What is spirituality?

[A Freeman]

This world could be "heaven on Earth" instead of the hell that we have individually and collectively turned it into with our disobedience and disrespect to our Creator (Father).

There is a place, at the center of one's Being, where there is peace and calm amidst the storm. It's like the eye of the hurricane, where one can retreat, in the privacy of their own mind, to be with Father, regardless of whatever storms rage around them. It's were every good thought and good idea originates.

The more time one spends THERE, the more one gets to know Father. His infinite Love, Understanding, Mercy, Power, Peace, Wisdom and Kindness. And the more one craves to spend ALL of their time there (1 Thess. 5:17; Eph. 6:18; Sura 9:71; Sura 20:132). It should be self-evident that the more time one spends WITH Father and His Christ, the easier it becomes to discern and do Father's Will.

And doing Father's Will, which begins with the keeping of His Law/Commandments (found only in the first five books of the Bible), is the foundation for ALL spiritual growth.

 

[Flarepath]

Sure, there are various "vanity" cults and individuals who like to think they know it all..

Cults like "Christianity"?

There are plenty of oddball "christian" cults and sects around with wacko beliefs of their own, but all true Christians stay focussed on Jesus..

 

[Flarepath]

People in general have been speculating for thousands of years about things they know nothing about, instead of seeking guidance directly from THE Source of ALL Wisdom and Understanding: our heavenly Father (The Father/Creator of ALL souls/spiritual-Beings).

Mate, you sometimes quote the Koran, but if Allah is the Christian God, I'm the Queen of Sheba..

 

[Artful Revealer]

Where does any of what you quoted include "speculating" please?

Humans constantly guess at spiritual matters because they lack the spiritual eyes and spiritual ears to see or hear anything spiritual, much less understand it.

The beauty of the spiritual connection each of us can have with Father is relearning and KNOWING with absolute certainty what is right/good and what is wrong/evil. That can only be achieved by the stilling of the five senses, and approaching Father where and as He has instructed us to meet Him, spiritual-Being to Spiritual-Being.

Psalm 46:10 Be still, and know that I [am] God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.

John 3:3-7
3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born from above, he cannot SEE The Kingdom of God.
3:4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?
3:5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water (human) and then is born (later) from above as his spirit-"Being" (his REAL self which is NOT human), he can NOT enter into The Kingdom of God (Who is a Spirit-"Being" - Num. 23:19; John 4:24).
3:6 That which is born of the flesh is human; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit (a spirit-"Being") - (together forming a human+Being).
3:7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.

You almost sound like a gnostic, with your "knowing" good and evil and being in contact with the Father, but the content of your teachings show the exact opposite. Your "spiritual being" is dulled by your submission to legalistic rituals and Torah-shilling. And for the spiritual ears and all the gnosis you claim to possess you sure are very inept at distinguishing El from Yahweh (justice from injustice), let alone the Father in Heaven revealed by Iesous Chrestos (the Good). You might be as spiritual as the Pharisees of old, which is, not at all.

 

[A Freeman]

There are plenty of oddball "christian" cults and sects around with wacko beliefs of their own, but all true Christians stay focussed on Jesus..

View attachment 104387

Why then don't "Christians" do as Christ COMMANDS (Matt. 5:17-19)? Christ told His True Followers to go and make DISCIPLES of all nations, NOT "Christians" (Matt. 28:19).

The ONLY Way to get to know Christ, the Saviour (Jesus means "Saviour") is to explicitly follow His Example day in and day out (John 14:6). Anyone can "talk the talk" but very, very few "walk the walk" (Matt. 7:13-14).

 

[A Freeman]

Mate, you sometimes quote the Koran, but if Allah is the Christian God, I'm the Queen of Sheba..

Then it's nice to meet you, queeny.

IF someone actually knows God and His Christ, then they would recognize the fact that the Koran/Quran is the inspired Word of God (Allah is Arabic and simply means "THE God" which, of course God is (Isa. 45:5) and thus it's impossible for it to contradict other Scripture.

Instead, cults/sects/victims of organized religions fight each other over what they have been wrongly taught to believe about the Koran/Quran, exactly as has happened with the Old Covenant/Testament and the New Covenant/Testament.

And that includes the ridiculous notion that both "Muslims" and "Christians" have been duped into believing concerning the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, because of their ignorance/misinterpretation of ONE verse in the Koran/Quran (Sura 4:157), which they routinely quote out of context and very obviously do not understand. The Koran/Quran was sent to CONFIRM The Law (Old Covenant/Testament) and the Gospel (New Covenant/Testament), NOT to contradict it.

It is the satanic organized religions known as "Christianity" and "Islam" that teach the exact opposite, so that they have plenty to argue about, from a point of total ignorance.

 

[Flarepath]

..the Koran/Quran is the inspired Word of God...thus it's impossible for it to contradict other Scripture...

You gotta be kidding us boy..
For example the Koran says Jesus WASN'T the Son of God-


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Yet Jesus said he WAS the son of God..


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Wait, the Koran gets even funnier, it says Jesus wasn't crucified and that a "stunt man" stood in for him on the cross..

 

[Flarepath]

There are plenty of oddball "christian" cults and sects around with wacko beliefs of their own, but all true Christians stay focussed on Jesus..

View attachment 104387

 

[A Freeman]

You gotta be kidding us boy..
For example the Koran says Jesus WASN'T the Son of God-

View attachment 104476
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Yet Jesus said he WAS the son of God..

View attachment 104477
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Wait, the Koran gets even funnier, it says Jesus wasn't crucified and that a "stunt man" stood in for him on the cross..

View attachment 104478

Jesus, the human son of Mary, was NOT the Son of God, which is why Jesus was referred to as "the Son of Man". Jesus was the mortal human flesh that the immortal spirit-Being Christ (Prince Michael, God's Eldest/First-created Son) INCARNATED, exactly as it says repeatedly throughout the Scriptures (John 1:14).

As a mortal human, Jesus could be killed and was murdered via crucifixion, at the behest of the "Jews" and their organized religion, who manipulated the Roman government into crucifying Jesus.

As an immortal spiritual-Being, Christ obviously could NOT be killed by humans. Only God can kill a spiritual-Being, exactly as Christ -- through the mouth of Jesus -- said.

Matthew 10:28 And fear not them which kill the body (the mortal human, made of flesh), but are not able to kill the soul (the immortal spiritual-Being made of Light Energy): but rather fear Him (God) which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell-fire (both the human and the Being).

So while the Sanhedrin and the "Jews" believed they had murdered Christ, they had only murdered Jesus, which made it appear to them as if their premeditated murder was successful.

King of kings' Bible - Sura 4:157-158
4:157. That they said (in boast), "We killed Christ the son of Mary, the Messenger of God";- but they killed Christ not, nor crucified Christ, but so it was made to appear to them (as they crucified the human body called Jesus, that Christ the spirit-being used - Psalm 22; Isaiah 52:13 to 54:1; Zechariah 11:10-13; Matthew 27), and those who differ therein are full of doubts, with no (certain) Knowledge, but only conjecture to follow, for of a surety they killed Christ not:-
4:158. Nay, God raised him up unto Himself and God is Exalted in Power, and in Wisdom;-

The difficulty for most is that they read Scripture through human eyes, and thus are full of doubts and conjecture, being ignorant of anything spiritual, whilst spiritually asleep in the human condition.

King of kings' Bible - John 3:3-7
3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born from above, he cannot SEE The Kingdom of God.
3:4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?
3:5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water (human) and then is born (later) from above as his spirit-"Being" (his REAL self which is NOT human), he can NOT enter into The Kingdom of God (Who is a Spirit-"Being").
3:6 That which is born of the flesh is human; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit (a spirit-"Being") - (a human+Being).
3:7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.

 

[Flarepath]

Jesus, the human son of Mary, was NOT the Son of God..

If you believe that, you'll never get past the bouncer at the pearlies..

"Oppit"

 

[A Freeman]

If you believe that, you'll never get past the bouncer at the pearlies..

"Oppit"

No "Christian" (nor anyone else) has EVER gotten past "the bouncer at the pearlies" according to Christ, exactly as He said through the mouth of Jesus 2000 years ago.

John 3:13 And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, [even] the Son of Man which is from heaven.

But people, including "Christians" don't know nor believe Christ, nor understand the difference between the spirit and the flesh, choosing instead to believe their religious superstitions.

 

[Flarepath]

No "Christian" (nor anyone else) has EVER gotten past "the bouncer at the pearlies" according to Christ, exactly as He said through the mouth of Jesus 2000 years ago.
John 3:13 And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, [even] the Son of Man which is from heaven.

Right, when we die we go into "cryo sleep" (to borrow a scifi term), then get a wakeup call on judgement day..
"Don't grieve for those asleep, for they sleep in Jesus" (1 Thess 4:13/14)
"Sleepers in the dust of the earth shall awake, to eternal life or contempt" (Dan 12:2)
"Awake and sing, you who dwell in dust, the earth shall cast out her dead" (Isaiah 26:19)
"I will open your graves, and you shall know I am the Lord" (Ezekiel 37:12)

 

[A Freeman]

Right, when we die we go into "cryo sleep" (to borrow a scifi term), then get a wakeup call on judgement day..

There is no "cryo-sleep"; what is being referenced in the verses you've cited is spiritual sleep.

When someone is spiritually asleep, they see everything upside down and backwards, through human eyes, and thus completely miss the true (honest) meaning of Scripture. Some even cherry-pick bits and pieces of verses, in a vain effort to try to reverse the meaning of the verses, just as you've done. Please see examples below:

"Don't grieve for those asleep, for they sleep in Jesus" (1 Thess 4:13/14)

1 Thessalonians 4:12-15
4:12 That ye may walk honestly toward them that are without, and [that] ye may have lack of nothing.
4:13 But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.
4:14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
4:15 For this we say unto you by the Word of the Lord, that we which are alive [and] remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.

How could Paul be among those who are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord (Christ's Second Coming, right before Judgment Day?)
REINCARNATION.

And what exactly would Paul and others be preventing them which are asleep from doing? One's spiritual awareness is completely based upon Father's perfect reward and punishment system, based upon the works of the individual soul (spiritual-Being) and their love for the Truth.

"Sleepers in the dust of the earth shall awake, to eternal life or contempt" (Dan 12:2)

Daniel 12:1-2
12:1 And at that time shall Michael [the Archangel] (Eno. 20:5; 36:1; 40:8; 58:1; 59:9; 57:1-2; 70:4; Rev. 12:7; Sura 2:98) stand up, the Great Prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation [even] to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the Book [of Life] (Rev. 13:8; 17:8; 20:15; 21:27; Sura 83:20).
12:2 And many of them that sleep in "the dust of the earth" (Gen. 13:16; 28:14) shall awake, some to Everlasting Life, and some to shame [and] everlasting contempt.

And what is "the dust of the earth" from a spiritual perspective?

Genesis 13:14-16
13:14 And the "I AM" said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward:
13:15 For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever.
13:16 And I will make thy seed as "the dust of the earth": so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, [then] shall thy seed also be numbered.

Most of this world is completely asleep spiritually, believing the LIE that they're supposedly "only human after all", even though we've been repeatedly told that the flesh is WORTHLESS without the spiritual-Being/Soul.

John 6:63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the Words (Truth) that I speak unto you, [they] are spirit, and [they] are Life.

Time to awaken the real you: the spiritual-Being within.

Matthew 8:22 But Jesus said unto him, Follow me; and let the "Dead" (those under God's death sentence for treason - Rev. 12:7-9; Luke 9:55) bury their dead.

Those who remain spiritually asleep are among the walking "dead" (spiritually dead, headed for The Fire). Obviously Jesus wasn't referring to the physically dead because the physically dead cannot bury others.

 

[Zakat]

Mate, you sometimes quote the Koran, but if Allah is the Christian God, I'm the Queen of Sheba..

Whether one quotes one Book or another, all books are His to begin with.

He is the Only One who could have made all the trees grow, granted the science to manufacture paper, and blessed mankind's mind (and still blessing, by the way) with the ability to read and deduce falsehood from truth, good from evil, and more importantly, the power to reject it.

Howsoever biased one may be against another's religion, God remains the same Omniscient Being, with Whom any sincere seeker may enjoy a relationship with, whatsoever religion he/she may have been or not, born into...

 

[Zakat]

You gotta be kidding us boy..
For example the Koran says Jesus WASN'T the Son of God-

View attachment 104476
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Yet Jesus said he WAS the son of God..

View attachment 104477
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wait, the Koran gets even funnier, it says Jesus wasn't crucified and that a "stunt man" stood in for him on the cross..

View attachment 104478

It says so (that is, Exalted is He above having a son) so that people may abstain from ascribing a human form to God, thereby making their faith in Him pure, for He remains Unimaginable.

So what if a "stunt man", as you mockingly put it, did indeed take the place of Prophet Jesus at that particular point in time when the evil ones thought that they were indeed crucifying him?

The way I see it, Muslims believe that Jesus was never crucified and was indeed elevated to a higher plane of existence, currently awaiting to be sent again down to Earth to complete his mission.

On the other hand, Christians believe him to have been crucified, on the cross, and still fail to understand what Jesus meant by

 

[Orwell's mentor]

 

[Orwell's mentor]

Inspired by listening to Gary Habermas this afternoon, I found this article a worthwhile read. An excerpt below:

"8 Elements of Spiritual Growth​

What are the elements of spiritual growth?​

​

We become more selfless​

We adjust how we spend our time​

We become more generous with our resources​

We pursue peace instead of chaos​

We choose and are willing to forgive​

We experience a deepening connection in relationships​

We spend more time with God in prayer and worship​

We focus more on the eternal instead of the temporal"​

8 Helpful Keys to Spiritual Growth For a Closer Walk with God
May 3, 2021 / Mary Rooney Armand

8 Helpful Keys to Spiritual Growth For a Closer Walk with God

Finding and using the keys to spiritual growth will change your life. When our identity is in Christ we seek to know Him better and begin to show signs of growing spiritually and growing closer to Christ.

butterflyliving.org

 

[Zakat]

Thank you for this thread, Sensei.

I would say that spirituality is also the spirit soul of the mentor of George Orwell...

 

[Orwell's mentor]

This article by Luke is a worthwhile read. An excerpt below:

"How Spiritual Love Influences Personal Growth​

The spiritual love definition extends to personal growth. It serves as a vehicle for self-discovery, self-improvement, and self-fulfillment. Through spiritual love, individuals are able to cultivate a deeper sense of self, fostering a greater appreciation and love for oneself.​

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As individuals journey towards self-love and acceptance, they become more attuned to their needs, desires, and aspirations. This heightened self-awareness propels personal growth, as individuals are more inclined to pursue paths that align with their authentic selves. Moreover, spiritual love encourages individuals to transcend their limitations, catalyzing personal transformation and spiritual enlightenment.​

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Spiritual love also fosters resilience. As individuals embrace spiritual love, they cultivate a sense of inner peace and acceptance that helps them navigate life’s challenges with grace and fortitude. For more insights on cultivating resilience and personal growth, visit our article on spiritual encounters.​

​

How Spiritual Love Enhances Relationships​

In relationships, spiritual love is a potent force that fosters deeper connections and mutual growth. Unlike romantic love, which often revolves around physical attraction and personal gratification, spiritual love is about connecting on a deeper, soulful level. It’s about understanding, respecting, and embracing each other’s spiritual journeys.​

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Through spiritual love, individuals learn to love unconditionally, accepting their partners for who they truly are. This unconditional acceptance creates an environment of trust and openness, fostering a deeper connection between partners.​

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Furthermore, spiritual love encourages mutual growth. In a relationship steeped in spiritual love, partners support each other’s personal and spiritual journeys, fostering mutual growth and transformation. This mutual growth enriches the relationship, making it more fulfilling and meaningful.​

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Lastly, spiritual love enhances relationships by promoting empathy, compassion, and understanding. It fosters a sense of unity and oneness, breaking down barriers and promoting harmonious relationships. To deepen your understanding of spiritual love in relationships, consider reading our article on spiritual husbands and wives.​

​

In conclusion, the power of spiritual love lies in its ability to foster personal growth and enrich relationships. It is a profound and transformative force that can illuminate one’s path towards spiritual enlightenment and meaningful connections."​

Embracing the Soul: Discovering the True Meaning of Spiritual Love

Embracing the Soul: Discovering the True Meaning of Spiritual Love | Spirituality Shepherd

Discover the spiritual love definition, its power on personal growth, and its guiding role in life's purpose.

spiritualityshepherd.com

 

[DesertRose]

In conclusion, the power of spiritual love lies in its ability to foster personal growth and enrich relationships. It is a profound and transformative force that can illuminate one’s path towards spiritual enlightenment and meaningful connections."

I agree with the premise, that spiritual love is a better foothold than love based purely on materialist ideals ( although attraction should be present it is fleeting.).
In the Islamic spiritual tradition, spouses are a source of tranquility, as well as love, and mercy. These qualities are internal.
Thanks for this article OM.