Spiritual Reward Research Articles

Exploring the spiritual well-being experiences of transnational religious festival attendees: A grounded theory approach

This study aimed to examine the spiritual well-being outcomes that encompass eudemonic well-being elements within transnational religious festivals. Employing a constructivist grounded theory method, the study focused on two UNESCO inscribed transnational religious festivals attended by an Ethiopian diaspora community. Through this research, six dimensions of spirituality were identified: attachment to God, spiritual reward, spiritual growth, self-transcendence, religious knowledge, and sense of meaning. Each of these dimensions contributed to various domains of well-being, such as personal growth, environmental mastery, engagement, and positive relationships. The study also discovered that the experience of spirituality is influenced by individuals' roles and levels of engagement within the festivals. Key activities such as prayer, attending mass services, baptism, participating in religious programs, singing, and volunteering, are instrumental in yielding spiritual well-being outcomes. The findings offer valuable insights for event organizers and destination managers seeking effective strategies for marketing and managing religious-themed migrant festivals.

When Faith and Health Collide: Expressions of Faith Over the Dangers of COVID-19 by Selected Flagellants in the Philippines.

For almost three years, the COVID-19 pandemic seriously affected society. Mass gatherings were restricted during the surge, including religious activities and other public practices. However, some Filipinos opted to continue their panata (sacred vow) of self-flagellation during this health crisis, thus putting themselves at risk of being inflicted with the virus or being a spreader. This article explores the experience of selected flagellants who continued to fulfill their religious practice amid the pandemic. It draws inspiration from their narratives about their personal experiences of how they faced, struggled, and hoped to battle the "unseen" virus and the criticisms of others for what they did. Using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA), their interview transcripts elicit three recurrent themes: Suffering leads to finding God for support, sacred vow as unity to Christ's suffering, and spiritual reward over physical pain. These themes cancontribute to future research on how opposing parties should negotiate when faith and health conflict.

EXPLORING MORALITY AMONG ORPHANS: A STUDY OF AKHLAQ AND SOCIAL STANDARDS IN PUSAT JAGAAN HEMBUSAN KASIH SAYANG

This study explores the Islamic perspective on the care and treatment of orphans, focusing on their moral development within an institutional setting. Islamic teachings emphasize the holistic welfare of orphans, advocating for their physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being. This notion is grounded in the Quran and Hadith, where caring for orphans is not only a moral obligation but a means to attain spiritual reward. The study employs a qualitative cross-sectional design, using self-report questionnaires distributed among 50 children at Pusat Jagaan Hembusan Kasih Sayang, Kuantan. The questionnaire assesses various aspects of morality ('akhlaq') in relation to God, guardians, peers, and daily life. Results show a strong adherence to Islamic practices among the children, such as prayer, Quran recitation, and fasting, reflecting their spiritual upbringing. Their interactions with guardians and peers demonstrate respect, assistance, and effective conflict resolution, aligning with Islamic values of empathy and social harmony. Daily habits like tidiness and honesty are indicative of the institution's success in instilling Islamic principles of cleanliness and integrity. The study highlights the significant role of institutions like Pusat Jagaan Hembusan Kasih Sayang in shaping the moral development of orphans. These institutions provide not only physical care but also moral and spiritual guidance, crucial for children lacking familial support. The findings suggest that integrating religious teachings into the upbringing of children fosters a strong moral compass, preparing them to be responsible and ethical members of society. Overall, this research underscores the potential of religious education in promoting moral and ethical values in young individuals and calls for its replication in other childcare and educational settings. Future research could explore the long-term societal impact of such upbringing and the challenges faced by caregivers and educators in reinforcing these values.

Tourism and the transformation of religious hospitality: An ethnography of osettai along the Choishi-michi pilgrimage route, Japan

The increasing popularity of walking pilgrimage has created new forms of interaction and exchange between pilgrims and residents along pilgrimage routes. As a result, religious hospitality along these pilgrimage routes is also under transformation. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork conducted along the Koyasan Choishi-michi pilgrimage route in Wakayama, Japan, this article examines how the meanings and experiences of osettai (‘religious hospitality’) change over time and space. Focusing specifically on the role tourism plays in the current transformation of religious hospitality, the article begins with a historical analysis of osettai and its meanings in pre-modern Japan. Next, we examine how osettai was interrupted due to the decline in walking pilgrims, but also sustained through the maintenance of indirectly related religious practices. The discussion then outlines the transforming meanings of osettai from a practice of giving offerings in return for spiritual reward, to a commodified economic service and finally to a form of cultural exchange. We conclude that placing religious faith as a central theme of analyses, not tourism, can offer new insights and deepen our understandings of how religious hospitality is both transformed and maintained through tourism.

Book Review: The Crusade Indulgence. Spiritual Reward and the Theology of the Crusades, c.1095–1216 by Ane L. Bysted

Book Review: <i>The Crusade Indulgence. Spiritual Reward and the Theology of the Crusades, c.1095–1216</i> by Ane L. Bysted

Analysis of medical student's book reports on Cronin's The Citadel: would young doctors give up ideals for prestige and wealth?

Purpose:The purpose of this study is to find what medical students think the reward for their future work should be and whether they would keep their ideals or abandon them for prestige and wealth by analyzing the book reports of Cronin’s The Citadel.Methods:Participants were 50 medical students of junior class. A month before the classroom lecture, the book and digital video disk were provided. Students had discussions in groups of seven and wrote book reports which include answers of three questions.Results:Regarding what should be the reward for the medical doctor, two-thirds of students (66.7%) answered with spiritual compensation, while one-third (33.3%) chose material reward. In the situation presented to Manson, three-fifths (60.0%) answered they would keep their ideals (idealist), while the remaining two-fifths (40.0%) decided they would abandon them. Less than one-third of students (30.0%) answered they would reveal the corruptions of the doctor’s society, while two-thirds (64.0%) would not.Conclusion:The larger number of idealists who prefer spiritual reward rather than a material reward represents the innocence of youth as in portrayed in The Citadel.

Virtual Pilgrimages in the Convent: Imagining Jerusalem in the Late Middle Ages by Kathryn M. Rudy (review)

Virtual Pilgrimages in Convent: Imagining Jerusalem in Late Middle Ages. By Kathryn M. Rudy. [Disciplina monastica. Studies on Medieval Monastic Life, 8.] (Turnhout: Brepols. 2011. Pp. 475. euro110,00 paperback. ISBN 978-2-50354103-7.)This is a magnificent, revisionist study of an important topic. It examines ways in which nuns, religious women, and even a few laywomen from Low Countries interacted with texts, images, and objects to go on virtual pilgrimage to Rome and Jerusalem during half-century or so before Reformation. This much is well known; but much less so is fact that although many were motivated by lack of resources and opportunity, a few simply did want to compromise their commitment to poverty and enclosure. At book's core is Rudy's sensitive and nuanced discussion of seventeen manuscript texts, dating from fifteenth and early-sixteenth centuries, which were copied by nuns or devout women (mostly tertiaries). Several of these texts have been transcribed in their original language, Middle Dutch, with parallel English translation, in extensive appendices on pages 263-448. As a corollary to fact that these accounts, more often than not, drew on diaries or guidebooks written by those who had actually visited sites in Rome and Holy Land, their users-and this word is used advisedly, given passive, modern-day connotations of reader-tended to interpret pilgrimage metaphorically but sought to replicate experience as physically and literally as possible: not just with imagination, but with eyes, hands, and feet (p. 21). A striking manifestation of desire for authenticity was importance of so-called metric relics-the measured distances between holy places . . . which could then be remapped onto local environment to construct personal Passion theaters (p. 97). Rudy sets these phenomena firmly in context of influence in Low Countries of devotio moderna, which she considers responsible only for spurring production of vernacular devotional literature in century up to Reformation but also for the ubiquity of women's vernacular literacy (p. 25) as testified by survival of literally hundreds of manuscripts written in Middle Dutch with feminine pronouns and nouns. Although lion's share of Rudy's attention is paid to ways in which Holy Land was evoked in text and image, as she notes, earliest work that consciously sought to provide a substitute for physical pilgrimage was an early-fifteenth-century text, attributed spuriously to Jean Gerson, which explained how its readers could journey to Rome in their imagination. However, it was only owing to fall of Constantinople in 1453, which made actual travel to Holy Land much more difficult, that Jerusalem became focus of attention. Key to this development was direct association of visits to specific locations where Christ walked, talked, suffered, and was crucified with spiritual reward in form of indulgences. The master impresarios here were friars of Franciscan order who had been given role of custodians of Holy Places by pope in 1342. It was they who transplanted spiritual boon of plenary indulgences-nine of which could be gained in Jerusalem alone (and four of those within single site of Church of Holy Sepulchre)-to Western Europe. …

The Application of Hisba Moral Enhance Students’ Discipline

Hisba moral consciousness through Islamic Education teachers are agents of socialization. It is very important in influencing student self-esteem application to practice the good habit for establish consistency in the nature of the discipline. It can also avoid misconduct and bad thing in Islamic life. The goal is to produce students who have the moral consciousness capable of strengthen the excellence of self, family, country and religion. Hisba application of Islamic Education teachers aims to change a person's character and behavior into a more positive direction to achieve certain goals in life and develop the full potential of human beings. This article explains the practice of hisba teacher education and disciplinary problems in secondary school students. Methodology of this study uses a qualitative approach through interview to the teachers and students. The results showed that application of hisba among teachers have a significant relationship with a appreciation of the character of human potential construction agreement involving the promise of the heart, behavioral observation, accountability practice, spiritual reward, struggle of desires and soul purification. Students who have the potential to maintain a controlled self-esteem with the compliance and avoid discipline concerned with delinquency in schools. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2016.v7n1s1p234

Coping strategies used by Iranian nurses to deal with burnout: a qualitative research.

Background:Although numerous studies have reported about coping strategies among health care worker throughout the world, but no research-based data are available on the perception of coping strategy among Clinical nurses in the Islamic Republic of Iran.Objective:The aim of the present study was to describe and explore the experiences of Iranian nurses about their coping strategies.Methods:In this study we used a qualitative research approach to explore how Iranian nurses perceive and resolve their burnout at work. Twelve nurses were selected by purposive sampling and in-depth semi structured interviews were conducted. All interviews were tape recorded, transcribed verbatim and then analyzed by means of the conventional qualitative content analysis method.Results:The 5 main themes that evolved from content analysis included “religious responsibility”, “approximation to God”, “spiritual reward”, “Holiness of the job” and “spiritual journey” emerged as the most important among these.Conclusions:The results of this study emphasized that religious or spiritual beliefs give purpose and meaning to nursing interventions, help them tolerate the problems at work, and make nursing care pleasurable. Therefore, although burnout is an important issue in nursing, attending to this dimension of their job is essential and healthcare authorities should pay a special attention to it.

604 – Experience of the family of the brain dead concerning the influential factors on organ donation (a qualitative study)

Background Brain-dead patients are considered as the most important supply source for patients in need of organ donation, and the decision making regarding donation primarily takes place by the families. Method The phenomenology study was conducted via interviews with no predetermined and deep questions (unstructured). The data were analyzed through a phenomenological - descriptive analysis method according to Colaizzi's 9 step process. Findings Seven male and six female subjects participated in the study. The findings were categorized into the three concepts of ‘fear and worry’, ‘unknowns’, and ‘growth and sublimation’. One of the main agents of decision making in ‘unknowns’ subcategory was lack of awareness. In the ‘fear and worry’ subcategory, subjects suffered fear and worry from the looks of the body of the deceased subsequent to donation, and some believed that the body should be intact when being buried. Comments of distant relatives and bystanders were another source of worry in the families as to the possibility of the braindead patient's recovery. As for ‘growth and sublimation’, spirituality and the feeling of spiritual recompense and reward in return for helping others, among many, was the main factor. Conclusion The disparate experiences of families necessitate proper support in critical situations.They require assistance to become aware of unknowns of their minds and better understanding of organ donation process, and to reduce the influence of undesirable interfering thoughts and factors in the way of accepting this calamity and, as a result, the donation decision be made with more confidence and assurance.

Why don’t women volunteer to give blood? A study of knowledge, attitude and practice of women about blood donation, Yazd, Iran, 2005

The most important aim of all blood transfusion centres is to recruit blood donors from low-risk groups of society to donate blood voluntarily and regularly. In the city of Yazd, Iran, only 5% of blood donors are women. The aim of this study was to assess barriers of donation of blood by women and the level of knowledge, attitude and practice regarding blood donation. In this cross-sectional study, 1602 women were selected by cluster sampling method and asked to fill a specially formatted questionnaire. Data were analysed by ANOVA and the t-test. Levels of knowledge were different between the various groups. Illiterate women and housewives had the least levels of knowledge. Fifteen per cent of the women had donated blood at least once in the past. The most important motivational factor was sense of moral duty with a spiritual reward and the most important barriers for donating blood were anaemia, fear, lack of time and difficulty in access to donation sites. A significant percentage of women had false beliefs about blood donation. Increase in the level of knowledge of women and correction of false beliefs should be the topmost priority. Further studies are needed to determine whether addressing anaemia and women's health can tend to increase the number of female blood donors.

Knowledge, attitude and practice study about blood donation in the urban population of Yazd, Iran, 2004

The most important aim of all blood transfusion centres is to recruit blood donors from low-risk groups of society to donate blood voluntarily and regularly to have a safe and continuous blood supply. The aim of this study was to assess the level of knowledge, attitude and practice regarding blood donation in the city of Yazd, Iran. In this cross-sectional study, 1394 cases aged between 20 and 60 years were selected by clustering sampling method and asked to fill a specially formatted questionnaire. Data were analysed by analysis of variance, Sheffe test and t-test. Less than half of the population under study was aware about the appropriate age for blood donation and certain deferral criteria. Only 98% of them believed that blood donation is a moral duty with a spiritual reward and 38% of the population under study (60% of men and 16% of women) had donated blood at least once in the past. There was a direct relationship between knowledge and performance (P= 0.000). Women and young people had the least levels of knowledge and performance. Although the attitude level of women was high, their performance level was very low. Increase in the level of knowledge of women and young should be the topmost priority. Barriers to donation of blood by women who comprise half of the population should be studied and evaluated, and steps must be taken to remove or decrease them as far as possible. Advertisements should be with the aim of increasing the level of awareness of the general population regarding specific factors of blood donation and keeping fresh the idea of regular voluntary blood donations in their minds.

The Destruction of Jerusalem and the First Crusade

The First Crusade was such an important event with such amazing consequences that it is hardly surprising that an enormous amount of ink has been spent on discovering the reasons why enthusiasm for it was so widespread. Much effort has been spent on examining factors which preconditioned the men of the eleventh century to welcome Urban's appeal in 1095–6. Broadly speaking it has been supposed that the wars against Islam in Spain accustomed men to the notion of Holy War, while the growing authority of the Church in the age of reform predisposed them to obey their spiritual directors – early evidence of this was the Peace and Truce of God first proclaimed by the bishops and clergy of France. Papal initiative in supporting the reconquest of Islamic Sicily and ‘corrupt’ England, and the influence of papal ideas about themilitia Christirefined and developed by Anselm of Lucca reinforced the point. The Church threw its authority behind pilgrimage, the great manifestation of the popular piety of the age which was intimately allied to devotion to relics of saints and the cult of their sacred places. The most sacred of all places, and therefore the greatest of pilgrimages, was that to Jerusalem. It was the spiritual reward for this journey to Jerusalem which Urban 11 offered for those going on the expedition of 1095. These factors have always been the substance of discussion and were systematically analysed by Erdmann in a book which remains the basis of scholarly discussion to this day.

Miners, Labourers and Officials on the Lakekamu Goldfield of Papua

Before 1910 more white men came to Papua to look for gold than any other material or spiritual reward.1 Gold was the reason most of them were prepared to leave the beaches, more Papuans had worked for miners than any other employers, and the miners and their labourers were in advance of representatives of Western governments and Christian missions as the bearers of a foreign culture to many peoples in Papua. After the importance of the alluvial miners declined in Papua, prospec tors crossed the Mandated Territory of New Guinea from the Markham Valley to the Dutch border, and they opened the Morobe field which in the late 1930s produced up to six million dollars worth of gold in a year. One group of miners?Frank Pryke, George Arnold, William (Shark eye) Park, Les Joubert and Joe Sloane?first mined in British New Guinea, stayed on to work in Australian Papua, and were in Morobe to open the rich deposits on Koranga, Edie and Bul?lo in the 1920s. Between 1888 and 1910 the diggers worked alluvial fields in the islands of the south-east, and on the mainland at Milne Bay, Keveri, and in the Northern Division. They accepted Queensland mining law only slightly modified since the miners at Sudest Island had asked Dr William MacGregor for its introduction in 1888 and they used techniques learnt on Australian fields to recover the gold. But by 1910 the white miners in Papua behaved in ways unknown to the Australian alluvial miners. The Papuan miners were employers. They had come to believe that no white man could travel in the interior of Papua or work a claim without a 'team of boys'. On the early fields of Sudest and Woodlark Island some miners had argued that a man who used 'boys' to work a claim had an unfair advantage over other diggers, but by the early 1900s equality among white miners had been established on another level. The miners might still be independent battlers and bushmen, often in debt to store keepers, but to the ten or twelve men they had recruited as indentured labourers they were the tauhada or 'boss'.2 In fact, on Goodenough Island, the main recruiting ground for miners' labourers in Papua, time-expired men imposed the new order of men and masters on the old, and the normal word for a village leader became 'bossman'. Little has been written on the alluvial miners and their relations with the people they encountered and employed in Papua New Guinea. H. J. Gibbney has recounted the events of the goldrush of 1878 when no gold was found, and A. M. Healy in his work on the Morobe goldfields has a brief survey of events before the 1920s and has chapters on Bul?lo

XIII. Yasna XLIII, 1–6, in its Sanskrit Forms

1. Salvation's Hail to the Nations Chief,—Prayers for the Support and Progress of the Cause—and for the Spiritual Reward.