Clean fun is good for spirituality

KOLKATA, 5^th February 2005 -- “Clean, non-commercialised fun is good for spirituality,” claimed Dr Peter Lourdes giving the keynote address to over 500 delegates participating at the 8^th Asia Australia Congress of Don Bosco Past Pupils, at Don Bosco Park Circus this morning. The congress theme is “Salesian Education: A Celebration of holiness.”  “Spirituality is a way of living wholesome or balanced life,” explained Kolkata born senior priest psychologist Dr Lourdes.

“There are four ways of living, he said. Firstly, a Body-centred way - mostly comfort and pleasure driven; secondly, a Heart-centred way - getting its fuel from emotions and feelings; thirdly, a head-centred way - turned on by ideas and verbal clarity,” Dr Lourdes said. When the main drives, body or feelings or ideas, are not functioning for such people they cannot drive themselves. In a power failure they have no standby generator. The remote control of their turn-ons and action lies outside them. They are outer-directed, one-sided people, narrated Dr Lourdes.

“Many of them have made valuable contributions to society although they have broken down themselves. Where, then, is the rub,” he asked. According to Ayurvedic teaching, the rub is in the lack of balance.

Soul-centred way of living
To redress this imbalance some people make a major shift to a fourth way: a Soul-centred way of living. They move to another place within themselves from which they integrate and balance the body, heart and mind ways of living. They tap another source of energy, drive and action quite independent of what the outside may be. They are inner-directed people at their best. This is the spiritual trip.

It is balanced and therefore wholesome in Ayurvedic terms. It is holiness as wholeness (Josep Goldbrunner) and Soul-centred persons soon feel at some un-definable gut level that their soul is deeply centred in Something or Someone bigger and more wonderful than anything they ever imagined. They may feel close to a powerful spiritual Force which lifts them up or they may experience a contact with some Presence holy and sacred. They easily move to non-ordinary states of consciousness. This is sometimes called a God experience. Holiness is its high point.

Spirituality today is attainable: American sociologist, Andrew Greeley asked his people: "Have you ever felt as though you were very close to a powerful spiritual force that seemed to lift you out of yourself!" In 1974, 35% of them answered Yes, but by 1987 that figure leaped to 43%. In seven schools of Pune (India) students aged 13-19 were given a similar question: "Have you ever had the feeling that you were in close contact with something holy and sacred? The Yes answer came from over 35% of them. Group wise there were 25% Christians, 23% Hindus and 27 % Muslims. I imagine parents or teachers who are not Soul-centred will feel out of sorts with such young people; out of touch, as it were, with your own children,” said Dr Lourdes.

Salesian Education:  Not to miss this secret flowering of spiritual experience in their young charges Salesians make spirituality the main purpose of their education in four preferred spaces: Home for the heart, School for the mind, Church for the soul and Playground for the body. In this they take their inspiration from their founder Don Bosco who realized that many of his boys were not particularly turned on by church and prayers.

"If I tell a child", Don Bosco once said, "to pray a little everyday, he answers he has other things to do. " Some other clergyman would have raised his eyebrows at this, not Don Bosco. He saw this, writes Salesian Education expert, Dr. Peter Braido, as an explosion of natural exuberance and decided to celebrate youth spirituality in the most unlikely places such as the playground; in the playground the educator gives quality time to his children and the children find a place for an explosion of goodness. This was body-centeredness in a spiritual; context," a balanced mixture of sacred and profane, of grace and nature, in the utter human joy of the boy" (Braido).

Dr Lourdes said that not all Salesian institutions are celebrations of spirituality, but they want to be that way and, like their Founder, celebrate youth Spirituality not only in church but in the most unlikely places. For Salesians clean, non-commercialised fun is good for spirituality.

Dr Lourdes concluded his presentation inviting, past pupils of Salesian Education, to prioritise spirituality in the family by being soul-centred.  _______________________

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