Spirituality in education could promote the
following qualities of spiritual maturity
- love, compassion and service: Love and compassion are often associated with the
beginning of a true spiritual life. Love dissolves confusion and fear and elicits
kindness, openness and respect. Unless we love and trust ourselves, we cannot love others.
Compassion goes beyond a personal form of love to a love of all creation.
- honesty and authenticity: No longer lying to ourselves and others about what we
are doing and what the consequences are. To live as we really are without delusion about
the reality of the past, the present, our selfhood and behaviours.
- physical, emotional, mental and spiritual clarity: Physical clarity has to do
with attention to the body's health and real needs. Mental and emotional clarity have to
do with awareness, discernment and lucidity. Spiritual clarity has to do with wholeness,
simplicity and sensitivity.
- responsibility and discipline: Becoming accountable for ourselves without feeling
excessively responsible for others. Dependable and creative completion of our
responsibilities and a disciplined approach to personal growth.
- serenity: A state of equanimity, inner tranquillity and peacefulness in the face
of challenge and change.
- personal freedom: Letting go of attachments and living questions and problems
into answers and opportunities without drama, escape, or avoidance.
- tolerance and patience: The ability to embrace self and 'the other' in spite of
perceived weakness or difference. To even move beyond tolerance to acceptance and
celebration of difference and diversity. Patience means to take events and experiences as
they come without complaint or expectation. It also means all things have a natural time
and place to be.
- faith, trust, and inner security: The ability to live without anxiety or doubt.
An inner security free of fear and deprivation.
- wisdom and understanding: Deep insight, possible at any age, expressed through
everyday action.
- gratitude, humility and willingness: Gratitude is the recognition of the little
miracles that occur everyday. Humility is the ability to move beyond arrogance and
grandiosity toward an honest acceptance of ourselves with all our perceived limitations
and faults.
- hope, happiness, joy, and humour: Hope and happiness are states of well-being and
contentment emanating from a deep feeling of inner wealth irrespective of outer events or
experiences. Joy and humour spring from a warm heart and a sense of the 'cosmic game'.
- connection with the earth, nature and everyday life: Even though we may find
great inspiration in sacred systems or transcendent experiences, we recognise the
sacredness of daily activities, other people, other life forms, inanimate matter, and
nature. "It's no good being an angel if you're no earthly use."
- living in the present moment: The ability to live in the present rather escaping
to the past or the future. The ability to constantly 'let go'.
- a sense of wonder, mystery, and reverence: A direct experience of the cosmos
which is unitive, inclusive, and expansive. A sense of being aware of the profound
interconnectedness of all creation.
- a sense of purpose and place in space and time: A sense of the unique and
necessary place and personal contribution of each individual being in the world.
"Where does my deep gladness meet the world's deep need?"
Reference : Grof, Christina. The Thirst for Wholeness
HarperCollins, 1994. |