Understanding Of Spirituality Research Articles

SCIENTIFIC AND RELIGIOUS COMPREHENSION OF SPIRITUALITY

Introduction. The paper considers the problem of spirituality that is learned by representatives of religion and scientists of different areas of scientific knowledge. The special significance of the problem lies in the fact that its correct comprehension helps forming spiritual culture of a person and society. The aim of the study is comparison of understanding of spirituality by representatives of science and religion. Materials and Methods. The following methods were applied: system analysis; abstraction; generalization; theoretical modeling; comparative analysis. Results. The main difference of the views of scientists-materialists and representatives of religion is that scientists consider spirituality as a result of scientific education. In Orthodox Christianity spirituality is comprehended as a result of an action of the Holy Spirit and a work of a person on himself aimed on forming such qualities as faith, hope, love, humility etc. Discussion and Conclusion. Among the representatives of the religion substantial controversies are practically absent whereas among scientists there exist rather heterogeneous views on the problem.

„Новая драма” і (новая) духоўнасць. Праблема духоўных пошукаў у рускай і беларускай драматургіі ХХI ст. (на прыкладзе выбраных твораў)

<p>Współczesny rosyjskojęzyczny (zarówno rosyjski, jak i białoruski) „nowy dramat” utożsamiany jest najczęściej ze sztukami realizowanymi metodą verbatim, z utworami dokumentalnymi, w których wykorzystywane są elementy hiperrealistyczne, naturalistyczne czy neobrutalistyczne.<br />Nie jest to jedyna tendencja charakterystyczna dla poetyki współczesnej dramaturgii wschodniosłowiańskiej. Równolegle funkcjonuje bowiem zgoła inny, metaforyczno-filozoficzny, kierunek rozwoju „nowego dramatu”. Artykuł poświęcony został problemowi duchowości w nowej dramaturgii rosyjskiej (Iwan Wyrypajew, Wasilij Sigariew) i białoruskiej (Diana Bałykо, Paweł Priażko, Andriej Kurejczyk). Celem była eksploracja elementów sakralnych i duchowych, dotarcie do sensów głębokich wybranych utworów. Autor postanowił zbadać, w jaki sposób prezentowane są problemy duchowe, jakim modyfikacjom podlega przedstawienie tej problematyki. Ze względu na wyraźny antropologiczny rys utworów, w których nośnikiem semantyki staje się człowiek i jego wewnętrzne poszukiwania, to postać literacka stanowi w tekście podstawową kategorię badawczą. Artykuł jest próbą analizy oraz interpretacji religijnych i duchowych elementów w tekstach niekiedy dalekich od manifestowania wiary. W artykule zwrócono uwagę na wykorzystanie motywów znanych z chrześcijańskiego kręgu kulturowego, przywołanie i uwspółcześnienie staroruskich typów antropologicznych (takich jak strannik, jurodiwy). Udowodniono, że współcześni dramatopisarze rosyjscy i białoruscy kreują obraz człowieka poszukującego, zwracając się zarówno ku religijnemu, jak również zsekularyzowanemu rozumieniu duchowości.</p>

MATHEMATICS AND MAGIC: THEIST AND ATHEIST IDENTIFICATION WITH THE SPIRITUAL MUSIC OF KARLHEINZ STOCKHAUSEN

AbstractStockhausen's idiosyncratic spiritual beliefs, and the vigour with which he expressed them in his compositional processes, have sometimes been an obstacle to both musicians and audiences in engaging with his music. I explore the extent to which the ability to appreciate Stockhausen's music is predicated on a sympathy with his spiritual world view. I pose a broad view of Stockhausen's spirituality, not reliant on theism, through drawing on three key sources: the composer's own commentary on spirituality and its connections with his serialist compositional techniques; Rudolf Otto's notions of an intrinsically human awareness of ‘the holy’; and the connections of mathematics with human truth drawn by Alain Badiou. I argue that a broader understanding of Stockhausen's spirituality enables a pathway into his music that can be shared by both theists and atheists, and that this can produce a rich fodder for each in their curiosity about human place in the world.

“Written on My Heart in Burning Letters”: Putting Soul and Spirit Into a Transcendent Physis

The author suggests that one way to help transactional analysts to better understand spirituality and the way it relates to religiosity and psychopathology is to view them in terms of the core TA concept of physis and, specifically, as a fiery physis that transcends scripting. He distinguishes between the often interchangeable terms of faith, religion, and spirituality and, using TA literature, locates the genesis of the religious terms of soul and spirit more firmly within the ego state model. He further shows how numinous feelings begun in the Child ego state continue throughout life and proposes that a fiery physis can be illustrated through the analysis of the Leonard Cohen song “Born in Chains,” in which the metaphor of “burning” described his spiritual experience. The author also describes the widely publicized return to faith of the Hon. William Hayden, a former governor general of Australia. The proposal is made that an emotionally based spirituality referred to as fiery physis is formed in infancy and continues throughout life because religious faith and spirituality are more immediate and helpful in difficult circumstances than an intellectual faith. The author proposes that a clear understanding of religious faith and spirituality can enrich transactional analysis.

Profound Connections Between Person And Place

Recent efforts to incorporate spirituality into the knowledge foundation of the urban-based social work profession have often presented spirituality as either an additional aspect of the individual client to be assessed or as just another resource for use in clinical practice. A rural perspective, with particular attention to the worldview offered by traditional knowledge systems, suggests a very different understanding of spirituality that does not separate person from place. When the environment is understood as a conscious entity, a partner, then spiritual transformation must occur with the environment or as the environment, not in it.

Hegel’s Theology or Revelation Thematized by Stephen Theron

Reviewed by: Hegel’s Theology or Revelation Thematized by Stephen Theron Martin J. De Nys THERON, Stephen. Hegel’s Theology or Revelation Thematized. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2018. lxi + 282 pp. Hegel maintains that philosophy may be understood as the activity of transforming representations into thoughts. He also holds that religion, whose consummate form is Christianity, presents the most fundamental and comprehensive possibility of representational thinking. The task of philosophy, therefore, very essentially involves conceptualizing the religious representation, particularly in its Christian manifestation. Fulfilling this task results in a truthful understanding of the meaning that religion conveys. For this reason, Stephen Theron maintains, Hegel’s philosophical considerations of religion and in particular Christianity, just inasmuch as they are philosophical, result not simply in a philosophy of [End Page 613] religion but a theology. Hegel’s philosophy and theology appropriate in important ways positions developed by Aristotle and Aquinas, among many others. At the same time, Hegel develops an absolute idealism that one should understand very much along the lines that J. M. E. McTaggart suggests. McTaggart explicitly espouses an atheistic position. But his understanding of Spirit and historical intersubjectivity coincides nicely with the conception of God that absolute idealism in fact presents. Thus God is at once the absolute idea and absolute spirit, othering itself in nature and finite spirit for the sake of its own self-recovery. Creation, as this is called, is both necessary and free, as self-othering follows from the very nature of the absolute idea. Nature and finite spirit, inasmuch as these stand over against the absolute idea, are evil. The commission of evil, therefore, is an act of self-discovery on the part of finite spirit, which relativizes and surpasses the opposition of good and evil in a way that anticipates Nietzsche. The fall is necessary for the sake of human self-understanding, and it is the condition of the possibility of the fullness of that understanding, which religion calls redemption. That condition comes about in virtue of what Christianity calls the Incarnation, which is presented as the unity of divine nature and human nature in a single individual. This depiction signifies the self-related unity of Absolute Spirit with itself in its self-othering connection with finite spirit and nature. The consequence of this is an understanding of the illusory nature of nature and finite spirit insofar as these are these are taken as standing over against Absolute Spirit, and of evil as conceived on the basis of that understanding. These remarks sketch only in an abstract way the position Theron develops in this book. It is important to understand that he does not take himself to be presenting only an interpretation of Hegel on the content and consequences of a philosophical consideration of religion and Christianity. He maintains that philosophical thinking reaches the fullness of its possibilities in absolute idealism, and that one can attain those possibilities for oneself through a thoughtful appropriation of Hegel’s achievement. He maintains that the task of conceptualizing the representational thinking of religion, or “picture thinking” as he also calls it, is an essential philosophical task. The outcome of that task, successfully undertaken, is a true understanding of the meaning the historical religious discourse and practice convey, and at the same time the truth about thought and being, about human existence and reality. One finds anticipations of this truth throughout the religions of the world, which is to be expected because Christianity is not just one religion that differs from others but the consummation of religious possibilities. Other ways of stating this truth appear in mystical literature, especially Meister Eckhart, as Hegel recognized and Theron points out. Since the meaning of historical religious discourse is most truly expressed in the philosophical discourse of absolute idealism, religious discourse points beyond itself to philosophical thinking as necessary for a fully truthful statement of that meaning. In turn, philosophy is, as Hegel again acknowledged, the highest form of divine service. [End Page 614] One may raise at least two questions about the argument of this book and similar arguments. Hegel is well known for saying that a philosophical conceptualization of the religious representation alters the form but...

\u2018Spirituality\u2019 in Health Studies: Competing Spiritualities and the Elevated Status of Mindfulness

The article investigates discourses of ‘spirituality’ in the field of Health Studies, among scholarly voices and the voices of the practitioners and patients these studies reflect. It examines current trends in contemporary spirituality as well as links with debates involving science, religion and secularisation. The article argues that, in the public domain, ‘spirituality’ is beginning to denote a collective practice rather than an individual search for meaning. Furthermore, the article identifies some common understandings of spirituality in the context of Health Studies and health environments, such as it being a tool that can facilitate closeness and emotional exchanges. Finally, it proposes that the success and, as I will show, elevated status of ‘mindfulness’ in this field points to ‘competing spiritualities’, despite shared understandings.

Some issues in understanding spirituality as relational

ABSTRACTIn the present literature, understanding and interpretation of spirituality has moved from the transcendent to the relational aspect of the human being. This movement has been necessitated by shortcomings in understanding spirituality as transcendent. The idea of transcendent is unverifiable and subjective. Moreover, it is possible in the context of specific cultural and religious traditions, but not in a multicultural context. Spirituality in its relational sense is interpreted as a process of developing an intrinsic human capacity that motivates people to search for meaning, purpose, and contribution to life in a social context. The relational aspect of spirituality can be understood as ‘thoughtful love of life’ leading to what may be termed ‘naturalized spirituality’. However, understanding the relational aspect of spirituality has its own problems. This paper indicates some limitations to understanding spirituality as relational and argues that, rather than aiding an understanding of the concept, it creates more confusion. This is because the notion of ‘relational’ (i) does not exclude the transcendent, and (ii) does not distinguish between what is spiritual and what is not.

The relationship between workplace spirituality, job satisfaction and job performance

The paper aims to study the impact of four dimensions of workplace spirituality (compassion, meaningful work, mindfulness and transcendence) proposed by Petchsawang and Duchon (2009, 2012) on job satisfaction. The impact of moderating variables like gender, chronological age and work experience is also considered in this research. Finally, job satisfaction is also studied as a mediating variable between workplace spirituality and job performance. A cross-section research was conducted on 262 employees working in western India, which is a non-Western educated industrialised rich democratic (WEIRD) sample. The data is analysed by using structural equation modelling. The research results indicate that there is a positive relationship between various dimensions of workplace spirituality and job satisfaction. These findings deepen the understanding of workplace spirituality, job satisfaction and job performance. This study brings new insights into the noteworthy role spirituality plays in the context of the workplace.

All My Relatives: Lakota Ontology, Belief, and Ritual by David C. Posthumus

Reviewed by: All My Relatives: Lakota Ontology, Belief, and Ritual by David C. Posthumus Lupe A. Flores Keywords David C. Posthumus, Lupe Flores, Lakota, ontology, animism, Sioux, Viveiros De Castro, Philippe Descola, Indigenous Studies, ethnology david c. posthumus. All My Relatives: Lakota Ontology, Belief, and Ritual. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2018. Can a twenty-first-century comparative anthropology, in the style of Claude Lévi-Strauss and Mary Douglas, compel us so-called moderns to live in less ecologically destructive and more spiritually enriching ways that go beyond binaristic understandings of nature and culture? In All My Relatives: Lakota Ontology, Belief and Ritual, David C. Posthumus seeks to accomplish this by presenting a reinterpretation of nineteenth-century Sioux ontology through a “Descolian animist perspective” (15). His intention is to resituate Lakota ethnometaphysics within a long-standing practice of multispecies coexistence and to complicate dogmatic understandings of spirituality among the Sioux. Informed by participant-observation, interviews, and analyses of ethnohistorical literature, including writings by Ella Deloria and Alfred Irving Hallowell, along with more contemporary works by Vine Deloria, Jr., Tim Ingold, Eduardo Kohn, and Eduardo Viveiros de Castro among others, Post-humus delves into the complexities of Lakota spirituality, belief, and ritual. Lakota life and worldviews, both historically and contemporarily, encompass human and more-than-human worlds, and Posthumus attempts to show how these beliefs and practices have persisted and changed over time. In the introduction, Posthumus discusses how English terms such as “religion,” “spirituality,” and “society” do not necessarily capture Lakota (Western Sioux) understandings of their religious phenomena and experiences. As an English writing anthropologist, he nevertheless settles uncomfortably with his use of the terms in order to analyze and interpret, through a new animist framework, Lakota ontology, spiritual belief, and ceremonial practices. For the Lakota, spirituality, society, and the environment, as well as conceptions of humans and their nonhuman counterparts, are not considered as separately bounded categories, as is often imagined in Western, Cartesian understandings of self and the natural world. Thus, Posthumus’s analysis considers human persons, nonhuman persons, and the spirits and belief systems that underlie their entire cosmology and, borrowing from Ingold, the multiple and idiosyncratic Lakotan ways of being-(alive)-in-the-world (31). One of the objectives of his study, in addition to a reinterpretation, is to make readers appreciate Indigenous lifeways, including their relation to other-than-human life-forms, and to show how we might move toward the future in less destructive ways than those brought on by modernized and Christianized practices that position humans as supreme beings with dominion over all living species. According to the Sioux, despite the human-like [End Page 297] qualities and awareness of nonhuman persons and spirits, human beings themselves are the less powerful entities in the natural state of things (98). In other words, in Sioux cosmology, human beings are simply a strand in the web of life that includes nonhuman persons (i.e. animals and stones) and otherworldly entities and spirits. Posthumus situates himself, a white male, as an ethnographer and anthropologist of the Lakota (with the help of his friends and interlocutors), and in the introduction justifies his “old-school” approach through utilizing Phillipe Descola’s own “cleansing” and reformulation of early structural anthropology, sans the social evolutionary theory that characterized early understandings of animism (40). The nine chapters that follow articulate the various ways in which Lakota beliefs and practices are manifest through rituals and in kinship systems that are foundational to the very essence of their worldview, and in particular, enact and reproduce human/other-than-human entanglements in Lakota life. Contrary to widespread assumptions, the Lakota, like many other Native American peoples, do not necessarily believe that everything found in the world has a spirit. What they call wak’a, or “an incomprehensible, mysterious, nonhuman instrumental power or energy” (36) that circulates through both human and nonhuman persons and bodies (rocks, trees, waterfalls, humans, animals, medicine bags) through specific actions and at specific moments, is what potentially animates both human and nonhuman persons. Rather than a rock or some other form inherently having life in its being, it becomes animated through personal and/or collective relations with it. Everything...

Contemporary understanding of the spiritual message of the Kosovo myth

In the aggressive dominance of critical rational thinking over the mythical worldview, myth as a historical and effective force does not lose its actuality and importance, because myths often hide deeper messages than what history can offer. In such a social context, the significance of the spiritual message of the Kosovo myth - the commitment to the Heavenly Kingdom, as a lasting common value of the Serbian people, returns as a theme. In spite of its omnipresence, the opinion prevails that the myth belongs to the past, and if it is not yet obsolete, it certainly should be. The authors advocate the idea that myth, as a comprehensive experience of the world, and therefore the Kosovo myth as well, is a factor of national integration, a part of collective identity, and a common value system. Analysing the secular and spiritual understanding of the Kosovo myth, the authors point out the importance of the vivid memory of the prince Lazar?s commitment to the Heavenly Kingdom. For Christians, this represents the value and goal above all others and it forms the core of the Serbian historical consciousness and spiritual community. The paper shows that the spiritual message of the Kosovo myth is not understood or it is misunderstood nowadays, since the commitment to Kosovo is perceived as a call and an obligation to die for it. The authors conclude that the Kosovo myth is not a call to die in the war, on the contrary, it is a struggle for external and internal freedom, as well as for the highest values that are implied by the definition of the Heavenly Kingdom ? peace, love, honour, justice, dignity, and others.

미셸 푸코의 자기 배려와 그리스도교 영성에 관한 고찰

Contemporary churches have had lively discussions regarding the definition and the methodology of Christian spirituality. However, there still exists diverse drawbacks and chaotic confusion in terms of definition of spirituality. This essay aims to figure out the concept of the care of the self(epimuleia heautou) developed by the a French philosopher, Michel Foucault(1926-1984). In doing so, it will provoke productive debate on the understanding of spirituality for the consensual agreement among Christian milieu. For Foucault, spirituality is a creative and aesthetics process that the self constructs him/herself as an art. Thus, he calls the care of the self as the aesthetics of the existence. Additionally, by doing so, Foucault has demonstrated the possibility of pursuing an ethical autonomous self which enables the self to escape from the Cartesian rational subjectivity, that is, formed by the conspiracy between the power and knowledge in discourses.BR According to Foucault, the philosophy, both in the ancient Greece and in the late antiquity in Rome, embraced both the self-recognition and selfconsideration. A true philosophy evokes an holistic transformation or metamorphosis of the self. So to speak, philosophy was a spiritual discipline. However, since Christian fathers in late antiquity have developed their own technologies of the self-consideration, the pivotal idea of the care of the self has been substantially transformed from the self-care to self-recognition. The penitential rite forced the self to interrogate itself. Christian asceticism began to impose the purgatorial obligations on the self. Thus, the autonomy of the selfcultivation has disappeared among Christian self technology and finally the self fell in the pitfall as the object to govern.

TWEET!! PERSIDANGAN BURUNG SINGAPURA

<p>Religions have become the main topics in the novels by a prolific Siangporean author, Isa Kamari (born in 1960). His understanding and interpretation of religions have begun to develop with the writing of his first novel <em>Satu Bumi</em> (One Earth) in 1998. His latest novel, Tweet (2016) was influenced by an allegorical and mystical work, <em>Persidangan Burung</em> (Bird Conference) (c.1177). Two main narratives, one in the form of a physical nature between a grandfather and his grandson in a bird garden in Singapore and the other in the form of a spiritual nature concerning spiritual birds, ran parallel and converged at a number of important crossroads. These narratives also offered an understanding and appreciation of spirituality that could change and form life on earth in positive and integrated manners that eventually led to goodness rather than to escape from it.</p>

From caterpillar to butterfly: experiencing spirituality via body transformation

ABSTRACTConsumers increasingly seek out the spiritual to enlighten their inner emptiness and find their inner selves. We add a physiological, embodied perspective, which has been commonly overlooked in extant research as a valuable opportunity for individual consumer spirituality. Interpretative investigation of body-transforming consumers uncovers a powerful reincarnation process that eventually leads to the self-renewal and reunion of body and mind. We find that the consumption of body-transforming substances initiates a mindful, spiritual consumer journey allowing consumers to actively develop and experience their inner spirituality through recurring cycles of reduction, reflection and release. These findings allow us to develop implications for a broader understanding of consumer spirituality where the active consumer seeks unity in the self and beyond.

Sonic spaces, spiritual bodies: The affective experience of the roots reggae soundsystem

This paper advances a new understanding of spirituality within the geographies of religion. It builds on the premise that spirituality is latent within every body and argues that it becomes manifest in response to an affective experience. Such experiences are often sensory in nature, rendering spiritual affect an embodied phenomenon that can be understood through the concept of an “embodied hierophany.” By exploring the affective experience of the roots reggae soundsystem, this paper shows how sonic spaces can enable processes of spiritual engagement. It draws on an analysis of four documentary films about soundsystem culture to show how situations of sonic dominance can bring about an embodied hierophany. In such situations, spirituality is experienced outside of the ascriptive framework of formal religious belief and is therefore a more self‐directed form of spiritual awakening.

Review and Characterization of Portuguese Theses, Dissertations, and Papers about Spirituality in Health

Research about spirituality has grown widely in the past decades and the interest in health care is also evident in Portugal. This literature review aims to identify and to characterize Portuguese theses, dissertations, and papers about spirituality in health, and to provide a systematic overview of the knowledge concerning this subject. The search was conducted in February 2017 and updated in January 2018. Four independent reviewers screened and analyzed all citations, and a total of 76 results were included. Publications started in 2002 and include master degree dissertations (n = 37), scientific papers (n = 31), and PhD theses (n = 8). Papers were published in 24 national and international journals. Most papers were psychology- and nursing-related and had a quantitative design (n = 55). Samples were mostly composed of patients living with a chronic disease (n = 20) or elderly (n = 11). The Spiritual Well-Being Questionnaire (SWBQ) was the most used tool. A multidisciplinary approach is regarded as foundational in implementing spirituality in the provision of health care and the results underline the interest on this topic from other disciplines rather than nursing. Further studies must provide a deeper understanding of spirituality in children, adolescents or families’ perspective bringing new insights to advanced health practice.

Mediating Role of Psychological Contract in the Relationship between Workplace Spirituality and Affective Commitment

Malaysian banking sector is facing commitment challenge of their employees especially in the current highly competitive business environment. Now banks want to retain and engage their competent employees so there is a need to create or enhance their affective commitment because this affective commitment is a key to retain and engage competent employees. Previous research explains that effective commitment provide employees emotional attachment with their organisation so there is a need to explore those factors through which organisations can develop the affective commitment of their employees. Healthy amount of research has been conducted to deal with employee attitude and commitment. As time goes on new concepts are coming up with new management ideas. One such new area of research is workplace spirituality. Previous research in this field discovered numerous benefits of workplace spirituality to the organization and employee as well as organizational and employee development, and commitment. Literature review pointed out that Malaysian banking sector is facing the problem of employee commitment. Present research is an attempt to deal this problem of employee commitment with the help of workplace spirituality along with psychological contract as a mediator. Subjects for this research were 350 bank employees working in commercial banks in Malaysia. Structural equation modelling SEM – PLS was the main statistical technique utilized in this study. All the main relationships were found to have significant effect on employees affective commitment, Overall, the results indicate that the model provide good understanding of the workplace spirituality’s influence on employees commitment in banking sector of Malaysia.

A espiritualidade estético-erótica de Rubem Alves

Espiritualidade, entendida como busca do transcendente e vivência pessoal do que se constitui no objeto da fé, é fundamental em qualquer manifestação religiosa. No caso do cristianismo, em todos os seus principais ramos (Catolicismo Romano, Ortodoxia Oriental e Protestantismo), a espiritualidade tem importância que dificilmente poderá ser exagerada. Rubem Alves (1933-2014), um dos mais complexos e criativos pensadores que o protestantismo brasileiro produziu, inovou por completo a compreensão da espiritualidade, entendendo-a a partir de uma perspectiva erótica, isto é, do prazer, e pela experiência da estesia – estética. O presente artigo pretende apresentar alguns elementos desta compreensão alvesiana de espiritualidade.

The African Indigenous Lens of Understanding Spirituality: Reflection on Key Emerging Concepts from a Reviewed Literature.

In this paper, we will present a reflection on reviewed literature on African indigenous understanding of spirituality, highlighting the influence of this concept on notions of the self, motivation and well-being. The indigenous understanding of spirituality is central to the understanding of the self as distinct, but positioned within the relational-collective self. This African indigenous perception of the self is grounded within the autonomous experience of the tenets of spirituality, which is explored in this paper through the lens of self-determination theory. The experience of autonomy, which is represented in this paper as choice and consent, competence and relatedness within spirituality, is considered as an intrinsic motivation factor for African indigenous communities to achieve well-being. Hence, we argue for the relevance of identifying and exploring ways that an understanding of the African indigenous spiritual belief systems, and the various ways that this understanding impacts on well-being for African indigenous communities, can be unearthed and scrutinized.

Role of BMI in Spiritual Intelligence, Narcissism, and Body Image of College Students

Spiritual intelligence is our capacity for developing meaning, vision and value and allows us to dream and to strive. Narcissism is characterized by indulgence in excessive self-love, selfishness, feelings of superiority, disregard for others, lack of empathy, illusions of grandiosity, and the use of people for one’s self gain. Body image relates to a person’s perceptions, feelings and thoughts about his or her body. A 3x2 factorial design was employed to observe the main and interaction effects of BMI (low, normal and high) and gender on spiritual intelligence, narcissism and body image in college students. Further, a correlational design was used to determine the predictors of the dimensions of body image from spiritual intelligence and narcissism. A non probability purposive sampling technique was used to gather data from 360 college students (180 boys and 180 girls) of low, normal and high BMI. There was a significant influence of BMI on fatness evaluation and negative effect. Significant gender differences were seen in some of the dimensions of all the three variables. Also, interaction effect between BMI and gender were reported in certain cases. Results also showed that spiritual intelligence, critical existential thinking, personal meaning production, transcendental awareness, conscious state expansion and narcissism were found to be significant predictors of various criterion variables. Spiritual intelligence can be explored in more than one population in order to gain a better understanding of its influence over body image. Based on the results of the current research study, interventions could be designed which aim at enhancing the understanding of spirituality and spiritual intelligence. This would, in turn, contribute to the fostering of a desirable body image in college students.