Avkobling og transformasjon: Meditasjonsretreater på Dharma Mountain mellom popularisering og religiøst fellesskap

While meditation has undeniably become a part of popular culture, the term encompasses a wide variety of practices and conceptualizations on the religious-secular spectrum. In this paper, I explore how this wide scope is dealt with at meditation retreats offered at the Norwegian center Dharma Mountain. The place is built around the Norwegian guru Vasant Swaha and serves as a meeting place for his disciples, the sangha. At the same time, the Dharma Mountain group takes part in the wider popular meditation field with retreats tailored toward the preferences of an often guru-critical mainstream audience. Based on ethnographical material, I compare two meditation techniques, vipassana and Dynamic Meditation, and how they are introduced, legitimized, and performed at a newcomer weekend in the first and a summer retreat with Vasant Swaha in the second case. I show that while instructors introduce vipassana as a generic and simple technique, they mark Dynamic Meditation as a specifically composed method and thus integrate it with Swaha’s background in the Osho movement and the therapeutic outlook of his retreats. My findings point to the flexibility of the concept of meditation and how this helps organizers to address different audiences. Under the umbrella of meditation, Dharma Mountain incorporates a range of conceptualizations, from self-help to spiritual awakening, and different social forms, from costumer relations to religious community, in one and the same place.

The energic economy of cyberchronotopia

As social media, virtual reality, the internet of things, artificial intelligence, mobile computing, cloud computing, virtual collaboration platforms and other new technologies become an integral part of our life, more and more of us are facing a practical issue: insufficiency of psychic energy. Approaching the cyberneticization of the human condition from the perspective of psychic energy makes for a sorely needed critical intervention. This article reveals the vampiric nature of cyberspacetime, looks into vitalistic philosophy and spiritual praxes for coping strategies, and calls for homo ludens to rise above apparatuses of capture and conserve psychic energy for negentropic endeavours, psychosomatic events and spiritual awakening. It proceeds with the assumption that news about one’s autopoiesis and becoming is the most important news. Part of the motive is to demonstrate media theory and time-tested spiritual praxes as equipment for living.

JESUS CHRIST: THE PARAMOUNT EXEMPLAR OF SPIRITUAL WELL-BEING

Instead of directly addressing the theme of this conference, which begins with ‘Problems of spiritual awakening of a personality’, what is included herein is a potential solution to the problem. This paper is written from the author’s personal perspective, as an evangelical Christian. It provides material for each person to ponder and for reflection on well-being. The Bible, and particularly the Gospel of John, is interpreted using the Four Domains Model of Spiritual Health/Well-Being to support the claim that Jesus Christ is the paramount exemplar of spiritual well-being. This model proposes that spiritual well-being is reflected in the quality of relationships that each person has with self, others, nature and God. As Christ showed how to live in harmony in these four domains, which is the ultimate of spiritual well-being, his life provides a foundation for us to emulate. Christ not only showed us how to live in harmony with God, nature, others and self; he provided the way. Each person has the choice, whether or not to follow in his footsteps to achieve the ultimate of spiritual well-being – eternal life with God. If parents, pastoral carers, pedagogues, physicians, politicians and the populace, including pupils, cared for themselves and others in the same manner as would Jesus Christ, what a wonderful world it would be. We would not only be spiritually aware but fully awake.

SPIRITUAL AWAKENING AMONG ANGLICAN CLERGY DURING THE PANDEMIC: EXPLORING THE EFFECTS OF PERSONAL FACTORS, PERSONALITY, CHURCH ORIENTATION, AND RELIGIOUS PRACTICE

The experience under consideration in this study is rooted in the Covid-19 pandemic as crystalised in the events in England and Wales between late March 2020 and July 2020, when the Government imposed a national lockdown and when the Church of England imposed a national lock-up on its churches. The religious tradition under consideration is the Christian theological response to human disease and suffering. For considerable periods during the Covid-19 pandemic, England and Wales were in lockdown and churches were closed. Church services were live-streamed or pre-recorded for internet-savvy members to access online at home. For some clergy the pandemic may have been a challenge to faith, while for others the experience of the pandemic may have been an opportunity to re-kindle faith. A sample of 1,050 Anglican clergy serving in England completed an online survey including the newly developed Lewis Index of Spiritual Awakening (LISA) alongside a range of other measures. The Lewis Index of Spiritual Awakening (LISA) was found to have good psychometric properties. The data demonstrated that considerably more Anglican clergy experienced a sense of spiritual awakening during the pandemic than experienced a spiritual decline. The data also demonstrated that higher levels of spiritual awakening among Anglican clergy were associated with two factors, one psychological and one ecclesial. Clergy who report higher scores of spiritual awakening are more emotionally stable, associated with one of the two wings of the Anglican Church (Evangelical or Anglo-Catholic) rather than with the middle way of Broad Church, and influenced by the Charismatic Movement.

Attuning to the Cosmos

The essay discusses music and silence as two important paradigms for articulating spiritual progress in the Platonic corpus and its reception by Neoplatonic and Christian thinkers. After examining the importance of music in Plato’s theory of the soul, mainly in the Republic and the Timaeus, I argue that he appreciated music as a spiritual awakening, as preparation for the truth which is always experienced in deafening silence. Proclus, a sensitive reader of Plato, and later thinkers such as Proclus and Boethius, provided a secure path for the survival of Platonic ideas in the West. Petrarch, a meticulous reader of Augustine, grappling with the same Platonic notions that frustrated the fourth-century theologian, experiments boldly with Platonic silence in the Secretum and his Rime Sparse.

The Journey Within: Inner Calling as Spiritual in R. K. Narayan’s The Guide and Robin Sharma’s The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari

The Journey within begins when people start contemplating about the real purpose of their existence. The contemplation of longing to know the real purpose of life starts in the process of sitting with mindfulness – meditation which transcends the survival purpose of life. It leads to spirituality, the ability to talk to oneself or the heart - the inner calling, leads humans towards the perception of Divine within oneself, treasure within oneself and happiness within oneself. R. K. Narayan’s The Guide and Robin Sharma’s The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari carve out spiritual traces where protagonists find pleasure and happiness. In The Guide, the transformation of Raju from a tourist guide to spiritual guide for the sake of humankind and his interconnectedness with the Divine owes much to the self-realization as well as to his heart. In the same way, The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari transcends the material prosperity and reaches to the state of ecstasy as exemplified in spiritual preaching of the monk - Robin. Following the spirituality as theoretical tool, the article the central characters and explores their transformation towards spiritual awakening.

An Apocalypse Converted: William Stringfellow and Catholic Social Teaching on Climate Breakdown

In Laudato Si’, Pope Francis advances the concept of integral ecology to connect the environmental crisis with a range of social crises afflicting our societies. This concept is grounded in a theological commitment, but directed towards its political effects. Those two trajectories are represented by the encyclical’s articulation of a spiritual awakening described as an ecological conversion and its repeated calls to dialogue. Francis is not unaware of the risk that a naïve engagement in dialogue could stifle serious mitigation of the crises we face. Yet, even with many dire warnings about outcomes, much of the contemporary discourse around the climate and biodiversity crisis runs the risk of underestimating the nature of the problem. Apocalyptic theology, specifically in the work of William Stringfellow, is proposed as a valuable interlocutor at this point. Stringfellow’s account of the Christian life as a battle with the forces of Death allows Christians to name that which we are converted from in an ecological conversion, strengthening the grounds upon which dialogue is engaged.

pemikiran filosof Ibnu Rusyd tentang eskatologi

The Day of Resurrection is one of the pillars of faith that is believed by the majority of Muslims. Ibn Rushd did the same, but he had the view that in the afterlife there would only be spiritual awakening. This is different from the thoughts of theologians who hold fast means lafzi from the verses of the Qur'an and Sunnah which states that the resurrection in the hereafter will be both physical and spiritual. From the philosophers' thoughts arise various understandings of opinion in discussing the day of human resurrection in the afterlife. This type of research is the library (library research) while there are two sources of research data, namely primary data sources and secondary data sources. Primary data sources were taken from Ibn Rushd's book, namely: Tahâfut At-Tahâfut, secondary data sources were taken from books, research reports, papers, scientific journals related to this research. The results of this study, according to Ibnu Rusyd, eschatology is the science of the resurrection in the afterlife. Ibn Rushd's argument about the resurrection in the afterlife is spiritual or spiritual. So what will be resurrected is the soul, while the body that has disappeared will not be resurrected because the soul (soul) is eternal and eternal. The form of resurrection in the afterlife is a spiritual form, not physical or corpse, because the one who will receive merit and punishment is spiritual.

Church proliferation and immorality in Nigeria: Interrogating the paradox

In Nigeria, there is an upsurge in the number of churches. This church proliferation in Nigeria has given rise to the founding of a variety of denominations whilst moral decadence thrives. This article therefore examines the issue of proliferation of churches, its causes and effects on Christianity and the Nigerian society at large. Data for the study were drawn from journals, books and other relevant materials. Employing descriptive narrative approach, this article indicates that the reasons for churches’ proliferation include God’s calling, unemployment, excessive desire for wealth or greed and leadership tussles. The article argues that despite the positive effects of proliferation of churches, which include socio-economic development, spiritual awakening and evangelism, it also has negative effects such as lack of quality Christian teachings, noise pollution, unhealthy competition and family disintegration. The article suggests that the pastors and ministers of God should receive good training from theological schools for proper interpretation of the Bible and better dissemination of the gospel. They should show good examples to their members and the society at large. It further suggests that noise regulation laws in the country should be enforced.Contribution: The article examines the issue of proliferation of churches in Nigerian society. In Nigeria, churches are opened in every part of society but Christian religious worship is not being practiced in its true form. Notwithstanding the geometrical increase in churches, other vices have remained unabated in the country.

The encyclopedia of agroecology and Indigenous wisdom: Reflections on McFadden’s Deep Agroecology

Presenting an array of facts and an encyclopedia of ideas, Deep Agroecology: Food, Farms, and Our Future, by journalist Steven McFadden, urges the reader to activate their ‘spiritual understanding’ of agriculture in order to elevate all life on Earth. The author calls for nothing short of a spiritual awakening of all human beings to prevent further deterioration of the planet. As our climate falls into chaos, oceans warm, deserts grow, and the ice poles melt, McFadden argues, infusing and sustaining greater spirituality in farming practices is essential for the food system and farmers, for our culture, and for the health of the planet. McFadden’s goal with this book is not just to explore agroecology but to advocate for an additional “realm of critical mystery” (p. xiii) in our conception of farming. . . .