THE CONCEPTS OF VALUES & SPIRITUALITY

 THE CONCEPTS OF VALUES & SPIRITUALITY

                The concepts of values & spirituality are more theistic religions & evolved & changed as the regions became socially governing entities. Over time religions have sub-divided into branches, leading to further variations of teachings & practices. Hinduism is both theistic & non-theistic. Buddhism & Jainism are non-theistic. The concepts & practices are concerned with explaining & reducing the phenomenon of suffering through self-restraint, non-violence & charitable action. Must of the religious literature focuses on the life & teachings of the founder & the history of the religion as an organisation. Hinduism is not a religion as such but a term referring to a vast reservoir of ancient beliefs, practices, philosophies & traditions that originate & prevail in India. It does not have an identified religious founder, & the belief varies immensely. Beliefs & practices in most parts of World resembled different aspects of Hinduism before the Christian missionaries preached their religion & converted indigenous people. Apart from small pockets of indigenous people, such as Native American Indians, Koories in Australia, Maoris in New Zealand, & the animist tribes of Africa, the Mayans of South Africa & vestiges of religion on the remote areas, India is the only country where the ancient religion has survived as an integral social-political, economic  & cultural system.

                 Values & spirituality are to central to the philosophy of humane civilisation & its legal institutions. Values & Spirituality are considered traditionally to be the prerogatives of the religions & are viewed as being embodied in the family unit. Yet, the great & the little known civilisations have been struggling with the issue of human frailty for the last 25 centuries. Our collective inability to live up to our espoused values & moral principles, with the exception of a few outstanding individuals, has paved the way for a long but slow moral decline. Today we face a crisis of values.

           

              Conventional education in the present economic framework has become oriented toward acquiring specialised skills & knowledge for the purpose of obtaining remunerative work. Competition has become so intense that higher education has either chosen or been forced to compromise on education about life, values, culture, integrity, & other skills  & dimensions of understanding that make you a better man or women who can qualitatively contribute to a civilized world.

                   when you find adults emerge from their educational alma matter, it is important that they have qualifications to facilitate financially rewarding em[loyment. Many other elements, however, are essential as a preparation to meet social challenges & the stress & expectations of life in the family, the community & the workplaces. if an individual has not had the opportunity to develop character, inner strength & the power of good judgement & discrimination, they are at a disadvantage in any social & professional environment. Unless the individual takes the time to think about their values, to form an ethical policy for themselves, and to determine their priorities, they remain ill-equipped to deal the test they will face as the years to go by.

        Swami Vivekananda defined education as, “The manifestation of the perfection already in man”. By using the experience of perfection, he directed attention to the divinity inherent in everyone. An institution or education becomes truly educational when it turns its attention inward, towards the discovery of the self in relation to the vast, infinite creation of the Divine.

                 If you truly appreciate the benefit derived from acquiring values and spirituality, you will surely give the spiritual study course a high priority. Without commitment, you can not progress. Commitment to this study means to be disciplined in the practice of spiritual laws & values in your daily life. It also means to face both internal as well as external challenges with courage and perseverance. Commitment to allocate time and not to give up when you encounter hurdles. Commitment means to leave the haven of the familiar world and walk along the pathway that goes out into new territory and remain open to the spiritual dimension. Each step represents movement forward, and there will always be resistance both from the inner world and the outer world. The goal of spiritual wisdom and the inculcation of values in a most worthwhile focus of effort and the benefit remains with you for the rest of your life. Even a small group of individuals united behind an inspiring vision of a better future and committed to universal values can lead the way to a better world.                                                      

The term God refers to the Supreme Soul, the higher power, a being of supreme intelligence, the transcendent consciousness of the Divine. Neither the Soul nor the Supreme Soul has bodies, consequently, neither the male nor the female pronoun applies. The pronoun he or she assumes a person is a male or female body. A Soul is also not an object, therefore pronoun “it” can not apply either. The English language arose in a patriarchal and materialistic context. In Hindi, God is referred to as Purusha which means male. This has led to the notion that males are divine while females are not. For want of a pronoun that is not gendered specific, the male pronoun has traditionally been used to refer to the incorporeal. However, this is unsatisfactory because it has led to the conviction that the incorporeal is male. In the unavoidable circumstance when anyone has used He when referring to the Supreme Soul, do not think it means a male.

The Concepts of the soul and the divine are more definite in theistic religions and evolved and changed as the religions became socially governing entities. Over the religions have sub-divided into branches, leading to further variations of teachings practices. Hinduism is both theistic and non-theistic. Buddhism and Jainism are non-theistic. The concepts and practices are concerned with explaining and reducing the phenomenon of suffering through self-restraint, non-violence

and charitable action. Much of the religious literature focuses on the life and teachings of the founder and the history of the religion as an organisation. Hinduism is not a religion as such but a term referring to a vast reservoir of ancient beliefs, practices, philosophies and traditions that originate and prevail in India. It does not have an identified religious founder, and the beliefs vary immensely. Beliefs and practices in most parts of the world resembled different aspects Hinduism before the Christian missionaries preached their religion and converted indigenous people. Apart from small pockets of indigenous people, such as Native American Indians, Koories in Africa,  Maoris in New Zealand, and animist tribes of Africa, the Berber of North Africa, the Mayans of South America and vestiges of religion on the remote areas, India is the only country where the ancient religion has survived as an integral social-political, economic and cultural system.

  Value education aims at supplementing conventional education, supplying important information and teaching skills without which your chances of experiencing success in your physical, emotional, social and spiritual life are diminished. ANNAMALAI UNIVERSITY, Directorate of Distance Education, Annamalai Nagar, Tamilnadu in collaboration with BRAHMA KUMARIS, Education Wings, Rajayoga Education & Research Foundation, Mount Abu, Rajasthan, India has introduced POSTGRADUATE DIPLOMA & POSTGRADUATE(M.Sc) in Value Education & Spirituality. This course is secular although many of the ideas and recommendations presented are recognised as truth and revered by the six faiths which have the largest following in India. Some of the religions practised in India are theistic, and others are non-theistic.In these courses the term ‘the Divine’ is used to denote higher power, supreme intelligence, transcendent consciousness or God. The students of this course are recommended to refer to their own faith tradition when choosing how to interpret this term. Significant spiritual concepts that have a direct bearing on the formation of values are presented according to the ways they are usually interpreted in Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, Christianity, Islam & Sikhism. The concepts of consciousness and the Divine as taught by the Prajapita Brahmakumaris Iswariya Viswa Vidyalaya (PBKIVV) are examined in details. This Spiritual education institution is a new spiritual oriented religious movement that has emerged in response to the global crisis in spirituality and values.