+ Frederic Brussat of Spirituality & Practice blogs on Civility & Spirituality. In this post, he tells us about the Jewish practice of Mussar:
I've already
written in this blog about how two religious traditions can help us deal with
the incivility of our times. The Sufi practice of adab is an antidote to the
lack of courtesy in our society, and the Confucian virtue of Jen or human-heartedness is based on a respect for the dignity of human life which
leads to social harmony.
Another civility
resource is from the Jewish tradition: the practice of mussar. It was developed
in Lithuania in the second half of the nineteenth century by Rabbi Yisrael Lipkin
Salanter. The word means "correction" or "instruction" and
also serves as the simple modern Hebrew word for ethics. Mussar presents many
practical and everyday ways to turn around the course of incivility in our
personal and public interactions with others.
Mussar is a sturdy
and substantive spiritual curriculum that emphasizes daily practices of soul
traits such as humility, patience, gratitude, compassion, and honor that are
the signs of a decent human being. In Every Day, Holy Day, Alan Morinis, the
founder and director of the Mussar Institute, offers teachings and steps to
take in order to activate these and many other traits. He believes that
polishing the best in us and correcting our character flaws are paths to true
fulfillment as human beings.
+ Here in the USA, and I'm sure elsewhere, we have an urgent need for civility as
we work through our current political and cultural divide. We simply can’t be holy without it. We become
more civil, more holy as we practice Humility in every situation, in every
relationship, in every moment.
+ Holiness
is not one of the 37 Spirituality & Practice practices BUT put Holiness
in their Search Engine and you come up with 460 items including 227 quotes,
168 books, 28 practices, 14 teachers, 12 arts links, 7 e-courses, 3 films and 1
blog as of 5/11/16. Go to http://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/search/?q=holiness.
+ The Body gets a lot of attention from Spirituality and Practice as you can see when you go to a link to “Body” on
their search engine. You will find 1611 items as of 4/26/16.
+ I would love it if you offered a guest post on this
practice or any practice. And, I have
work to do on my Holiness Page. Maybe you can help. Send an email with the subject “Holiness” or
“Guest Post” to John@abundancetrek.com.
+ You can always find a link to any of the
Spiritual Explorations posts by going to http://abundancetrek.com/sepostsaccess.html
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