Here is the handout from this evenings the yoga and spiritual discussion group: Smaller group than usual but a very enlightening discussion inspired by fascinating quotes! Thanks again Deb Risberg for leading the gentle yoga unwinding. Great way to start! :) “Man is in reality a spiritual being and only when he lives in the spirit is he truly happy.” --Abdu’l-Baha What does it mean to be a spiritual being? What is the nature of the spirit / soul? “So God created mankind in His own image, in the image of God He created them; male and female He created them.” --Genesis 1:27 (NIV) “God is spirit.” --John 4:24, “God is love” “The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.” -- 1 John 4:8 “…and (the believers) have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.” --Colossians 3:10 Based on the quotes, what does being created in the image of God mean? How might “renewed knowledge” result in a “new self”? For the atman there is neither birth nor death at any time. He has not come into being, does not come into being, and will not come into being. He is unborn, eternal, ever – existing and primeval. He is not slain when the body is slain. --Bhagavad Gita 2.24 In Hindu traditions, the Sanskrit word most closely corresponding to soul is Atma(n), which can mean soul or even (a dew drop of) God. It is seen as the portion of Brahman (God) within us. According to the quotation, does the soul have qualities of other earthly things? The soul is of the matter of my Lord. And mankind has not been given of knowledge (of it) except a little. -- Muhammad Quran 17:85 ..the soul is a sign of God, a heavenly gem, whose reality the most learned of men hath failed to grasp, and whose mystery no mind, however acute, can ever hope to unravel. --Baha’u’llah, Gleanings, P. 158 According to the quotes, to what extent are we able to comprehend the soul? Who is in a position to teach us “the little” of what we can comprehend? “Men (and women) acquire contentment, diligence, zeal, obedience to God, modesty, dignity, power of cherishing, morality, wisdom, courtesy, magnanimity, charity, truth, faithfulness, good intentions and other good qualities by the divine wisdom…and man possessing this improves the world.” --Zoroastrian scripture, The Denkard (Bk.3-Chap 310) According to the quote, what qualities should a person (soul) acquire? What does it mean to “acquire” a virtue? Why is it important that you and I show virtues in this life? “Know, verily, that the soul is a sign of God, a heavenly gem… It is the first among all created things to declare the excellence of its Creator, the first to recognize His glory, to cleave to His truth, and to bow down in adoration before Him. If it be faithful to God, it will reflect His light and will eventually return unto Him. If it fail, however, in its allegiance to its Creator, it will become a victim to self and passion, and will, in the end, sink in their depths.” -Baha’u’llah, Gleanings, P. 158-9 According to the quote, what part of a person is a sign of God, a heavenly gem? Why might the soul have a sense of awe and adoration for God? How does a soul “reflect Light”? The soul, it is said, is like a drop, who wants to return to the Sea, what happens if it decides not to? What does it mean to be a victim of self and passion? “Having created the world and all that liveth and moveth therein, He, through the direct operation of His unconstrained and sovereign Will, chose to confer upon man the unique distinction and capacity to know Him and to love Him--a capacity that must needs be regarded as the generation impulse and the primary purpose underlying the whole of creation…. Upon the inmost reality of each and every created thing He hath shed the light of one of His names, and made it a recipient of the glory of one of His attributes. Upon the reality of man, however, He hath focused the radiance of all of His names and attributes, and made it a mirror of His own Self.” --Baha’u’llah, Gleanings, pp. 72-3 According to the quote, what is the unique capacity and distinction of humans? People have a capacity and desire to know and to love. How does one know God and love God, if God is Spirit, something difficult to relate to with the senses? If people are created with a soul which has the ability to reflect the image of God, what can we do to mirror the image more brightly? How does this relate to happiness? “The human soul is exalted above all egress and regress. It is still, and yet it soareth; it moveth, and yet it is still. It is, in itself, a testimony that beareth witness to the existence of a world that is contingent, as well as to the reality of a world that hath neither beginning nor end. --Bahaullah: Gleanings, pp. 161-162)
Posted on: Mon, 26 Jan 2015 03:42:56 +0000