Hyperreligiosity Research Articles

Rethinking the Sword Verse and Interfaith Dialogue: A Contextual Analysis

After sixty years of independence, Nigeria still struggles to find a unifying identity. Hyper religiosity and rigid tribal consciousness radically continue to define the national psyche. Colonialism operates with the intent to erase the other who falls victim to its sway. Thus, a society that suffers from the trauma of colonialism is a society that is always struggling with the fears of erasure, and Nigeria is no exemption. As Christians and Muslims seek to legitimize themselves in the country, they end up erasing each other from national life as though they have a monopoly over the nation. To address these colonial pathologies defining the national psyche, an interfaith theology of recognition ought to be embraced. This is a theology that is intentionally inclusive and grounded in the prophetic with the intent to affirm the flourishing of all lives both within and outside of one’s own religious tradition.

Guru, vriddha, rishi and siddha grahonmaada: Geschwind syndrome?

Background: “Bhuta vidya” (Ayurvedic psychiatry) is one of the eight branches of Ayurveda. The person afflicted with bhuta/graha gets grahonmaada/bhutonmaada and he will exhibit superhuman abilities or qualities without any nown/visible etiopathology. Among the 18 types of bhutonamaada's explained by Vagbhata, “Guru, Vriddha, Rishi and Siddha grahonmaada” (GVRSG) is one. Till date, there is no clear understanding about etiopathology, symptomatology, and management of GVRSG. No works have been conducted on this topic. Aim and Objective: The present article aims at better understanding of GVRSG. Discussion: Geschwind syndrome is characterized by hypergraphia, hyper religiosity, hyposexuality, circumstantiality, and intensified mental life. People like Guru, Vriddha, Rishi, and Siddha in ancient India are known to have qualities such as, “knowledge,” “teaching,” “moralistic,” “disciplined,” “religious,” “ethical,” “experienced,” “having super natural owers,” “counselor,” “guide,” and “following celibacy,” which resembles with the symptomatology of Geschwind syndrome such as, hyper-religiosity, hypergraphia, hyposexuality, emotional liability, grandiosity, and obsessive-compulsive like symptoms. Conclusion: There is marked similarity found between GVRSG and Geschwind syndrome and Ayurvedic diagnosis of Guru, Vriddha, Rishi, and Siddha bhootonmada/grahonmada is suitable for Geschwind syndrome.

A liberalizing approach to maladaptive fundamentalist hyperreligiosity.

A liberalizing approach to maladaptive fundamentalist hyperreligiosity.