Embodied Engagements with the Megaliths of Carnac: Somatic Experience, Somatic Imagery, and Bodily Techniques in Contemporary Spiritual Practices

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 300-324
Author(s):  
Yael Dansac
Keyword(s):  
New Age ◽  
Spiritual Experience ◽  
Spiritual Practices ◽  
Spiritual Experiences ◽  
Methodological Framework ◽  
Sensory Ethnography ◽  
Contemporary Paganism ◽  
Somatic Experiences

Abstract This article explores bodily interactions, somatic experiences, and embodiment of New Age and contemporary Paganism practitioners conducting spiritual practices in the megaliths of Carnac in northwest France. Inspired from the sensory ethnography approach and applying a specific methodological framework elaborated for this study, the article argues that participants’ spiritual experiences are constructed using three main elements: somatic experience, somatic imagery, and bodily techniques. Collected data provides understanding of the practitioner’s elaboration of spiritual experience, while also suggesting further inquiries to assess sensory models prevailing in contemporary spiritual practices.

scholarly journals O Sagrado está no Todo: Experiências de Praticantes do (Neo)Paganismo como Possibilidade de Encontro Holístico do Ser

2021 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 14-24
Author(s):  
Susan Sanae TSUGAMI ◽  
Luciana SANTOS
Keyword(s):  
Spiritual Practices ◽  
Spiritual Experiences ◽  
The World ◽  
Contemporary Paganism ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Depth Interviews

This paper aims to understand the experiences of practitioners of Contemporary Paganism and the relationships they have with their spiritual practices, as well as to investigate how they understand and interact with nature and how they perceive themselves as practitioners of a holistic belief. From in-depth interviews with four practitioners of (Neo) Paganism, it is possible to analyze the discourses on spiritual experiences through two categories of analysis: 1. Contemporary Paganism: Worldview and Holistic Practices, and 2. Understanding Totality: Nature, Self and Community. The research made it possible to understand that the relationship between the sacred, nature and the person in (Neo) Paganism is defined by the notion of totality as a reality in which the living beings, the world and the gods are interconnected, and therefore it is understood that the person-world-sacred does not separate. Palavras-chave : Pagan; Religion; Spirituality.

An Exploratory Study of Spiritual Dimensions Among Nursing Students

2010 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary A Wehmer ◽  
Mary T Quinn Griffin ◽  
Ann H. White ◽  
Joyce J. Fitzpatrick
Keyword(s):  
Nursing Students ◽  
Spiritual Care ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Spiritual Practices ◽  
Religion And Spirituality ◽  
Spiritual Experiences ◽  
Daily Spiritual Experiences ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Spiritual Well Being ◽  
The Relationship

This exploratory descriptive study of spiritual experiences, well-being, and practices was conducted among 126 nursing students. Participants reported a higher level of spiritual well-being and life scheme than self-efficacy for well-being and life-scheme. Thus, students appeared to view the world and their role in it slightly more positively than their ability to affect their lives and make decisions. The students reported the most frequent spiritual experiences as being thankful for blessings; the next most frequent spiritual experiences having a desire to be close to God, feeling a selfless caring for others, and finding comfort in one’s religion and spirituality. Students used both conventional and unconventional spiritual practices. Further study is necessary to study the relationship among spiritual practices, daily spiritual experiences, and spiritual well-being among nursing students and to evaluate these before and after implementation of specific educational offerings focused on spirituality and spiritual care in nursing.

scholarly journals The Spirituality of Q

2015 ◽  
Vol 71 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Foster
Keyword(s):  
Human Life ◽  
Spiritual Experience ◽  
Religious Movement ◽  
Spiritual Experiences ◽  
Privileged Access ◽  
Central Elements ◽  
The Way

The term spirituality is notoriously difficult to define, as is evidenced by the discussions between contemporary sociologists of religion. If there are any central elements to such a definition, they revolve around the search for the sacred, and the view that certain practices or beliefs lead to humans being placed in a position of privileged access to the transcendent dimension. Often such spiritual experiences and insights are the result of practices that seek deeper communication with the divine, or stem from contemplative reflection upon one’s purpose in a broader context of universal ontology. This discussion seeks to probe Q for its understanding of spirituality, both in terms of the way the text promotes communication with the divine, as well as offering heightened spiritual experience for adherents to its teaching. In essence, this is an exploration of the way the new religious movement reflected in Q offered its followers contact with the transcendent within the context of everyday human life.

scholarly journals Cutting the Knot of the World Problem: Sri Aurobindo’s Experiential and Philosophical Critique of Advaita Vedānta

Religions ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (9) ◽  
pp. 765
Author(s):  
Swami Medhananda
Keyword(s):  
Final Section ◽  
Spiritual Experience ◽  
Ecological Crisis ◽  
Spiritual Experiences ◽  
Advaita Vedānta ◽  
Advaita Vedanta ◽  
Philosophical Critique ◽  
The World ◽  
Philosophical Standpoint ◽  
The Universe

This article proposes to examine in detail Aurobindo’s searching—and often quite original—criticisms of Advaita Vedānta, which have not yet received the sustained scholarly attention they deserve. After discussing his early spiritual experiences and the formative influence of Sri Ramakrishna and Swami Vivekananda on his thought, I outline Aurobindo’s philosophy of “realistic Adwaita”. According to Aurobindo, the sole reality is the Divine Saccidānanda, which is not only the static impersonal Brahman but also the personal, dynamic Cit-Śakti (Consciousness-Force), which manifests as everything in this universe. At various points in his corpus, Aurobindo criticizes Advaita Vedānta on three fronts. From the standpoint of spiritual experience, Aurobindo argues that Śaṅkara’s philosophy is based on a genuine, but partial, experience of the Infinite Divine Reality: namely, the experience of the impersonal nondual Absolute and the corresponding conviction of the unreality of everything else. Aurobindo claims, on the basis of his own spiritual experiences, that there is a further stage of spiritual experience, when one realizes that the impersonal-personal Divine Reality manifests as everything in the universe. From a philosophical standpoint, Aurobindo questions the logical tenability of key Advaitic doctrines, including māyā, the exclusively impersonal nature of Brahman, and the metaphysics of an illusory bondage and liberation. Finally, from a scriptural standpoint, Aurobindo argues that the ancient Vedic hymns, the Upaniṣads, and the Bhagavad-Gītā, propound an all-encompassing Advaita philosophy rather than the world-denying Advaita philosophy Śaṅkara claims to find in them. This article focuses on Aurobindo’s experiential and philosophical critiques of Advaita Vedānta, as I have already discussed his new interpretations of the Vedāntic scriptures in detail elsewhere. The article’s final section explores the implications of Aurobindo’s life-affirming Advaitic philosophy for our current ecological crisis.

scholarly journals DA'WAH EXPERIENCE, SPIRITUAL, AND ECONOMIC RESILIENCE OF JAMAAH TABLIGH IN LANGSA ACEH

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 203
Author(s):  
Muhammad Dayyan ◽  
Ainun Mardhiah ◽  
Masdalifah Sembiring
Keyword(s):  
Focus Group ◽  
Focus Group Discussion ◽  
Group Discussion ◽  
Spiritual Experience ◽  
Spiritual Experiences ◽  
Economic Resilience ◽  
The Family

This article examines the experience of da'wah, spirituality and economic resilience of jamaah tabligh in Langsa City. Jamaah Tabligh is a community that consistently carries out its da'wah to invite people to worship Allah Almighty by praying in congregation in mosques. The method of da'wah is done in the form of going to people's homes, traveling out of the area where they live by leaving their families in between two days, a week or even 40 days known as khuruj. Through observation of da'wah activities and family conditions, interviews with 5 males and 5 female jamaah tabligh families and one focus group discussion found that da'wah experiences, spiritual experiences and economic resilience of the jamaah tabligh families. That da'wah experiences face a number of challenges in the form of rejection and expulsion from the community faced calmly and patiently. The spiritual experience of increasing the sense of faith in the form of belief in the mercy of Allah has had an impact on the tranquility of the life of the family of the congregation. In terms of family economic resilience by the standards of dharuriyah and hajjiyah it has been fulfilled through savings, assistance from other jamaah members and side jobs by the wife of the jamaah.

Phenomenology of Religious Experience

2021 ◽  
pp. 251-267
Author(s):  
Joseph Olufemi Asha
Keyword(s):  
Religious Experience ◽  
Holy Spirit ◽  
Spiritual Experience ◽  
Significant Implication ◽  
Spiritual Experiences ◽  
The Road ◽  
Contemporary Research ◽  
The Holy Spirit ◽  
On The Road ◽  
Everyday Situation

In the Christian tradition, a spiritual experience is a phenomenon that in some sense remains controversial. Nonetheless, spiritual experience in Christianity refers to the personalization of the faith in Christ that transcends the normal. This is, however, critically contested and regrettably unexplored. It lends credence to why contemporary research on religious experience reveals that Christian spiritual experiences have the element of supernatural intervention by the Holy Spirit, although supernatural must not be confused with spectacular. It might be spectacular, as in the case of Paul on the road to Damascus (Acts 9). Drawing upon extensive contemporary research, content analysis, and literature on religious experience, this study adopts descriptive methodology as techniques. The study situates religious experience as occurrence in an everyday situation of Christians through which they derive a clear inner realization of “the truth.” Findings reveal a significant implication for collective research on religious and spiritual experiences for Christians.

scholarly journals HUBUNGAN KINERJA OTAK DENGAN SPIRITUALITAS DIUKUR MENGGUNAKAN INDONESIA SPIRITUAL HEALTH ASSESSMENT PADA GURU SMA DI TIDORE

2014 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ditha Rachmatika ◽  
Djon Wongkar
Keyword(s):  
Human Brain ◽  
Positive Emotions ◽  
School Teacher ◽  
Health Assessment ◽  
High School Teacher ◽  
Meaning Of Life ◽  
Spiritual Health ◽  
Spiritual Experience ◽  
Spiritual Experiences ◽  
The Town

Abstract: The human brain is the center of the structure which has a volume around 1.350cc and consists of 100 million nerve cells or neuron. The human brain is responsible for the whole body and way of thinking. Brain also influential on human spirituality. Spirituality has 4 thing that can be observed is a ritual, spiritual experience, the meaning of life and positive emotions. Neuroscience is the science which studies human self as a pocess that takes at the level of neural cells to the human nexus with God.  Indonesian Spiritual Health Assessment is a checks are made based on the theoretical concept of the spiritual which consists of 3 components, namely spiritual health item, brain system assessment  and neurofeedback. Objective: Determine the relationship of spirituality human brain performance with high school teacher in the town of tidore. Methods: Type of observational study with cross-sectional research design. Study sample is a high school teacher in the town of Tidore totaling 65 people.  Data collected by distributing questionnaires to the respondents in the form of Indonesia Spiritual Health Assessment (ISHA). Result and Conclusion: Based on research that has been conducted on 65 subjects were obtained results that there is a relationship between the performance of human brain with spirituality. The result can be concluded that there is a relationship between the performance of the human brain with spirituality. The result can be concluded: (1) Cortex prefrontal have no association with a spiritual experience and the meaning of  life, but there is relationship with positive emotions and rituals; (2) system limbic have no association with spiritual experiences, positive emotion, the meaning of life and rituals; (3) ganglia basalis have no association with spiritual experiences, positive emotions and the meaning of life, but there is relationship with rituals; (4) gyrus cingulatus have no association with spiritual experiences, positive emotion and meaning of life, but there is relationship with rituals; (5) temporal lobe have relationship with spiritual experience, but no association with positive emotions, the meaning of life and rituals. Keywords: Brain performance, Spirituality.     Abstrak: Latar Belakang:Otak manusia adalah struktur pusat pengaturan yang memiliki volume sekitar 1.350cc dan terdiri atas 100 juta sel saraf atau neuron. Otak manusia bertanggung jawab terhadap pengaturan seluruh tubuh dan cara berpikir. Otak juga sangat berpengaruh terhadap spiritualitas manusia.Spiritualitas memiliki 4 hal yang dapat diamati yaitu ritual, pengalaman spiritual, makna hidup, dan emosi positif. Neurosains adalah ilmu yang mengkaji diri manusia sebagai proses yang berlangsung pada tingkat sel saraf hingga proses perhubungan manusia dengan Tuhan. Indonesia Spiritual Health Assessment adalah pemeriksaan yang dibuat berdasarkan konsep teoritis spiritualitas, yang terdiri dari tiga komponen yaitu Spiritual Health Item, Brain System Assessment, dan Neurofeedback. Tujuan: Mengetahui hubungan kinerja otak dengan spiritualitas manusia pada guru SMA di Kota Tidore. Metode: Jenispenelitian ini yaitu penelitian observasional dengan desain penelitian crosssectional.Sampel penelitian yaitu guru SMA di Kota Tidore Kepulauan yang berjumlah 65 orang. Data diambil dengan cara membagikan kuesioner yang berupa Indonesia Spiritual Health Assessment (ISHA) kepada responden. Hasil dan simpulan: Berdasarkan penelitian yang telah dilakukan pada 65 subjek penelitian diperoleh hasil yaitu ada hubungan antara kinerja otak dengan spiritualitas manusia. Dari hasil dapat disimpulkan bahwa: (1) Korteks prefrontal tidak ada hubungan dengan pengalaman spiritual dan makna hidup, tetapi ada hubungan dengan emosi positif dan ritual; (2) Sistem limbic tidak ada hubungan dengan pengalaman spiritual, emosi positif makna hidup dan ritual; (3) Ganglia basalis tidak ada hubungan dengan pengalaman spiritual, emosi positif dan makna hidup, tetapi ada hubungan dengan ritual; (4) Girus singulatus tidak ada hubungan dengan pengalaman spiritual, emosi positif dan makna hidup, tetapi ada hubungan dengan ritual; (5) Lobus temporal ada hubungan dengan pengalaman spiritual, tetapi tidak ada hubungan dengan emosi positif, makna hidup dan ritual. Kata Kunci: Kinerja Otak, Spiritualitas.

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