Painting by Malini Parker https://maliniparker.com/. Image used here with kind permission of Malini.

Spirituality vs Religion A perspective by Giovanni – Creator of the blog Live and Dare. Author of Practical Meditation “Spirituality fills the gaps left behind both by organized religion and by scientific materialism.” . https://liveanddare.com/spirituality-vs-religion

The Concept of Spirituality In this article, first published in 1982, William Hatcher explores the eternal process of individual and collective spiritual growth. https://www.bahai.org/documents/essays/hatcher-dr-william-s/concept-spirituality

Image copied from https://www.viacharacter.org/character-strengths/spirituality

Spiritual aspirations expressed in song

A small selection of my favourite songs of spiritual feeling, hope and search.

Getty Images/iStockphoto

A widespread revival of spiritual search

…Beyond the attention that religion, as formally conceived, has begun to command is a widespread revival of spiritual search. …A reorientation occurring in all the major religious communities is the accelerating migration of believers from traditional branches of the parent faiths to sects that attach primary importance to the spiritual search and personal experiences of their members. …For a Bahá’í, the proliferation even of cults and practices that may arouse aversion in the minds of many serves primarily as a reminder of the insight embodied in the ancient tale of Majnún, who sifted the dust in his search for the beloved Laylí, although aware that she was pure spirit: “I seek her everywhere; haply somewhere I shall find her.”

Extracts from “One Common Faith” © 2021 Bahá’í International Community
Image: https://www.facebook.com/SiftingTheDust

Sifting the Dust: God and the Mad Psychologist is a great read! And I’m not just saying that because the writer is my sister. Here is a review on Amazon:

There are few authors in the world today who can bring the profound and spiritual into our everyday practical lives. Most either demand retreat from the life around us or make the spiritual superficial and even self-serving. This book is the first I’ve read that meaningfully brings spiritual susceptibilities into modern Australia. From country NSW to the Pilbara to Mt Gambier to Sydney, from Indigenous communities, to miners, to Sydney uni students.

Not only did it provide insight into the mysteries of my own self, but the mystery of suffering and in doing so brought a connection to those around me, the land and our history. It gave me the gift of hope. Very few books can claim to have done that! I recommend this book to anyone who is walking on the endless path towards meaning and wish you well on your journey.

Farnaz Sabet

In This Day – A Short Film

‘In This Day’ is a poignant and visually stunning short film put together by a team of young adults in New York City (USA). It was made in honour of the bicentenary of the Birth of the Bab but its subject and its themes of serving others, the importance of prayer, and of facing tests and difficulties are applicable anytime.

Spiritual empowerment

Junior youth can develop can develop the powers of the soul and mind that not only enable them to transcend negative social forces but also make them contributors to building a new society.

Junior Youth Spiritual Empowerment Program (from Frontiers of Learning)

See also:

From the sweet-scented streams

This extract from a prayer gives words to our sense of spiritual longing. The full prayer may be found here: https://bahaiprayers.org/spiritual1.htm.

From the sweet-scented streams of Thine eternity give me to drink, O my God, and of the fruits of the tree of Thy being enable me to taste, O my Hope!  From the crystal springs of Thy love suffer me to quaff, O my Glory, and beneath the shadow of Thine everlasting providence let me abide, O my Light!  …

Bahá’u’lláh

Prayers and sacred scriptures often use images such as streams, fruits of the tree, crystal springs. Why? Is it to help us understand spirituality? This article by John Hatcher on The Metaphorical Nature of Physical Reality discusses the purpose of physical reality.