Spiritual or moral education addresses values and shapes character; it largely determines to what end an individual will use whatever knowledge he or she acquires.
Spiritual or moral education is almost never seen outside of parochial schools or religious institutions, is shunned in most developed countries as irrelevant or intrusive to modern education and is rarely funded by international donors. It is the one kind of education which asserts the dignity of the human spirit in all its diversity and formalizes its relationship to the Divine. Such universal human values as truthfulness, trustworthiness, courtesy, generosity, respect and kindness are rapidly disappearing from our increasingly belligerent and fractured world. Through moral or character education, whether formalized in religious or secular programs or provided informally by wise and caring family or community members, that which is valued by society and gives meaning to life is transmitted to succeeding generations.
The Great Being saith:. Regard man as a mine rich in gems of inestimable value. Education can, alone, cause it to reveal its treasures, and enable mankind to benefit therefrom. – Baha’ullah
The fundamental Baha’i principles call for a complete restructuring of humanity’s priorities — from material to spiritual, from exclusive to inclusive, and from divisiveness to unity.
Morals and virtues. The Golden Rule, right from wrong. These are the essential parts of a spiritual education. Nothing new. Parents have been instilling these values into their children throughout the generations, to create better people.
Where or how does humanity start? ‘Abdu’l-Bahá stated it starts with: “… truthfulness, for truthfulness is the foundation of all the virtues of the human world, and without it prosperity and salvation are unattainable to any soul in all the worlds of God. Whensoever this holy attribute becometh securely established in one’s being, the acquisition of all heavenly virtues will be realized. Truthfulness, uprightness and integrity are the attributes of the righteous and the hallmarks of the pure. Truthfulness is the goodliest of qualities as it comprehendeth all other virtues. A truthful person will be protected from all moral afflictions, will shrink from every evil deed, and be preserved from every wicked act, inasmuch as all vices and misdeeds are the very antithesis of truthfulness, and a truthful man will hold them all in utter abhorrence.”
In this day and age humanity is accosted with the competing forces of living with each other and living for oneself, using all the advancements and ‘stuff’ now in the world. The ‘stuff’ is not inherently bad nor is it good. It is all in how it is used going back to the priorities humanity attaches to it. Baha’u’llah wrote that a person begins applying morals and virtues by: “… man should know his own self and recognize that which leadeth unto loftiness or lowliness, glory or abasement, wealth or poverty. … The straight path is the one which guideth man to the dayspring of perception and to the dawning-place of true understanding and leadeth him to that which will redound to glory, honor and greatness.”
The Teachings of God (whatever the name), has been the source of spiritual education since religion became known. In the Bahá’í Faith the spiritual education of children is of the highest priority, because the teaching of the next generation(s) is the best pathway to peace, the establishment of the oneness of humanity, and a spiritual civilization as envisaged by Baha’u’llah.
“Strive, therefore, with heart and soul that ye become ignited candles in the assemblage of the world, glittering stars on the horizon of Truth and may become the cause of the propagation of the light of the Kingdom; in order that the world of humanity may be converted into a divine realm, the nether world may become the world on high, the love of God and the mercy of the Lord may raise their canopy upon the apex of the world, human souls may become the waves of the ocean of truth, the world of humanity may grow into one blessed tree …” ‘Abdu’l-Bahá