Civilisation is defined by and founded upon the ideals and shared beliefs that weld society together. What uniquely defines the human experience is the transcendent component of life.

It unlocks the creative capacities within our consciousness and safeguards human dignity. Pragmatic approaches to problem solving must play a central role in development initiatives. But equally, tapping the spiritual roots of human motivation provides the essential impulse that ensures genuine social advancement. When spiritual principles are fully integrated into community development activities, the ideas, insights and practical measures that emerge are more likely to promote self-reliance and preserve human honour.

(See also: Science and Religion, Faith and Belief, Spiritual Guidance, God and Religion, Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

To claim that affirmations or any similar technique can lead us to enlightenment would be presumptuous. However, what can be attempted is a step towards the calming of one's mind, and internally and externally manifesting certain other aids which in turn help in spiritual progress and life in general.

(See also: Affirmation Advantages, Affirmations, Practising Affirmations, Life Transforming Affirmations, Essence of Affirmations, Faith and Belief, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Body Mind and Soul)

psychic development / unfoldment

The process of activating one's psychic ability

(See also: Psychic development / unfoldment, Body Mind and Soul)

We are the most complex and wonderful of God's creations. The human nervous system allows us to experience the richness of life. Our perceptions create reality. We become what we think. But the right environment is required to create the right perceptions. Hence bringing up a child is an art. It requires knowledge and forbearance, love and compassion. Merely thinking of it as a responsibility is insufficient.

(See also: Spiritual Parenting, Spiritual Guidance, God and Religion, Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

Some people develop a wishbone where their backbone should be.

- Unknown

(See also: Spiritual Quotes, Love Quotes, Friendship Quotes, Life Quotes)

In our 1st article on spiritual character ("The Power of Spiritual Character"), we shared with you the following equation that we use to define and develop spiritual character:

Spiritual Character = Spiritual Context + Spiritual Purpose + Spiritual Values

______________________________________ Ego Desires

The first element of this equation, your spiritual context, represents your spiritual view of life. The dictionary defines context as: the interrelated conditions in which something exists or occurs: an environment . So your spiritual context is the spiritual 'container' or 'frame of reference' within which you experience all of life, including your work.

See also: Spirituality At Work, Work As A Spiritual Practice, Spiritual Based Leadership)

Character development is a business leader's greatest contribution to economic development, and business leaders steeped in spiritual values can best help build the Gross National Character (GNC) of our nations.

See also: Spirituality At Work, Work As A Spiritual Practice, Spiritual Based Leadership)

In the past few articles, we've focused on various aspects of developing spiritual character, as found in our equation:

Spiritual Character = Spiritual Context + Spiritual Purpose + Spiritual Values

            Ego Desires

Here we focus on how to embody spiritual values. The word "value" comes from the Latin verb " valere ," which means "to be worth" and "to be strong." Spiritual values reflect what is important to us from a spiritual perspective. They are also natural, spiritual strengths that we can draw upon in our life and work. We like to say that they're built into our DNA - "Divine Natural Attributes" - as they are the basis of a happy, healthy, and whole human being.

See also: Spirituality At Work, Work As A Spiritual Practice, Spiritual Based Leadership)

As we discussed in our previous articles, the first step in developing spiritual character is to identify your spiritual context, which is your spiritual view of life. The second step is to identify and live your spiritual purpose.

William once attended a dialogue between a Christian monk and a Jewish rabbi on the similarities of their spiritual purpose. Brother David Steinelrast and Rabbi Dinn spoke eloquently of their common belief in One God and their similarity of spiritual values. Finally, during question-and-answer, a woman in the audience said, "I'm thrilled to hear what you've said, but let's face it: Brother David, you're a celibate monk, and Rabbi Dinn, you have a family with 12 kids. What's so similar about that?"

See also: Spirituality At Work, Work As A Spiritual Practice, Spiritual Based Leadership)

When I was growing up, I thought that "spirituality" was the same thing as "religion," which was something for which I had little respect. My early experiences with organized religion left me convinced that the church was a body of contradictions, from which you would never get a rational, straight answer. I was quite mystified that so many people would go to church every Sunday to engage in something that seemed so irrelevant.

Read more here: » What is Spirituality: Reflections on Spirituality

If you want to be truly free, you will have to be aware. One kind of awareness is when you are consciously making the effort to be aware of everything that you are doing. But there is another kind of awareness that is more mysterious. And you will begin to discover this mysterious awareness as you surrender more and more to your own desire to be free.

If we are true to the desire to be free, we will find that we always are paying attention, even at times when, in our conscious experience, it appears to us that we are not.

Read more here: » Spiritual Awareness: First Awareness, Then Freedom

They say that the most important relationship is the relationship you have with yourself, and that the key to most successful relationships is communication. So it follows that it would be helpful to communicate regularly with yourself.

The fact is, our bodies are talking to us all the time, but frequently we don't listen. Both through physical sensations and our emotions the body has much to say to us. However, for many people these communications are all but a distant, meaningless rumble or even troublesome somethings that must be suppressed or endured.

Read more here: » Integrational Dialogue: Talking Yourself Into Wholeness - Integrational Dialogue

Have there ever been times in your life when you needed some guidance?... some direction in life, or a bit of help making a major decision? Where did you turn? To a trusted friend? A family member? An astrologer or psychic? Maybe you found some helpful direction from these sources, or maybe not. Did you ever wish that there was a higher source of wisdom and guidance you could turn to? One that is free from human bias, whose wisdom is absolutely trustworthy? This higher source of guidance does, indeed exist, and is closer than you may imagine. It is always available to you.

Read more here: » Higher Guidance: Higher Guidance - It's closer than you may think

Our nature is to give and receive love. All other requirements are not essential to the basic experience of giving and receiving love. From this basic requirement or shall we say experience, come different expressions of love. During our life experience we learn through various methods and teachers how to express love in wide and varied ways. This is where interpretation and distortion creeps in.

Read more here: » Love: Nature of the Human Spirit - Love

The life of a plant is hidden in the roots beneath the ground. If the roots are not taken care of, the flowers and the leaves will die no matter how much you care for them. By taking care of the roots, the flowers will get nourished automatically. For, the flowers come out of the roots, and not the other way round.

The head or the heart are perceived to be the most important parts of the human body. But the truth is that our roots are more important. Just as the plants have roots in the earth from which they draw their life-energy, in the human body, there are roots which draw life-energy from the soul. The day those roots become feeble, the body begins to die.

Read more here: » Spiritual Growth: Reach For Your Soul - Nurture Your Roots

The world is regulated by universal laws. One of the laws is constancy or eternality. Anything true is constant or eternal. The second law of the world is changeability or variability. Anything true is variable. The world has changed or transformed and will continue to change on the basis of this law. Therefore, something changes and something becomes the cause of change.

Read more here: » Universal Laws: The Universal Laws of Cosmos

Today every man desires to create a new universe. He does not like the present. The society in which he lives is not compatible with his thinking, so he is not comfortable in it. But a new universe and society can be formed only when a new mind is formed.

Psychologists say our mind is conditioned. It works on the basis of some established beliefs and set convictions Ñ unless these are shattered, the construction of a new society is not possible.

Read more here: » Conditioning: Get A Brand New Mind

Desire

Desire is one of the great paradoxes of being human. We find desire both at the heart of our greatest joy and of our greatest suffering. Sometimes we are empowered and uplifted by our desires, and at other times we feel enslaved to them.

About Desire, The Ego, Attachment, Victimhood and Empowerment.

Read more here: » Personal Growth: Desire

I was under the false impression for years that philosophers were old men who sat around in draped sheets talking about issues that had nothing to do with everyday life. Even though I had read many books on philosophy and had taught philosophy for years on the college level, I still had a false notion about being a philosopher and doing philosophy.

What is the good life? How should we live? What does it mean to be human? What is happiness? When is work good? Why am I here?

Good philosophy is wisdom applied to everyday life.

Read more here: » Philosophy: Applying Wisdom Through The Ages To Everyday Life

Whatever else you say about emotions and feelings, you have to admit that you just "wouldn't be your self" (little 's') without your own, familiar feelings. That's why we think we're going crazy or becoming "possessed" when unfamiliar or "out of character" emotions or reactions show up in our lives. However, there is another, more positive way to look at these disturbing occurrences. Remember that anything that feels like it isn't "you" must be a part of your shadow, and when parts of your shadow start to show up in your "self's" experience, this is HEALING.

Read more here: » Personal Growth: Healing the Shadow and the Mirror of Relationship