How Do You Get Started With Spirituality? | Sadhguru
sunwahChong
My teacher said religions rule and divide. She told us to focus on the consciousness to reach our spirituality which are connected to love and compassion.
INSTEAD TEACHING KINDERGARTEN ON LGBT WE NEED TO TEACH THEM ABOUT SPIRITUALITY
SHARING A PART OF THE EPILOGUE FROM MY YET TO BE PUBLISHED BOOK
How to Teach Spirituality to Children?
“Metaphors, in the form of fairytales, parables and anecdotes, are consciously and unconsciously used by therapists in order to assist a client in making the changes he wants to make,” – David Gordon
“It is all too easy to dismiss fairy-tales, parables and anecdotes as flights of fancy, whimsical stories to worship local gods or laugh themselves to health or for a thousand and one purposes.
As individuals we are driven by the need both to express ourselves, to communicate what we know, feel and believe, and to explain to ourselves what the world means. The truth is out there and the imperative is to make sense of it.
Heinrich Zimmer has said of stories:
They are the everlasting oracles of life. They have to be questioned and consulted anew, in every age, each age approaching them with its own variety of ignorance and understanding, its own set of problems, and its own inevitable questions.
In other words, we each take the essential themes of life and embroider them into our own personal design. Traditional storytellers recognize a hierarchy of story types called ‘The Ladder to the Moon’, ranging from jokes, personal anecdotes and ‘shaggy dog stories’ through folk tales and historically-based legends to epics, sacred stories and creation myths. That ladder still links us to the cosmos.”
“Today I listen to the everlasting oracles of life” – Stephen Bowkett
Aesop’s Fables – Film, Literature and the New World Order
https://youtu.be/scc8hiEWP4k
There are so many ways where we could start to introduce the presence of spirituality to the children. The environment is a good start. Share with them the knowledge of the Creator and tell them why God had created this beautiful one world for humanity. And our job is to protect this planet which is our only home.
When we were young our teacher remind us that the home we are living is only temporary. She told us our real home is our planet. She said that we need to take care of this precious home if not there will be no home for us especially when Russia and China will be opened up because they will also work toward the road of an industrialize countries. Teacher was very concerned how the west had abused the world like there is no tomorrow, she dared not imagine what kind of world we will be living in the future. That was why she said that UN role must be to make sure agriculture will be in abundant if such planning is not implemented she was afraid soon there will be no food for us to eat and clean water for us to drink:(
My teacher said that we are connected through the atmosphere and ocean therefore it will be a great idea to create an animation version to connect with the young children on how to protect our world. From here we bring in the word ‘relationship’ to help them understand why we need one another in every sense of the word. No man is an island. Ask them why the relationship is so important? Bring in the Asian values and family consciousness, then the community spirit and a nation pride and tell them why we need to be united so on and so fore.
We also need to teach them how to share, care and love this one world through drama. Get one big ball, paint it into the color of the Globe; divided it into different continents and let them play with this big ball. Half way through this ball will break into many pieces and here is when you teach them how to share the world by getting each kid to put the pieces back together like a jigsaw puzzle. There are so many ways to reach out to the children and the best way to start is to bring the presence of the spirit to connect with their soul.
Another interesting way is through parable by creating an animation to reach out to the young ones. Tell them a successful person is one who strives to be a good human being. If they want goodness in their heart they are closed to God. If they want to reach God all they got to do is to cultivate a good heart. God is spelled with one O and good is spelled with two O. The double ‘O’ means the physical and spiritual self and when you put the two Os together the spelling of ‘Good’ become ‘God’. So this means God means Good and good means you are reaching God. Does it make sense to you? To me, it made every sense because this is the way my teacher had shared with us. We should introduce spirituality to the young – “The modern way of Thinking, Teaching and Talk to kindergarten children about Spirituality”. (My teacher told us we don’t just have the physical self but the spiritual self too:)
How to do the animation part?
Good is spelled with a double ‘O’ and God is spelled with one ‘O’ so draw the two ‘O’ like the eyes with long curly eyelashes. As the eyes blink the two ‘O’ will meet and within a second the word ‘God’ will appear in a sparkle and the eyelashes of the dove will gradually turn into the wings of the dove. The dove will fly to heaven and the letter of ‘God’ will appear in bright light giving hope to humanity. Then sun, wind, cloud, and rain will appear one after another and with a message as each element appear and end it with the beautiful full moon…….(My teacher taught us the five element too and said that everything too much will not be good. For example too much fire then will burn your whole house down, Too much water will create the flood and here teacher told us about the Tsunami…..
I believe it is intriguing for the children to watch the animation and they are having fun at the same time when the teacher interact in a manner that will provoke them to think. This kind of education is very refreshing not only for the young mind but for the adult too. It allows them to question if their mind is inquisitive and curious about life. The whole idea is to show to the kids that in order to be with God we got to be a good human being. (It is just an idea, it is very raw but could be improved and expand on it when we put our heads together to make such education happen.) To educate children we need to be very creative yet we must make it fun and interesting for them that the subject is not too heavy on their young mind. That is how I have raised my children by nurturing their spiritual souls first because this is their foundation in life.
Dear Mo,
Faiza daughter Azural is 9 years old. She came from a divorced family. She got another sister name Almira of seven years old. During the programme briefing at Fazai’s place I watched the two children, very quiet and Azure very strong will in a silent way.
Her mother insisted she should read a poem or sing a song on World Harmony Day. I saw them on one of the shows where Faiza got them to sing a song connected with the environment. I was really impressed and I can feel that these two children are really special.
On that night her sister agreed to read a poem but Azural refused to participate and when Faiza kept persisted I told her to leave Azural alone. While Lai Hock is deep in discussion with Greta and Faiza, I went in the room to talk to Azural and I talk about the need to connect to our soul.
I opened my heart to her and told her why I did World Harmony Day. I did it for love and I did it because we must be connected to the universe. I told her she didn’t have to do anything if she does not want too. But if she wanted to speak her mind and wanted to share her inner feeling on that night then WHD will be a good platform for her to do so.
I told her sometimes we are unhappy and I asked her does she knows why?
I told her there are the physical and the spiritual self and the spiritual self is the soul and when the soul is unhappy it will disturb us mentally. (I learn this from my teacher) How are we going to connect to our soul to find out why our soul is not happy? I told her all she got to do is to take a pen and a piece of paper and pour out all her feelings in words. In this manner, we are talking to God. (That was how I came to know about myself through my poems after I escaped from my ex-husband. Oh! I can go on about the power of the human soul.)
On WHD she has written her thoughts, so touching. I will try to put it on the site so you can see her perform. Young children are just amazing if you speak to them with attention, respect and love. When I spoke to her, her two big eyes just look straight to my face very serious and attentive.
I wish the education system value the soul and the world will be a better place for all.
Love, light, peace and harmony,
Sunflower
Dear Sunflower,
Your experience with the child is wonderful. I too love children and see that they can easily be led one way or the other. In the modern world, they watch violence on TV and play bloody and cruel video games, which paints a picture of a cruel and terrible world. They are filled with aggression and fear. Then, of course, many grow up to lives of doubt and low self-esteem. Can we really offer a clear concise system of education to address these issues?
Perhaps a Universal Spiritual Education, they showed an alternative way of living and interacting with people and the outside world. Where TV and advertising do not decide one fate and way of life. It should be about ‘Nature’ and the ‘Environment’ to our real spiritual selves. That we are more than just flesh and bones that in fact, we are body, mind, and spirit. That we all have a life mission and that we are all special. We could set up a website inviting thoughts and comments from people all over the world until we create a realistic workable model that can have an impact.
Some Christians may realize that there is another way to God without conditions and that Jesus was one of many Sons of God. But it is important that this does not become another religion. Ours is not the only way. It’s just another way. There are so many paths to God and all are wonderful in their own way.
Blessings
Mo
In a way, I was a very clever girl because I know how to save my soul by inventing something so abstract that at such a young age without knowing anything about spirituality I know how to excel. In the area of spiritually, it is very simply in my eyes because once I accepted there is a God, then I need not question His existence anymore but just move on with great faith that He will take good care of me and my family. Many people asked me, “Why do you have so much faith in God? As a young child observing my mother who had only a primary three education from China, Canton province had opened my eyes that strong ‘Faith’ is a powerful medicine; people even use spirituality to cope with illness. There is no scientifically proof that God heals your illness, but that belief in God has a beneficial effect. Yes definitely, when I was young I was known as an ugly duckling but I have faith in God when I stand by Him, I will turn into a beautiful swan:)
The faith my mother had did not only heal her imagination ‘sickness’, but it had also changed her from a foul mouth woman to a beautiful and intelligent human being. When my mother opened her mouth, it was only the four letter words that came out from her mouth in Cantonese. She gambled all her life; any kind of gambling was fine with her. Family cares take a backstage and she could not read or write, but since she found her ‘god’ Jehovah Witness she was empowered to do so. She does not speak that kind of language anymore and she could read and write Chinese and until now I could not even read or write Chinese, I should be ashamed of myself:( I watched her grew and blossomed. She even teaches others in Bible studies and read two Chinese papers every morning to compare their write up, which was for the Government and which was against. Who was saying the truth and who was not? For an uneducated woman she was really something can you imagine if she had full education maybe she will conquer the hearts of everyone if not the world. For this reason, I had kept my political mind alive at all times because it is a very powerful tool to bring your soul out in the open.
Can you beat this, just with a Belief, your life can be turned around and don’t you think it is just magical when passion took center stage? So why don’t I embrace Faith with open arms, as it doesn’t cost me a cent to believe in God? Through this real life observation, I was sold on the idea that with strong faith, you can conquer the world? I had witnessed the power of spirituality in front of my eyes when I saw all the changes only going for the better for my mother. I realized you do not need any kind of education for you to succeed in life; all you need is to have the desire to strive to be a good human being and with the belief that God is with you constantly and loves you for who you are, you can excel as high as you want to thus be transformed into a highly spirited individual.
Therefore, without a doubt, I decided to serve Him, but this does not mean that I have embraced a religion. Far from it, in fact, I told Him I do not know which is His true house, therefore I will not embrace any religion because religions in my eyes can be very destructive. But I have great faith in Him, I told God when the day comes, when He calls me, I will surrender to Him with open arms without questioning. (When I was chased out by Singapore Art Centre personnel from her office and with the feedback that all I wanted was to be closed with the Government I felt so demoralized that I called, “Dear Almighty God, where are you and where is your house? On 20 March 1995, I became a Muslim when the vision of the name ‘Mariam’ came to me at around 7.00pm in January 1995.) I wanted to serve Him and by serving Him I will be contributing to society in whatever way I know how. I am looking for happiness for the people because giving others happiness it will be returned to me tenfold. I am getting back more than I could give in every sense of the word.
Thus, I hope by sharing my experiences and the motto not to give up especially in Singapore and the world will inspire the youth of tomorrow to get their strength back to believe in themselves that they got all the potentials to achieve the impossible too. The impossible are for the unreachable and that’s the belief of a true idealist. Happiness in life is to be able to reach out for the impossible, chase your dreams and even high ideals as you are expanding your thoughts with great imagination and thus push your potential beyond your wildest dream. How wonderful if everyone can think in this manner because all our problems will be gone, just like mine did. The preoccupation of the world’s problems seemed to make my problems, so irrelevant and insignificant. This I never failed to constantly remind myself when my personal life took a toll on me.
The meaning of my life is to live it meaningfully by striving for greater humanity, instead of trying to chase the material path and be what I am not, for this will add strain and stress to my life. In this pragmatic society life is already so stressful, so why should I fall into the trap set by man, instead I work hard and smart by using my brain constantly with my spiritual guidance close to me, which is ‘My Soul’ – ‘The Consciousness’, to give me confidence as I embarked on this exciting and challenging journey to search for the unknown. Only God knows where I should be heading and my job is to keep on working hard to the best of my ability or until my pocket is empty then I will stop and find a job. (When you are hard working God will not let you die alone instead you will be rewarded plentifully.
All we need is to learn the ‘Art of Living’. In order to achieve it, first, you must be in touch with your soul. Your soul is ‘The Consciousness’. You got to please this soul first because this soul is your spiritual partner. When you leave this world, this soul will join you and not others. With this self-realization, you will be awakened to the meaning of your true existence. When your soul is happy, you will be even happier because you will look ten years younger or even more, maybe half your age. The secret lied in understanding this philosophy, that the outward beauty is a gift from God and the inner beauty need to be cultivated by us who desire it and set a plan and work towards getting it. Once you are able to embrace love and attain your inner peace you will see a bright glow on your face and your whole aura will change – “Peace emanates from the soul, and is the sacred inner environment in which true happiness unfolds”.
Come what may or say what you like, still, I never lose interest to understand deeper into the matter of human relationship, to enhance my all round knowledge to the path of wisdom, enabling me to clear my doubts, fear and above all, cope with those who are better than me. What is important that I have learned from the experiences of my life is that I must know who I am and what I want out of life? By understanding our own values, we are seeing things in its true light, whereby we will be able to walk on the right path towards our goal. And I have chosen the spiritual path to enlighten my life to reach my goal. The spirituality that I try to live by is very simple-minded spirituality and that is by making life meaningful and wonderful not only for myself but the people around me. In short, through my spiritual pursue I will show them the way to their enlightenment -‘The Consciousness’.
The role World Harmony Day can play is to have a “THINK TANK” group to develop cultural and spiritual materials that could be implemented in the main stream education.
Is it Wishful Thinking to bring the World in Oneness?
http://palestinebedrockoftheworld.com/is-it-wishful-thinking-to-bring-the-world-in-oneness/
I brainstorm with Brian and we came out with this piece of education material on the Butterfly Story.
EXAMPLE OF EDUCATION MATERIAL
The Butterfly Story
A man found a butterfly cocoon. One day, a small opening appeared, and the man sat and watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force its body through the tiny hole. Then it seemed to stop making any progress. It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could and could go no farther. At this point, the man decided to help the butterfly.
He took a pair of scissors and snipped the remaining bit of the cocoon. The butterfly then emerged easily. Something was strange, however. The butterfly had a swollen body and shriveled wings. The man continued to watch the butterfly because he expected that, at any moment, the wings would enlarge and expand to be able to support the body, which would contract in time. Neither happened. In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body and deformed wings. It was never able to fly.
What the man in his kindness and haste did not understand was that the restricting cocoon and the struggle required for the butterfly to get through the small opening of the cocoon are Nature’s way of forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly into its wings so that it would be ready for flight once it achieved its freedom from the cocoon. Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our life.
If we were allowed to go through all our life without any obstacles, that would cripple us. We would not be as strong as what we could have been. Not only that, we could never fly.
The Butterfly as a Way to Illustrate Universal Values
Beautiful and Complex
The Butterfly is beautiful and complex, and fills us with wonder. We think of Nature’s creation all around us and how the Butterfly fulfills its part in this complex and marvelous world.
Struggle
Struggles and hardships in life hone our spirits. Struggle is a challenge and this challenge gives meaning to our lives.
Sacrifice
Sacrifice has been part of society as far back as history goes and is meaningful to most religions. On a universal note, sacrifice is a positive thing. Fasting and diets are good for our bodies and minds. Giving up an easy life for a hard one can build character. Sacrifice for our family is inbuilt as a way to survive and nurture the young. Sacrifice for friends and a stranger is the ultimate of love. Letting go of pride and stubborn beliefs for the sake of harmony is real love.
Sacrifice is another way of taking responsibility – an end to apathy and a positive feeling that each one of us can make a difference
Touching others
As we touch others with our love, they are often changed and they too will pass it on, creating a ripple effect around the world. This is a way to fertilise minds and we believe it can be a powerful movement for good.
Short life
We must make the most of our life and touch as many people as we can.
Metamorphosis
Change in our lives and character from immature to adult. From discord to knowing peace, harmony and love. From self centred to loving and caring. From material to spiritual.
Brian Jenner
9th July 2006