Spiritual Growth Definition: What is Wisdom?
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Spiritual growth and wisdom... what are they?
Physical health and spiritual growth
Is spiritual growth linked to health?
Right now I'm as exhausted physically as I've been in a long time. I've been moving house: painting the walls of my new apartment, packing all my books into boxes etc. Very tiring. I can get myself to do things (more packing mostly) - but the moment I sit down I feel a deep fatigue.
YET - this same weekend that I'll be moving into my new place - I've also created this lens on spiritual growth and wisdom.
More on the connection between spiritual growth and health
The essence of wisdom
Adapted from the Serenity Prayer
How do you define wisdom and spiritual growth?
What's your definition of personal development?
[Please give general comments about this lens in the guestbook below]
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Oct 28, 2011 @ 12:10 am | delete
- Wisdom - the ability to know what knowledge is to be applied to a given situation.
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sponias
Aug 4, 2011 @ 2:45 pm | delete
- Wisdom is sensibility and sensitivity at the same time.
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MalcolmH
May 28, 2011 @ 2:09 am | delete
- Wisdom is a complex quality. At its heart is the idea of pursuing the best ends by the best means, but modern society often choosesthe best means without worrying about ends. If something is technically possible, we do it regardless of the consequences. We pursue economic efficiency and growth without asking why these are important, or right, or help us get what we really want.
Reason and factual knowledge contribute to wisdom, but need to be integrated with intuition and spiritual knowledge, tempered by a moral sense of what is right and of value.
Wisdom often emerges through asking the right questions, rather than finding the right answers. Wise decisions may redefine our ideas of right and wrong.
To the ancient Greeks, to be wise was to love harmony, beauty and truth, to know yourself, and strive for moral perfection. Thus the wise person is balanced, integrated and whole; self-aware and in harmony with him- or herself; empathic, understanding, patient, compassionate and humorous; able to learn from mistakes, and not afraid to change their minds. They weigh the evidence and make clear, sensible and fair judgements that take account of both the short and long term.
For a more detailed discussion of wisdom, see my book "The Science of Oneness: A worldview for the twenty-first century." A summary can be found at http://www.humansolutionsnow.com/science-and-spirituality/about-the-science-of-oneness/overview-of-the-science-of-oneness/
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Pain Shwe U
Apr 24, 2011 @ 7:44 am | delete
- Wisdom is perfection of knowledge and spiritual growth take place through the practice of wisdom.
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susangale
Apr 24, 2011 @ 7:29 am | delete
- Wisdom and spiritual growth are how we come to know the truth of our relationship with Creator. It is how we learn to walk with Creator and all our relations as well.
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MarkUpshaw
Oct 11, 2010 @ 2:06 am | delete
- Spiritual growth can be measured only be the individual and is the ability to see the best in yourself and others despite appearances. Wisdom is knowing what is your best choice at every decision and comes from knowledge, love and intuition.
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mcochs
Oct 5, 2010 @ 2:50 pm | delete
- To me spiritual growth means getting closer to God.
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Oct 1, 2010 @ 9:59 pm | delete
- Wisdom is the collective knowledge of your life experiences, so a person is only as wise as the life that they have experienced, and the acceptance that life will happen weather you like it or not. Spiritual growth is accepting these things and still going on in life with a smile on your face.
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iflo
Jun 26, 2009 @ 11:21 am | delete
- to me spiritual growth means to identify more and more with God , letting go of life, the fact that you exist or not and choosing love and truth all the way. The growth is infinite, but limited when still identifying with this body.
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FreeSpiritSoars
Apr 9, 2009 @ 9:02 pm | delete
- Wisdom is knowing that you don't know everything. The spiritual growth part involves scraping off all the dirty layers of life's experience that have helped you forget who you truly are. Returning to the joy of living as you experienced as a very young child while still having the experience of life's seeming inequities today is part of this growth.
Wisdom is discovering Squidoo and all the cool people here.
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julcal
Mar 8, 2009 @ 11:45 am | delete
- For me, spiritual growth is learning more about who i was before i got distorted by the influences of being an in individual on the face of the earth. Before conception I was in unity. In the womb I was in unity with mother. So stepwise, necessary separation with the universe begins in order to individuate. As a two year old I start to demand separation and as a teenager I rebeled to gain separation. Eventually I have forget who I really am = neurosis. Now I crave to know but it's so hard to see because I live in my complexes. It requires very deep work to see who is really at the steering wheel. Luckily, the unconscious WANTS to be known. With depth work, dream work, meditation, setting up a dialogue with our unconscious, watching our complexes at work objectively, slowly but surely, just as we separated from unity, we can re-connect with who we were born to be and and feel FREE!! :) :) :) GRRREAT lens! 5* FAV facebook, twitter, you name it!
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Daphne from Conscious Decisions
Mar 1, 2009 @ 8:01 pm | delete
- It's having the strength and courage to discover what your true purpose is, and to be able to unleash your energy to fulfill your life's obligation.
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boshemia
Jan 9, 2009 @ 7:36 am | delete
- For me it means learning to "harm not others and harm not myself," it means celebrating life, all life as being sacred. It means striving to learn from my enemies and my friends alike.
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AwakenYourSpirit Dec 9, 2008 @ 3:48 pm | delete
- For me it is a lifelong experience of continuing to discover more and more of my true nature.
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Tim
Aug 26, 2008 @ 4:21 am | delete
- I would ask the vital question "Who is it that needs to grow - spiritually or otherwise?" Is the "you" that needs to grow a concept or thought? Do you really exists as an entity at all?
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DrBruceKing
Aug 25, 2008 @ 8:40 pm | delete
- Accessing you hyper-dimensional consciousness. Magnetic Pill
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jaktraks
Aug 11, 2008 @ 6:21 pm | delete
- For me, spiritual growth has had a lot to do with grounding myself in everyday life. I'd prefer to have my head in the clouds but apparently I require roots as well. And thank you so much for featuring one of my lenses.
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Joan4
Aug 3, 2008 @ 2:38 pm | delete
- Spiritual growth, for me, is always a lesson in love - who am I critizing? why am I fault-finding? trying to stay in a loving place even when I feel angry. Removing from myself anything that allows me to criticize or grumble about another human being. That's a full time job! Spiritual growth is a process! for sure!
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AnnRadley Jul 14, 2008 @ 8:33 pm | delete
- I am amazed at the breadth of ideas you cover and refer to. What is spiritual growth? I can't say what it is, just a little of what it is not. It is not wallowing in the past, or worrying about the future. And it is connected I think with staying 'in your body' which has a tranformative power.
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ArtSiren
Jul 13, 2008 @ 8:01 am | delete
- Nice lens! The 'acceptance' part is a struggle for me. I would cite the famed story of Edison and his 10,000 attempts at creating a working lightbulb. Perhaps Edison's wisdom was in realising that 'he hadn't failed 10000 times; he had succeeded in finding 10000 ways that wouldn't work. And having found the ways that won't work, it was inevitable that he'd find the way that would!'
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Acceptance
How much of your energy do you waste getting annoyed at people that we know will never change?
How much of your energy is wasted obsessing over what is inevitable?
I know I struggle with that - and facing up to those tendencies has always been a way to a deeper appreciation of life and yes - happiness. But the facing up part is the hard part. It won't work to just tell myself I should not get annoyed. That's just the start - I have to delve into myself to find the emotional source of the annoyance. I've cried many a tear - and what a relief it was... Because these are the kinds of tears that are followed by the happiness that comes from being able to be happy with what is.
Great things...
Great things are possible only to strong souls and it's from the trivial events of daily life that strength is won.
L.W. Rogers
The wise and the foolish
But which others?
There is no easy dividing line between wise people and fools. If / when you're open to others you find out each brand of wisdom - even while discarding (after examination) 50% of what they say or do as rubbish... The other 50% may just contain jewels.
Wisdom quotes and Inspiration
Spiritual wisdom through uplifting quotes
Spiritual growth and development
To me spiritual growth has mostly to do with growing in wisdom.
Spiritual experiences may happen.
Success may follow.
But neither success nor spiritual experience are proof of spiritual growth.
Courage
Developing wisdom and spiritual growth
In order to get out, to be different, to grow beyond what you learned as a kid - you need courage.
This applies to all of us. Whether we are rich or poor, whether our parents had a great education or not even finished highschool - we all have a choice: do we stick with what we grew up with, or change into something different.
That takes COURAGE.
Sometimes it's just easy to be what you are.
Sometimes it seems like all you can do is hang on, change is just too much to ask.
Sometimes - or all the time - doing things differently, being different, just doesn't seem even possible.
Take courage, and change just that one little thing you know you CAN change. When that has become your new normal, you may just be ready for the next small change.
Ups and downs in spiritual growth
Can you have a spiritual growth plan?
Sometimes it's obvious people are growing spiritually: they are calmer, nicer, more balanced.
But sometimes genuine spiritual growth requires going through what's called a dark night of the soul. Because you grow spiritually, you become more sensitive - and that's not easy. This sensitivity may bring along a deep sorrow about the state of the world. It may mean that unresolved issues from your past come up to haunt you...
Although in the long run this is good - in the short run it may make a person less happy and even less kind to others.
How are THEY doing?
Part of real spiritual growth is recognizing that unless you can see into a persons soul - you can't really tell how another is doing on the spiritual path.
Spiritual growth is something of the soul, not of the personality we can see.
The wisdom to know the difference - discernment
Spiritual growth and development
Trying to change too much is not going to work - we have our lives to live in the meantime. That's why new years resolutions usually don't stick.
Change can be as small as not drinking soda anymore.
Or parking your car a bit further from work.
Or making a point to smile at the cleaning lady - perhaps even talk to her.
One thing that helps is to read up about spiritual growth. To read about spirituality in general. Perhaps join a discussion group (or start one) that focuses on some book you think is inspiring.
More spiritual growth and development
Spiritual wisdom evolving
- Spiritual growth, wisdom and psychology - theosophy
- A selection of articles on inner growth, wisdom and spirituality by authors like H.P. Blavatsky, W.Q. Judge, Jiddu Krishnamurti and many others.
- Meditation in Theosophy
- A selection of articles on meditation by authors like H.P. Blavatsky, W.Q. Judge, Jiddu Krishnamurti and many others.
- Ethics and spiritual growth
- My selection of articles on the ethics of inner growth and spirituality by authors like H.P. Blavatsky, W.Q. Judge, Jiddu Krishnamurti and many others.
- Short Wisdom Quotes and Aphorisms - Spiritual Quotations
- Religious quotations from various spiritual traditions: christianity, theosophy, sufism, Jiddu Krishnamurti, Blavatsky and more.
- All Considering
- I'm a spiritual person, but that spirituality gets expressed in ways that aren't that common. I don't do meditation. I don't actively seek out clairvoyance. I've stopped using tarot cards and the I-ching. This post is about what I do consider my spiritual path.
- Spiritual Growth Considered
- Considering life, spiritual growth and more ponderings.
- Alphatudes - the alphabet of gratitude
- I am always a bit suspicious of books about gratitude. The very concept sounds to me like a way of telling people to not feel their pain and ignore their troubles. This book is not like that. It tells us to lovingly embrace our emotions, to deal with our fears and sorrow. Yet it is also like a warm
Stepping out of your comfort zone...
Wisdom - and facing challenges
I've recently been impressed by the necessity (for me) of stepping outside of my comfort zone.
It's so easy to just be comfortable with the choices I made 10 years ago about how I would live my life - but do those choices really make as much sense as I thought they did? Or do they limit more than help?
I guess it has to do with stepping outside my comfort zone - to face the world that is, instead of the world as I'd want it to be.
More wisdom
Others on Wisdom and Spiritual Growth
- Tips for Spiritual Fasting
- Every Christian is called to fast, not just the super Christians, the pastor, the priests, the elders, or whoever else we might feel like really qualifies for deep spiritual growth. Fasting is as natural as breaking, walking, talking, and eating.
- Parenting as a Spiritual Practice
- How parenting is intimately connected with who we are, and therefore dependent on our own growth and consciousness. Riding paradoxes, for example, offering our child unconditional love andproviding direction, guidance, and at times very clear ...
- SaMaPa Aalap Festival 2012 concludes
- ... festival of Jammu and Kashmir, concluded with the divine notes of Santoor of Music Legend Pandit Bhajan Sopori along with Abhay Rustum Sopori and Sufi vocal by Ragini Rainu at the newly setup Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Spiritual Growth Centre, Katra.
Guestbook: What did you think of this lens?
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DanejaIrie
Jan 24, 2012 @ 6:30 pm | delete
- Beautiful expression of spiritual growth and of wisdom. How amazing it is to be aware of the truths of this vast knowledge!
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sponias
Aug 4, 2011 @ 2:47 pm | delete
- This is a very inspiring lens!
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dryder
Oct 19, 2010 @ 6:30 pm | delete
- Very interesting!
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mcochs
Oct 5, 2010 @ 2:51 pm | delete
- Interesting lens!
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Oct 1, 2010 @ 10:04 pm | delete
- Lovely lens spirituality.
spirituality and wisdom are only gained through experience and reading lenses like this one can only lead you on the right path.
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