Spiritual growth, community service for a better life for all people and future generations

[Jim]

I’m practicing and promoting spiritual growth and community service as ways of of helping to improve the lives of all people everywhere and helping to improve the world for future generations. I’m posting this to see if anyone else here is doing that and would like to discuss it.

 

[sun rise]

I agree with the OP. I really don't have much to say beyond that except that acts of love and kindness spread like ripples influencing people. And that the more we grow, the more light can come through us.

 

[Jim]

I agree with the OP. I really don't have much to say beyond that except that acts of love and kindness spread like ripples influencing people. And that the more we grow, the more light can come through us.

I like that way of saying it. Thanks for posting!

 

[Jim]

I’ll post some of my thought about this, and what I’m doing and hoping to do. Some of it revolves around continually trying to improve my character, my capacities and the way I live my life, in ways that will help improve the lives of people around me and all people everywhere, and help improve the world for future generations; and helping with the growth and spread of healthier, happier and more loving communities.

Currently I’m trying to learn to be more friendly to all people everywhere all the time, and to learn to say whatever I want to say in non-intimidating and non-incriminating ways. For a while I was trying to learn ways to help make life easier and more fun for people around me, in everything I do, everywhere all the time. I practiced looking for beauty all around me, and in people’s faces, to fill myself with joy, hoping for that joy to spread to people all around me. Other qualities that I’ve worked on in the past have been purity, kindness and humility. I had a long list of what I wanted to practice in Internet discussions, but for now I’ve reduced it all to friendliness. I want to learn to resist the temptation to post until I can say everything I want to say with genuinely friendly feelings.

I’m going through a list of practices from some training materials for spiritual growth and community service, practicing them one by one. There are some that I can’t do in my current circumstances, so I roleplay them. I’m on the first one now, which is to read from my scriptures morning and evening. I’m using an app for learning habits. When I kept forgetting to do it, the app suggested for me to try doing it once a day. I rejected that idea at first, but on second thought I decided to do it. Now I’m on day 22.

I’m still not planning to post much in these forums for now, but when I do, I want to try to find friendly and helpful ways to respond to what people are saying and doing, as a way for me to practice community service.

Another way I’m practicing community service online is posting photos on Facebook, of some of the scenery of Guilin. To roleplay community service in my neighborhood offline, I’m doing origami sometimes in a place where people walk by.

 

[PoetPhilosopher]

I’m still not planning to post much in these forums for now, but when I do, I want to try to find friendly and helpful ways to respond to what people are saying and doing, as a way for me to practice community service.

That's fine. But I just wanted to let you know you're a great presence on this forum, who does seem to make a difference.

 

[Jim]

Update on what I’m practicing and promoting and where I am with it:

I’m practicing and promoting spiritual growth and community service, as ways of helping to improve the lives of all people everywhere, and helping to improve the world for future generations. Spiritual growth includes nurturing warm feelings and friendly intentions towards all of nature including all people everywhere. Community service includes helping with the education and training of children, and self-development that is consciously aimed at improving the lives of all people everywhere and improving the world for future generations.

Some of my ways of promoting all that are continually trying to improve my own practice; learning to be a better friend to more people; noticing when people are doing those things and finding friendly and helpful ways to respond to that; and learning to use storytelling to promote those ideas.

Some ways that I’m currently trying to improve my own practice:
- Using some training materials designed for that purpose. Those materials include some specific ways of practicing. I’m going through those practices, practicing each of them one by one. I’m still on the first one, which is reading from my scriptures morning and evening. I’m using a phone app for learning new habits. For now I’m only trying to learn to do it once a day. I’ve done it now for 28 days in a row.
- When I don’t know any way to do something I want to do, I roleplay it. I don’t know what to do for community service in my neighborhood, so I’m roleplaying it by doing origami outside sometimes where people will see me doing it. I’m roleplaying community service online by posting photos from Guilin here and on Facebook, sharing some of the beauty that I see in my Facebook neighborhood, and trying to find friendly and helpful ways to respond to some of what people are saying and doing here and on Facebook
- Choosing some specific self-development goals of my own. Currently one of those is learning not to post here until I can do it with genuinely friendly feelings towards everyone. Related to that is learning to say what I want to say, online and offline, in non-intimidating and non-incriminating ways. Another is trying to practice more humility and kindness. Another is learning better ways of changing habits and learning new ones. Another is learning not to let papers pile up into stacks and stacks here and there. Another is learning to listen to people’s problems without immediately trying to think of ways to help fix them.

There might be more, but I’ll stop there for now.

 

[Riders]

I’m practicing and promoting spiritual growth and community service as ways of of helping to improve the lives of all people everywhere and helping to improve the world for future generations. I’m posting this to see if anyone else here is doing that and would like to discuss it.

Yes I plan on going to activities at the library which helps support the library getting money for those activities and also am going to my political party meetup where I will do some volunteer work while Im there.

 

[Riders]

Update on what I’m practicing and promoting and where I am with it:

I’m practicing and promoting spiritual growth and community service, as ways of helping to improve the lives of all people everywhere, and helping to improve the world for future generations. Spiritual growth includes nurturing warm feelings and friendly intentions towards all of nature including all people everywhere. Community service includes helping with the education and training of children, and self-development that is consciously aimed at improving the lives of all people everywhere and improving the world for future generations.

Some of my ways of promoting all that are continually trying to improve my own practice; learning to be a better friend to more people; noticing when people are doing those things and finding friendly and helpful ways to respond to that; and learning to use storytelling to promote those ideas.

Some ways that I’m currently trying to improve my own practice:
- Using some training materials designed for that purpose. Those materials include some specific ways of practicing. I’m going through those practices, practicing each of them one by one. I’m still on the first one, which is reading from my scriptures morning and evening. I’m using a phone app for learning new habits. For now I’m only trying to learn to do it once a day. I’ve done it now for 28 days in a row.
- When I don’t know any way to do something I want to do, I roleplay it. I don’t know what to do for community service in my neighborhood, so I’m roleplaying it by doing origami outside sometimes where people will see me doing it. I’m roleplaying community service online by posting photos from Guilin here and on Facebook, sharing some of the beauty that I see in my Facebook neighborhood, and trying to find friendly and helpful ways to respond to some of what people are saying and doing here and on Facebook
- Choosing some specific self-development goals of my own. Currently one of those is learning not to post here until I can do it with genuinely friendly feelings towards everyone. Related to that is learning to say what I want to say, online and offline, in non-intimidating and non-incriminating ways. Another is trying to practice more humility and kindness. Another is learning better ways of changing habits and learning new ones. Another is learning not to let papers pile up into stacks and stacks here and there. Another is learning to listen to people’s problems without immediately trying to think of ways to help fix them.

There might be more, but I’ll stop there for now.

Schools and libraries are always hiring volunteers but all of that is positive and good. You can also use facebook to post posts that raise money and awareness for charities you care about as well. I am not physically able to do volunteer work at the library now but will be going to the activities, so being involved with the library and even just checking out books using your library always helps the library stay alive. If you do the activities, the more people get involved in those the more the state grants money tot he library for programs.

 

[Jim]

Schools and libraries are always hiring volunteers but all of that is positive and good. You can also use facebook to post posts that raise money and awareness for charities you care about as well. I am not physically able to do volunteer work at the library now but will be going to the activities, so being involved with the library and even just checking out books using your library always helps the library stay alive. If you do the activities, the more people get involved in those the more the state grants money tot he library for programs.

Riders, you light up my life sometimes in these forums.

 

[Jim]

Warning: I’ll be posting in this thread about a kind of community development that is being promoted by the Baha’i Universal House of Justice.

I was wishing for people to talk to about spiritual growth and community service, and I remembered this thread. I might post here sometimes about my ideas and experiences in practicing and promoting that in online neighborhoods. I’ve done a little of that in these forums, but the best possibilities that I see for me are in my Facebook neighborhood.

 

[Jim]

I see a discussion happening about toxic behavior in the forums. I’ve learned some skills to avoid doing it myself, and to help reduce and counteract the adverse effects from other people doing it.

 

[TransmutingSoul]

I see a discussion happening about toxic behavior in the forums. I’ve learned some skills to avoid doing it myself, and to help reduce and counteract the adverse effects from other people doing it.

Well done Jim, that is what I see Faith is about, the transformation of self.

That is the only place that change can start. Your posts are now worded in a way that makes more sense and I am happy to talk in this post with you.

My wife and I chose to move to a remote location, that not many other people would want to move to, with a goal to live the life and in deeds, work and friendships and in that light, share the unity we have found in the writings of Baha'u'llah.

Regards Tony

 

[Jim]

I’m bringing this up again because I see it as part of the foundation for some other things I’m thinking of doing in the forums. I’m thinking of trying to help educate people about some things, but the benefit of that might depend on people learning better how to satisfy their psychological and social needs, I see spiritual growth and community service as part of that. What I’ve been doing for that sometimes is looking for people practicing and promoting that, and trying to find friendly and helpful ways to respond to what they’re doing.

 

[Jim]

Do you have a daily practice that helps keep your heart in the right place for spiritual growth and community service? I read from a prayer book and a book of daily readings, and I repeat one of the names of my God a number of times. I’d like to be doing that morning, noon and evening every day, but for now I’m struggling with trying to learn to do it once a day. I used to have good habits, but I lost them when we came to China. Then I started learning them again, but I lost them again after our last trip to the US.

 

[Ayjaydee]

Daily meditation and reminder that all conditioned things i encounter are impermanent and ultimately unsatisfactory as often as I remember which is far from often enough