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Living a Spiritual Life: Living a Spiritual Life:

Living a Spiritual Life: - PowerPoint Presentation

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Living a Spiritual Life: - PPT Presentation

Purpose of life and Soul Dr Rodney H Clarken Copyright 2011 Module Objective This module discusses how the purpose of life is to live a spiritual life how spirituality is related to the soul and how we can use the spiritual qualities of the soul to live a spiritual life ID: 793377

clarken rodney 2011 soul rodney clarken soul 2011 life spiritual spirituality god purpose faculties body http develop org bah

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Slide1

Living a Spiritual Life:Purpose of life and Soul

Dr. Rodney H. Clarken

Copyright © 2011

Slide2

Module ObjectiveThis module discusses

how the purpose of

life is to

live a spiritual life, how spirituality is related to the soul and how we can use the spiritual qualities of the soul to live a spiritual life.

© Rodney H Clarken 2011

2

Slide3

Write brief answers to these questions.

What does the purpose of life have to do with living a spiritual life?

How is the soul related to spirituality? To the body? To the mind?

How

can we develop our souls to be healthier and happier?

Save your answers to compare to the final slide.

© Rodney H Clarken 2009

Slide4

What is the purpose of life? Read and reflectRead

The Purpose of Life

at

http://info.bahai.org/article-1-4-0-6.html

Reflect on what the purpose of life has to do with living a spiritual life.

© Rodney H Clarken 2011

4

Slide5

From your reading and reflection,Explain how spirituality and the purpose of life are related using the excerpts that follow.

© Rodney H Clarken 2011

5

Slide6

Excerpts from the reading.*

Life should be seen as an eternal process of joyous spiritual discovery and

growth

The evolution or development of the soul and its capacities is the basic purpose of human existence. This evolution is towards God and its motive force is knowledge of God and love for Him.

© Rodney H Clarken 2011

6

Slide7

Excerpts from the reading.*

The purpose of God in creating man hath been, and will ever be, to enable him to know his Creator and to attain His Presence.

(

Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh,

p. 70)

© Rodney H Clarken 2011

7

Slide8

Excerpts from the reading.*

Bahá'u'lláh teaches that the only true and enduring happiness for human beings lies in the pursuit of spiritual development.

In summary, the spiritual reason for our life on earth is to provide us with a training ground; our life is a period of growth during which we focus on the development of our innate spiritual and intellectual capacities.

© Rodney H Clarken 2011

8

Slide9

Write a short statement.What is the purpose of life?

© Rodney H Clarken 2011

9

Slide10

Possible answers to “What is the purpose of life?”

T

o

know and love God.

To reflect the attributes of God. Individual and social development.

To

develop the soul for eternal life.

To live a spiritual life, grow spiritually. Other…© Rodney H Clarken 2011

10

Slide11

What is the essence of humans?The

need is very great, everywhere in the world, in and outside the Faith, for a true spiritual awareness to pervade and motivate peoples' lives. No amount of administrative procedure or adherence to rules can take the place of this soul-characteristic, this spirituality which is the essence of Man.

© Rodney H Clarken 2011

11

Slide12

What is the chief goal?

Its [Bahá'í Faith] chief goal is the development of the individual and society, through the acquisition of spiritual virtues and powers. It is the soul of man which has first to be fed.

© Rodney H Clarken 2011

12

Slide13

What has turning away from religion produced?

“This turning away from religion has been powerfully reinforced by the growth of materialism, and has produced a combination of physical well-being and spiritual aridity that is having catastrophic results, socially and psychologically, on the population.”

(Universal House of Justice, 9/1/83)

© Rodney H Clarken 2011

13

Slide14

What is the need for spirituality today?"Indeed, the chief reason for the evils now rampant in

society is the lack of spirituality. The materialistic civilization of our age has so much absorbed the energy and interest of mankind that people in general do no longer feel the necessity of raising themselves above the forces and conditions of their daily material existence.

© Rodney H Clarken 2011

14

Slide15

What is the crisis and spirit of the age?"The universal crisis affecting mankind is, therefore, essentially spiritual in its causes. The spirit of the age, taken on the whole, is irreligious. Man's outlook on life is too crude and materialistic to enable him to elevate himself into the higher realms of the spirit.

© Rodney H Clarken 2011

15

Slide16

What is a spiritual life?

Spiritual practices, including meditation, prayer and contemplation, are intended to develop an individual's inner life; such practices often lead to an experience 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.

[3]

(http://

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spirituality

)

© Rodney H Clarken 201116

Slide17

What are two phases of spirituality?Spirituality is also described as a process in two phases: the first on inner growth, and the second on the manifestation of this result daily in the

world

.

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19]

[20]

[21

]

(

http

://

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spirituality

)

© Rodney H Clarken 2011

17

Slide18

Why live a spiritual life?

© Rodney H Clarken 2011

18

Slide19

Then what does soul mean?

The animating and vital principle in humankind credited with the faculties of thought, action and emotion and conceived as forming an immaterial entity.

Go to

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soul

to read more about soul or search online.

© Rodney H Clarken 2011

19

Slide20

What are the 3 faculties of the soul from the above definition?

© Rodney H Clarken 2009

Slide21

What are the faculties of the soul?

Thought

Action

Emotion

© Rodney H Clarken 2009

Slide22

Reflect and share with others.How might the faculties of the soul be used to develop a more spiritual life?

Note: There are many ways to answer this question. What is important here is that you take some time to think about it. Answers to this question will be found throughout the course. We will be using the faculties of our souls to develop spirituality.

© Rodney H Clarken 2011

22

Slide23

Some clues on how the faculties of the soul relate to spirituality.

Thought:

Knowing

(Mind) Thinking

Truth

Action: Willing (Will) Doing JusticeEmotion:

Loving

(Heart)

Feeling

Unity

© Rodney H Clarken 2009

Slide24

Using the above faculties and concepts, write a short statement on how to develop the soul.

Share that statement with the class online or with someone else.

© Rodney H Clarken 2011

24

Slide25

For important foundational knowledge of developing spirituality

read

Hatcher’s

Concept of Spirituality Also, view Clarken’s

Model of Human DevelopmentEach of these activities will take over an hour. Please allow yourself time to absorb these resources.

© Rodney H Clarken 2011

25

Slide26

What is a Bahá'í definition of soul?The

Bahá'í Faith

affirms that "the soul is a sign of God, a heavenly gem whose reality the most learned of men had failed to grasp, and whose mystery no mind, however acute, can ever hope to unravel.

[21]

Bahá'u'lláh stated that the soul not only continues to live after the physical death of the human body, but is, in fact, immortal.

[22]

© Rodney H Clarken 2011

26

Slide27

Heaven can be seen partly as the soul's state of nearness

to God; and hell as a state of remoteness from God. Each state follows as a natural consequence of individual efforts, or the lack thereof, to develop spiritually.

[23]

Bahá'u'lláh taught that individuals have no existence prior to their life here on earth and the soul's evolution is always towards God and away from the material world.

[23] (source and read more)

© Rodney H Clarken 2011

27

Slide28

To read more on the Bahai concept of soul, go to:

http://info.bahai.org/article-1-4-5-1.html

http://info.bahai.org/article-1-4-0-5.html

http://info.bahai.org/article-1-4-6-1.html

http://www.investigatereality.org/RealitySoul.htm

© Rodney H Clarken 2011

28

Slide29

By what means can man acquire these [spiritual] things?

How shall he obtain these merciful gifts and powers? First, through the knowledge of God. Second, through the love of God. Third, through faith. Fourth, through philanthropic deeds. Fifth, through self-sacrifice. Sixth, through severance from this world. Seventh, through sanctity and holiness. 1

© Rodney H Clarken 2011

29

Slide30

List the 7 qualities given for spirituality or soul development.

© Rodney H Clarken 201130

Slide31

List the 7 qualities given for spirituality or soul development.

knowledge of God.

the love of God.

faith.

philanthropic deeds.

self-sacrifice.

severance from this world.

sanctity and holiness. © Rodney H Clarken 201131

Slide32

How do these 7 qualities relate to the 3 faculties of the soul?

© Rodney H Clarken 2011

32

Slide33

How do these 7 qualities relate to the 3 faculties of the soul?

knowledge of God

 thought (knowing)

the love of God

 emotion (loving)

faith

 knowing + action (willing)

philanthropic deeds willing + loving self-sacrifice  willing + loving severance from world  willing + loving

sanctity and holiness

 willing + loving

© Rodney H Clarken 2011

33

Slide34

What is the relationship of soul and body?

The soul lives on when the body dies and is our true identity and reality.

The body is like a horse and the soul is like the rider. The body (horse) should be cared for as it is a vehicle for the soul (rider), but it can not bring us true happiness.

© Rodney H Clarken 2009

Slide35

What is the relationship of soul and body?

“The soul of man is the sun by which his body is illumined, and from which it

draweth

its sustenance, and should be so regarded.” (Gleanings from Writings of Baha’u’llah, p. 155)

© Rodney H Clarken 2009

Slide36

What is the relationship of soul and mind?“The temple of man is like unto a mirror, his soul is as the sun, and his mental faculties even as the rays that emanate from that source of light

.”

(

Abdu’l-Baha’s Tablet to August

Forel, p. 24)

© Rodney H Clarken 2011

36

Slide37

Compare your answers to these question to those given at the beginning of this module.

Define spiritual?

How is the soul related to spirituality? To the body? To the mind?

How can we develop our souls to be healthier and happier?

© Rodney H Clarken 2009