Spirituality

Not to be confused with Spiritualism.
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Spirituality
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Category:Spirituality

The term spirituality lacks a definitive definition,[1][2] although social scientists have defined spirituality as the search for "the sacred," where "the sacred" is broadly defined as that which is set apart from the ordinary and worthy of veneration.[3]

The term "spirituality" is derived from the Latin spiritualitas and the Biblical "roeach/pneuma"[citation needed] . It means to be put in motion, to be a living person, and being driven. In a Bibilical context it means being animated by God.[4]

The use of the term "spirituality" has changed throughout the ages.[5] In modern times spirituality is often separated from religion,[6] and connotes a blend of humanistic psychology with mystical and esoteric traditions and eastern religions aimed at personal well-being and personal development.[7]

The notion of "spiritual experience" plays an important role in modern spirituality, but has a relatively recent origin.[8]

Definition

Several authors state that there is no definitive definition of spirituality.[1][2][note 1]

According to Waaijman, the traditional meaning of spirituality is a process of re-formation:[9][note 2]

The re-formation aims to recover the original shape of man, the image of God. To accomplish this, the re-formation is oriented at a mold, which represents the original shape: in Judaism the Torah, in Christianity Christ, in Buddhism Buddha, in the Islam Muhammad.[10][note 3]

In modern times "spirituality" has acquired a new meaning. It still denotes a process of transformation, but is often seen as separate from religious institutions, as "spiritual but not religious." [6] Spirituality has come to mean the internal experience of the individual. According to Yuk-Lin Renita Wong and Jana Vinsky, religion represents the organized aspect, the institutions which press people into a mold.[6] Dick Houtman and Stef Aupers write that modern spirituality blends humanistic psychology with mystical and esoteric traditions and eastern religions.[7]

Social scientists have defined spirituality as the search for "the sacred," where "the sacred" is broadly defined as that which is set apart from the ordinary and worthy of veneration, for example "a transcendent dimension":

[...] a transcendent dimension within human experience [...] discovered in moments in which the individual questions the meaning of personal existence and attempts to place the self within a broader ontological context.[11]

Spirituality can be sought not only through traditional organized religions, but also through movements such as the feminist theology and green politics. Spirituality is also now associated with mental health, managing substance abuse, marital functioning, parenting, and coping. It has been suggested that spirituality also leads to finding purpose and meaning in life.[3]

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Development of the meaning of spirituality

Classical and medieval meaning

Words translatable as 'spirituality' first began to arise in the 5th century and only entered common use toward the end of the Middle Ages.[12]

The term "spirituality" is derived from the Latin spiritualitas and the Biblical "roeach/pneuma". It means to be put in motion, to be a living person, and being driven. In a Bibilical context it means being animated by God.[4] Spirituality means to be driven by the Holy Spirit, as opposed to a life which rejects this influence.[13]

In the 11th century this meaning changes. Spirituality denotes then the mental aspect of life, as opposed to the material and sensual aspects of life. Spirituality represents "the ecclesiastical sphere of light against the dark world of matery".[14][note 4]

In the 13th century "spirituality" acquired a social and psychological meaning. Socially it denoted the territory of the clergy: "The ecclesiastical against the temporary possessions, the ecclesiastical against the secular authority, the clerical class against the secular class"[15][note 5] Psychologically it denoted the realm of the inner life: "The purity of motives, affections, intentions, inner dispositions, the psychology of the spiritual life, the analysis of the feelings".[16][note 6]

Early-modern meaning

In the 17th and 18th century a distinction was being made between higher and lower forms of spirituality:

A spiritual man is one who is Christian 'more abundantly and deeper than others'.[16][note 7]

But the word was also associated with mysticism and quietism, and acquired a negative meaning.

Modern spirituality

The spread of the ideas of modernity began to alter the role of religion in society and in popular thought.[citation needed]

Transcendentalism and Unitarian Universalism

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882) was a pioneer of the idea of spirituality as a distinct field.[17] He was one of the major figures in Transcendentalism, an early 19th century liberal Protestant movement, which was rooted in English and German Romanticism, the Biblical criticism of Herder and Schleiermacher, and the skepticism of Hume.[web 1] The Transcendentalists emphasised an intuitive, experiential approach of religion.[web 2] Following Schleiermacher[18], an individual's intuition of truth was taken as the criterium for truth.[web 2] In the late 18th and early 19th century, the first translations of Hindu texts appeared, which were also read by the Transcendentalists, and influenced their thinking.[web 2] They also endorsed universalist and Unitarianist ideas, leading to Unitarian Universalism, the idea that there must be truth in other religions as well, since a loving God would redeem all living beings, not just Christians.[web 2][web 3]

Neo-Vedanta

Main article: Neo-Vedanta

An important influence on western spirituality was Neo-Vedanta, also called neo-Hinduism[19] and Hindu Universalism,[web 4] a modern interpretation of Hinduism which developed in response to western colonialism and orientalism, and aims to present Hinduism as a "homogenized ideal of Hinduism"[20] with Advaita Vedanta as it's central doctrine.[21] Due to the colonisation of Asia by the western world, since the 19th century an exchange of ideas has been taking place between the western world and Asia, which also influenced western religiosity.[22] Unitarianism, and the idea of Universalism, was brought to India by missionaries, and had a major influence on neo-Hinduism via Ram Mohan Roy's Brahmo Samaj and Brahmoism. Roy attempted to modernise and reform Hinduism, taking over Christian social ideas and the idea of Universalism.[23] This universalism was further popularised, and brought back to the west as neo-Vedanta, by Swami Vivekananda.[23]

Theosophical Society and the Perennial Philosophy

Another major influence on modern spirituality was the Theosophical Society, which searched for 'secret teachings' in Asian religions.[22] It has been influential on modernist streams in several Asian religions, notably Neo-Vedanta, the revival of Theravada Buddhism, and Buddhist modernism, which have taken over modern western notions of personal experience and universalism and integrated them in their religious concepts.[22]

The influence of Asian traditions on western modern spirituality was also furthered by the Perennial Philosophy, whose main proponent Aldous Huxley was deeply influenced by by Vivekanda's Neo-Vedanta and Universalism[24], and the growing wellfare, education and mass travel after World war Two.

Important early 20th century western writers who studied the phenomenon of spirituality, and their works, include William James, The Varieties of Religious Experience (1902), and Rudolph Otto, especially The Idea of the Holy (1917).[citation needed] James' notions of "spiritual experience" had a further influence on the modernist streams in Asian traditions, making them even further recognisable for a western audience.[18]

"Spiritual-but-not-religious"

After the Second World War spirituality and religion became disconnected.[16] A new discourse developed, in which (humanistic) psychology, mystical and esoteric traditions and eastern religions are being blended, to reach the true self by self-disclosure, free expression and meditation.[7]

The distinction between the spiritual and the religious became more common in the popular mind during the late 20th century with the rise of secularism and the advent of the New Age movement. Authors such as Chris Griscom and Shirley MacLaine explored it in numerous ways in their books. Paul Heelas noted the development within New Age circles of what he called "seminar spirituality":[25] structured offerings complementing consumer choice with spiritual options.

Among other factors, declining membership of organized religions and the growth of secularism in the western world have given rise to this broader view of spirituality.[26] The term "spiritual" is now frequently used in contexts in which the term "religious" was formerly employed.[27]

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Traditional spirituality

Abrahamic faiths

Judaism

Rabbinic Judaism (or in some Christian traditions, Rabbinism) (Hebrew: "Yahadut Rabanit" - יהדות רבנית) has been the mainstream form of Judaism since the 6th century CE, after the codification of the Talmud. It is characterised by the belief that the Written Torah ("Law" or "Instruction") cannot be correctly interpreted without reference to the Oral Torah and by the voluminous literature specifying what behavior is sanctioned by the law (called halakha, "the way").

Judaism knows a variety of religious observances: ethical rules, prayers, religious clothing, holidays, shabbat, pilgrimages, Torah reading, dietary laws.

Kabbalah (literally "receiving"), is an esoteric method, discipline and school of thought of Judaism. Its definition varies according to the tradition and aims of those following it,[28] from its religious origin as an integral part of Judaism, to its later Christian, New Age, or Occultist syncretic adaptations. Kabbalah is a set of esoteric teachings meant to explain the relationship between an unchanging, eternal and mysterious Ein Sof (no end) and the mortal and finite universe (his creation). While it is heavily used by some denominations, it is not a religious denomination in itself. Inside Judaism, it forms the foundations of mystical religious interpretation. Outside Judaism, its scriptures are read outside the traditional canons of organised religion. Kabbalah seeks to define the nature of the universe and the human being, the nature and purpose of existence, and various other ontological questions. It also presents methods to aid understanding of these concepts and to thereby attain spiritual realisation.

Hasidic Judaism, meaning "piety" (or "loving kindness"), is a branch of Orthodox Judaism that promotes spirituality through the popularisation and internalisation of Jewish mysticism as the fundamental aspect of the faith. It was founded in 18th-century Eastern Europe by Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov as a reaction against overly legalistic Judaism. His example began the characteristic veneration of leadership in Hasidism as embodiments and intercessors of Divinity for the followers.[citation needed] Opposite to this, Hasidic teachings cherished the sincerity and concealed holiness of the unlettered common folk, and their equality with the scholarly elite. The emphasis on the Immanent Divine presence in everything gave new value to prayer and deeds of kindness, alongside Rabbinic supremacy of study, and replaced historical mystical (kabbalistic) and ethical (musar) asceticism and admonishment with optimism,[citation needed] encouragement, and daily fervour. This populist emotional revival accompanied the elite ideal of nullification to paradoxical Divine Panentheism, through intellectual articulation of inner dimensions of mystical thought.

Christianity

Main articles: Catholic spirituality and Christian mysticism
Union with Christ is the purpose of Christian mysticism.

Catholic spirituality is the spiritual practice of living out a personal act of faith (fides qua creditur) following the acceptance of faith (fides quae creditur). Although all Catholics are expected to pray together at Mass, there are many different forms of spirituality and private prayer which have developed over the centuries. Each of the major religious orders of the Catholic Church and other lay groupings have their own unique spirituality - its own way of approaching God in prayer and in living out the Gospel.

Christian mysticism refers to the development of mystical practices and theory within Christianity. It has often been connected to mystical theology, especially in the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox traditions. The attributes and means by which Christian mysticism is studied and practiced are varied and range from ecstatic visions of the soul's mystical union with God to simple prayerful contemplation of Holy Scripture (i.e., Lectio Divina).

Islam

Five pillars
Main article: Five Pillars of Islam

The Pillars of Islam (arkan al-Islam; also arkan ad-din, "pillars of religion") are five basic acts in Islam, considered obligatory for all believers. The Quran presents them as a framework for worship and a sign of commitment to the faith. They are (1) the shahadah (creed), (2) daily prayers (salat), (3) almsgiving (zakah), (4) fasting during Ramadan and (5) the pilgrimage to Mecca (hajj) at least once in a lifetime. The Shia and Sunni sects both agree on the essential details for the performance of these acts.[29]

Sufism
Main article: Sufism

The best known form of Islamic mystic spirituality is the Sufi tradition (famous through Rumi and Hafiz) in which a spiritual master or pir transmits spiritual discipline to students.[30]

Sufism or taṣawwuf (Arabic: تصوّف‎) is defined by its adherents as the inner, mystical dimension of Islam.[31][32][33] A practitioner of this tradition is generally known as a ṣūfī (صُوفِيّ). Sufis believe they are practicing ihsan (perfection of worship) as revealed by Gabriel to Muhammad,

Worship and serve Allah as you are seeing Him and while you see Him not yet truly He sees you.

Sufis consider themselves as the original true proponents of this pure original form of Islam. They are strong adherents to the principal of tolerance, peace and against any form of violence. The Sufi have suffered severe persecution by their coreligionist brothers the Wahhabi and the Salafist. In 1843 the Senussi Sufi were forced to flee Mecca and Medina and head to the Sudan and Libya.[34]

Classical Sufi scholars have defined Sufism as "a science whose objective is the reparation of the heart and turning it away from all else but God".[35] Alternatively, in the words of the Darqawi Sufi teacher Ahmad ibn Ajiba, "a science through which one can know how to travel into the presence of the Divine, purify one's inner self from filth, and beautify it with a variety of praiseworthy traits".[36]

Jihad
Main article: Jihad

Jihad is a religious duty of Muslims. In Arabic, the word jihād translates as a noun meaning "struggle". There are two commonly accepted meanings of jihad: an inner spiritual struggle and an outer physical struggle.[37] The "greater jihad" is the inner struggle by a believer to fulfill his religious duties.[37][38] This non-violent meaning is stressed by both Muslim[39] and non-Muslim[40] authors.

Al-Khatib al-Baghdadi, an 11th-century Islamic scholar, referenced a statement by the companion of Muhammad Jabir ibn Abd-Allah:

The Prophet [...] returned from one of his battles, and thereupon told us, 'You have arrived with an excellent arrival, you have come from the Lesser Jihad to the Greater Jihad—the striving of a servant (of Allah) against his desires (holy war)."[unreliable source?][41][42][note 8]

Asian traditions

Hinduism

The Hindu traditions know a wide range of spiritual practices called Sādhanā, aimed at reaching moksha or enlightenment. Sadhana literally "a means of accomplishing something",[43] is an ego-transcending spiritual practice.[44] It includes a variety of disciplines in Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist[45] and Muslim traditions that are followed in order to achieve various spiritual or ritual objectives.

The historian N. Bhattacharyya provides a working definition of the benefits of sādhanā as follows:

... religious sādhanā, which both prevents an excess of worldliness and molds the mind and disposition (bhāva) into a form which develops the knowledge of dispassion and non-attachment. Sādhanā is a means whereby bondage becomes liberation.[46]

Iyengar (1993: p. 22) in his English translation of and commentary to the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali defines sādhanā in relation to abhyāsa and kriyā:

Sādhanā is a discipline undertaken in the pursuit of a goal. Abhyāsa is repeated practice performed with observation and reflection. Kriyā, or action, also implies perfect execution with study and investigation. Therefore, sādhanā, abhyāsa, and kriyā all mean one and the same thing. A sādhaka, or practitioner, is one who skillfully applies...mind and intelligence in practice towards a spiritual goal.[47]

Buddhism

Main article: Buddhism

Buddhist practices are known as Bhavana, which literally means "development" or "cultivating"[48] or "producing"[49][50] in the sense of "calling into existence."[51] It is an important concept in Buddhist praxis (Patipatti). The word bhavana normally appears in conjunction with another word forming a compound phrase such as citta-bhavana (the development or cultivation of the heart/mind) or metta-bhavana (the development/cultivation of lovingkindness). When used on its own bhavana signifies 'spiritual cultivation' generally.

Various Buddhist Paths to liberation developed throughout the ages. Best-known is the Noble Eightfold Path, but others include the Bodhisattva Path and Lamrim.

African spirituality

Main article: Traditional African religion

In some African contexts, spirituality is considered a belief system that guides that welfare of society and the people therein, and eradicates sources of unhapiness ocassined by evil.

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Modern spirituality

Main article: New Age

The term "spiritual" is now frequently used in contexts in which the term "religious" was formerly employed.[27] Modern spirituality is also called "post-traditional spirituality"[52] and "New Age spirituality".[53]

Hanegraaf makes a distinction between "New Age sensu stricto" and "New Age Sensu lato".[54] "New Age sensu stricto"(in a strict sense) originated in the 1950s as a group of people who expected a radical change of culture. "New Age Sensu lato" (in a wide sense) emerged in the later 1970s,

...when increasing numbers of people [...] began to perceive a broad similarity between a wide variety of "alternative ideas" and pursuits, and started to think of them as part of one "movement"".[54]

This perception of similarities is a defining characteristic of New Age[55], modern spirituality[7][13] and Nondualism.[56]

Those who speak of spirituality outside of religion often define themselves as spiritual but not religious and generally believe in the existence of different "spiritual paths," emphasizing the importance of finding one's own individual path to spirituality. According to one 2005 poll, about 24% of the United States population identifies itself as spiritual but not religious.[web 5]

Characteristics

Modern spirituality is centered on the "deepest values and meanings by which people live."[57] It embraces the idea of an ultimate or an alleged immaterial reality.[58] It envisions an inner path enabling a person to discover the essence of his/her being.

Not all modern notions of spirituality embrace transcendental ideas. Secular spirituality emphasizes humanistic ideas on moral character (qualities such as love, compassion, patience, tolerance, forgiveness, contentment, responsibility, harmony, and a concern for others.[59]:22 These are aspects of life and human experience which go beyond a purely materialist view of the world without necessarily accepting belief in a supernatural reality or divine being.

Personal well-being, both physical and psychological, is an important aspect of modern spirituality. Contemporary authors suggest that spirituality develops inner peace and forms a foundation for happiness. Meditation and similar practices may help any practitioner cultivate his or her inner life and character.[60][unreliable source?][61] Ellison and Fan (2008) assert that spirituality causes a wide array of positive health outcomes, including "morale, happiness, and life satisfaction."[62] Spirituality has played a central role in self-help movements such as Alcoholics Anonymous:

...if an alcoholic failed to perfect and enlarge his spiritual life through work and self-sacrifice for others, he could not survive the certain trials and low spots ahead....[63]

Spiritual experience

Main article: Religious experience

"Spiritual experience" plays a central role in modern spirituality.[64] This notion has been popularised by both western and Asian authors.[65][66]

William James popularized the use of the term "religious experience" in his The Varieties of Religious Experience.[65] It has also influenced the understanding of mysticism as a distinctive experience which supplies knowledge.[web 1]

Wayne Proudfoot traces the roots of the notion of "religious experience" further back to the German theologian Friedrich Schleiermacher (1768–1834), who argued that religion is based on a feeling of the infinite. The notion of "religious experience" was used by Schleiermacher to defend religion against the growing scientific and secular citique. It was adopted by many scholars of religion, of which William James was the most influential.[67]

Major Asian influences were Vivekananda[68] and D.T. Suzuki.[64]Swami Vivekananda popularised a modern syncretitistic Hinduism[69][66], in which the authority of the scriptures was replaced by an emphasis on personal experience.[66][70]D.T. Suzuki had a major influence on the popularisation of Zen in the west and popularized the idea of enlightenment as insight into a timeless, transcendent reality.[web 6][web 7][22] Another example can be seen in Paul Brunton's A Search in Secret India, which introduced Ramana Maharshi to a western audience.

Spiritual experiences can include being connected to a larger reality, yielding a more comprehensive self; joining with other individuals or the human community; with nature or the cosmos; or with the divine realm.[71]

Spiritual practices

Main article: Spiritual practice

Waaijman discerns four forms of spiritual practices:[72]

  1. Somatic practices, especially deprivation and diminishment. The deprivation purifies the body. Diminishment concerns the repulsement of ego-oriented impulses. Examples are fasting and poverty.[72]
  2. Psychological practices, for example meditation.[73]
  3. Social practices. Examples are the practice of obedience and communal ownership reform ego-orientedness into other-orientedness.[73]
  4. Spiritual. All practices aim at purifying the ego-centeredness, and direct the abilities at the divine reality.[73]

Spiritual practices may include meditation, mindfulness, prayer, and the contemplation of sacred texts; ethical development.[59] Love and/or compassion are often described as the mainstay of spiritual development.[59]

Within spirituality is also found "a common emphases on the value of thoughtfulness, tolerance for breadth and practices and beliefs, and appreciation for the insights of other religious communities, as well as other sources of authority within the social sciences."[74]

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Science

Antagonism

Since the scientific revolution, the relationship of science to religion and spirituality has developed in complex ways.[75][76] Historian John Hedley Brooke describes wide variations:

The natural sciences have been invested with religious meaning, with antireligious implications and, in many contexts, with no religious significance at all."[76]

The popular notion of antagonisms between science and religion[77][78] has historically originated with "thinkers with a social or political axe to grind" rather than with the natural philosophers themselves.[76] Though physical and biological scientists today avoid supernatural explanations to describe reality[79][80][81][note 9], many scientists continue to consider science and spirituality to be complementary, not contradictory.[82][83]

Holism

Main article: Holism

During the twentieth century the relationship between science and spirituality has been influenced both by Freudian psychology, which has accentuated the boundaries between the two areas by accentuating individualism and secularism, and by developments in particle physics, which reopened the debate about complementarity between scientific and religious discourse and rekindled for many an interest in holistic conceptions of reality.[76]:322 These holistic conceptions were championed by New Age spiritualists in a type of quantum mysticism that they claim justifies their spiritual beliefs,[84][85] though quantum physicists themselves on the whole reject such attempts as being pseudoscientific.[86][87]

Scientific research

Neuroscientists are trying to learn more about how the brain functions during reported spiritual experiences.[88][89]

The psychology of religion uses a variety of metrics to measure spirituality.[90]

In keeping with a general increase in interest in spirituality and complementary and alternative treatments, prayer has garnered attention among some behavioral scientists. Masters and Spielmans[91] have conducted a meta-analysis of the effects of distant intercessory prayer, but detected no discernible effects.

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See also

Portal icon Spirituality portal
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Notes

  1. ^ Koenig e.a.: "There is no widely agreed on definition of spirituality today".[1] Cobb e.a.: "The spiritual dimension is deeply subjective and there is no authoritative definition of spirituality".[2]
  2. ^ Waaijman[10] uses the word "omvorming", "to change the form". Different translations are possible: transformation, re-formation, trans-mutation.
  3. ^ Original in Dutch: "De hervorming is erop gericht de oorspronkelijke vorm van de mens, het beeld van God, te hervinden. Daartoe oriënteert zij zich op een vorm, die de oorspronkelijke gestalte present stelt: in het jodendom de Thora, in het christendom Christus, in het boeddhisme Boeddha, in de islam Mohammed".[10]
  4. ^ In Dutch: "de hemelse lichtsfeer tegenover de duistere wereld van de materie". [14]
  5. ^ In Dutch: "de kerkelijke tegenover de tijdelijke goederen, het kerkelijk tegenover het wereldlijk gezag, de geestelijke stand tegenover de lekenstand".[15]
  6. ^ In Dutch: "Zuiverheid van motieven, affecties, wilsintenties, innerlijke disposities, de psychologie van het geestelijk leven, de analyse van de gevoelens".[16]
  7. ^ In Dutch: "Een spiritueel mens is iemand die ‘overvloediger en dieper dan de anderen’ christen is".[16]
  8. ^ This reference gave rise to the distinguishing of two forms of jihad: "greater" and "lesser". Some Islamic scholars dispute the authenticity of this reference and consider the meaning of jihad as a holy war to be more important.[41]
  9. ^ See naturalism
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References

  1. ^ a b c Koenig 2012, p. 36.
  2. ^ a b c Cobb 2012, p. 213.
  3. ^ a b Snyder 2007.
  4. ^ a b Waaijman 2000, p. 359-360.
  5. ^ Waaijman 2000.
  6. ^ a b c Wong 2008.
  7. ^ a b c d Houtman 2007.
  8. ^ Sharf 2000.
  9. ^ Waaijman 2000, p. 424.
  10. ^ a b c Waaijman 2000, p. 460.
  11. ^ Saucier 2007.
  12. ^ Jones, L. G., ""A thirst for god or consumer spirituality? Cultivating disciplined practices of being engaged by god," in L. Gregory Jones and James J. Buckley eds., Spirituality and Social Embodiment, Oxford: Blackwell, 1997, 3-28, p4, n4.
  13. ^ a b Wong 2009.
  14. ^ a b Waaijman 2000, p. 360.
  15. ^ a b Waaijman 2000, p. 360-361.
  16. ^ a b c d e Waaijman 2000, p. 361.
  17. ^ Schmidt, Leigh Eric. Restless Souls : The Making of American Spirituality. San Francisco: Harper, 2005. ISBN 0-06-054566-6
  18. ^ a b Sharf 1995.
  19. ^ King 2002, p. 93.
  20. ^ Yelle 2012, p. 338.
  21. ^ King 2002, p. 135.
  22. ^ a b c d McMahan 2008.
  23. ^ a b King 2002.
  24. ^ Roy 2003.
  25. ^ Paul Heelas, The New Age Movement: The Celebration of the Self and the Sacralization of Modernity. Oxford: Blackwell, 1996, page 60. Cited in Anthony Giddens: Sociology. Cambridge: Polity, 2001, page 554.
  26. ^ Michael Hogan (2010). The Culture of Our Thinking in Relation to Spirituality. Nova Science Publishers: New York.
  27. ^ a b Gorsuch 1999.
  28. ^ Kabbalah: A very short introduction, Joseph Dan, Oxford University Press, Chapter 1 "The term and its uses"
  29. ^ Pillars of Islam, Oxford Islamic Studies Online
  30. ^ Azeemi,K.S., "Muraqaba: The Art and Science of Sufi Meditation". Houston: Plato, 2005. (ISBN 0-9758875-4-8), Pg. xi
  31. ^ Alan Godlas, University of Georgia, Sufism's Many Paths, 2000, University of Georgia
  32. ^ Nuh Ha Mim Keller, "How would you respond to the claim that Sufism is Bid'a?", 1995. Fatwa accessible at: Masud.co.uk
  33. ^ Zubair Fattani, "The meaning of Tasawwuf", Islamic Academy. Islamicacademy.org
  34. ^ Hawting, Gerald R. (2000). The first dynasty of Islam: The Umayyad Caliphate AD 661-750. Routledge. ISBN 0-415-24073-5.  See Google book search.
  35. ^ Ahmed Zarruq, Zaineb Istrabadi, Hamza Yusuf Hanson—"The Principles of Sufism". Amal Press. 2008.
  36. ^ An English translation of Ahmad ibn Ajiba's biography has been published by Fons Vitae.
  37. ^ a b Morgan & 2010 87.
  38. ^ "Jihad". Retrieved 20 February 2012. 
  39. ^ Jihad and the Islamic Law of War
  40. ^ Rudolph Peters, Islam and Colonialism. The doctrine of Jihad in Modern History (Mouton Publishers, 1979), p. 118
  41. ^ a b "Jihad". BBC. 2009-08-03. 
  42. ^ Fayd al-Qadir vol.4 pg. 511
  43. ^ V. S. Apte. A Practical Sanskrit Dictionary. p. 979.
  44. ^ Flood, Gavin. An Introduction to Hinduism. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, 1996. pp. 92, 156, 160, 167. ISBN 0-521-43878-0.
  45. ^ http://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Sadhana
  46. ^ Bhattacharyya, N. N. History of the Tantric Religion. Second Revised Edition. (Manohar: New Delhi, 1999) p. 174. ISBN 81-7304-025-7
  47. ^ Iyengar, B.K.S. (1993, 2002). Light on the Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali. Hammersmith, London, UK: Thorsons. ISBN 978-0-00-714516-4 p.22
  48. ^ Matthieu Ricard has said this in a talk.
  49. ^ Rhys Davids & Stede (1921-25), p. 503, entry for "Bhāvanā," retrieved 9 Dec 2008 from "U. Chicago" at http://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.2:1:3558.pali.
  50. ^ Monier-Williams (1899), p. 755, see "Bhāvana" and "Bhāvanā," retrieved 9 Dec 2008 from "U. Cologne" at http://www.sanskrit-lexicon.uni-koeln.de/scans/MWScan/MWScanpdf/mw0755-bhAvodaya.pdf.
  51. ^ Nyanatiloka (1980), p. 67.
  52. ^ Otterloo 2012, p. 240.
  53. ^ Otterloo 2012, p. 239, 240.
  54. ^ a b Hanegraaff 1996, p. 97.
  55. ^ Hanegraaff 1996.
  56. ^ Renard 2010.
  57. ^ Philip Sheldrake, A Brief History of Spirituality, Wiley-Blackwell 2007 p. 1-2
  58. ^ Ewert Cousins, preface to Antoine Faivre and Jacob Needleman, Modern Esoteric Spirituality, Crossroad Publishing 1992.
  59. ^ a b c Dalai Lama, Ethics for the New Millennium, NY:Riverhead Books, 1999
  60. ^ Wilkinson, Tony (2007). The lost art of being happy : spirituality for sceptics. Findhorn: Findhorn Press. ISBN 1844091163. 
  61. ^ Browner, Matthieu Ricard ; translated by Jesse (2003). Happiness: A guide to developing life's most important skill. (1st pbk. ed. ed.). New York: Little Brown. ISBN 0316167258. 
  62. ^ Ellison, Christopher G.; Daisy Fan (Sep 2008). "Daily Spiritual Experiences and Psychological Well-Being among US Adults". Social Indicators Research 88 (2): 247–271. JSTOR 27734699. 
  63. ^ Anonymous (1 August 2009). Alcoholics Anonymous: By the Anonymous Press. The Anonymous Press. pp. 14–15. ISBN 978-1-892959-16-4. Retrieved 5 March 2013. 
  64. ^ a b Sharf 1995-B.
  65. ^ a b Hori 1999, p. 47.
  66. ^ a b c Rambachan 1994.
  67. ^ Sharf 2000, p. 271.
  68. ^ Renard 2010, p. 191.
  69. ^ Sinari 2000.
  70. ^ Comans 1993.
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Sources

Published sources

  • Cobb, Mark R.; Puchalski, Christina M.; Rumbold, Bruce (2012), Oxford Textbook of Spirituality in Healthcare 
  • Comans, Michael (2000), The Method of Early Advaita Vedānta: A Study of Gauḍapāda, Śaṅkara, Sureśvara, and Padmapāda, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass 
  • Gorsuch, R.L.; Miller, W. R. (1999), Assessing spirituality. In W. R. Miller (Ed), Integrating spirituality into treatment (pp. 47-64), Washington, DC: American Psychological Association 
  • Hanegraaff, Wouter J. (1996), New Age Religion and Western Culture. Esotericism in the mirror of Secular Thought, Leiden/New York/Koln: E.J. Brill 
  • Hori, Victor Sogen (1999), Translating the Zen Phrase Book. In: Nanzan Bulletin 23 (1999) 
  • Houtman, Dick; Aupers, Stef (2007), "The Spiritual Turn and the Decline of Tradition: The Spread of Post-Christian Spirituality in 14 Western Countries, 1981-2000", Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion (2007) 46 (3): 305-320 
  • King, Richard (2002), Orientalism and Religion: Post-Colonial Theory, India and "The Mystic East", Routledge 
  • Koenig, Harold; King, Dana; Carson, Verna B. (2012), Handbook of Religion and Health, Oxford UP 
  • McMahan, David L. (2008), The Making of Buddhist Modernism, Oxford University Press, ISBN 9780195183276 
  • Morgan, Diane (2010), Essential Islam: a comprehensive guide to belief and practice, ABC-CLIO, ISBN 0-313-36025-1 
  • Otterloo, Anneke; Aupers, Stef; Houtman, Dick (2012), "Trajectories to the New Age. The spiritual turn of the first generation of Dutch New Age teachers", Social Compass 59(2) p. 239–256 (SAGE) 
  • Rambachan, Anatanand (1994), The Limits of Scripture: Vivekananda's Reinterpretation of the Vedas, University of Hawaii Press 
  • Renard, Philip (2010), Non-Dualisme. De directe bevrijdingsweg, Cothen: Uitgeverij Juwelenschip 
  • Roy, Sumita (2003), Aldous Huxley And Indian Thought, Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd 
  • Saucier, Gerard; Katarzyna Skrzypinska (1 October 2006). "Spiritual But Not Religious? Evidence for Two Independent Dispositions". Journal Of Personality 74 (5): 1257–1292. JSTOR 27734699. 
  • Sharf, Robert H. (1995-B), "Buddhist Modernism and the Rhetoric of Meditative Experience", NUMEN, vol.42 (1995) 
  • Sharf, Robert H. (2000), The Rhetoric of Experience and the Study of Religion. In: Journal of Consciousness Studies, 7, No. 11-12, 2000, pp. 267-87 
  • Sinari, Ramakant (2000), Advaita and Contemporary Indian Philosophy. In: Chattopadhyana (gen.ed.), "History of Science, Philosophy and Culture in Indian Civilization. Volume II Part 2: Advaita Vedanta", Delhi: Centre for Studies in Civilizations 
  • Snyder, C.R.; Lopez, Shane J. (2007), Positive Psychology, Sage Publications, Inc., ISBN 0-7619-2633-X 
  • Waaijman, Kees (2000), Spiritualiteit. Vormen, grondslagen, methoden, Kampen/Gent: Kok/Carmelitana 
  • Wong, Yuk-Lin Renita; Vinsky, Jana (2009), "Speaking from the Margins: A Critical Reflection on the ‘Spiritual-but-not-Religious’ Discourse in Social Work", British Journal of Social Work (2009) 39, pp.1343-1359 

Web-sources

  1. ^ a b Stanford Encyclopdeia of Philosophy, Transcendentalism
  2. ^ a b c d Jone John Lewis, What is Transcendentalism?"
  3. ^ Barry Andrews, THE ROOTS OF UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST SPIRITUALITY IN NEW ENGLAND TRANSCENDENTALISM
  4. ^ Frank Morales, Neo-Vedanta: The problem with Hindu Universalism
  5. ^ Newsweek/Beliefnet Poll Results
  6. ^ Robert H. Sharf, Whose Zen? Zen Nationalism Revisited
  7. ^ Hu Shih: Ch'an (Zen) Buddhism in China. Its History and Method
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Further reading

Traditional spirituality

  • Kees Waaijman, Spirituality: forms, foundations,methods. Leuven: Peeters
  • Downey, Michael. Understanding Christian Spirituality. New York: Paulist Press, 1997.

Modern spirituality

  • Hanegraaff, Wouter J. (1996), New Age Religion and Western Culture. Esotericism in the mirror of Secular Thought, Leiden/New York/Koln: E.J. Brill 

American spirituality

  • Eck, Diana L. A New Religious America. San Francisco: Harper, 2001.
  • Schmidt, Leigh Eric. Restless Souls : The Making of American Spirituality. San Francisco: Harper, 2005. ISBN 0-06-054566-6
  • Carrette, Jeremy R.; King, Richard (2005), Selling Spirituality: The Silent Takeover of Religion, Taylor & Francis Group 
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External links

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Last modified on 22 May 2013, at 15:45