Spiritual Ideas Research Articles

From Inertia to the Absolute: On Visuality and Religion in Jean Labatut

This article offers an analysis of the ideas of the French architect Jean Labatut, who was the director of graduate studies at Princeton’s Department of Architecture in the post-Second World War years (1949–67). Throughout his career at Princeton (1928–67) he developed a pedagogical system centred on a visual engagement with the built environment. As a progressive Catholic, Labatut integrated spiritual concerns within his educational programme at Princeton. Labatut’s spiritual ideas were given a sharper focus following his intellectual exchanges with the French Catholic philosopher, Jacques Maritain, when they were colleagues at Princeton during Second World War. The aim of this article is therefore twofold. The first part situates and unpacks the core components of Labatut’s intellectual universe, under the rubrics of phenomenology, visuality, and history. The second part examines the idea of resonance between religious and architectural ideas by analysing the way Labatut drew upon Maritain’s existential Thomism of the late 1940s.

Українська народна пісенність буремних років (пісні полону Другої світової війни)

The article covers the complex processes of folk art during the Second World War, in particular slave poetry. In times of war, the creation of folk poetry is intensified, which is caused by the need to respond to events, to record them, above all, in memory. These song responses to events take place on the material of "old" samples of poetry that are already known. And «innovations» are used by participants of events and are saturated with new realities. Such is the folk song of the period of fascist captivity during the Second World War. The genesis of the poetry of captivity of the studied period can be traced on a large factual material, it is proved that genetically slave poetry of the period of the Second World War is connected with the cries of slaves and has its roots in the long history of Ukraine. These motives are still heard in the old Cossack thoughts, in which the lamentation gradually turns into a lyrical song. And during the war troubles of the twentieth century, these songs became relevant and sounded in a modern way. The article analyzes recordings of songs that reflect the grief of young girls taken to forced labor in Germany, the suffering of mothers who lose their children. Most of the analyzed works are stored in the funds of the IMFE of Ukraine, as well as in the own records of the authors of the article. The folklore of captivity, according to the authors of the article, fully reflects the deep universal feelings. It is the basis of artistic culture, because the socio-pragmatic world is conditioned by spiritual ideas about its integrity and ideals. The folklore of captivity, according to the authors of the article, fully reflects the deep universal feelings. It is the basis of artistic culture, because the socio-pragmatic world is conditioned by spiritual ideas about its integrity and ideals.

Scientific Approaches to Postmodern Spirituality: Theoretical and Methodological Aspects

Today spirituality in the educational process as an independent object of formation and study is practically absent. About this concept is only a unsystematic mention within secondary topics. However, without certainty regarding this concept and the concentration of the educational process on it, it is impossible to solve the key tasks of educational activity. Without the ideas of spirituality and spiritual values formed in the personality, it is impossible to talk about the presence of the spiritual foundations of development and life. The culture of spirituality in the modern world is quite similar to that in the 20th century, because today society provokes a spontaneous acceleration of the pace of changes in life, and therefore the perception of the surrounding world and events in it also changes: knowledge and values become unstable ephemeral. Post-industrial society focuses on material successes, ignoring utilitarian values, and sceptical attitude towards reality often develops into nihilism. The world in which we live gradually begins to resemble chaos, in which there are no moral guidelines and main human values, therefore, losing the real foundation in the outside world, a person often turns to the inner world, to spirituality, in order to hide from “world” problems and difficulties.

Cultural and educational significance of the uzbek musical culture

The article draws attention to the actual problems of spiritual education of musicians and singers through the traditional Uzbek music culture, as well as the use of theories of the great thinkers and musicians of the East. The music affects the person in many ways: the melody and its musical expressions affect the person's emotions and create different emotions and emotions. The song's textual content is not only emotionally appealing but also inspires and motivates the listener. The listener perceives the song not only with its loneliness but also with its consciousness, as the text of the song, the ideological content expressed in it, has a definite relation to the spiritual problems reflected in the song. “The artistic power of classical music is in their harmony with the hopes, emotions, virtues and realities of the people, reflecting the spirit and pain of the people, and the harmony of the words, the tone, the words and the music. That is why in art studies the works of pre-revolutionary Uzbek ethnography and professional music are integrated into the concept of folk music. These works of culture are, in fact, an endless source of aesthetic and spiritual ideas that can be used successfully in the education of young people today. The listener perceives the song not only with its loneliness but also with its consciousness, as the text of the song, the ideological content expressed in it, has a definite relation to the spiritual problems reflected in the song. This effect is extremely complex and powerful. Every promoter of our music has such a strong sense of responsibility that one must feel a great responsibility. In other words, the profound study of the laws of our great musical heritage, the successful implementation of their own performances, and the continuity of national traditions. Consequently, music, including Uzbek traditional music, is an important part of spiritual education.

The Concept of Religion of the Future according to the Esoteric Community of Wisła in the Interwar Period

The purpose of the article is to present the idea of a religion of the future as conceived by the esoteric community of Wisła in Cieszyn Silesia during the interwar period. Esoteric interpretations of Christianity formed its basis, inspired mainly by the Polish romantic tradition connected with Bible reading, as well as the esoteric and spiritual ideas that were popular at that time, originating from Theosophy and spiritism. An important role in this context was played by considerations on the salvational mission of Christ, albeit presented in a perennialist and Gnostic manner. The esoteric spirituality from Wisła of the interwar period later paved the way for a modern alternative spirituality in Poland.

San Agustín y las migraciones

The article presents, in the first part, some socio-political phenomena from Saint Augustine’s time, which caused migrations, to discuss which was the reaction of the Bishop of Hippo to these events. The topic of migrations and refugees are dealt taking as point of departure the Favencio’s dossier (epp. 113-116), as well as the case of Fascio, as it is described in Saint Augustine’s ep. 268. As an example of economic migrants, the case of the family of Antonino of Fusala is analyzed, as described in ep. 20*. Starting from the migratory movements of Saint Augustine’s time, as well as the decline of the great institutions and the internal corruption of the Roman Empire itself, the article presents Saint Augustine’s spiritual idea of peregrinus and peregrinatio, highlighting the characteristics of this essential augustinian spiritual anthropological condition, making a diachronic research in the Works of the Bishop of Hippo to identify the presence and meaning of the word peregrinus. Finally, the article presents some practical conclusions to face the reality of migration in our days, taking inspiration from the ideas and the life of Saint Augustine.

Strategia nierozstrzygalności w wierszu jest taki pomnik Tadeusza Różewicza

The article deals with Tadeusz Rozewicz’s poem jest taki pomnik and puts forward a new interpretation concerning the mechanisms he uses to construct meanings. The author focuses on three issues: (1) the role of photography as an interpreter, (2) intertextual encryption of key contexts for the spiritual idea of the poem, (3) the allopathic function of laughter. She also indicates components of the strategy of undecidability, as a result of which a work containing what might seem an unambiguous ideological statement launches mechanisms guarding against one-way reading.

Strategia nierozstrzygalności w wierszu jest taki pomnik Tadeusza Różewicza

The article deals with Tadeusz Rożewicz’s poem jest taki pomnik and puts forward a new interpretation concerning the mechanisms he uses to construct meanings. The author focuses on three issues: (1) the role of photography as an interpreter, (2) intertextual encryption of key contexts for the spiritual idea of the poem, (3) the allopathic function of laughter. She also indicates components of the strategy of undecidability, as a result of which a work containing what might seem an unambiguous ideological statement launches mechanisms guarding against one-way reading.

Rachmaninov. “Six choirs for children’s or women’s voices”: specific of interpretation of the genre

Rachmaninov. “Six choirs for children’s or women’s voices”: specific of interpretation of the genre

Negotiation of the Prehistoric Past for the Creation of the Global Future

The article presents a study into the implementation of environmental and spiritual ideas of alternative communitarian movements during the establishing of quickly spreading nature-based spirituality communities and their settlements in the East-Central European region. It focuses on the Anastasia “spiritual” movement, classifiable as New Age, which emerged in Russia in the aftermath of the collapse of the Soviet Union, and since has spread to East-Central Europe and beyond. It considers the process of indigenization via assembled nature-based spiritualities and traditionalistic ideas in the movement. It will discuss how the Anastasian process of sacralization of natural space, together with the romantic mode of a narrativization of the archaic past, serve as a source for the formation of images of “indigenousness” in the movement. During the process of “indigenization,” a negotiation, interpretation and presentation of nationalistic and traditionalistic ideas serve as a basis for an imagination of (trans)local prehistoric and local national pasts— including a golden age myth, a “back to nature” worldview with attempts to reconstruct variously perceived traditions, as well as a development of utopian visions of a prospective heaven on earth—intended to widely spread future social projects. The findings are based on data obtained from fieldwork in 2005–2015, including participant observation and interviews with respondents in the Baltic countries and Russia.

PRAGMATIC INTERPRETATIONS OF METAPHYSICAL PROBLEMS (WILLIAM JAMES)

The main task of philosophy W. James considered on the study of problems of metaphysics, theology and morality. In this connection, the concept of “truth” and the problem of its essence occupy one of the leading places in the concept of pragmatism. In general, James believed that the practical consequences and results of metaphysical concepts and religious teachings are shaped by the spiritual ideas of their followers. James’s concept of pragmatism does not contain any new arguments in favor of the solution of philosophical problems in accordance with logic and common sense, but there are reasons for such a decision to be considered necessary. This is due to the interrelation of metaphysical ideas with the solution of practically important problems.

Sociocultural landscape of Mordovia in the paradigm of spiritual and moral values of the individual

Introduction. The article determines the problem of spiritual and moral education as one of the priorities of the socio-cultural space of the region. It comprehends theoretical indicators and levels of development of the inner world of the individual, as well as the conditions for the effectiveness of the formation of moral postulates. It demonstrates the empirical and local history infrastructure of Mordovia, which is the basic construct of spiritual, moral and religious education of the target audience. Materials and Methods. The empirical material of the work is presented by rich sociocultural infrastructure of the Republic of Mordovia; theoretical one is based on the works of modern researchers on the problems of spiritual and creative formation of personality in the process of the socialization. Reliability and scientific validity of the results are provided by comparative, typological, historical traditional methods, as well as the well-presented empirical research database – the empirical and local infrastructure of the region, compiled using a representative selection of source material and its subsequent correct interpretation. Results and Discussion. Regionalization in the context of preserving the country’s unified sociocultural space leads to the definition of a new humanitarian paradigm, which provides a high level of general culture, development of spiritual intelligence, and satisfaction of personal cognitive interests achieved by immersion in ethnic culture, familiarization with Russian and world values of civilization. A similar approach defines the invariants of the modern ethnocultural system, indicating the ways and possibilities of their implementation at the regional level. On the territory of Mordovia, people of different nationalities and religions always lived in good neighborliness. The Christian Orthodox religion has traditionally been a leading one. Historically it has contributed to the formation of public consciousness and human environment, which has preserved the main ethical standards and values of life. Conclusion. The sociocultural landscape of Mordovia allows us to provide knowledge not only about understanding of the meaning of life, its embodiment in the traditions and life of the people, but also about the centers of spiritual culture. Through the development of diverse spiritual ideas, a person gains social experience, objective information, joins culture, religion and spirituality.

Spirituality and War: Soldier Practices in Deployment in African Military Landscapes

This special issue is about spirituality and war, and specifically the ways in which soldiers engage with spiritual ideas, beliefs and practices within the context of military deployments. The geog...

Role of Islamic system of education in moral behavior and spiritual identity of Muslims.

Humans have always had the curiosity to know themselves, to know the world around them, and to know their place in the world. Morality, spirituality and religion are closely intertwined, ‘certain moral ideas became united with certain religious and spiritual ideas to such an extent as to become indistinct from them’. The role of religion in educational institutions is one of the most sensitive and volatile topics on the political and legal landscape now a days especially in country like Pakistan which has been created on religious ideology. The Islamic Way of Life is based on this unique approach to life and a peculiar concept of man's place in the Universe. Islam has provided mankind with the highest possible standard of morality. This moral code, which is both straightforward and practical, provides the individual with innumerable ways to embark upon and then continues the path of moral evolution. By making divine revelation the primary source of knowledge, moral standards are made permanent and stable.
 The first part of the paper is about the relationship between education and its role as spiritual and moral tool of training. Second part deals with the concept of education in Islam and third part will present types of knowledge in Islam and their application as moral and spiritual tool of education. Last part will give moral and spiritual training methodology in Islamic education.
 The relationships between ‘moral’, ‘spiritual’ and ‘religious’ seem to be akin to the relationships between the cluster ‘social’, ‘human’ and ‘political’. In each of these clusters, only beings of the kind appropriately described by the middle term can engage in activities which could be properly described by the first and third terms. Islam as religion of spirituality and morality gives a frame work to educate and train the students in modeling their life as more moral and spiritual with practical application in this life and success in the hereafter. The chief characteristic of the Islamic Concept of Life is that it does not admit a conflict, nay, not even a significant separation between life-spiritual and life-mundane. It does not confine itself merely in purifying the spiritual and the moral life of man in the limited sense of the word. Its domain extends to the entire gamut of life. It wants to would individual life as well as the social order in healthy patterns, so that the Kingdom of God may really be established on the earth and so that peace contentment and well-being may fill the world as water f ills the oceans.

Sastra dan sufisme (Studi terhadap Dîwân al-Durr al-Manzhûm li Dzawi al-`Uqûl wa al-Fuhûm karya Syaikh Abdullah al-Haddâd)

Introduction. This article means to reveal some important aspects of the poetry of Syaikh al-Haddâd, and the characteristics of the Dîwân.
 Data Collection Method. Using a literary approach methode
 Analysis Data. The data were descriptively analysed by philosophical, and hermeneutical approaches
 Results and Discussions.The poetry of Syaikh al-Haddâd are the theoretical Sufi poems that are rich in spiritual ideas and experiences. His poetries can be classified into the types of “syi'r al-kasyf wa al-ilham”, it written through the kasyf experience or spiritual vision, because the author has achieved mystical and mystical unity. The author's study to the outer and the inner structure of Dîwân, has strengthened the conclusions that the poetries in dîwân are not a product of reason (logic), but are based more on the “mauhibah Rabbâniyah”, a kind of inpersonal power, and looks very spontaneous and natural.
 Conclusions. poetry is a medium that is often used by the Sufis to express their Sufism thoughts. because it is through this symbolic and imagery language that the Sufis can give readers the opportunity to improve the "reflection of the beauty of the world" ascending in to "the reflection of divine beauty".".
 Keyword : literature, sufism, poetry of Syaikh al-Haddâd

Деякі аспекти естетичного виховання майбутніх акторів і режисерів засобами театрального мистецтва (до питання становлення національної еліти)

The aim of the article is to highlight some aspects of the aesthetic education of the artistic intelligentsia, in particular actors and directors of the drama theater, in higher educational institutions as means of theatrical art as the future national elite. The research methodology is based on the application of art-study, functional, analytical, systemic methods for the analysis of some aspects of aesthetic education of future specialists of artistic creation by the means of the theater as one of the types of art. The scientific novelty of the work is to study the issue of preparing the Ukrainian elite from the representatives of the artistic intelligentsia, which directly nurtures the idea of national-cultural spirituality through means of theatrical art and, at the same time, forms the national ideal. Conclusions. As a result of the study we can conclude that the methodology and technology of aesthetic education students - a specially organized, purposeful, innovative process of formation and stimulation of aesthetic and cognitive activity. One of the conditions for achieving the most optimal result in this educational process is the elitism of the teacher's personality. The degree of teachers’ readiness, curators of student groups to the educational process of future actors and directors by means of theatrical art influences the level of aesthetic culture of creative youth. The consistent, gradual, purposeful aesthetic development of students by means of theatrical art is one of the effective methods of forming the artistic intelligentsia as future Ukrainian elite with its function of spiritual revival.

Holistyczny charakter duchowości chrześcijańskiej

Autor artykułu omawia wpływ duchowości na zdrowie człowieka w ujęciu holistycznym. W tym celu rozwija holistyczne pojęcie duchowości, które bazuje na integralnej antropologii, ujmującej człowieka jako jedność duchowo-cielesną. Tekst podkreśla związek natury i łaski, wymiaru profanum i sacrum, a także in-dywiduum i wspólnoty.

Kandinsky

Abstract In Concerning the Spiritual in Art (1911) and other writings, the artist Wassily Kandinsky (1866–1944) pursues several guiding questions concerning the spiritual aspects of art. For example: What is the relationship between art and spirituality? How does a work of art express spiritual ideas and themes? And would it be helpful to think of the artist as a kind of visionary or a spiritual seer? In this article, I reconstruct Kandinsky’s theory of art and I clarify his understanding of what spirituality is. Then I return to the three guiding questions listed above to consider the relationship between art and spirituality in the light of Kandinsky’s views. I argue that both Kandinsky’s writings and his paintings help to illuminate the spiritual dimension of art, and his pioneering text, Concerning the Spiritual in Art, remains an important starting-point for reflections on this theme.

Beyond-personal love – Experiencing love beyond the person

ABSTRACTLove is seen as interpersonal phenomenon in western society. The love of things that are non-interpersonal or ‘beyond-personal’ is less understood. A sample of 208 adults responded to a questionnaire asking what they loved, and how much they loved 61 common objects, activities, experiences and ideas. An exploratory factor analysis yielded five distinct categories of beyond-personal love including spiritual ideology, physical activity, material objects, hedonic experiences and social experiences. Loving physical activities predicted life satisfaction, happiness, and presence of meaning. Loving social experiences predicted happiness and presence of meaning. Loving hedonic experiences, spiritual ideas or material objects did not predict any of the outcome variables when all factors were considered, but material love was correlated with search for meaning. Results show that beyond-personal love can be considered adaptive, yet the target of beyond-personal love can predict whether one feels life satisfaction, feels subjectively happy or has meaning in one’s life.

Self-Transcendence in Mountaineering and BASE Jumping.

The “extreme sports” of mountaineering and BASE Jumping are growing in popularity and are associated with significant risk of injury and death. In recent years there have also been increasing numbers of reports of reckless disregard and selfishness in the pursuit of mountaineering goals, including severe environmental degradation. Extant research has focused predominantly on personality variables that contribute to engagement, participation, and stress responsivity in these extreme sports. The Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) provides a comprehensive account of personality traits, measuring seven dimensions of personality that are moderately heritable and associated with distinct brain networks and psychological characteristics. One of these traits is Self-Transcendence, which is associated with spiritual ideas and experiences, such as searching for something elevated and greater than one's individual self. High Self-Transcendence can motivate people to act altruistically even if that requires personal sacrifices and hardship. This article draws on the extant research literature, which has consistently found that despite substantial heterogeneity in their individual personality profiles, mountaineers, and BASE jumpers are adventurous in temperament and highly self-controlled and organized in character. Between 75 and 85% of the character configurations observed in these populations are associated with low Self-Transcendence. The purpose of this paper is to consider the role of Self-Transcendence and its effect on individual personality profiles of extreme athletes, in particular in moderating potentially self- destructive, and regressive ethical and moral behaviors in mountaineering and BASE jumping.