Spiritual Discourses (book)
The Spiritual Discourses (also known as Spiritual Sayings () or Spiritual Freedom ()) is a book consisting of fifteen lectures delivered by Iranian politician Morteza Motahhari. The common aspect of all of these lectures is their reflection on self-improvement and self-cultivation, though they do also address social issues at some points. Background. Most of the lectures were delivered in Hosseiniyeh Ershad between 1968 and 1971 in Iran, Tehran. Their subject matter concerns spiritual issues around self-construction and self-cultivation. Motahhari references philosophical anthropology to explain and explore these concepts. The first edition of "Spiritual Discourses" was  published in 1986, consisting of thirteen lectures across eight chapters in Iran. In the nineteenth edition two more lectures were added to the second chapter. The Persian title of book ""Spiritual Discourses" ()" was renamed to ""Spiritual Freedom" ()" after several editions by the publisher. It has been reprinted more than 80 times in Iran. Chapters. The book "Spiritual Discourses" has eight chapters: Contents. Spiritual Freedom. At the beginning of the book, the author talks about two types of freedom: spiritual freedom and social freedom. On whether, for example, spiritual freedom is possible without social freedom, and vice versa, whether social freedom  is possible without spiritual freedom? Freedom is one of the necessities of life and evolution, that is, one of the living needs of freedom. Living things need three things to grow and evolve: 1. Education 2. Security 3. Freedom. What does freedom mean? That is, do not block his way, do not create obstacles in front of him. There should be no obstacle to stop his growth. Free human beings are human beings who struggle with the obstacles that stand in the way of their growth and development and do not accept hinder. What does social freedom mean? That is , human beings should have freedom in society from other members of society, others should not be an obstacle to his growth and development, he should not be imprisoned, he should not be made a prisoner to be stopped, others should not exploit him, hire him, enslave him, that is, do not use all his mental and physical powers for their own benefit. This is called social freedom. According to the text of the Quran, one of the goals of the prophets was to give human beings social freedom, that is, to save people from captivity, slavery and servitude to each  other. Social freedom is not possible and practical without spiritual freedom. And this is the pain of today's human society, which today wants to ensure social freedom but does not seek spiritual freedom; That is, they cannot, they do not have its power, because spiritual freedom can not be secured except through prophecy, prophets, religion, faith and the scriptures. Let us see what spiritual freedom means. Man is a composite being with various powers and instincts. There are thousands of powerful forces in human beings. Man has lust, anger, greed, ambition and extravagance. On the contrary, he has  intellect, he has nature, he has moral conscience. Man in terms of meaning, inwardness and spirit may be a free man and he may be a slave; That is, man may be a slave to his own greed, a captive to his own lust, a captive to his own anger, a captive to his own extravagance, and may be free from all of these. Worship and Prayer. In the second chapter, ""Worship and Prayer"" are mentioned: Worship, the characteristic of serving God is that the more a person follows the path of serving God, the more he possesses his power  and his divine ability. The first degree of lordship and godliness that results from worship is that man becomes the lord and owner of his own soul, he dominates his own soul. One of our miseries that we fully feel is this: we do not have control over our own souls, we do not have control over ourselves; We do not have the authority of our own tongue, we do not have the authority of our lusts, we do not have the authority of our abdomen, we do not have the authority of our sexual desire, we do not have  the authority of our eyes, we do not have the authority of our ears, we do not have the authority of our hands, we do not have the authority of our feet; And this is the ultimate misery. We do not have the authority of our own tongue: When we warm up to talk, our so-called chin warms up, we do not understand what we are saying. Now that the parliament has blossomed, we can keep neither our secret nor the secret of the people; We can not stop ourselves from blaming people, we can not stop ourselves from  backbite people. We have no control over our ears. Whatever our ear likes, for example, it likes the backbite, we also surrender, it likes the bad hobby, we also surrender ... We have no control over our anger. We say (I am one of those people): Sir, I got angry, I said whatever came to my mouth. What does it mean to be angry?! I got angry, it means I am a person who does not own my own soul, as much as I got angry, my authority is in his hands, I say whatever comes to my mouth because I  am angry. The other does not own his own lust. Should not man own his own soul? Next degree of man's power and divine ability due to worship, is mastery of the memories of the ego: After we own our tongue, hands, eyes, etc., we go one degree higher, we become the owners of our conscience memories. We do not own our own mental memories and sensual memories. what does it mean? That is, this association of meanings that occurs in our minds, it is not under our control. From this horn (think) it goes to that horn, from  that horn it goes to another horn, ... our imagination is like a sparrow. You have seen the sparrow on the tree, it goes on this branch, it immediately goes on another branch and jumps on another branch. Our imagination is constantly jumping from branch to branch. We are told to please focus your mind for ten minutes to think only about one subject. If we could?! Prayer is not accepted without the presence of the heart, that is, it does not take you anywhere, it has no properties for you. Is it higher than this? You can even affect your  body and perform miracles ... The result of servitude is domination, the essence of which is the result of servitude. Is it higher than this? Yes, but this is too high for our understandings and thoughts, many people can not believe that a human being due to worship and servitude to God, due to dying when confronted with ego's wishes, due to the fact that he has gone through the path of worship, to reach the place in The world can also conquer, that is, it can cure a disease mentally, heal a congenitally blind person... . Repentance. It is mentioned  in the third chapter, ""Repentance"": There is no point in arguing about the great stages of the seekers. If we want really move, we must see which is the first house of nearness to God, what is the stage, and where do we begin our worship. The first house of conduct to God is the house of "repentance". Repentance is a mental state and a spiritual revolution in human beings. Repentance for man is a change of course. What is it like to rise up and revolution inside a person, to rise up against himself? Can a person rebel against  himself? Yes, he can. This is because man is not only one personality, contrary to what he thinks, man have a compound personality; That is, we who are sitting here, have a body sitting here, a plant is sitting here, an erotic animal is sitting here, a beast is sitting here, a devil is sitting here. He is sitting here and an angel is sitting here at the same time. That is to say, a human being, according to the poets, is a kind of concoction in which all the characteristics are gathered. Sometimes the erotic animal -which is known  as the pig- this pig that is in human beings, takes over and does not give way to the beast and the devil and the angel. Once in one of these areas, a personality rises up against another, the whole situation is disrupted and a new government rules over human existence. The sinful man is the man whose existence is dominated by the erotic animal side of his existence, or whose existence is dominated by the devil side, or whose the beast of his existence dominates him; An angel, a great power, is also trapped in him. Repentance means that  internal uprising, that the supreme authorities of human existence make a revolution against the underling authorities of his existence -who have taken over the affairs of his internal country- at once, All the forces that exist in human beings have wisdom and expediency. If we have erotic instincts, it is not null and void. We must saturate these sensual instincts to the extent of natural need; They have a limit, they have a right, they have a pleasure, we have to enjoy these as much as they do. It's like having a horse or a dog in your house . If you want this horse for a ride or this dog for a guard, this horse or dog needs food, you have to feed it. Now there are people with crooked tastes who put pressure on themselves or their sponsored child. The child needs to play and this need to play is one of the wisdoms of God. There is an amount of energy stored in the child that he can only dissipate through play. The child has an instinct to play. If you suppress human's instincts, imprison instincts, get them angry and upset, do not give them their  due, do not give them their share; They are looking for an opportunity. These repressed stored forces break the chains at once and completely destroy the whole building of existence that has been wrongly built. Repentance is the exact opposite. A person who sins and is immersed in lust and savagery, when the angel personality of him has tormented so much, a catastrophe occurs at once. You have to satisfy your soul with worship, that is, you have to give him this right and pleasure. You are a heavenly being of attributes, you must fly to that world. When you  imprison this angel, do you know what are the many side effects and inconveniences? One day you see a wealthy young man, a young man with all the equipment, committing suicide under a small pretext. Everyone says we do not know why he committed suicide. O sir! This topic was so small! Why did he commit suicide?! They do not know that holy forces were imprisoned in him; Those holy forces have suffered from this life, they have not endured, as a result, there has been an uprising in that way. Sometimes you see that someone has everything but is  upset and suffering. He\she lives in the garden, he\she has all the means of subsistence, but he\she is sad, he\she is not happy and he\she is dissatisfied with life. Because there are pleasures that must reach him\her from within, not from without, and they are the spiritual pleasures of man. Migration and Jihad. The author mentioned in the fourth chapter, ""Migration and Jihad"": Hegira or Migration means to stay away, to move, to move from the homeland, from one's homeland, to leave everyone behind, for what? To save faith. "Environmental force" has become an excuse for many people. Someone  is asked: Mr. or Mrs. why are you like this? "The environment like this, the environment demands it," he\she says. That is, we primarily have a duty to make our environment conducive to an Islamic life, but if the environment we are in is such that we are not able to transform it into an Islamic environment and our atmosphere into an Islamic atmosphere, and we feel in this atmosphere, our faith, the faith of our wive, the faith of our children, the future generation will be destroyed, Islam says leave the environment. Also, migration is interpreted as the migration  of sins. About Islamic Jihad is not just about swordsmanship and fighting the enemy of Islam. A mujahid is someone who struggle with his ego. A fighter is a person who can fight with his ego, his ego's wishes, in the inner struggle that always exists in all human beings (on the one hand, the ego and on the other hand, the intellect). Imam Ali says: "The most courageous people are the ones who prevail over the wishes of the ego". The bravest people are the ones who are victorious over the wishes of their egos. This means original  courage. The prophet Muhammad says: "Stronger than all of you is the one who can hold his tend when he has a strong desire for sin". The strongest of you is the one whose ego does not force him to sin. A mujahid is someone who fights with his ego. A brave person is one who can take care of himself. Nobility and Magnanimity of Spirit. It is mentioned in the chapter five, ""Nobility and Magnanimity of Spirit"": If one has a great soul, one will inevitably his body suffer. Certainly, great effort is a sign of a great soul  and small effort is a sign of a small soul. What is the difference between greatness and magnanimity? Suppose a person is a great scientist and has no other virtue than science, that is, someone who just wants to make a new discovery, to do new research. This is a great thought, that is, a great will and a great effort in the way of science. The other is a great addict who is always looking for wealth and wealth is his goal, it is a great lust, it is a great greed. Another is a great rivalry, another is  a great grudge, another is a great jealousy, another is a great ambition. These are all great selfishnesses. None of this can be considered magnanimity; It is great, but it is not magnanimity. It is very significant from a psychological and philosophical point of view, and that, man has is a kind of feeling in his conscience, soul and psyche, and according to the Quran in his nature, other than such greatness -which is a return to great selfishness- it has another greatness in itself that is not of this kind; It must be said great humanity. Sometimes he (or  she) feels honor in his soul, that is, he feels greatness in the form of honor. This is a great man, not a great selfish man. It is higher than selfishness. How about he steps on selfishness out of a sense of honor and greatness? This person wants to be great, but he want to be bigger than such and such a person; Someone has some amount of wealth, I should have more than him, such and such a person should only be condemned to my sentence, I should order and he should obey, I should be the commander and  he should be obedient. but nobility is another issue: In the face of evil, he feels great for his own soul and spirit. For example, a human being basically does not allow his soul to lie, he basically considers lying to be a lowly one, he feels superior in his own soul. It is greatness versus weakness. This greatness, which we call "magnanimity", is opposite to denial and baseness. Man feels greatness in his spirit, that is, he realizes an honor in himself by which he avoids weakness. Honor your spirit, honor it, be superior to any lowly work. In  front of every inferior, think that my spirit is higher than being infected with this. Just like a person who has a great painting on which, when a black spot is found, he sees dust on it, he immediately picks up the handkerchief and cleans it. If you tell him why you are doing this, he will say that it is not a pity that such a painting has such a black spot on it ?! He feels that this painting is so beautiful and wonderful that it is a pity that there is a black spot in it. Also Imam  Ali says that, feel this beauty in your spirit, feel greatness, Feel like a character who, regardless of any belief, regardless of any fantasy, regardless of any material need, basically know yourself bigger than surrender to weakness. Is there a lie? It is a vile lie, it is denial. You are beautiful, you are great, you have magnanimity, you are perfect. Think of yourself as superior to humiliating yourself with lying. Don't ask people for something. Asking people is baseness act; You are great, magnificent, beautiful. You are human; The status of humanity is higher than that of a  man begging for his own needs from another. "Imam Ali" says: "Accept with scanty and do not ask other". "Imam Ali" says: "An honorable and zealous person never commits adultery"; This is regardless of whether adultery is forbidden or not. He says that an honorable person, a zealous person, a person who feels greatness, feels honor in his spirit, never commits adultery. The one who has made greed for others his motto, has made himself insignificant and contemptible, has made himself inferior; That is, a person who feels magnanimity is impossible to covet others. The one who tells his suffering  to others should know that he has given in to humiliation. An honorable person, a person who feels humanity and dignity, is not even willing to share his suffering with others. He tolerates resentment and does not express it to others. Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq says: "Do not tell people about any misery and hardship you are in, because you are getting contemptible". Belief in the Unseen. The author mentioned in the chapter six, ""Belief in the Unseen"": In Quran: Al-Baqara we read: "Who believe in the Unseen", those who believe in hidden truths. The unseen is that man  confesses that there are truths and realities in the universe that I cannot comprehend with my own body shell, that is, with my own senses, even if they are present here; My eyes, my ears, my taste, my touch and my nose cannot comprehend them. That is, I judge myself by the fact that these senses that I have are very limited means given to me to make contact with the outside world. The greatest mistake that man makes in his life and gives it a scientific form is to think that the senses given to him in  this world and in this nature are for sense and discover everything in this world. So that if he does not understand something with his own senses, he denies it and says that it does not exist, because if it were, I would touch it with my own hand, I would see it with my own eyes. I heard it with my own ears or tasted it with my own taste. The Quran states everything that one should believe in with the word "unseen"; Belief that there are facts and realities that are beyond my senses. I did not say  that any claim that is unseen should be believed, but the unseen should not be denied. There should be no denying hidden facts. How can a person believe in the unseen? There are thousands of signs in the world that at least prevent the denial of the unseen, that is, enter man from the stage of denial to the stage of doubt. In religion, the main thing is the relationship that is established between man and God, between us and the unseen world. Religion, on the one hand, compels us to act and strive and, in the words of "Imam  Ali", to serve, and on the other hand, it says that there are spiritual connections between the unseen and here; You pray, you want, you ask for help, you reach the goal and the result in a secret way that you do not know. Religion says give alms, God will solve the calamity in a secret way that you do not know. Pray (which of course has conditions; if the prayer is done with those conditions) you will get the answer in a secret way. Decide, ask God for inspiration in things, then you will see that at a certain  time, at the right time, God inspired your heart, He will help you from the unseen. The Criteria for Humanity. It is mentioned in the chapter seven, ""The Criteria for Humanity"": We want to know what is the standard and level of humanity. If we want to meet the standard of humanity biologically, it is a simple and easy task. In biology, only the human body is involved. There they discuss what category man is in among the various classes of animals. Or on a medical scale and even on a psychological scale. From a biological point of view, from  the point of view of a physician and even from the point of view of a psychologist who discusses human physical or mental devices, no distinction can be made between the two, just as there is no difference between Imam Hussein and Yazid. Both are biologically and medically and even human psychologically the same system. In the humanities we see that we are talking about a perfect man and an imperfect man, we are talking about a fallen man and a progressive and transcendent man. What makes one a reprehensible degenerate and even deserving of death and another an admirable  human being; For example, the Quran considers human beings to be superior and higher than angels. But it also says about humans that animals are superior to them. We examine different theories about the standard of humanity; Science: The more science and knowledge a person has, the more human he is? and the more he lacks science and knowledge, the more he lacks humanity? So a first grader is more human than someone who hasn't been to school yet. A second grader is more human than a first grader? Knowledge, of course, is a condition for humanity. Awareness and  being clear to the world, to oneself and to society cannot be denied, but this is certainly not enough. Mood: Man may be aware and know everything, but his temperament may not be human temperament. The temperament that is the standard of humanity is kindness, it is humanity, and the mother of all other good temperaments is kindness. Like for others, what you want for yourself, and do not like for other, what you do not like for yourself. This logic is the logic of kindness. Will: Another school says: the criterion of humanity is "will". In other words , the criterion of humanity is man's domination over himself, over his spirit, over his nerves, over his instincts, over his lusts, so that everything that is issued from man is according to reason and will, not according to desire. The will has more of an inner aspect, it is the opposite of desire, it frees man from the attraction of desires, that is, it gives desires control to man. He works on his volition, not as he pleases. Being a function of decision and thought is different from being a function of desire; It is a kind of domination  of desires. If you have noticed, the moral scholars, our ancient morals, have mostly relied on the issue of the will, the will that governs human desires. The prophet Muhammad says: "The strongest and most powerful is the one who, when he gets angry, is not overwhelmed by anger, but he overcomes his anger, and does not throw his anger in a way that is not pleasing to God, to control his own anger; And when he likes something," "that pleasure does not throw him away from the pleasure of God, and he can control his own pleasure, his own  desire." Freedom: New schools place more emphasis on freedom as a criterion than human standards; That is, as much as a person can live freely, he is as much a human being. Both true and false; That is, it is true as part of human humanity, but not as the whole standard of humanity. According to Islam, just as human kindness for each other is encouraged and sanctified and invited to it, and just as human domination over one's self is sanctified and invited, so is freedom and liberty. "Imam Ali" says: "Never make yourself another slave that God  created you free." Responsibility and duty: In this view, it is said that man is the one who feels obligated, feels responsible towards other human beings (this is other than kindness, do not be mistaken), feels that he is responsible for his society. Beauty: Plato described morality on the basis of beauty, saying that it is something human that is beautiful. He says that if a person wants to be a human being and reach human qualities, he must strengthen the feeling of beauty in himself; Its root is beauty. Of course, he notices that human beauties are spiritual beauties . The School of Humanity. It is mentioned in the chapter eight, ""The School of Humanity"": Man, who is the only universal explorer and researcher we know, has always been one of the topics of his own discussion and research; The meaning of the word "humanity" has always been associated with a kind of holiness and transcendence, as special things above the human animal such as knowledge, justice, freedom and moral conscience are known as sacred. In the last two or three centuries, man has fallen from this great position he once assumed for himself, a very crushing fall. Man, who  considered himself an almost celestial being of race, and believed that the Spirit of God was breathed into this body that man had come into being, biological research on the evolution of species has linked human lineage and race to the same animals that humans despise; Man has one fundamental difference with the animal, man is more potential and less active than any other animal. what does it mean? That is, for example, a horse is a horse and actually has everything it needs to be a horse. There is a no small amount of being a horse remains that , should be achieved through practice. A horse is born an actual horse. But it is man who is born as a hundred percent potential being; That is, when he (or she) born, it is not at all clear what will happen in the future for him (or her). His (or her) reality in the future may be the reality of a wolf, it may be the reality of a sheep, while the form is the form of a human. It may also be the reality of a human being. Among the questions that are asked about human beings are the  issue of human freedom and authority and the issue of human responsibility and mission. Is man really a free and independent being? And is he responsible? And does he have a mission that he must fulfill? Quran says about man the greatest phrase: "God's viceroy". And gave him this position: "to know all the "names"" (The name of a thing means the key to knowing that thing). "We taught him the key to knowing everything". "Then we brought the angels of the upper world to compete with man. Man won over the angels". "Then we said to them": "Angels ! Didn't I say I know things you do not know ?! You read the other side of the coin"; "This creature, because he has lust and anger, bleeds, kills and sabotages". Man is the manifestation of God's activity and creativity. Many people who seek the center of pleasure outside of themselves and are constantly seeking to enjoy life, those who do not know themselves as human beings; That is, they do not know themselves as the main center of pleasure and bliss - which arises from within man himself. Where will he look for the pleasure? From the wineglass, from  the nightclub. Of course, it is not right for man to abandon foreign objects altogether and to take the Indian extremist school and say that basically all pleasures must be sought from within. It does not mean to leave things outside. What he means is that if man wants pleasure, he should not think that he can find all pleasures in material things outside of himself. The main focus of pleasure is in oneself, or at least there must be a balance between the two outside and inside. Reception. Ali Khamenei, Supreme Leader of Iran, in a meeting with a  group of poets on August 15, 2011, after pointing out the usefulness of reading the Quran, Nahj al-Balagha and Al-Sahifa al-Sajjadiyya, recommended reading the book "Spiritual Discourses". Translations. The book "Spiritual Discourses" originally published in Persian. It has been translated into English, Urdu, Spanish and Arabic too.