There is no one way for everyone. Each of us is unique. Everyone has their own methods of passing the path and achieving their goals. Each of us has our own purpose. The Universe gave life to someone to start happy family but to someone to become a loner who is looking for the truth in this world. But despite this “difference”, everyone will fulfill the WILL OF THE CREATOR! For him, we are all equal and he has only one measure - this is ours. spiritual development.

What is meant by the spiritual development of a person?

Spirit is not something abstract. This is not another artistic image to indicate the level of human development. Spirit is an immortal particle of divine fire, embedded in each person by the Creator. Spirit is the highest faculty of the human soul, through which man comes to know God. The human spirit contains Divine grace in itself, is its conductor for all the forces of the soul.

“In every person there is a spirit - the highest side of human life, a force that draws him from the visible to the invisible, from the temporal to the eternal, from the creature to the Creator. It is possible to weaken this force in varying degrees, you can crookedly interpret its requirements, but you cannot completely drown it out or exterminate it. It is an integral part of our humanity.”

Saint Foefan the Recluse

Spiritual development lies in the need to reveal your creative potential to the full, go through your WAY of “I” in order to get closer to the Creator! Engage in self-development, do what your heart “lies” for and never look at others. Everyone moves along a vector that has developed over a million incarnations. Spiritual teachings and practices a large number of. Now there is a boom. Everyone became interested in spiritual development. But there is nothing strange in this, because now our Earth is at the beginning of its next round of development. And we must all comply with this.

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On the Internet you can see a large number of trainings on personal growth. But my opinion is that personal growth without spiritual is impossible. These are two sides of the same coin. There are many people around who have learned to achieve various goals. But is this their goal? If you ask if a person is happy, then most likely you will hear a negative answer. This is the reason that a person is engaged more in personal growth and forgets about his spiritual development. We have learned to look only outside ourselves and have forgotten about our inner world, where our SPIRIT lives.

You need to learn how to talk to your spirit and be a more spiritual person. But here it is worth paying attention to the fact that the term "spirituality" is not "religiosity". Religion can only cause struggle. I once met a Christian grandmother who rejected other religions and believed that there was only Jesus. I didn’t argue with her, I just ended the conversation politely, realizing that this person is far from spiritual, but simply “zombified”. Spirituality is based on love. When you create with love, you create in unity with your spirit. Then you can be called a spiritual person.

Where to start spiritual development?

When I began to engage in spiritual growth, I soon felt changes in all 7 areas of my life. I opened my amazing inner world with a lot of talents. Learned to create faster with the power of thought. I have more energy, improved relationships with parents and friends. Creative ideas and inspirations began to come. I even bought myself felt-tip pens so that I can immediately sketch the "insights" that come in the middle of the night! I understood my purpose. Quickly synced with my flow of abundance. I wanted to live and create with love, to help other people become more harmonious.

Spiritual development is a very important aspect in the life of every person. This is a very large and laborious work on oneself day by day. Spiritual development is necessary throughout your life. This must be learned by ourselves and taught to our future generation. Look around. Anger, hatred, resentment, irascibility, irritability, constant claims to each other, wars, murders for money - all this is a big wave that has covered our society. Each of us is stuck in the material world and cannot continue our development as a part of All This Great Creativity.

Choose what you like. Personally, I do yoga. To me, this concept of self-improvement is very clear and fits the lifestyle. Perhaps your spirit will be some other direction. This is what needs to be said here - you should never get hung up on one thing. Of course, if you like to meditate, then you are welcome. But everything flows, everything changes. Create your own teaching with which you will live harmoniously. It will also be changeable, but the most important thing is that it helps to effectively reveal your potential as a Creator and enhances your spiritual development as a person!

Life is the best spiritual practice, it is our best teacher. Become more aware every day. Learn to observe the events of your life, to understand the signs that the Universe gives. Observe nature, learn from it. Look at everyday things and phenomena in a new way. The outside world is just a mirror of your inside. Start looking inward more. The external decorations themselves will begin to change following the change in the internal potential.

Instruction

A spiritual person is distinguished by kindness. This quality was inherent in all known spiritual leaders, which means that it is necessary to go to her. It comes with forgiveness. This is an opportunity to stop holding grudges against others, stop being angry and worried about everything that happens. You need to forgive those who are now near, and those who were once. Most start work with the closest: wives and husbands, parents, children. Special techniques help to raise even the most ancient and almost forgotten emotions and let them go.

A spiritual person is loyal to everything around him. He does not judge others, but accepts their choice. He is ready to look with a smile, listen and not resist. If necessary, he can suggest what to do, express his opinion, but only upon request. You need to learn to accept everyone, but you can do this only by working with yourself. To accept yourself is a lot of work, it is a desire to know yourself, to discover in yourself different sides, and an uncomplaining agreement with the fact that it is inside. And when the work with oneself is finished, one will be surprised that a similar feeling will arise for all the people around.

Gratitude is a great quality, it is worth striving for in order to achieve spirituality. Gratitude should be for everything that happens and surrounds. This is an opportunity to form a special relationship, when everything around is good, this is a lesson that allows you to reach an even higher level. You need to thank any trouble and look for the grain of development in it, accept and analyze any insult that caused this reaction, and it also becomes even wiser.

A spiritual person believes in a higher power. The realization that there is something more than earthly life is a prerequisite for spirituality. Each religion and school has its own gods, its own ideas, but it doesn’t matter what you believe in, the main thing is to have this feeling. The feeling that this life is not finite, that there is something else after death, that there is something special, faith in this gives strength to live. Faith is a great power, and more people knows it, the more multifaceted it becomes.

Having faith gives birth to prayer. Every person should learn to pray. This is a set magic words facing outward or inward. These are words of gratitude, apology, acceptance, which sound from the heart. This is a sincere appeal to being, which gives peace and harmony inside. Prayer is not a request, but an appeal, a desire to find a dialogue with the higher.

In this article, you will be able to understand in detail how to start spiritual development and what it really is. This article is written based on the experience and research of many people who are on different paths of spiritual growth: within and outside of traditional religions. You will definitely find here all necessary information to begin self-realization.

First you need to understand the basic concepts, especially what the concept of “spiritual development” means.

What is spiritual development really?

Initially, it would be worthwhile to understand the very term "spirituality", which, under certain consideration, has a rather negative connotation. If we combine information about this term with what is happening in modern spiritual currents, then a holistic picture emerges, which, again, does not have the most attractive appearance.

It is also necessary to understand the clear difference between spiritual development and cultural or moral development. For example, some people sincerely believe that going to museums and theaters greatly elevates them, although this may bring certain benefits. But this is a mass delusion, especially when you consider the direction in which contemporary art is going today.

A person can do certain things for decades and think that he is progressing spiritually. In fact, he will not make any progress on the path of self-realization.

True, there is one caveat: if a person has talent in the field of art and he, for example, is an artist. Then visiting exhibitions and other events related to this area can help a person in spiritual development.

Why? Because:

Spiritual development implies that a person will go his own way in accordance with the talents that he has, and also develop in himself the exalted qualities of character.

Also, before engaging in spiritual development, you need to clearly understand why this should be done.

The main goal of spiritual self-development

It is no secret that many of those who embarked on the path of spiritual self-improvement experienced some or other difficulties before that. It could be a difficult situation in matters of money, a discord in relationships or health problems.

One way or another, life's difficulties push a person to a more conscious life. The whole world around us is waiting for us to get out of the influence of illusion and start looking at this world with sober eyes.

The main goal of spiritual development is the realization of one's true nature and development in accordance with this knowledge.

Understand that the purpose of spiritual development is NOT going to temples on a schedule or unconsciously repeating prayers because some priest said so. Everything is easier.

We must learn to live according to our hearts or our conscience, to be humane and decent, to obtain real knowledge, to develop the mind and abilities that are called supernatural.

To begin with, try to start living with an eye to your heart (voice of conscience). And you will see that real spiritual development has begun.

In general, the real development of the personality (spiritual development, if you like) is always noticeable and brings results in the near future. If a person is engaged in spiritual development a lot, pray for several hours a day, visits the temple every week, reads spiritual treatises, but miracles do not happen in his life and he does not become really happier, then he does NOT develop spiritually and, most likely, went on a false way.

Often people fall for the scam that is being foisted on them. religious figures: now you need to be humble, endure and develop spiritually as much as possible, but after death everything will be fine. This is another monstrous lie that helps to make people slaves.

You need to live here and now. You need to be happy in the present moment.

People who endure everything and are afraid of everything are ordinary cowards and ignoramuses, and do not develop spiritually or evolutionarily at all. But brave and resolute people do not tremble with fear and do not blindly believe non-humans, who often dress in sacred clothes.

To be fair, it should be noted that there are pure people within religions. Maybe not as many as we would like, but they are.

Where to start spiritual development: tools and their choice

If we talk about traditional religions, then in general the instruments of spiritual development are the same there: the choice of the religion itself, prayer practices, spiritual treatises, communication with like-minded people, the search for mentors and spiritual teachers. And it is believed that this is quite enough to go to the spiritual world (or reach the Kingdom of God) AFTER death.

To a person who has been familiar with “religious cuisine” for more than a year, sooner or later it becomes obvious that there are quite a lot of unfortunate people among the followers of religions. Moreover, there is a wealth of information about what crimes are committed by religious leaders: fraud, theft, child abuse, drug trafficking, murder, and more. All this raises many questions from adequate and sane people.

What to do?

To follow the path of any religion or outside of it is the choice of a particular person. The purpose of this article is to teach you to distinguish false spirituality from genuine. Therefore, below we will discuss in more detail the tools of spiritual development that are used both in official religions and outside them.

These are the tools:

• Life according to the heart;
• Choosing a spiritual path;
• Prayer practices;
• Holy Scriptures;
• Sublime surroundings;
• Mentors and teachers;
• Altruism or selfless activity;
• Additional tools to help spiritual growth.

Life according to one's heart or how to listen to the voice of conscience?

Today it is becoming more and more obvious that living according to conscience or according to heart is the safest way on which a person will not be deceived by pseudo-spiritual personalities. Relying on conscience, a person can not be afraid of anything, since in this case he is guided by the most faithful assistant.

How to learn to listen to your conscience? No one will give specific recommendations, since everyone has this process in different ways. But absolutely every person knows which deed is bad and which is not, and inside in the heart there is always a response to any action. The only question is: does he listen to his conscience or not.

In my opinion, this tool on the path of spiritual development should become more important than religions, spiritual teachers, prayers, temples, etc.

How to choose a spiritual tradition?

If you decide to follow the path of any religion, then you need to seriously approach its choice. And in this matter, too, everything is individual. One person may be suited to one religion, another to another religion, a third to a third spiritual tradition. By the way, this does not mean that they should compete with each other - only fanatics do this.

Also, a person does not have to be exactly in the religious tradition in which he was born. It often happens that, having matured, a person chooses another spiritual tradition, which is “closer to his heart”.

Choose your religion (tradition) wisely using the following criteria:

• This tradition must lead to the Personality of Godhead (if the tradition's philosophy is that only their path and "their god" are the only correct ones, then this is either a false tradition or false and ignorant followers);
• In this religion there should be many truly Holy Persons (not 2-5, but hundreds, thousands and more);
• The tradition must be based on authoritative scriptures that are many years old (at least 500 years old and more);
• Many people should follow the path of this religious tradition and achieve certain results on it (for example, people rise to a higher level of life, renounce violence, immorality and debauchery, etc.);
• In this religion, there should be a spiritual (prayer) practice, which every sincere follower is engaged in;
• You should be fine in this tradition; if you experience constant discomfort, then perhaps this is not what you need;
• It's good if you like the customs and rules in this religion (at least they are satisfied at the initial stage).

More than enough criteria are listed for choosing a spiritual tradition (religion) at the beginning of spiritual development. Consider them.

I would like to draw your attention to one point. During the last 200 years, not the best things have been happening in religions and it is my duty to tell you about it. Do not be lazy and study the article:

For people who do not want or are not yet ready to choose a particular religious tradition, there is an opportunity to develop spiritually outside of religion. This is detailed in the article:

Prayer practice: when, how and why?

Now about another important topic - prayers and mantras.

These practices are certainly useful and important, but only when a person is engaged in them consciously and sincerely. When this turns into an automatic process and a person prays simply because he has to, then the effectiveness of prayer tends to zero.

At the initial stage of spiritual growth, the daily practice of prayer or mantra will be useful. It will purify the consciousness of a person and elevate him. Everything new in this world bears fruit, but for the time being.

Over time, when a person is "drawn" into the spiritual life, the effectiveness of prayer drops and it often becomes automatic. And the following situation can be observed: a person seems to be actively engaged in spiritual development, prays, but no special result is visible. This means that he is on the wrong path.

Prayer should be as an addition, but not as the main goal of spiritual development. People who live according to their hearts are often much happier and more powerful than those who, like a robot, pray for hours to no avail.

God responds only to sincere prayers when a person consciously addresses him, and does not think during prayer about what he will do after prayer or how he was treated unfairly. It is better than automatically repeating a prayer to do some kind and selfless deed for people or other living beings. More about it in the video:

Studying the Scriptures

We know a lot of Holy Scriptures, but the question is how much they have survived in their original form in our 21st century? As a result of various studies, I learned that all major spiritual treatises are subject to distortions to one degree or another. By the way, this is mainly done by representatives of official religions. Why? Because they serve a single supra-religious leadership.

The Bible, the Koran, the Bhagavad Gita, the Torah, or something else - today it must be read carefully, with the mind turned on, and everything cannot be taken on blind faith.

Does this mean that spiritual treatises should not be read at all? Of course not. Even in the distorted scriptures, many profound things remain. You just need to know what to choose to read and how to be guided by the study of treatises.

When reading any scripture, one must be guided by the heart. The most important comment about what we read comes from the God within us. If a person lives according to his heart, then he cannot be led astray even by rewritten books. The Almighty will always help to find something that will help a person in spiritual development.

You can learn about how spiritual treatises distort in the article:

About the sublime environment and mentors

It's hard for one to develop. It is impossible to progress spiritually outside of society. Therefore, a person must have relationships with other people. That is, he should not withdraw into himself, considering this the height of renunciation. It is in interaction with other people that we are “turned” like a stone in order to give a beautiful and elegant form - to make truly spiritual people.

It is favorable to have communication with like-minded people who are also engaged in spiritual development. You can communicate with them, share experiences, discuss interesting topics etc. This gives inspiration, energy, and can also give unexpected clues in situations that are incomprehensible to us. At the moment of difficulties and doubts, such an environment is a very good helper and friend.

True, it is not always easy to find such an environment. But, as they say, a sincere person who lives according to his heart will never be left alone, and God will surely find company for him when it is needed.

Even better if you find a mentor, which will suggest what and how to do, point out errors, etc. Keep in mind that any situation or any person can be a mentor for us, if we can perceive them in the right frame of mind.

But it is not so easy to become a true mentor who will give us advice and we will follow it. Such a person must lead an exalted and pure life for many years. The same goes for spiritual teachers.

One of the most important signs of a spiritual teacher is that he teaches the student to do without him, and does not try to become an intermediary between God and him. A real spiritual teacher helps a person to become himself, and not someone there. A true guru speaks about God in the heart of the disciple and teaches to live on the basis of this.

Not all mentors and teachers meet the criteria described above. But what can you do, these are the times now ... Live according to your heart and God will definitely tell you where the teacher is, and where the swindler and villain is.

Selflessness for spiritual growth

It is impossible to separate real spiritual progress and selfless deeds. A spiritual person always lives on the basis of his talents, and it is in the talent destined for us that one can be truly selfless.

At the initial stage, while we are not in our talent, we can and should look for ways to manifest selflessness. There are really a lot of them these days. Details about the importance of this quality and its development are written in the article:

Important points at the beginning of spiritual development

In addition to the initial steps in spiritual development, certain actions must be taken in other directions as well.

First of all, it is:

• Daily regime;
• Cleanliness;
• Nutrition;
• Intoxication.

Without putting things in order in your everyday life, it is impossible to progress on the spiritual path. Therefore, you need to strive to eat right, sleep in right time maintain personal hygiene, get rid of bad habits and much more.

In day mode Pay special attention to getting up early.

Cleanliness is especially important for spiritual development and it is imperative to strive for it. This is the purity of the body, underwear, the surrounding space, the psyche, etc.

Start by taking a shower every morning.

Nutrition largely determines our level of consciousness, our qualities of character and even actions. For example, if a person loves to eat meat food, then he will show a tendency to violence and lust, and this will be a serious obstacle to spiritual development. Regarding the usefulness or harmfulness of meat.

Spiritual development- this is the study of the structure of INTELLIGENT LIFE, through the knowledge of YOURSELF, your feelings and thoughts, from where and how they are born, how they affect us, on a personal and general level.

The real Spiritual path of development (growth of the Soul) is not possible without real knowledge of oneself (one’s inner peace feelings and thoughts).

Not everyone is able to come to this Path. Someone is busy getting their daily bread, someone needs personal life to arrange, that is, most people are immersed headlong into “everyday life” and they simply have no time to stop to think about something else. Fear also has a place. After all, even realizing the senselessness of the “race” for new acquisitions and the growth of one’s social significance, it takes a lot of courage to boldly look into oneself and try to change the usual way of life, and at the same time transform oneself.

Only some out of the ordinary event that can shake a person can make such people leave the “comfort zone” - it can be stress, a sudden insight caused by shock, the death of loved ones, etc. The event should make him understand all the illusory nature of such a life, where values ​​come, and human life, by and large, has no meaning.

When understanding comes and the familiar world collapses, a person faces a choice - how now to live on, what to believe in, what or whom to serve? What can stimulate a person to believe in himself and think about eternal and unshakable values? At this moment, a difficult path of changes and transformation of his spirit opens before him, an opportunity opens up to touch his Divine principle.

Evolution of Spirit and Soul

Spiritual development is the Path of the evolution of the spirit and soul, which distinguishes people from animals, and for the sake of which we all incarnated here on Earth. After all, the meaning of life lies in the fact that by moral victories over one’s shortcomings, character traits and habits, clear the mirror of one’s soul from dirt, strengthen the spirit and continue to improve beyond the limits of our reality, in higher worlds and in finer matters.

Real Spiritual development is possible only under these conditions, when a person goes beyond the Destructive Mind, in which there is the creativity of illness, death, doubts…

Our body is the seat of the soul and is connected with the Creator (God or Creator) through the spirit. It can also be said that each person, animal, insect, plant, mineral or atom together constitute the body of God, or it manifests itself through everything that surrounds us and it all evolves and develops according to cosmic laws and cycles.

Reaching human nature soul and body are being severely tested. On their way, obstacles arise in the form of ego, doubtful desires, negative emotions, a sense of self-importance, etc. In the fight against these factors, a person sometimes lives many lives until conditions mature and form in which a person can no longer continue to live like this without changing yourself.

The Essence of Spiritual Development

The most important thing on the path of Spiritual development is to find the integrity of one's views and aspirations with the desires of the soul, and then it is possible to become similar to God not only in image, but also in content. Love is the key to discovering limitless possibilities in yourself. Love is the language of God. Learning to love truly is not easy, and many do not even have an idea of ​​what it is. Their understanding does not extend beyond carnal rubbing against each other and possessive attitude towards beloved ones.

We must learn to give love to the whole world around us, without expecting anything in return, because God has already rewarded a person with everything that one could dream of even at birth. However, for some this is not enough and they rush from one extreme to another. Hence the wars, and rivalry, and fornication ... This is the path of suffering and dissatisfaction, which destroys the body and destroys the soul.

But how, by what means and methods to come to an agreement with oneself? Perhaps prayer will become a consolation for someone, but it is not capable of giving an impulse for evolutionary growth. Religion is an unnecessary mediator between man and God. In our time, it increasingly serves as a tool for manipulating people, a means of profit and dirty machinations on the part of the church or higher authorities.

Only evolution matters now. Therefore, by choosing a voluntary, firm and conscious intention to know and change yourself, you can come to the desired result. As they say, there are many who seek the Creator, but not many find him. The Creator lives in each of us, but without awakening it, we turn away from ourselves. He does not hear the voice of our desires, requests or laudatory odes - he reacts only to manifestations of the spirit expressed in actions.

Self-doubt and fear of an unknown future and, most importantly, an uninformed choice spiritual path will very quickly return an immature person to a familiar and comfortable way of life. To stay true to your choice, especially at the initial stage, you need to be vigilant, listen to yourself and pull up whenever the ego begins to dictate its conditions - complete control of thoughts and actions.

• You need to accept yourself, sorting out your delusions, mistakes, resentments, albeit not immediately, but over time. First of all, you should learn to always remain honest and be yourself under any circumstances. There is no need to blame anyone for the current situation, and even yourself - after all, this is a school where we all go through training and grow our souls with each class.

Freed from the burden of past mistakes and insults, a person gains lightness and self-confidence. The world begins to create favorable conditions for a person, fills the space with guiding signs, life becomes joyful and transforms right before our eyes. Feeling inner peace and a desire to live, a person in the future will never be able to repeat the mistakes of the past and will not make new ones.

Reading philosophical literature, spiritual practices, and meditation will help speed up evolution. Religious literature contains too much speculation and falsehood, so a person ignorant of such matters can easily accept anything on faith. There are a lot of ancient and modern literary artifacts that can acquaint the traveler with the structure of the universe, with cosmic and spiritual laws, with concepts that reveal the very essence of a human being and much more.

Spiritual development is possible only if a person sincerely wants to know his inner world, really change the structure of his feelings, give himself the opportunity to know how to actually live, breathe, love, without feelings of fear.

Literature:

E.P. Blavatskaya, D.L. Andreev, Roerichs, Sri Aurobindo, Osho, ancient Indian epics – “Mahabharata” and “Ramayana”, Bhagavad Gita, Vedas, Philokalia, AllatRa and many other books that are recommended for deep study by those who chose the path of the spirit.

The spiritual development of man is a process that includes intentional evolution personal qualities, which consists in improving the inner world for the sake of its rational interaction with the external environment. In fact, it becomes an act of intellectual self-improvement. As a result, on the basis of comparing their experience with the great historical achievements in different areas, one comprehends one's own destiny in this world, the probability of taking a worthy place in it. Spiritual improvement is a long and thorny path, full of ups and downs. Ideally, it is infinite. Having achieved certain results, a person only approaches the truth, but does not know it completely. Any stop, confidence that everything has been achieved, leads to degradation. Personal development is possible only in the direction from simple to more complex and continuous improvement of what has been achieved.

But how to do it? To study! For those who have already reached certain heights in their biography. The development of spirituality, its level, is tested by life. Shifts in the evolution of personality can be considered really positive only when they are gratefully noted by the environment of a person: his relatives and colleagues. Only in this way does career growth occur in any of the existing cases. A spiritually developed subject can have a significant impact on people. This will help him solve many problems that were previously unsolvable. The reverse side of this involvement in the environment becomes isolation on oneself. Such a person is constantly acquiring new knowledge and opportunities, but does not realize them outside. A person could improve the situation of other people around, but does not. He only imagines that everything is in his power. There is no benefit to society from its existence. Such spirituality is usually empty, and ultimately leads only to frustration and thoughts of a wasted life.

What becomes the illusion of spiritual self-improvement

People think about how they can develop themselves spiritually. Popular methods are:

• reading educational literature;
• visits to high-rated films, concerts, theatrical performances;
• religious or philosophical meditations;
• hermitage;
• denial of the material world for the sake of the spiritual.

These methods are correct to some extent and allow you to raise the intellectual bar to impressive heights. But each of these actions and all of them as a whole have no direct relation to spirituality. At best, they expand the horizons of knowledge of life.

What do books and more or less similar visual spectacles give? Indeed, they contain knowledge and sensory experience. But knowledge that is not applied in reality is quickly forgotten. The time spent on acquiring them can be considered pointlessly lost.

To know does not mean to know. Skill, unlike knowledge, is a purely practical category. It's a habit driven to automatism. It is acquired in the constant use of the information received in a particular case. This is the only way to actualize knowledge and give it a generally significant, spiritual coloring.

The same goes for sensory experience. Someone else's experience that does not correlate with one's own feelings can teach, but only in the abstract. To act or not to act also, he will not force not everyone. This requires personal experience. Only they get stuck in memory and help in the future.

How does this happen? The main postulates are formulated in the Bible, in the moral instructions of Moses. He details what should not be done in order to avoid the condemnation of society. Kant formulates this in a more collected form, proposing categorically not to commit those acts that you consider unacceptable in relation to yourself.

Meditation also does not lead to spiritual development. It only contributes to the concentration of biological energy to achieve its own goal, which does not matter to others. The humanitarian factor, which is one of the defining indicators of spirituality, is absent here.

Prayers and all kinds of mantras provide an opportunity to digress from real problems and transfer their solution to certain mythical sources. Spiritual meaning can only be given to them by crowded ceremonies that unite their flock around events that are equally valuable for everyone. For example, concerning war and peace, life and death.

Hermitage, as a way of withdrawing from the world, was originally called upon to preserve the values ​​pursued by modern society and considered truly correct. In pre-Petrine Russia, such were the Old Believers, in Ancient China- monks of mountain monasteries remote from the capital.
The culture of hermits, like wild tribes South America or Africa, wear a shade of even high spirituality, but it is closed within a certain territory and, in essence, inaccessible to others. Its significance is limited to world civilization.

The rejection of material well-being in the name of spiritual self-improvement is one of the extreme concepts. The ascetic worldview is based on the belief that only a person, liberated from the constant search for livelihood, is able to freely develop himself.

This idea is persistently promoted by numerous pseudo-religious sects. At the same time, their true goal is to enrich the preachers with the help of a complete robbery of their adherents. All doubts about the selflessness of all kinds of spiritual teachers are suppressed by force.

In fact, the material well-being of a person does not in the least contradict the development of his spirituality. On the contrary, it only helps this process. The capabilities of a wealthy person allow him to constantly improve his education, as well as travel, adopting the best from other cultures and civilizations and thus increasing his spiritual potential. The problem is only in achieving harmony between material and spiritual development.

What is meant by spirituality

There is no exhaustive definition of spirituality that can convince of its practical necessity. Only one thing is clear: a person deprived of spiritual potential will not have a beneficial effect either on the development of society or on the happy determination of his own destiny.

What, then, to focus on in order to develop qualities in oneself that are more or less close to the spiritual ideal? Sociological survey, conducted among students of several leading universities of the country, showed that they made a conscious choice in favor of a number of life attitudes. The main ones include:

1. all-round development of the personality;
2. morality, ensuring respect in society;
3. meaningfulness of their actions;
4. the formation of intellectual and spiritual baggage sufficient for career advancement;
5. selflessness and devotion in friendship;
6. sincerity in love;
7. equality in marriage, where a man and a woman help and support each other without disturbing peace of mind with unnecessary quarrels.

Young people are inclined to eternal, recognized by the majority, ideals. Such, for example, as faith in God, cementing the best spiritual traditions of generations. At the same time, the very name of the Lord will be different for people, signifying any of the world religions. But be it Orthodoxy, Islam, Judaism or Buddhism, the concept of supreme justice, which each of the gods personifies, remains the same for representatives of different religions.

An important place among the values ​​of the spiritual plan is occupied by patriotism. This sublime feeling concerns not only love for loved ones and for the country, but also the readiness to consciously protect all this in difficult times. Family and society should instill it from childhood. Every child, having been born, becomes a citizen responsible for his fatherland. He needs to constantly introduce this into his consciousness.

Modern man, according to young people, is obliged to constantly improve.

Only in this way will he be able to act adequately in a world that is changing at an ever-increasing rate. Along with obtaining information useful for professional activity, one should also develop one's own emotional-sensual sphere, which makes it possible to humanize, make more humane, the personal relationships of various people.

An indispensable tool for harmonizing your inner world is communication with the beautiful. This is how books train fantasy, fine art expands the range of visual representations of life, suitable immerses in a host of unusual sounds that can create any mood that is comfortable at the moment.

Much of this is perceived unconsciously, at the level of hidden instincts. Not everything is accepted right away. At the first stages, something read, seen or heard may be misunderstood and rejected. Only with time, gaining knowledge and experience, having the opportunity to compare different things, do people realize what is not important for them, but what is necessary, like air.

Why is it needed

Spiritual development of a person always gives a positive effect. No matter how minor it may seem at first glance, in the end, its fruits are tangible in life.

As a result of the constant improvement of the inner world, honing the intellect and the sensual sphere, a person acquires the ability not to be afraid of difficulties and achieve his goals, regardless of any obstacles. On the scales of biography, each of us has a destiny. It is possible to furnish life properly only fully armed, clearly presenting the ultimate goal and having the appropriate spiritual potential to achieve it. A truly spiritual person proceeds precisely from these considerations, daring, but correct.

The only exceptions here are the so-called "evil geniuses", people who direct their extraordinary energy to the detriment of others. The consequences of their activities in world history and simply in everyday life are terrifying. Good and evil, in the understanding of these individuals, often change places. Violence, fear, godlessness, savagery are exposed as fair. What can be opposed to the activities of the villains? There are different views on this matter, including the Biblical-Tolstoyan non-resistance to evil by violence. In practice, however, the most effective method the fight against evil is most often brute force.

A weak, ignorant nature is alien to such contradictions. She is constantly overcome by doubts about her vulnerability. Such people are not even sure of the possibility of achieving any significant goal. She scares them. Failures force us not to look for a new course of action, but only to make excuses, referring to harmless circumstances, which, out of laziness, are considered insurmountable. The existence of such entities is meaningless. They don't deserve respect. Their destiny is vegetating in life and oblivion in its bitter ending.

It is very difficult to overestimate the importance of spiritual maturity for each individual and society as a whole. Its result is not only technical, but also social progress. Evidence of this is the positive development of world civilization, capable of overcoming all sorts of difficulties that stand in its way and moving through thorns to the stars.