Spiritual practice

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A spiritual practice or spiritual discipline (often including spiritual exercises) is the regular or full-time performance of actions and activities undertaken for the purpose of inducing spiritual experiences and cultivating spiritual development. A common metaphor used in the spiritual traditions of the world's great religions is that of walking a path.[1] Therefore, a spiritual practice moves a person along a path towards a goal. The goal is variously referred to as salvation, liberation or union (with God). A person who walks such a path is sometimes referred to as a wayfarer or a pilgrim.

Religion

Abrahamic religions

See also: Abrahamic religions

Judaism

Jewish spiritual practices may include

teshuvah during Elul and the High Holy Days, and other practices associated with certain Jewish holidays
.

Christianity

pray and read Christian devotional literature, sometimes while kneeling at prie-dieu
.

In

almsgiving, blessing oneself at their home stoup daily, observing modest fashion, reconciliation, and Lectio Divina
.

Spiritual disciplines can also include any combination of the following:

Quiet Time, reflection, self-control, servanthood, service, simplicity, singing, slowing, solitude, study, submission, surrender, teaching, and worship
.

In the Christian

Friday Fast, pray the Stations of the Cross, mark a Lenten calendar, and make a Lenten sacrifice such as giving up alcohol and practicing teetotalism.[4][5]

Certain

Religious Society of Friends (also known as the Quakers) practices silent worship, which is punctuated by vocal ministry. Quakers have little to no creed or doctrine
, and so their practices constitute a large portion of their group identity.

A well-known writer on Christian spiritual disciplines, Richard Foster, has emphasized that Christian meditation focuses not of the emptying of the mind or self, but rather on the filling up of the mind or self with God.[7]

Islam

Spiritual practice in

Muraqaba, and Sama (Sufi whirling
).

Indian religions

See also: Indian religions

Buddhism

In Theravada Buddhism, the generic term for spiritual cultivation is bhavana. The Pali word "yoga," central to many early Buddhist texts, has been often translated as "Spiritual Practice."[8] In

Buddhist monks.[9]
In
Zen gardens are considered to be spiritual practices. The Korean tea ceremony
is also considered spiritual.

Hinduism

See also: Yoga

In

Raja Yoga
.

Tantric practices are shared in common between Hinduism and certain Buddhist (especially Tibetan Buddhist) schools, and involve the deliberate use of the mundane (worldly, physical or material) to access the supramundane (spiritual, energetic or mystical) realms.

Other religions

Baháʼí Faith

Prayer in the Baháʼí Faith, refers to two distinct concepts: obligatory prayer and devotional prayer (general prayer). Both types of prayer are composed of reverent words which are addressed to God,[10] and the act of prayer is one of the most important Baháʼí laws for individual discipline.[11]

New Age

scripture from the world's religions.[12]

The term Neotantra refers to a modern collection of practices and schools in the West that integrates the sacred with the sexual, and de-emphasizes the reliance on Gurus.[citation needed]

Recent and evolving spiritual practices in the West have also explored the integration of aboriginal instruments such as the Didgeridoo, extended chanting as in Kirtan, or other breathwork taken outside of the context of Eastern lineages or spiritual beliefs, such as Quantum Light Breath.[13]

Philosophies

Cyrenaicism

The Cyrenaics developed the spiritual practice of negative visualization, which was later adopted by the Stoics.

Epicureanism

aponia
, and cultivating the proper understanding of the gods and death so as to remove fear.

Stoicism

Stoicism takes the view that philosophy is not just a set of beliefs or ethical claims, it is a way of life and discourse involving constant practice and training (e.g., asceticism). Stoic spiritual practices and exercises include contemplation of death and other events that are typically thought negative, training attention to remain in the present moment (similar to some forms of Eastern meditation), daily reflection on everyday problems and possible solutions, keeping a personal journal, and so on. Philosophy for a Stoic is an active process of constant practice and self-reminder.[citation needed]

Anthroposophy

In the context of his spiritual philosophy Anthroposophy, Rudolf Steiner gave an extensive set of exercises for spiritual development.[14] Some of these were intended for general use, while others were for certain professions, including teachers, doctors, and priests, or were given to private individuals.[15]

Martial arts

Some

martial arts, like tai chi, Aikido,[16] and Jujutsu
, are considered spiritual practices by some of their practitioners.

See also

References

  1. ^ In Islam Sharia, in Indian religions Marga, in Taoism and Christianity, The Way are examples.
  2. ^ Green, Arthur. Jewish Spirituality.
  3. ^ "The Mussar Way - Soul, Jewish contemplative practices and exercises". The Mussar Institute. Archived from the original on 2012-07-20. Retrieved 2012-08-08.
  4. ^ "Drink less this Lent". Pioneer Total Abstinence Association. 22 February 2009. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
  5. ^ Gilbert, Kathy L. (21 February 2012). "Could you go alcohol-free for Lent?". United Methodist News Service. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
  6. ISBN 9781556352430
    . He espoused a "method" of study, prayer, and community by which persons might know "sanctification" before God. Wesley thought that the truly devout could "move on to perfection," an ends ethic idea. The Methodist Book of Discipline with "Rules for Methodist Societies" specified what the ways were: daily reading of the Bible, prayer, feeding the hungry, and visiting the sick and those in prison.
  7. ISBN 0-06-062839-1.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link
    )
  8. ISBN 1-59030-380-6
    .
  9. ISSN 1548-1433
    .
  10. ^ Walbridge, John. "Prayer and worship". Retrieved 2008-04-27 – via Bahá'í Library Online.
  11. ISBN 1-931847-06-1. Retrieved 2020-10-16 – via Google Books
    .
  12. ^ Fabrique. "About Eknath Easwaran". Blue Mountain Center of Meditation. Retrieved 2023-07-16.
  13. ISBN 978-0-8356-0863-3
    .
  14. ISBN 0-8245-1444-0
    , pp. 303ff
  15. ISBN 1855841975
  16. ^ Boylan, Peter W. (December 1999). Aikido as Spiritual Practice in the United States (M. Arts). Western Michigan University.

Sources

External links
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