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
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Slide1
Living a Spiritual Life:Purpose of life and Soul
Dr. Rodney H. Clarken
Copyright © 2011
Slide2Module 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
Slide3Write 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
Slide4What 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
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Slide5From your reading and reflection,Explain how spirituality and the purpose of life are related using the excerpts that follow.
© Rodney H Clarken 2011
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Slide6Excerpts 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
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Slide7Excerpts 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
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Slide8Excerpts 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
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Slide9Write a short statement.What is the purpose of life?
© Rodney H Clarken 2011
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Slide10Possible 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
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Slide11What 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
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Slide12What 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
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Slide13What 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
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Slide14What 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
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Slide15What 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
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Slide16What 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
Slide17What 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
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Slide18Why live a spiritual life?
© Rodney H Clarken 2011
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Slide19Then 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
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Slide20What are the 3 faculties of the soul from the above definition?
© Rodney H Clarken 2009
Slide21What are the faculties of the soul?
Thought
Action
Emotion
© Rodney H Clarken 2009
Slide22Reflect 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
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Slide23Some 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
Slide24Using 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
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Slide25For 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
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Slide26What 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
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Slide27Heaven 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
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Slide28To 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
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Slide29By 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
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Slide30List the 7 qualities given for spirituality or soul development.
© Rodney H Clarken 201130
Slide31List 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
Slide32How do these 7 qualities relate to the 3 faculties of the soul?
© Rodney H Clarken 2011
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Slide33How 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
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Slide34What 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
Slide35What 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
Slide36What 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
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Slide37Compare 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