{"id":10336,"date":"2011-03-07T00:00:21","date_gmt":"2011-03-06T23:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=10336"},"modified":"2011-02-23T15:16:43","modified_gmt":"2011-02-23T14:16:43","slug":"guidelines-for-living-a-spiritual-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2011\/03\/guidelines-for-living-a-spiritual-life\/","title":{"rendered":"Guidelines for Living a Spiritual Life"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Awareness<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/em><\/p>\n

I resolve to be more aware and responsive to the spiritual dimensions of my being and my nature<\/em><\/strong>.<\/em><\/strong> <\/strong> I intend to accept and to embrace the self-evident truth that the very life force that is within me is the same life force that moves, propels, and governs the universe itself, and because of this, I must approach life with a new sense of awe, humbled by the mystery of this truth, yet elated and confident by its consequences.\u00a0 I am alive!\u00a0 I am part of life!\u00a0 And, because of this, I must act in ways that encourage and support this fact, and I must act in ways that are responsive to its requirements and demands.<\/p>\n

2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cultivation of the Spirit<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

Because I am both an individual and a collective part of the life force that moves, propels, and governs the universe, I have serious responsibilities including acting and behaving in ways that sustain life in all its forms.\u00a0 I have an individual responsibility to do this.\u00a0 To this end, I resolve to perfect the spiritual dimension of my being because it is in this pursuit that I can discover and fulfill my unique destiny in the larger cosmic plan whose details remain unknown, but whose intent seems clear — the promotion of an evolutionary harmony, balance, and synergy among all life forms.<\/em><\/strong> <\/strong> To this end, I intend to do all I can to fulfill and actualize my potential as a human being conscious of the power of choice and conscious of the virtue of cultivating the enduring life values of peace, beauty, truth, justice, and civility.<\/p>\n

<\/em><\/p>\n

3.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Living in the Passions of Our Time<\/em><\/strong> <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/em><\/p>\n

Because spiritual maturity and perfection must be pursued through behavior, I resolve to actively participate in the world in which I live, and to be a force for life through the conscious support of those people, ideas, and institutions that serve life through humanistic action.<\/em><\/strong> <\/strong> To this end, I intend to live within the passions of my time, and not to be a passive bystander.\u00a0 I intend to make a difference in solving those life problems and challenges I can, whether they be big or small, using whenever possible the very energies generated by these challenges to derive my strength and determination.<\/p>\n

<\/em><\/p>\n

4.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Promoting Life<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Because humanistic action is a pathway to spiritual perfection, and because the pursuit of spiritual perfection is the pathway revealing my place and role in the larger cosmic destiny and order, I resolve to commit myself to those beliefs and actions that will illuminate, affirm, and promote the value and power of life<\/em><\/strong>,<\/em> <\/strong>including: (1) A recognition of the interdependency of all things; (2) A recognition of the importance of the process or way we do things rather than simply the product or outcome; (3) A recognition of the importance of promoting inner and outer peace as a means of promoting and preserving life; (4) An appreciation of beauty in all its manifestations and forms and, (5) A fostering of the impulse to penetrate into the nature of things for the sheer delight of inquiry, without any need to conquer or to subdue that which is learned.<\/p>\n

<\/em><\/p>\n

5.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Constant Renewal<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Because the spiritual dimension of life is at once the most self-evident dimension of our being, and simultaneously the most hidden and mysterious, I resolve to constantly acknowledge my spiritual nature, to revel in it, to preserve it, and to renew it<\/em><\/strong>, so all of my thoughts and behaviors will reflect and appreciate the simple yet profound joy of this truth.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

____________________
\n<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

These guidelines were first published as part of other articles in Marsella, A.J. (1994).\u00a0 Making important new year resolutions<\/em>.\u00a0 Honolulu Star Bulletin, December 30, p. 10 and Marsella, A.J. (1999).\u00a0 In search of meaning: Some thoughts on belief, doubt, and wellbeing. <\/em>The International Journal of Transpersonal Studies, 18, 41-52.<\/em><\/p>\n

Anthony J. Marsella, Ph.D., <\/em>DHC – President, Psychologists for Social Responsibility 2007-220. marsella@hawaii.edu<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

1. Awareness
\nI resolve to be more aware and responsive to the spiritual dimensions of my being and my nature.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10336","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-transcend-members"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10336","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10336"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10336\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10336"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10336"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10336"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}