25, 2005 4:22 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Yothu
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Post: # 4132Post Yothu »

bomohwkl wrote:Then to develop spiritually is to minimize suffering via conscious control of our consciouness even the suffering induced is not directly resulted from your own good deeds. I think, this is the better defination of spiritual development I am going to adopt. To exercise control of our consciousness to minimize suffering requires intelligence and MORE ON SELF-DISCIPLINE.
Yes, I understand. You remind me of something metaphorically interesting I read on dream symbols, namely
To dream that you are walking on water, suggests that you have supreme and ultimate control over your emotions.
Congratulations to the one that exerts geniune self-discipline over his mind and emotions.
If you do what you've always done, you'll get what you always got.
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Aisin
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Post: # 4501Post Aisin »

trumpet_is_cool wrote:Just found a text in TP that could answer my question :
'You should always bear in mind this main point: An Astral body, in all cases,
must conform to Universal Law, and, by following nature as closely as possible, it
can achieve the ultimate goal by the fastest path.’
For me that means (very simplified): Life your life - follow the Universal Law
bomohwkl wrote:
For me that means (very simplified): Life your life - follow the Universal Law
Good answer. But what are the Universal laws? Probably we just know a very very small number of the laws. I think we should list all the universal laws which has been indirectly expressed in this forum.
Bastian wrote:
bomohwkl wrote:I think we should list all the universal laws which has been indirectly expressed in this forum.
On thiaoouba.com there is a section with some info in Hebrew(mostly english though?). I remember seeing that they had carefully listed out the universal laws that were mentioned in TP.
I don't think we have found the answers yet. Let's keep searching... Also, pls refer to the topic 'Universal Laws' in this forum.
Vesko
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Post: # 6363Post Vesko »

How about: Mental development is developing conscious perception and understanding. Spiritual development is the same, but it explicitly specifies that the needs and problems of an immortal spirit are taken into consideration during mental development.
Do you REALLY practice meditation? If your REALLY do, do you practice a GOOD method? Are you sure this is REALLY so?
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Alisima
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Post: # 6366Post Alisima »

There is no spiritual development apart from the recognition of this fact. In other words, the realisation that there is no spiritual development is the highest spiritual development.

You cannot develop the spirit because the spirit needs no development. There are only different degrees of self imposed limitations. And when someone self limits himself alot we tend to say he has no spiritual qualities, or few. And when someone self limits himself not that much we tend to say he has many spiritual qualities. But in both cases the quality of the spirit is the same, only the degree of self imposed limitations differ. So the only thing in need of 'adjustment' is you which holds the spirit back.
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