​What is spirituality and other aspects of the human spiritual world

Spirituality is the word is often associated with religion, rituals, some kind of severe asceticism, vows and generally something that has nothing to do with real everyday life. We live today in a world where spirituality, as they say, is “not in trend.” However, if we think deeply about what spirituality is, we can come to a very simple conclusion: spirituality is simply a harmonious life. Remember Professor Preobrazhensky from the legendary “Heart of a Dog”? “Devastation in our heads,” the professor said an epoch-making phrase. So, the lack of spirituality is the same devastation in the minds. If a person does not respect the people who surround him, if he does not live in harmony with himself, with the world, with nature, if his motivations are consumer, and his goals in life do not go beyond sensual pleasures, will such a person be happy? Short term - maybe. But in any long term, such happiness will only lead him to suffering and nothing more. Therefore, no matter what modern “culture” instills in us, spirituality is not a luxury, but a necessity for a harmonious life.

Why is spiritual development needed?

People need to experience joy and excitement more often to get the most out of everything they do, feel superior, and be open to new opportunities. Don't neglect the people around you.

If you often do bad things, constantly get angry and complain about life, the likelihood of getting pleasure decreases to zero. Such people do not feel harmony with the world around them; they increasingly withdraw into themselves, and then become hostages of their own negative feelings. (See table of feelings and emotions). Most likely, such a person will not be able to experience true happiness.

Spiritual development is a very important stage in life’s journey. A person who has no desire to improve is doomed to constant torment and suffering. Usually such people cannot achieve any success, and begin to sow hatred in the world around them.

Spiritual development provides an excellent chance to experience more positive emotions and simply enjoy life every day. Starting the path of enlightenment, every person must cleanse himself of all negative ideas and bad thoughts. The inner world of a positive person allows him to receive inspiration from everything that happens around him. Thanks to spiritual development, each of us can create incredible conditions for our own lives, as well as for everyone around us.

Spirituality is not just a word, but a real way of life. All actions must be aimed at good purposes. Encourage a person to take actions that bring positive and useful results.

The influence of a socially spiritual person on society

No man has influenced history more than Jesus Christ. He taught his followers to spread what they learned. How many times have they been tried to destroy them, like Christ himself! But they still brought the truth to the world. The religion is named after their teacher, and the beginning of a new era is considered to be from his birth.

John Gutenberg invented the printing press to disseminate the Holy Scriptures, and it had a huge impact on culture around the world. Books became much cheaper and everyone could afford to buy them. Cyril and Methodius, Greek missionaries, created the Slavic alphabet for translating the Holy Scriptures and this enriched our language. Many Russian proverbs are actually taken from the Bible.

Leo Tolstoy highly valued the Word of God and in his works comprehensively considered good and evil. His novels were highly appreciated by M. Gandhi, who led the struggle for the liberation of India. He spoke about the importance of Christian teaching, that all the world's problems would be solved if people actually adhered to it.

As can be seen from these examples, even one spiritual person is an undoubted benefit to society.

The spiritual world for a person is the basis of harmony in life

Many people think that living in complete harmony with the world around them is impossible, but this is not so. Despite all the barriers and obstacles that come our way in life, there is always the opportunity to overcome them and not stop. At the same time, always remain in a positive mood, constantly rejoice or admire achievements.

Surely there is a person in your circle who adheres to spiritual values. Such people never fall into a desperate state; they are always ready to move forward and achieve their goals. Even in those moments when something doesn’t work out for them.

When, in the midst of gray everyday life, you see such a person in your environment, all everyday problems and work routine are smoothed out. A spiritual person charges everyone around with his positive energy and you don’t feel so sad. Everyone around begins to do more good and right things.

When the team is filled with positive energy, when everyone becomes kinder to each other, then the spiritual life of the society around us is formed.

In order for a person’s spiritual world to comply with all the norms and rules of spirituality, it is necessary to work well on one’s own mistakes. First, try to understand yourself and start changing something, then you will understand the full power of this teaching

Spirituality of any person is not just a word! It lies in harmony with yourself and your environment. The soul of such people is filled with light and love. In the spiritual world there are no such feelings as:

• Envy;
• Anger;
• Contempt;
• Humiliation;
• Anger, etc.

At all times, spiritual and moral canons were observed thanks to proper upbringing, from childhood. Spiritual life in modern society can lead all of humanity to new discoveries. Spirituality is the path of every person who strives for creation and knowledge of the unknown secrets of existence.

In the world of good there is no negativity or failure. Here everyone is ready to help each other. No one will leave someone in need of support in trouble. The real spiritual world of a person consists only of the positive qualities of a person. The inner state of the soul of such people is very vulnerable, since these people are always open to others. They try to avoid any negative events towards themselves and the world around them.

Spirituality is a definition of the inner state of the human soul, which is always based on the moral and ethical relationships between people and the environment.

Do not blindly follow religious scriptures or philosophical teachings. Each person must independently determine their own boundaries in order to make this world more colorful and kind. There is no need to become a religious fanatic, because this will only lead you to disappointment and self-destruction.

It is worth considering that spiritual development can lead a person to rash actions, which, in an unconscious state and without any intent, can harm one’s own well-being. This applies to those people who are fanatical about such teachings of spirituality. Of course, we must constantly improve, but the knowledge we gain must be used wisely and carefully. Spiritual development should not become a tool for hiding one’s complexes or shortcomings.

The main task is not to just blindly follow what some leader says or believe everything that is said in the religious scriptures. First of all, you need to look into the depths of your soul and find all the vulnerable spots. In order to further protect ourselves from injustice, anger or hatred, which shrouds our entire world. On the path of every person there are obstacles and obstacles that at first glance cannot be overcome. However, this is a false perception of what is happening. In fact, there is nothing in our world that could prevent us from making our lives more fun and useful.

The concept of spirituality in philosophy

The concept of spirituality in philosophy, as a rule, was associated primarily with those forms of social consciousness, which, in turn, were identified with forms of organization of knowledge. A persistent search was carried out, which boiled down to the development of a scientific-universal, “social” essence of spirituality. In contrast to this tendency, another is observed: spirituality is predominantly associated with religiosity, with moral values ​​postulated by one or another confession. In modern Western works on society and culture, the concept of “spirituality” is almost never used; it is usually used in world literature of religious and philosophical content, where spirituality is considered as a factor in the self-determination of a believer. This approach impoverishes the meaning of the concept of spirituality and largely removes the problematic of spirituality from the thematic areas of philosophy.

Scientists do not have a consensus on the definition of spirituality. Each scientist understands the concept of “spirituality” differently. The concept of “spirituality” is always of little importance in philosophy, and plays a significant role in key problems: man, his place and purpose in the world, the meaning of his existence, culture, social life. And therefore, such philosophers: Plato, Aristotle, Pamphil Yurkevich, Grigory Skovoroda believed that the concept of “spirituality” is derived from the word “spirit” (Latin Spirit and Greek “Pneuma”), which means mobile air, the medium of breath, the carrier of life .

Already in the primitive era, the first ideas about spirituality were formed. But this concept has not yet been demarcated from the physical essence. For the first time, Plato separated the physical and the spiritual, determined that spirituality is a specific human property, and the physical is lower, what is inherent in human nature. Aristotle also separated these concepts, but considered the physical and spiritual as absolutely necessary.

The new approach is made in the Christian tradition. Here, spirituality is given a new face, and it is believed that spirituality is inherent in homo sapiens, which distinguishes it from the animal world and likens it to God.

The problem of spirituality also became leading in Russian religious philosophy of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its development is associated with the names of Fyodor Dostoevsky, Vladimir Solovyov, Ivan Ilyin, Pavel Florensky, Nikolai Fedorov. They understood spirituality doubly.

• On the one hand: Spirituality is the spiritualization of creatureliness, an essential characteristic of man, which distinguishes it from the animal world.
• Another understanding: Spirituality is the ideal that a person strives for in his own development, an orientation toward higher, absolute values.

According to scientists, the concept of “spirituality” is a category of ethics that determines the moral dimension of human life, it is a living source of human virtues, his moral ability and highest value.

A significant contribution to the development of the problem of spirituality was made in philosophy by such philosophers as Martin Buber, Scheler, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, Jose Ortega y Gasset, Albert Schweitzer, Erich Fromm, Victor Franki. The leading idea of ​​these scientists is: “reasonable man” at the turn of the era was unable to overcome all kinds of crises in life, in particular global ones, so it should be replaced by “spiritual man”. And according to the definition of these scientists: Spirituality is a general cultural phenomenon that contains not only abstract theoretical values ​​and ideals, but also actions of conscience, truth and beauty.

Pondering the problem of spirituality is becoming a force in modern Ukrainian philosophy. In the 1990s, after Marxist methodological rules ceased to be “official” and mandatory in Ukraine, spirituality research took place in the following main areas:

• religious studies, the subject of which is spirituality, is interpreted theologically as the perfection of faith in supernatural forces;
• culturological, in the context of which spirituality acts as a way of self-construction of a person within the cultural world through self-determination and self-direction of a person, presupposes not only knowledge, but also feelings, comprehension of reality, and the ability to empathize;
• philosophical and sociological, in which spirituality is considered as a multidimensional socio-historical phenomenon, the specificity of its manifestations is due to the uniqueness of world history as a polycentric entity.

The word spirituality, what does it mean?

If we pay attention to the interpretation of the word “spirituality” in different dictionaries of the Russian language, we will see that the meaning of this internal state of a person will be somewhere between the religious and moral understanding of this state.

In fact, that's how it is!

Practice more to know your own soul. Only through practice can you fully learn to control your emotions and achieve perfection in everything. The teaching of a person’s inner spirituality does not imply anything bad. Both in religious scriptures and in various scientific works of famous philosophers. The spiritual world is described as something high and perfect.

By following the basic rules and principles, you can achieve maximum perfection of your own will and state of mind. But it is also worth considering the fact that, depending on national characteristics, each country has its own moral principles and rules. Based on this, it is necessary to highlight the main similarities in all scriptures and teachings. The concept that is embedded in the understanding of spirituality has its similarities everywhere.

It is in this way - by comparing different interpretations, that one can comprehend the real spiritual truth. That is, to understand the very essence of spirituality throughout the world. The word “compassion” is found in many sources, both religious and philosophical teachings. It may look a little different, or be called by other words, but still the main task is to teach all people to understand and show a sense of compassion.

A spiritual person, finding harmony with his inner world, begins to feel stronger and more necessary for this world.

This message is carried by all religions of the world without exception. Except in those cases when political beliefs begin to interfere with the spiritual world. Politicians always try to use any means to achieve their goal. There are no barriers or moral principles for them. They manage to achieve their political ambitions, and even make good money by deceiving ordinary people.

Why is it important to be spiritual?

If spirituality can be developed in oneself over time, then it would be fair to understand what it ultimately gives.

1. Everyone wants to feel special. Spirituality gives a huge advantage - to have this quality means to be at the peak of your development.
2. The ability to love and appreciate others increases significantly. Love for people opens up new opportunities, strong connections are established, and a feeling of need and importance appears.
3. You begin to see the beauty around you, the pace of life slows down, and there is less chance of losing sight of something significant.
4. Feelings of anxiety and injustice recede, decisions come quickly, and the mood is always cheerful.
5. Some people say that the basis of life is patience and humility. A highly moral person has a strong will and self-control, which helps him avoid getting into a hopeless situation.
6. The irresistible desire to improve does not leave you, more energy, more fuel to fulfill your desires.
7. Life without guilt and with a sense of freedom.

There is a so-called measure of spirituality. Everything has a threshold, and here it is important not to be deceived, because there is also pseudo-spirituality. We cannot be completely sinless and never make mistakes (the Bible says that man is sinful from birth). Perfectionism (from the English perfect - “ideal”), a tendency towards the ideal, etc. significantly poison life. In all this, simple human egoism occupies a special place. How then can one consider oneself a morally developed person?

What is spirituality for a person

What is spirituality and how can it be explained in simple words? Considering each religion where we are talking about the spiritual state of a person, we can notice that many understandings may differ from each other, and in some cases even contradict their “competitive communities”. Here, moral principles or other qualities that are considered to be the rule in a particular country or religion may differ.

It is necessary to do a lot of work on oneself so that a person’s spiritual world is strong and strong throughout his entire conscious life.

But, as mentioned above, it is necessary to select the best of all teachings and interpretations. It must be taken into account that our world is so diverse that the understanding of good and evil is relative.

All religions are determined to curb the negative feelings of humanity. Everywhere there is talk about humility and submission. But this will not make a person stronger or smarter. The fundamental canons and commandments of all religions are also aimed at ensuring that everyone can choose for themselves those basic principles and patterns that can lead us to an understanding of the higher mind.

This is not connected with material values ​​or the benefits of peoples, but with the simplest instinctive impulses that lead every person living on earth to a state of peace and bliss.

Their main task is to make this world as kind and fair as possible, so that all living beings live in harmony with each other and interact with all natural processes.

Psychologists about spirituality

Since the end of the nineteenth century, psychology began to study spirituality as a psychological category. They found out the connections between the so-called spiritual activities, representing art and culture, and the human psyche. Afterwards there were more studies - collective spirituality, higher spirituality as a source of creative inspiration and others. As a result, it was established that human spirituality is something subjective. It cannot be explored through science.

It was determined that spirituality distinguishes a person from other forms of life and is of a social nature. A person can use spirituality, and from the extent to which he does this, he learns the meaning of his life and his role and place in it.

Now psychologists consider the physical, material nature of a person to be only part of him. The second part, no less important, is spirituality. That is, the totality of his moral and moral values. Considering man as a spiritual being, it became possible to talk about the psychology of spirituality.

How to achieve peace of mind

If we blindly follow everything that is stated in the scriptures, we are unlikely to be able to achieve the desired result that each of us strives for. The path to ideal spiritual enlightenment lies through overcoming your own concerns and fears. The road to independent awareness is very long, but, nevertheless, every person can go through this difficult path in a short period of time. When others will not be able to comprehend the simple truth in their entire lives.

Of all the teachings about human spirituality, choose only the most valuable information. Under no circumstances follow everything that is written thoughtlessly, because you may lose your mind.

The idea of ​​spiritual enlightenment is that every person himself must realize the seriousness and significance of righteous deeds. After all, it is much more pleasant to bring goodness, good intentions and thoughts into our beautiful world. It becomes especially pleasant in those moments when you feel the return on your efforts. Then new abilities open up in us, our soul becomes much wider.

We begin to notice all the beauty and tenderness of our nature. The main achievement in such aspirations is complete dedication and a sense of significance. When our actions bear fruit, then endless possibilities open up for us. A flame begins to “burn up” within us. There is an interest in further self-development.

Once you begin to feel that you have reached the maximum level of awareness, do not rush to stop and give up. After all, it is impossible to achieve absolute knowledge, because everyone chooses the criteria by which they begin to evaluate their actions and thoughts. However, basic knowledge is enough to get closer to self-improvement.

You shouldn't stop halfway to self-improvement. As soon as you feel that you have reached the maximum point of development of your inner world. Think a little and you will find many more errors and shortcomings that need to be corrected

To get started, all you need is a basic understanding of spirituality, as well as a little patience and perseverance. Further actions will be much more productive. Thoughts and actions will give results that until recently may have seemed unattainable to you.

However, you should not relax, since working on yourself is a long process that requires special attention. Then you need to go deeper and deeper, and there are no certain boundaries in self-development. We ourselves must choose at what stage we can stop. Or move on without stopping to get the most effective return on your efforts.

What does the inner world of an individual consist of?

Every personality has its own spiritual world. He has:

• a value system that determines a person’s worldview and gives meaning to his existence;
• goals necessary to implement the mission on Earth;
• the needs of the soul, manifested through knowledge of the surrounding reality, expression of oneself through art, scientific and cultural activities, as well as other forms;
• the desire for self-knowledge and self-realization in society;
• understanding the significance of one’s actions for other people, formed views on the world around them;
• emotional and sensory support for one’s own vision and actions from society.

All of the above is based on people’s knowledge of the surrounding reality and belief in a fair outcome.

A person's worldview can be divided into:

1. Everyday, based on life experience. It is formed as a result of various circumstances.
2. Religious, in accordance with the religious ideas of the individual.
3. Scientific, with an emphasis exclusively on scientific knowledge.
4. Humanistic, based on ideas about scientific views: how fair and highly moral they are for society, as well as the degree of their environmental friendliness.

The system of human values, which is the basis of any worldview, contains a guideline for the aspirations of the individual and the meaning of his life. The ideals of an individual act as a standard of behavior in society and become the motivation for the behavior itself.

But it is important to note that a person’s spiritual values ​​cannot be eternal . They are directly dependent on living conditions and change taking into account the influence of circumstances. But the social values ​​that have evolved over centuries represent the spiritual practice of all generations of the human race and contain the universal needs of any individual, regardless of who he is. Race, nationality, class, religion, age - all this becomes unimportant.

It is clear that universal human values ​​rise above individual ones, therefore a person must form his inner world taking into account these frameworks. The life of an individual is intertwined with social life and gradually assimilates the rules formed by time and which are part of the moral foundation.

In Western psychology

In Western psychology, which received the greatest recognition in the post-war years of the 20th century, there are a number of areas:

• transpersonal - does not deny the religious influence on the consciousness of the individual;
• humanistic - the emphasis is on the individual as the only integral system;
• existential - refers to humanistic psychology, affects several aspects of an individual’s life: his inner world, personal experiences, etc.

According to Maslow's system, if a person has spirituality, then he is at a high stage of evolution. Such people lack primitive desires, dirty thoughts and misdeeds. They are filled with kindness and are condescending even to those who are not worthy according to society. At the beginning of the 20th century, psychologists and psychotherapists were of the prevailing opinion that a low level of morality was nothing more than a disease that needed to be gotten rid of. But the paradox is that many undeveloped cultures practiced healing the soul, with the help of shamanic rituals, sacrifices and other things.

What does spirituality mean and its development

The spiritual development of a person includes several basic principles, adhering to which, a person strives for the internal evolution of his own qualities. Constantly improving the internal state of one’s own soul helps to overcome all negative feelings and emotional manifestations, such as:

• Envy;
• Anger;
• Discontent;
• Fury;
• Hatred;
• Anger;
• Oppression;
• Depression;
• Aggression;
• Fear;
• Doubt;
• Uncertainty;
• Confusion, etc.

This is not the entire list of feelings and emotions that impede a person’s spiritual development. But we should not forget that positive emotional manifestations, on the contrary, help to develop and grow above oneself.

The understanding of spirituality is different for each of us, but there is still something that unites all concepts for any society, regardless of religious beliefs

In order to gain spirituality, you need to understand a few simple truths. First of all, we must understand that spirituality is a combination of moral and ethical qualities of one person or an entire society. Finding spiritual balance, a person receives a comprehensive understanding of justice and learns self-sacrifice.

Spirituality Brings Responsibility

A spiritually mature person realizes that along with the freedom to do what he considers right comes responsibility for the use of this freedom. Regarding this, there is the following example: an airplane can roll on the ground, but that is not what makes it an airplane. When it is already in the sky, then it becomes obvious that it is an airplane. Likewise with spirituality, there is still no situation in which a person’s spiritual qualities will manifest themselves; it is not visible. But when the decisive moment comes, his high moral essence becomes obvious to everyone - it manifests itself in this situation.

Psychology considers spirituality, freedom and responsibility as the most important components of personality. They are closely related. An unspiritual person will not want to take responsibility for his actions and will begin to look for someone to blame. A spiritual person, having made a mistake, admits it.

Lack of spiritual harmony

People in whom the spiritual component is poorly developed are in the sleep mode stage. Such people are not used to enjoying life; for them there are no moral boundaries. They are completely subordinate to their base instincts and suffer from their own powerlessness.

A person who lacks spirituality simply exists without any meaning; the life of such people is filled with grief and pain. They don’t want to change anything in their lives; they are closed to themselves and others. This state of mind leads humanity to the most vile actions and deeds.

It is necessary to develop your spirit and body throughout your life. Such harmony within us allows us to achieve the highest results.

To achieve a spiritual state, you need to work long and carefully on your mistakes and go through the entire path of spiritual development. This is a huge amount of work on yourself.

Afterword

A spiritual person has a large set of cultural and moral values, and his consciousness is much more developed and open, which makes other people feel uncomfortable being around an enlightened person. The manifestation of spirituality can be seen both in religious books and teachings, and in many cultural works. The main message of spiritual enlightenment is the harmony between the human soul and its bodily shell. Such people always bring only good deeds and thoughts into this world. One of the accompanying manifestations of spiritual life is the acquisition of conscience. A spiritual state helps all humanity to live in harmony with themselves and the world around them.

The right to choose

All people have the right to choose how to live, how to act. What moral values ​​should you have? A person who strives to get what he wants cares only about himself. Having received what he wants, he does not find satisfaction. A spiritual person thinks not only about himself. He sees his place in society, his role in it. And he correlates his own desires with what is higher and more significant than himself.

For some it is serving God, for others it is serving science. Such people are happy in what they can give—“it is more blessed to give than to receive,” as Acts 20:35 states. This is how spiritual people are.