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Hi all

I have reflected on the very profound explanations of their spirituality 
that Alan and Alon sent, and thanks for the sharing.  But it is Ram's 
"spirituality without practice is meaningless and divisive' that rang 
bells for me.  Briefly, my 'submission' is to notions of interaction 
being more important than solitude.  I'm not expressing this well, but 
what I want to say is that if I meditate alone, and develop my 
spirituality/theology alone, I run the risk of going off track (though I 
agree with Ram that meditation is important).  Rather, what helps me to 
see whether I am 'practising' my claimed spirituality effectively and 
sincerely is through my interaction with others - with students, with 
peers, with friends, with family and with mentors.  They should, and do, 
feel free to challenge me when my espoused theory differs from my theory 
in use, whether it's pedagogical or spiritual - not that there should be 
a huge difference between the two! (grin)

So, submission?  Yeah, I guess the submission is to notions of 'God 
within' motivating me to try to leave the world in some way a better 
place than I found it.  To respond with humility when challenged on my 
inconsistencies.  To try to light fires of inspiration in others' hearts 
and lives, but to let these burn in ways that work for /them/, not to 
become clones of my belief system.  It's that kind of submission - not 
to 'authority' as Alan describes it, which I think can be dictatorial 
and often unjust, as he indicates.  It's submission to internal (and to 
me, God-inspired) prompting, and accepting the wisdom of others as a 
balancing and correcting device when necessary.

Hope that makes sense.
With love
Pip

Ram Punia wrote:

> Dear Jack and all
> I liked your and alan's thoughts on spirituality. I wish to share my 
> understanding of spirituaity from my study and struggles to practice 
> it that spirituality transcends human knowlege creating  individual 
> I/self and duality.Spirituality without practice is meaningless and 
> divisive. That is why people of different religions are at odds with 
> each other. Once a person lives by the universal principles of all the 
> main religions of the world he/she begins to achieve the full 
> potential of human birth.We begin to experience and display unity and 
> love through our normal behaviour spontaneously. To live by the 
> principles is the hardest human task,as, it is a battle of the self/I 
> with itself to improve itself, to take consciouness even beyond the 
> human mind. Meditation is the way to spiritual knowledge. No wonder 
> most people prefer to discuss spiritually but fail to live by it. Some 
> people display spirituality naturally. Most of the people who seemed 
> to work with you jack displayed a degree of spirituality. That may be 
> power that brought us together. In contrast ost-modernity is becoming 
> popular. According to its tenet there are no grand narratives and 
> anything goes.
> With love and regards,
> Ram