Human Spirit Research Articles

Where Is Capitalism? Unmasking Its Hidden Role in Psychology.

Our thoughts, behaviors, and well-being are deeply influenced by the economic system we live in-capitalism. While psychologists have explored capitalist ideologies like neoliberalism, they often overlook capitalism's core foundations driving inequality. This work argues that capitalism, rooted in Western colonial history, generates powerful cultural narratives prioritizing profit, competition, and private ownership. These capitalist principles manifest as pervasive societal mindsets obsessed with personal gain, viewing life as a zero-sum rivalry, and deriving self-worth from possessions. Collectively, they breed an individualistic syndrome of selfish striving at the expense of community. By understanding how these capitalist cultural forces psychologically shape us, maintaining oppressive societal hierarchies, we can reimagine economic systems that truly uplift the human spirit across all peoples and the planet we share. Unveiling capitalism's influence is crucial to recover from its alienating effects and envision liberating alternatives.

Hope and Despair in Ben Okri’s The Famished Road

The Famished Road offers a profound meditation on the human spirit’s capacity to endure, and it underscores the idea that even in the face of despair, hope remains a crucial, sustaining force. The novel’s exploration of these themes transcends its setting, offering universal insights into the nature of human existence, resilience, and the ceaseless journey toward a better future.

Fang Dongmei's View on the Universality of "Consistency" in Chinese Philosophy

In Chinese philosophy, although the ultimate pursuit of human beings by Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism is different, as Fang Dongmei said, "Confucianism lies in promoting the sage's atmosphere, Taoism is intoxicated with poetry and art, while Buddhism seeks the spiritual illumination of human spirit with painstaking wisdom", but the starting point of all three is to show that the universe and life are a coherent whole by-pass. Confucianism tends to regard human affairs and heaven as a whole, Taoism tends to regard human beings and nature as a whole, Buddhism tends to regard human beings and the universe as a whole, and Neo-Confucianism tends to regard Confucianism as the basis. Tuning, taking into account the other two, linking man and nature is another form. The consistency and complementarity of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism affect the existence of Chinese philosophy and the thinking mode of Chinese people.

Life and Death in Yu Hua’s Novels——Taking To Live and The Seventh Day as Examples

Yu Hua’s works have consistently excelled in exploring the fundamental meaning of life within tales of hardship and tragedy. Through a series of books such as To Live and The Seventh Day, Yu Hua has crafted multiple tragic stories featuring characters from different historical periods and with diverse personalities, thereby expressing his unique perspectives on life and death. The existing studies mostly analyze the life and death plot in isolation and lack an analysis of the influence of traditional culture on the formation of their concepts. This paper will take the original texts of the novels To Live and The Seventh Day as the basis, and use the method of textual analysis to analyze the views of life and death in the novels. Through the study, it is found that Yu Hua’s works present a unique new style of death aesthetics and life philosophy concepts. Through the research, it is discovered that Yu Hua’s works exhibit a unique new aesthetic of death and philosophy of existence. Yu Hua, a trailblazer in avant-garde literature, integrates traditional views on life and death with contemporary societal concerns. Through an exploration of the fragility of human physiology and the resilience of the human spirit, Yu Hua’s works offer a fresh perspective on life and death for individuals grappling with existential uncertainties. This aids in guiding individuals to seek the significance of their own lives and adopt an objective stance towards mortality.

An Integrative Pause for Healthcare Personnel Challenged by the War: A Personal Perspective.

As the war in the Middle East intensifies, the support and well-being of healthcare practitioners (HCPs) become paramount to sustaining an effective healthcare system capable of serving the diverse Israeli population. In collaboration with the integrative medicine (IM) team, we initiated a treatment intervention with the goal to relieve war-related HCPs concerns. This trilogy of narratives highlights the multifaceted experiences of HCPs in Israel during times of conflict. The director of internal medicine ward with his conventional medical and leadership expertise, provides stability and order. The IM practitioner offers holistic healing and care. The nurse reflects on her experience of being cared for. These narratives illustrate the adaptability and resilience of healthcare professionals who navigate their roles with dedication and compassion, ensuring that amidst the strife, the human spirit remains cared for and supported.

A Study on the Activating Tradition and the Will to Practice in the LiuTao

LiuTao is one of the WuJingQiShu compiled during the Yuanfeng reign of Emperor Shenzong of the late BeiSong Dynasty (1078-1085), which delineated the vertical and horizontal aspects of East Asian military science. Throughout the history of East Asia in this period, library science and bibliography, as official books, formed a huge collection. At the end of the reign of Emperor Shenzong, due to the failure and death of WangAnshi's reform, this was a historical period that could predict the trend of imperial power in the reigns of Emperor Zhezong and Emperor Huizong for more than 40 years. It also foreshadowed a large-scale war, as the capital of the BeiSong Dynasty was relocated to Hangzhou in the NanSong Dynasty (today) due to political struggles and chaos during the war. In addition, the political, social, historical, religious, linguistic, artistic and other cultural areas in this period, in addition to the geopolitical factors in East Asia, also through the textual research of various scholars in the ChunQiuZhanGuo periods, indicate the areas where ancient customs [易俗] can change the development of knowledge and information in the Middle Ages. The distribution and staging of the gains and losses in history, regional, and sociology during the ChunQiuZhanGuo periods have played a role in the development of human civilization and the spirit of war and political humanism in the common track. This is both an economic and moral, legal and educational issue, and also lies in rediscovering the ‘TaoHai (韬海)’ of hegemonic victory to inquiry the Probability variable. In order to investigate the outcome of the ‘Wuyi (无疑)’ military expert hegemony, specifically criticized the traditional activation of military politics based on probability variables and the differences in mercenary techniques and utilitarian positions reflected in the outbreak of war.

Unmet Spiritual Needs: A Study among Patients with Chronic Illness

Objectives: The conventional healthcare system operates on the ‘physiological man’ and overlooks the ‘spiritual man’. Many studies reported on the unmet spiritual needs of terminally ill patients. Despite spiritual care being a predictor of a positive mindset (meaning making) among patients with terminal illnesses, assessing spiritual needs and providing adequate spiritual care is still a distant phenomenon in the healthcare setting. Materials and Methods: With the help of a spiritual needs questionnaire, we analysed the unmet spiritual needs and preferences of 30 terminally ill patients. Specific attention was given to psychosocial, emotional, existential, religious and acceptance of death. Results: The results show that 72% of terminally ill patients reported a strong desire to have their spiritual needs met. Psychosocial needs scored the highest, while acceptance of dying scored the least. The need to be connected with the family was one of the strongest wishes expressed in the study. Religious needs ranked as the second category of needs. Findings show that the highest needs are intertwined with the patients’ culture. Conclusion: In India, religion and family connections are essential; terminally ill patients expressed the desire that meeting these two aspects makes their lives meaningful even at the end stage. The results warrant a spiritual needs assessment as a deathbed test to make the end–of–life more meaningful.

Membangun Karakter Murid Melalui Pendidikan Agama

Religious Education is an education process that has a purpose to form religious character of the religious tradition to individuals. This formation process includes an understanding of the Holy Book, religious traditions, and moral and spiritual development in accordance with religion culture and tradition. This religious education is the basis for students meditative thinking because it plays an important role in shaping human spiritual and moral development. As writers, we are using the literature review approach in writing this article in order to compile a deep understanding to improve the character education of the people based on the principles of religion culture and tradition. The results of this study confirm that Religious Education can form the students personality and character responsible individuals.

A Comparative Study On Two English Versions Of Shen Congwen’s ‘Biancheng’ From The Perspective Of Ecofeminism

The struggle to create a life-affirming society intensifies as globalization expands, which can be seen from the 1970s, women all over the world were formulating ecological feminist response to environmental influence of “modernization” through the intersection between gender, feminism and environmental issues. Ecofeminism is at the intersection of women’s rights, environmental issues and the various forms of oppression, such as those affecting marginalized and colonial people, as well as the Third World nations by the Western industrialized countries. One of the major propositions of ecofeminism is to build a harmonious planet and to abolish sexism and patriarchy, rather than subject to dominance of men and hierarchy. It, therefore, advocates to deconstruct the patriarchal perspective and reconstruct a community based on ecology and feminism, in a way to cease the exploitation of nature and promote the liberation of women. “Biancheng” is a representative work of renowned modern Chinese writer, Mr. Shen Congwen, who adhered to his contemplation on humanity’s existence and tried to communicate the essence of honoring nature and life. He transformed “Biancheng” from a conventional geographical term into a profound exploration of the intrinsic significance of human existence and spirit, with a particular emphasis on a woman’s existence and her connection with nature. Such focus led me to approach “Biancheng” through the lens of ecofeminism. In light of the ecofeminism theory, this paper selects the two prominent English translations of Biancheng by renowned translators Gladys Yang and American sinologist Jeffrey C. Kinkley for a comparative analysis. It is divided into five parts: the first deals with delineating the main ecofeminist theories, the second probes into the previous researches on ecofeminism and translated versions of Biancheng, the third refers to the work analysis, the fourth parts explores how ecofeminism is translated and demonstrated in the two versions through comparative analysis and the last part comes to a conclusion.

METHODOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF THE ANTHROPOLOGICAL PROBLEMS OF H. SKOVORODA’S PHILOSOPHY IN THE MODERN CONTEXT

The hostilities that have been taking place in Ukraine since 2014 have made socio-political transformations related to the fateful issues of the future of the Ukrainian people and nation and their state-building processes particularly acute. In such circumstances, classical socio-philosophical issues come to the fore, as they allow us to comprehensively understand human social activity, its potential, and internal and external forces, and to assess the importance of the individual as a cultural and creative being. This issue is closely related to the anthropological one in the training of philosophers since future specialists must realize that man is the center of social and socio-political processes, that he is a microcosm in which the entire macrocosm is concentrated, as H. Skovoroda argued. The philosophical symbolism of the thinker’s work is directly related to wisdom, akin to work, seeing the great in the small, revealing the mystery through the symbolic world. This is the way to a happy life. To be a human being is to be a philosopher, says Hryhorii Savych and the fate of each person is inseparable from the fate of the nation, and this unity lies in the world of freedom, which many do not understand, because it requires fighting the whole world on the principles of love, not hatred. This is the classical Ukrainian philosophy founded by H. Skovoroda. Its task is to awaken the main slogans of the Enlightenment (honor and dignity, freedom, justice, solidarity, morality) and to practically direct them to achieve both one’s freedom and the freedom of an open society. The development of such a society in Ukraine is the goal of the modern national state-building process, and the realization of the value principles is the goal of philosophical education. Future philosophers, studying H. Skovoroda’s creative heritage, can trace the evolution of the human spirit: internally devastated, without certain life guidelines, a person gradually adapts to life in society; overcomes contradictions between the individual and the general, finds a compromise in relations with the environment. Of course, not everyone will be able to successfully go through the path of their spiritual formation, since this process requires a significant strain of internal and external forces, unity and struggle of mind and feelings, worldly wisdom, and a desire to join in finding out the causes of human cruelty and arbitrariness, identifying the sources of humanity in man and society.

Василий Розанов: богоискательство как трагедия

Religion is the dominant aspect of Rozanov’s creativity. The main topics of Rozanov’s spiritual search include: God, the world and man are focused around this dominant. The peculiarity of this topics is the explication of intuition of a single whole. This intuition was realized by means of symbols that belong to the world of traditional religions. Rozanov’s creativity actualizes the opportunity of vision of religion as a phenomenon despite the prevalence of images of material things in his texts. This vision is based on a metaphysical foundation of suggestions, examined in the work “On Understanding”, where he understands religion as a temporal undetermined phenomenon. Contact with the world of religion allows us to explicate the human spirit as unity. Rozanov’s vision moves from a description of religion as unity to the description of single images of paganism, Judaism and the Christianity. Rozanov emphasizes this particular content, but his search is inspired by the doctrine of religion as having a certain potency. The realization of this certain potency is the historical development of religions, that conditions the occurrence of new religion in a cultural vacuum, and appears after the distraction of Christianity. The presentiment of metaphysical emptiness is the culmination of Rozanov’s search for God and at the same time the tragedy. Rozanov conceptualizes this intention as the absolutisation of particular things. The transparency of the religious search and the concentration on religion itself makes Rozanov’s position in some aspects close to the narrative of the classic phenomenology of religion. We study the creativity of Rozanov by means of historical-philosophical reconstruction, using elements of hermeneutic analysis.

Entrepreneurial Spirit Paving the Way for Successful AI Deployment in Knowledge Work and Organizations

The rapid advancements in Artificial Intelligence (AI) have significantly shifted the landscape of work, altering the roles of experts and knowledge workers across various domains (Humala et al. 2023). This paper explores the pivotal role of key competencies – self-efficacy, job crafting, and proactivity – in navigating the technological transformation brought about by AI in work settings. The three key competencies were previously identified as the main building blocks of the entrepreneurial spirit that is necessary for the successful use of AI in knowledge work and organizations (Humala & Lahtinen 2023, Ruohonen & Humala 2022). The research paper draws insights from a quantitative nation-wide survey that was carried out among knowledge workers in Finland. The survey was conducted during February-March 2024, with the insights gained from 474 informants. The research was funded by The Finnish Work Environment Fund and conducted by Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences based in Helsinki. Results show that while the integration of AI in knowledge work environments generally supports self-efficacy, job crafting, and proactivity, the effects are varied, showing both enhancement and, in some cases, diminishment. The findings indicate that AI’s positive influence is most pronounced among those engaged in high levels of knowledge-based tasks and who maintain a positive outlook toward new technologies. This research also highlights some disparity in experiences between different groups, particularly between younger and older knowledge workers with early- and late-careers as well as those in different work positions, pointing to the need for tailored organizational support to ensure equitable benefits from AI technologies. The research reveals that AI can significantly foster proactivity in the workplace, particularly when employees are equipped with sufficient information and resources. Ultimately, this exploration aims to provide insights into developing AI-supported business models that not only leverage the human entrepreneurial spirit but also foster an inclusive environment that enhances organizational competitiveness and innovation.

Health as ᴆagbε in the Ghana-Eυe Context: Lessons from the New Testament

How does the Church in Ghana address the growing concerns of health care delivery especially among the Ghana-Eυe from the perspective of Christianity? This is the question that this study sought to answer. Using literature research, this paper argued that holistic Christian health care is nothing short of ᶑagbε in the Eυe context. ᶑagbε is holistic well-being. Holistic well-being can hardly be separated from the salvation that Jesus offers. At his incarnation, Jesus brought the gospel of the kingdom of God/kingdom of heaven as holistic well-being for human benefit. While preaching his holistic gospel, Jesus also healed and taught people. His spectacular healing ministry and other deeds did not prove his divine sonship or messiahship but attested to the fact that in his life and ministry, the kingdom of God/heaven had come in power and glory. In Jesus then, one finds the full realisation of God’s ᶑagbε to heal the human body, soul and spirit. The study contributes to scholarship in helping to indigenize the meaning of salvation in the Eυe context. This wades into the debate on inculturation theology in Africa. Keywords: ᶑagbε, health, Ghana

Effective Methods of Tahfidz Al-Qur'An at Secondary School Age in Indonesia

The role of the Qur'an as the holy book of Muslims, is very important for human spiritual and moral life. Rasulullah SAW encouraged people to memorize the Quran as one of the noble deeds. Various methods have been developed to help the process of memorizing the Quran, including: i) Talaqqi method, ii) Takrir method, iii) Wahdah method, iv) Kitabah method, v) Sima'i method, vi) Jama' method, vii) Talqin method, viii) Sorogan method, ix) Sabak, Sabki and Manzil methods, x) Ummi method, xi) SaHal method and xii) Yadain method. This study aims to examine the implementation of these methods in memorizing the Quran. The research method used is Systematic Literature Review (SLR) by analyzing 10 reputable studies published within the last five years (2019-2024). Data sources were obtained from the scientific database, Google Scholar. This research has revealed methods of tahfidz the Quran for middle school age. The results can also be used as a reference for those who want to become Quran memorizers in high schools.

MILLIY АN’АNАLАRNING INSОN MА’NАVIYАTI YUKSАLISHIGА TА’SIRI

This article examines the influence of national traditions on the growth and development of human spirituality. It examines how cultural practices, beliefs, and values shape individual and collective spiritual experiences, and sheds light on the relationship between national traditions and the rise of human spirituality, and the relationship between culture and spirituality. 'aimed at a deeper understanding of interdependence.

Personhood in Biblical and Patristic Thought A Journey from Natural to Spiritual Man

This research challenges the materialistic view of humanity by offering a biblical and orthodox anthropological counter-narrative. It posits that human existence transcends mere matter, encompassing the body, soul, and spirit created in God's image and destined for divine communion (theosis). By examining key New Testament terms, such as natural, carnal, and spiritual man, through the lens of Patristic thought, particularly Gregory Palamas and Philokalia, this study reveals a dynamic transformation process from the natural to the spiritual man. This contrasts with the reductionist approach to materialism, demonstrating the richness and depth of the biblical and Orthodox understanding of human nature. This study contributes to a more comprehensive understanding of human identity and purpose by bridging the gap between biblical theology and contemporary philosophy, offering a fresh perspective on the complex interplay between the physical, spiritual, and divine aspects of humanity.

Postsecular, Christian, or Humanistic Spirituality in Social Work within Secular Europe.

The spirituality discourse within social work has been developing for several decades, albeit more in the USA than in the states of the EU. Europe or the countries of the EU were characterised as an exceptional case because of their secularity. Social work in Europe is also typically secular. Nevertheless, the spirituality discourse within social work is slowly developing also in Europe. In social services, chaplains, pastoral workers and assistants, and similar professions are often more responsible for spiritual care than social workers. Should social workers approach spiritual issues from the client's point of view or from atheological stance or rather just from the social workperspective? What reasons and arguments can we formulate and express? This text will discuss both these questions and their context as well as the possible answers.

Rabindranath Tagore: A Tale of a Humanist

Rabindranath Tagore is beyond an artist or a poet, who through his creative thinking and writing has given a new meaning of human life and existence. His urge towards freedom is to go beyond the narrow boundaries of religious affiliations, caste, creed, etc. and to love the fellow humans. It is the love for each other which is reflected as the passion for God. On the one hand, he acknowledged and appreciated Western thoughts and ideas, whereas on the other hand he becomes strongly critical about the Western perspective on the fragmentalization of nation-state in reference to identity and social existence. The logic of hierarchization of society, technologization of human spirit is something that bothered him the most. He emphasized on free will and freedom of human beings through coexistence and mutual respect that would give the ideal space of a nation to grow. It cannot be something which is external, coercive or imposed; rather the feeling of Nationalism has to be within, which is only possible through realization of self and the appreciation of the others. In Spite of his love for Gandhi and his practices of life, he chose to differ from him in the ways of attaining freedom from the Britishers. He believed that boycotting western products could not liberate the Indians, as the Indians themselves could liberate themselves from servocracy and aristocracy.

A Narrowing Place: Responsive Spirituality

Among the many distinct experiences of cancer is the experience of the parent who watches their child become pale and drained of energy in the weeks preceding diagnosis. The journey from there to the oncology ward is one that can be adequately described as increasingly claustrophobic. It is all one-way traffic from flourishing life to the abyss. Perhaps being a parent makes one even more prone to the universal human tendency to find fault with oneself where there is only the blind force of nature at work. Whatever dark alleyway that self-destructive sentiment emerges from to ambush the optimist, it is certainly an effective hiding place from which to cause them to stumble. The child slips inexorably out of the parent’s grasp. The notion of parental protection is no haven. Yet the blindness of nature unwittingly tips the scales. In the narrowest of narrow places, the human organism responds with homeostatic resilience. Whether death is near or far in this place is unknown. In the moment of constriction, however, the child and its parent respond with that most irreducible of passions, the will to live. The human spirit emerges.

The Ecological-Spiritual Complex in Novels of Southern Vietnam in the First Half of the 20th Century

Ecocriticism began in the 70s of the twentieth century. Up to now, the theory of ecocriticism is becoming more and more complete. Understanding the relationship between humans and nature, in the spirit of ecological humanism, non-anthropocentrism, philosophy of respect for life, and respect for “place” has brought ecocriticism to a new level in literary research. Ecocriticism elevates nature to the level of humans in the symbiotic relationship of coexistence in today's turbulent universe, especially with the threat of an increasingly harsh human living environment (drought, flood, earthquake, disease, etc.). Applying the theory of ecocriticism when studying classic literary works of the world helps scientists reconsider the concept of classical authors on the relationship between the natural environment and humans. With statistical analysis and comparative methods, we use ecological criticism theory to study some Southern Vietnamese novels of the early 20th century, especially the aspect of spiritual ecological complexity.