Spiritual Exploration Research Articles

The Unbound Seed: Discussion of The Bad Seed: Mystical Experiences and Time Travel in the Treatment of Psychopathy

ABSTRACT In this discussion of The Bad Seed: Mystical Experiences and Time Travel in the Treatment of Psychopathy, I focus on the role of psychedelics in the remarkable clinical account Burton offers. A model for understanding psychedelic action in psychoanalytic terms is put forth, and the account of Seth’s journey is framed in this light. The understanding of psychedelics as facilitating a regression to a primary or primitive state of mind is challenged, and reformulated as expanding consciousness into more connected and unitary realms. I also question whether Burton’s patient had a mystical experience, and differentiate this from an insight-oriented psychedelic experience. These are framed in light of an understanding of the ego and ego dissolution with psychedelics. Finally, I reflect on the synchronicity between Burton’s own spiritual exploration and growth at the time of her transformative work with Seth.

The Influence of Literary Works on High School Students

The purpose of this study is to explore whether literary and artistic works are related to the formation of the concept of beautifying pain in high school students, and analyze the correlation between beautifying pain and depression, so as to predict the future development of high school students. Questionnaire method and SPSS analysis are the main methods involved in this study. This study makes up for the gap in the previous research on the concept of beautifying pain in high school students, and finds that the concept of beautifying pain is an unhealthy psychological state. The results show that high school students in first-tier cities have a relatively high degree of beautification of pain and depression. There is no significant correlation between contacting artistic works and the idea of beautifying pain, but there is a significant positive correlation between the idea of beautifying pain and depression. The degree of pain beautification and depression can predict the future development of high school students effectively, and high school students with high pain beautification are more inclined to engage in spiritual exploration majors. For high school students with high degree of pain beautification, parents and teachers need to guide, educate and give more psychological support in a special way.

“It’s not about imposing what I believe or what I value”: Social workers’ personal reflections on religion and spirituality and their influence on practice

ABSTRACT A growing body of work has identified the impact of spirituality and religion in the life of the client and the significance it has for how social workers approach and understand their work. This study, based on qualitative interviews with social work practitioners, contributes to this literature by exploring how social workers’ beliefs impact their motivation to enter the profession, their willingness to explore spirituality and religion with clients, and the role that their own sense of spirituality or religion has in supporting or challenging them in the face of a difficult profession. We found that participants expressed a nuanced understanding of their spiritual or religious identification, offering a critically reflexive stance that demonstrated a fluidity in beliefs that for several also correlated with a willingness to initiate exploration of the significance of spirituality and religion in their clients. Our findings indicate that social workers are motivated to enter a profession that aligns with their values, and that more education and training are needed to better equip social service agencies to understand the significance of spirituality and religion, and to support social workers to engage in exploration of spirituality and religion in their work with clients.

Paul Harvey. Howard Thurman and the Disinherited: A Religious Biography.

Recent scholarship on Howard Thurman, especially the publication of the five volumes of his papers envisaged and executed by Walter E. Fluker, advanced this mystic and thinker to the leading ranks of influential twentieth-century American religious figures. Among the consequential Thurman biographies is the present volume by Paul Harvey. As a part of the well-regarded Library of Religious Biography of the William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, Harvey has written an abbreviated survey of the deep and pervasive impact of Thurman upon multiple areas of religious discourse in the intercultural, interracial, and international spheres. Harvey examines how Thurman’s contemplative and spiritual explorations related to movements for societal and global reconstruction. His engagement with such diverse thinkers as Rufus M. Jones, the Quaker mystic, Mohandas K. Gandhi, the preeminent theorist and practitioner of nonviolence, and other teachers and writers provided Thurman with ideas that molded his distinctive perspectives in seeking the divine and discerning Godly revelations within the breadth of creation. Thurman’s grounding in an African American religious context, however, informed these broad facets of his capacious spirituality.

Auden-Byron Parallel: Lord Byron’s Don Juan as Intertext in W. H. Auden’s Travel Writing

ABSTRACT This paper is aimed at examining Lord Byron’s popularity among one of the modernist poets, W. H. Auden. For all of the comparisons that can be drawn between Lord Byron and W. H. Auden, there is little in criticism that interprets their connection in travel writing. Drawing on Don Juan and Auden’s two travel books as the texts, the author of the paper finds that despite the differences in social and cultural context, both of them are endowed with literary experiments, fresh new perspectives and spiritual exploration granted by travel. Travel shapes their poetics as well as politics. Through travel and writing, they challenge the norm and tradition, and yet Auden exhibits creativity in dealing with travel in the modernist period. In surveying the intertextuality of their travel writing, the author of the paper gains a sense of both their originality and traditionary indebtedness.

Did Freud Miss the Discovery of Our Spiritual Core?

A specific framework of spirituality is presented to direct this dialog between psychoanalysis and religion. The focus is on spirituality as a common and important area of interest. A cognitive-behavioral-theory-based exploration of spirituality identifies experiences of self-worth and dignity as keys to opening a spiritual core that is present in all people. This spiritual core has mystical and numinous characteristics believed to be the foundation of religious traditions. It is elaborated with many specific relationships to the psychoanalytic theory and practice of Freud, Kohut, and Jung, as well as to modern neuroscience and various religious traditions. The personal journey of the author is used to illustrate its foundation, development, and relevance for psychoanalytic, religious, and life experiences, demonstrating how all can work toward a common goal.

Psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy in palliative medicine

Depression, anxiety and existential distress associated with terminal illness have a major impact on quality of life among palliative care patients. Psychedelics are emerging as catalysts for reflective, introspective and sometimes spiritual exploration as part of psychotherapy, with potentially rapid and long-lasting multiple beneficial effects. Psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy (PAP) combines preparation, substance intake, and integration of experiences to facilitate profound psychospiritual change. Despite methodological and administrative hurdles, interest in this innovative approach continues to grow because of its potential to offer remission where conventional approaches have shown little benefits.

The Phenomenon of Holiness in the formation of Religious Consciousness: a Religious-Phenomenological Discourse

The article explores the phenomenon of holiness, which is of particular importance in the formation of religious consciousness. The research work analyzes the concept of holiness using historical-social, comparative-hermeneutical, religious-phenomenological approaches. As a result of the analysis, the theoretical and methodological foundations of the concept of holiness are proposed. In addition, a description of its scientific and practical significance in religious studies, theology, and religion in general is given. Also, from an ontological point of view, the sacred is considered as a high level of reality, separated from everyday life, from an epistemological point of view, true knowledge is beyond understanding, from a phenomenological point of view, the wonderful world, from an axiological point of view, is considered as an absolute, imperative phenomenon. Further, the role of the phenomenon of holiness in religious consciousness is emphasized. This is due to the fact that the content and specificity of religion as a sphere of spiritual life is determined by religious consciousness, and it is this consciousness that can relatively distinguish religion from other ways of practical and spiritual exploration of the world. Religious consciousness has a number of features: visualization caused by feeling, images created by the imagination, symbolism, strong emotional richness. Such features can also be described by the phenomenon of holiness. In addition, the concept of holiness, which is of paramount importance in the development of religious consciousness, arises in connection with mystery and genuine sensation. The value of the study is that the phenomenology of religion considers the concept of holiness in the context of scientific objectivity and shows that holiness determines the main forms found in religion in general, cult, religious understanding and religious consciousness. Keywords: phenomenology of religion, holiness, sacred, sacral, religious consciousness.

Video consultations in community palliative care – patient satisfaction: mixed methods study

ObjectivesCommunity palliative care (CPC) has traditionally been delivered face to face in the home or in the outpatient clinic setting. The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated the introduction of video consultation (VC)...

Challenge and Support: Worldview Champions Promote Spiritual Wellness

Extending research on encouraging students’ spiritual explorations in ways that enhance their overall wellbeing, this study examined how faculty and staff provided support to college students dealing with challenges to their spiritual wellness. Findings suggest that common challenges to spiritual wellness, such as encountering spiritual dissonance or feeling spiritually stifled, can be ameliorated when faculty and staff function as worldview champions who provide support by promoting spiritual self-leadership, helping students find their place in a spiritual community, and advocating for spaces for spiritual engagement.

Introduction to “Queer Healing and Transformative Justice”: A Special Issue of QED

Introduction to “Queer Healing and Transformative Justice”: A Special Issue of <i>QED</i>

An Exploration of Spirituality, Religion, and Suicidal Ideation Among Colombian Adolescents.

This study seeks to know if there is a relationship between measures of suicidal ideation and cognitive orientation towards spirituality, religious attitudes and beliefs, and religious practice. A non-experimental, descriptive, and correlational design, cross-sectional and quantitative approach was used. The sample was made up of 1372 adolescents, 59.2% female, 40.8% male, mean age 14.57, s = 1.75, range 12-17years old, students from public schools in two cities in Colombia. The results indicated an inverse relationship between negative suicidal ideation (NSI) and cognitive orientation towards spirituality, beliefs and attitudes, and religious practice, and a positive relationship between them and positive suicidal ideation. The regression analysis showed the contribution of spirituality, religious beliefs, and attitudes in the prediction of NSI. In conclusion, the dimensions of spirituality and religiosity can help reduce suicidal thinking, acting as protective factors. The cultivation of a spiritual and/or religious life can be suitable and complementary ways as measures of prevention of suicidal behaviour.

Gardens of the Bible as a Place of Encounter between Man and God

This article combines two goals. The first is to show the gardens of the Bible as the background settings for the most important encounters between God and man, and the second is to define the genius loci of these places. The challenge was to isolate the physical features of the gardens of the Bible as carriers of spiritual aspects. The introduction presents the role of nature and the garden as the theatre of God’s Glory (mentioned by Calvin). It explores moreover the sacred aspects of historical gardens and then describes the nature of individual gardens of the Bible and the events that took place there, closing with the results of observations ordered by parameters that make up the western-defined genius loci (spirit of the place), such as: things, earth, sky, order, and character. At the end of each description of a garden, the challenge of defining its spirit was taken for the first time. The inspiring phenomenon of gardens and the conscious use of selected elements will meet not only aesthetic expectations but also the spiritual exploration of contemporary people.

It’s a journey … Emerging adult women’s experiences of spiritual identity development during postgraduate psychology studies in South Africa

ABSTRACT The spiritual identity development of six South African, emerging adult, female, postgraduate psychology students (21 to 22 years old) was explored using reflective writing exercises and individual interviews. Interpretative phenomenological analysis revealed that spiritual identity exploration occurs continuously across the lifespan, with optimal opportunities for deepened development during emerging adulthood. Development happens in context and is enhanced by the postgraduate psychology training experience, as well as exposure to spiritual and religious diversity. Reflections on challenging events result in sophisticated meaning-making processes regarding purpose in life, as well as the authoring of a spiritual life story. There is an intricate and reciprocal relationship between the development of a spiritual identity and the psychology profession – spirituality, values and worldviews can be regarded as important aspects of the therapeutic process for many individuals.

Psychonauts and Seekers: West German Entanglements in the Spiritual Turn of the Global 1960s and 1970s

This essay focuses on West Germany as exemplary global-local intersection of the spiritual turn in the long 1960s. It shows how spirituality as practices and beliefs seeking a closer connection with the divine within or outside religious groups experienced a multifaceted renaissance in the countercultures of the long 1960s. In this spiritual quest contemporary explorations in the expansion of consciousness and the increasing interest in meditation were pivotal practices. The essay reflects the international exchange of knowledge about body-mind practices from Amazonia and Mexico to the United States, India and West Germany, showing how actors were influenced by international and national connections. Practitioners found the practices of spirituality neither in Christian contemplative traditions nor in Jewish versions, but in various forms of what seekers received and practised as Hinduism or Buddhism, etc., that gave contemporary followers and seekers a means of connecting to higher truths – to God – without God.

Time for cathedral building: reimagining school ministry

Expanding on models for school chaplaincy and drawing on the work of Fowler, Parks, Pohlman, Erikson, Williams, and Pannikar this article argues for a new and reimagined approach, shifting from a seminary model of spiritual formation to a cathedral model of spiritual exploration. Grounded in an incarnational theology and an understanding of the spiritual dissonance of youth within a pluralistic culture, the chaplain cultivates Pannikar’s christic vision within the school context. In this way, the chaplain leverages opportunities for engagement in persona Christi as missionary, witness, accompanying presence, and guide in the quest of adolescent spiritual exploration and meaning-making.

Near-Death Experiences and Religious Experience: An Exploration of Spirituality in Medicine

There has been a continuous discussion of religious experience since William James, culminating in a rich and varied literature on the epistemology of religious experience in the late twentieth century. There has also been a burgeoning literature on near-death experiences (NDEs), largely on neurology and physiology and sometimes as possible counterevidence to naturalism. One important subject is largely missing, and that is a discussion of NDEs as religious experiences, and what light that might shed on their epistemic status. This paper is an attempt to fill that gap. In part one, we will delineate the topic of NDEs and what medical science has to say about them. In part two, we will lay out a general view of the epistemology of religious experience. In part three, we will apply that understanding of religious experience to NDEs and draw what lessons we may.

Yeats’s A Vision and Sri Aurobindo’s Life Divine: The Essence of Poetry

The works of Yeats and Sri Aurobindo offer the perennial theme, source, and structure for poetry, particularly in the later phases of their lives: Yeats’s last phase makes him create his great poetry while Sri Aurobindo’s helps him write his great epic by looking into the transformation of soul, a journey of soul until it merges with the Supermind. Yeats’s A Vision is geometrical symbolism showing 28 phases of Moon and the Principles and faculties of human and civilization, while Sri Aurobindo’s Life Divine is about spiritual evolution, efforts of superhuman kind towards super mental consciousness by two ways: one to lift mind through matter, to Overmind, and then to Supermind, sat-chit-ananda. Yeats’s A Vision is a system, the myths for his poetry with which Yeats is to get to excellent poetic achievement; Sri Aurobindo’s Life Divine based on eternal and spiritual exploration achieves ultimate reality. Life is continuous: breath is necessary for life; when man is dead and his body’s organism is no longer active, life withdraws.

Sleeping into Wakefulness

This piece is composed of a blend of poetry, social commentary, and collage artwork. It aims to draw connections between sleep and liberation, exploring how deeper levels of rest can draw us toward freedom, not only in our material conditions, but of thought, imagination and spiritual exploration. Using the three stages of the sleep cycle – light sleep, REM sleep and slow wave sleep – as a metaphorical and literal device, this piece explores productivity culture’s limiting effect on our mental and spiritual health; the piece creates poetic connections between the physical phenomena and the mental and spiritual possibilities that lie within each sleep stage. As working people, especially racialized working people, we are subject to generations of sleep deprivation through historical processes of enslavement and forced labour extraction, which translates to many lost years of the higher functions of rest: self-knowledge, memory, creativity and resilience. In today’s highly corporatized economy of neoliberal social relations, all working people are subject to a similar theft of the physical, mental, and spiritual power of deep rest. As racialized women of immigrant families, we draw upon our experience of witnessing firsthand the neoliberal ideology of sleep deprivation and extreme productivity portrayed as a necessary rite of passage for our families to have established belonging, stability and safety in Canada.

Germanness and religious universalism in the aftermath of the 1844 Trier pilgrimage

AbstractIn 1844, an exhibition of a holy relic at the Trier cathedral elicited public outrage, resulting in the foundation of a new anti‐clerical confession, the German Catholics (Deutschkatholiken). This article examines conceptions of Germanness generated by the supra‐confessional public debate that followed by analysing journal publications of contrasting religious affiliations from 1844–1846. I argue that in the context of extensive and highly politicised religious deliberation, confessional divergence was not just decried as an obstacle to unity that had to be overcome but also enshrined as a mark of German singularity. Across confessional divides, the condition of disunity was thought to manifest a unique German aptitude for spiritual exploration and resistance to institutional rigidity. These qualities singled out the Germans for a spiritual quest in search of an ultimate, universal religious creed. This finding raises important questions on the interaction between inclusionary and exclusionary elements in ethnic and national identities formed in the context of internal diversity, as well as their positioning within universalistic structures.