Running head: Spirituality
Spirituality’s effect on a person’s well being
Nadine Kueber
ENG1020-003
Professor Reeves
December 1, 2010
Writing Project Final
Spirituality’s effect on a person’s well being
While spirituality has no material proof, if it’s existing like a house with its roof, we can see proofs of changes in someone’s health and happiness while they practice it on a daily basis. Everyone asks themselves at one point or another what the purpose of life is and many authorities who try to discover it, believe that spirituality answers that question. But to answer this and other questions, we have to go deep into the matter to really understand it. There is not just the religious point of view in believing that there is a higher power we can’t see or describe out there, but also our own search of life, our purpose, and our discovery of our own being. For instance, it is important to discuss the roots of spirituality, its enlightenment, and also meditation, although the most important question is what proofs we have that practicing spirituality will change our life. There are some other points which are really important, for example to be able to understand how it began, where it came from, and where it will go. For a little deeper understanding, one should consider spirituality and its metaphysics. Our world is made out of matter, and so is everything else around us, in us, and even our own selves. Everything is made out of little particles, little atoms, even if we can’t see, hear, or smell them. Authors and physicians connected the elements of spirituality to quantum physics. In spite of the connection, intellectuals didn’t just combine spirituality and quantum physics for the understanding of the matter, but also for the possibility of a change in life through practicing spirituality. Now is the time to discover the New Age and look into the matter of spirituality through the telescope of the present time, to not just understand it in a broad meaning, but also in its detail.
Spirituality started after human beings entered our earth. Although back in time, people who practiced spirituality were titled as shamans, and women, in particular, were accused of being witches. Since, Spirituality is so closely connected to religion and also in some parts of the world practiced as a religion, it has to be considered and discussed. To begin with, the word spirituality should be first analyzed and defined.
Spirituality can refer to an ultimate or immaterial reality; an inner path enabling a person to discover the essence of their being; or the “deepest values and meanings by which people live.” Spiritual practices, including meditation, prayer and contemplation, are intended to develop an individual's inner life; such practices often lead to an experience of connectedness with a larger reality, yielding a more comprehensive self; with other individuals or the human community; with nature or the cosmos; or with the divine realm. Spirituality is often experienced as a source of inspiration or orientation in life. It can encompass belief in immaterial realities or experiences of the immanent or transcendent nature of the world (Wikipedia, 2010).
The definition of spirituality helps to understand the basic meaning.It will be elpful to explain how it traveled from time and country to what it is today in the US. In the 7th to 5th B.C. century, Europeans started to build groups with spirits, thoughts, and began to have their own religion (Rogge, 2010). The Gnosticism in Greece which had some trace of spiritual practices was some time later in the 1st century A.D. Aristotle, a Greek philosopher in the 15th century A.D, introduced formal logic the first time. He studied physics, ethics, metaphysics, and more. His discoveries and beliefs have a really close connection to the beliefs of realms and the understanding of the higher power of today. Aristotle had many quotes about the nature of truth, logic, and ethics. He believed in the higher good and the happiness of life. The naturalism was quoted by Aristotle’s as follows: “A man lives happily when his actions are in accordance with his nature. Man's spiritual nature is superior to his physical nature. The highest good for any man is the activity of his soul.”(North Carolina State University, 2010). Even in the US, the American Indians used spirituality as a healing method and usually had a medicine man that made medicine from plants which aided mental support. American Indians spirituality is portrayed as the eagle, mother nature, mother earth, bird feathers, and emphasizes the good part; but most uncommonly, it is discussed as the dark side of the signs. They believed in supernatural beings and practiced healing rituals; although the religion, better known as mythology, was different from tribe to tribe. For example, in the 18,th the Sun Dance as supernatural power was used in Indian ritual for a good harvest. The American Indian rituals remain still of today. It is an adapted, different, but never lost religion (Laying, 2010).
As we can see from the previous discussion, it is really hard to fix a date and say that’s the official start of spirituality. Especially all the countries had a different time of awakening into this newly arrived idea of spiritual beliefs. It is a really broad topic and can be seen from the religious point of view or the perspective of the belief system of an individual. Spirituality is a long - lasting discussion because it developed all the way from the early centuries B.C. to the present time. During earlier years people who believed in spirituality practiced a form of self-consciousness through meditation. It helped them to understand their body and to keep their health or even to overcome sickness. Therefore, the role of mediation can’t be neglected and has to be mentioned in addition to spirituality. Spirituality and meditation are really closely connected to each other, since Spirituality is the tool to believe and meditation is the tool to practice and strengthen someone’s beliefs. Meditation started in India and is adapted all over the world. The word itself is Latin and means to think and heal. (Health and Yoga, 2006). Meditation is often described as Yoga. Yoga is a relaxation exercise for the whole body and brain. It is a common practice which is not just used in Buddhism. Everyone can do it and can find their inner happiness and calmness. It helps to heal the body and to live a happier life. It can have a positive affect on an individual and the people around that person. It changes people who are practicing it into a happier person and meditation help one to stay healthy or gain health back. An interesting article “Spirituality in medicine gains support in the USA” by Janet Firshein talks about how doctors should consider using Spirituality and about being a good idea to introduce it as a college course. After a survey was taken, David Larson explained that 88% thought that Spirituality would help in people’s recovery. Even 77% thought it would be a good improvement for physicians to bring it into their work with patients. These results state clearly the hopes in spirituality in the future. To go away from hope and look more at facts and statistics, the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi Vedic Vishwavidyalaya (MMYVV) University in India did tests on ill people with some astonishing facts.
In the upper graph it is clearly seen that people who were meditating could reduce their illness in some cases to more than 50%. It is a fact that listening to one’s body and using mental skills can improve one’s well being (Maharishi, 2004). It is really amazing to see that transcendental meditation reduces the risk of contracting sickness and also helps preventing many kinds of illnesses, if used in a daily routine. Another article wrote about transcendental meditation and how this kind of meditation can reduce heart rate, lower blood pressure, and improve mental health. ”Theoretically, the spiritual nature of TM shifts the mind away from physical and mundane concerns to a focus on the larger universe and the individual’s place within it”(Wachholz and Pargament, 2005).
Isaac Newton’s research of 1687 for mathematical principle of natural philosophy was called “The Age of Enlightenment” which obtained a lot of focus during the last few years until the present-day and is addressed by many more authors and scientists than ever before (Rogge, 2010). Discovering nature was a new side of Weltanschauung of Europeans. Weltanschauung is a German word which is also used in English and means how we see the world or the philosophy of life. Isaac Newton is really interesting despite his studies. He studied more theology than science, although he was one of the famous scientists in his time (Hummel, 1991). Many intellectual people during the medieval time explored the nature of Spirituality. The connection between Spirituality and quantum mechanics is not so far away than one would think at first. Spirituality, as well as quantum mechanics, is about possibilities. We start with a possibility like electrons which exist first in a field of possibilities. Those electrons little particles start to create matter. Our body seems to work the same way. We as humans are made out of matter from electrons as well. As soon as we start thinking, we can lead our body to move or be active. Therefore, our mind could have the power of creating anything we can imagine, if we use the possibilities of matter to create a thought and change it into action. There are no limits in the sight of spirituality; there are just limits in human thinking. “For followers of quantum mysticism, this ‘paradigm shift,’ this new way of thinking about the nature of reality, creates the possibility of a self-empowered existence where individuals have enormous influence over their lives (Amarasingam, 2009).” This thought is exhilarating and also possible! To see it from a different perspective, one should take a look at Albert Einstein’s point of view. He stated “I am a deeply religious nonbeliever” (Hoffmann, 1972). In his eyes he thinks that God can’t exist, because the only excuse of punishing his children could be god’s nonexistence (Mayer, 1915). We have to understand that we won’t be able to use our full capability of the brain (Hoffmann, 1972). Therefore he thinks it is possible that every human being can do greater things than we could imagine in our present existence (Calaprice, 2000).
As mentioned earlier, the quantity where many authorities discuss spirituality is more than ever before. The movie What the Bleep or The Secret which gained many viewers over night illustrates some known people in it. Actually in the Secret the famous author Joe Vitale obtained his fame throughout the world because of this movie. He wrote many books about this topic. The first bestseller was The Attracting Factor. This book talks about how people can change from being unhappy to being happy in just changing their mind set. He claims that if everyone loves each other, forgives, and believes without any limits, the world would be a better place. He says everything one wants one will attract. Even the bad things in ones life, maybe because one had childhood memories which made him/her think, he/she was of little worth. The other way around is if you see all the good and stay positive and don’t have limited thoughts, which is really hard, then everything is possible (Vitale, 2010). Furthermore, he wrote another one with the Hawaiian Professor Ihaleakala Hew Len Zero Limits. In Zero limits he writes about Ihaleakala Hew Len who healed a whole prison of mental ill criminals. This Professor declared that he healed patients without seeing them and that he just said specific three sentences over and over again. Those three sentences are: “I love you, please forgive me, and thank you,” including his belief that every human being has a good soul (Vitale, & Ihaleakala, 2007). The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz, talks about four agreements; 1) Be Impeccable with your word 2) Don’t take anything personally 3) Don’t make assumptions, and 4) Always do your best. He states, when you live after those four agreements you will have a happy healthy and content life (Ruiz, 1997).
To understand how people practice and learn Spirituality, I went with a friend to the Buddhist Temple Avalokiteshvara in Denver, Colorado, to do an observation. As we came into the room the woman on the front desk saw that we were confused and didn’t know where to go and what was going to happen. She didn’t hesitate to explain step by step that we should take our shoes off, find a comfortable spot at the meditation room, and stand up when the teacher comes in. The teacher was a middle-aged woman with a shaved head and a red orange piece of clothing on. She looked like a Buddhist that one would see in the movies. She sat on a higher patio, behind two shelves layered with Buddhist figures and a big picture of the Geshe Kelsang Gyatso in the middle. Geshe Kelsang Gyatso is a Buddhist monk, teacher and author of many books. The first thing we did was emptying our minds in meditating and just concentrating on our breath. Afterwards, the teacher talked about cherishing others and not just ourselves, to live in harmony and peace. She said everyone is naturally born with a mind set to focus on ourselves, but we have the potential to change that and to cherish others the same way we cherish ourselves. Then we sang prayers and meditated for some more time. At this time were told to focus on family, friends, neighbors and people in this room to cherish. Towards the end we sang more prayers and the children, who were meditating upstairs, joined us. As the teacher left, the woman from the front desk talked about volunteer opportunities and new events coming up. Then we went to the other room to see the different books, CD’s and Buddhist accessories they provide and left the temple after and hour of meditating, praying, and teachings.
All in all, it was a great experience. I could feel that my body loosened up and my mind shifted into a calmer state of being. It was a terrific and interesting experience. I felt warm and secure at that place. People were friendly to each other and sent smiles to each other. The teacher had a calming voice and she smiled during the whole session. Everyone was quiet and respected the peaceful and still place.
Not just the observation was really helpful and interesting, even more the survey I took and sent out to several people. Fourteen of those Surveys came back with a really interesting result, which I want to mention at this point. I used eight closed question with a possibility to answer: yes, maybe, and no and three open question to see what experience the people had and where they were coming from. Following are the first eight questions with their results.
Yes Maybe No
- Do you believe in anything? 10 2 2
(like a God, higher power and so on)
- Do you believe in Spirituality? 9 4 1
- Do you think Spirituality has a 11 3 0
positive effect on people?
- Do you think Spirituality can do 7 5 2
wonder like to cure cancer?
- Do you think practicing Spirituality 12 2 0
can heal your body from illness/sickness?
- Would you recommend people 8 6 0
to practice Spirituality?
- Do you think if everyone in the world 5 8 1
would do it, it could change the world?
- Do you think it would help if physicians 5 7 2
would prescribe it for ill people?
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TOTAL SUMMARY 67 37 8
Following, a pie chart with the three most interesting answers of the questions 2, 3, and 5.
 |
| Add caption |
The pie shows only the three questions mentioned in the pie. The questions are with + or – of one point difference. Therefore, all three questions are pretty much the same to bring it in consideration as a result. To understand the outcome of the Survey and the group of people a better, one should know that I surveyed men and women in the age between 24 years and 60 years. The group I questioned was believer as well as non believer or Christians and Atheists. I found out that some Atheists didn’t completely refuse that there is a good spirit in some way. Some believe it is a God, Buddha, Krishna, Allah or another essence of good energy. It didn’t matter for my survey and all the differences made it even more valuable for the outcome.
The outcome of three open questions overall will be mentioned in a short summary.
Firstly it was asked, what does Spirituality mean to you? Interestingly, every single one of the fourteen answers was slightly different and nobody seemed to use the same words to explain it. Here some examples. Spirituality means inner strength, the contact with the soul and the energy for the soul. It is there for healthiness, for the power of the life journey, and for the afterlife. It is a connection between nature and universe. Another explanation was the faith in something bigger, finding peace, the right way. It is a supernatural force, something hard to understand and find. It was also described in the more religious way as the personal relationship with God, Jesus, and the comfort of the Holy Spirit. Spirituality is something which seems not part from our world since it can’t be seen or understood, it is a life force of everything in the universe and the awareness of it. It also is the free will, the souls health, and a help to become a better person.
Secondly was the question, what do you understand under the word Spirituality? This question was important to me to see what people think about it and where they are coming from. The result was the following: to believe in anything, to have spirits, to feel for something non objective because you can’t see and touch it, to believe in the metaphysical world and its interaction with human life. It means a supernatural energy, a higher meaning, higher purpose which is beyond this world, to improve ourselves within, to understand the meaning of this life. Furthermore, to trust that the answers are there, a guide to a more positive outcome, accepting Jesus as the savior and that Spirituality is the purest form of religion.
Thirdly, the question if anyone has ever experienced a positive change when they were praying, meditating, or just hoping really hard. Three answered that they never experienced a positive change and one person is still trying and waiting for a change. Another one talked about how praying and hoping helps to change positive thoughts into a positive life. A few others said that meditating helps in a spiritual way and a biological way, it puts the body and mind in a recovery state of calmness. It also helps one being a better and happier human being and to see the world in a relaxed way. Furthermore, it positively changes the day and one’s worries. Another example was that something bigger gave the strength to relax and calm down during a turbulent flight. Meditating and hoping or praying helps to get through bad times; it’s a way of living. Last but not least, it was said that only meditating or relaxation exercise had a positive effect.
Overall, the results came out really positively for the most part, which means that many people I surveyed do believe in a higher positive power and in the help of meditation. Most people, who were asked in the Survey, do believe in any kind of God or higher power and that it can help if one believes, prays, hopes or meditates. People who do meditate experience a positive change in their mind and they are more open and relaxed towards the world. There are even some studies out who show that areas where people meditate have less crimes and more healthy living. For example, places where there were some people meditating in groups such as a temple, there were more positive effects, which, as example, being seen in a better relationship between neighbors.
In my conclusion, I want to summarize: even though there are not many physical proofs that spirituality will change the world. It is proven that people who believe in any kind of higher supernatural power have positive experiences in their health, happiness, and their life. Practicing mediation is a tool to calm to one’s body, open to one’s mind, and to be in complete relaxation with one’s inner being. Meditation helped me in many ways. I do experience more happiness and also more patience for other human beings; I am more open minded and more relaxed toward the world. We do not know what’s going to happen after we die; we do not know why we are in this world; but we know that every single one of us wants to be loved and happy. Countless books have been written about how to attain happiness. Few people have discovered the way to happiness, but many people are still trying to find it. I do think it is a matter of time until we all will find happiness and living in peace with each other on one planet. What many intellectuals, who practice spirituality know, is that spirituality is the answer of the purpose of life. Many claim that the purpose of living is being happy and living a free life with all the creatures on this planet. Spirituality could be the answer of many questions, but only if one believes in a greater power and in him or herself.
Work Cited
Ruiz, Don Miguel. (1997). The four agreements. San Rafael, California: Amber-Allen Publishing, Inc.
Vitale, Joe, & Ihaleakala, Hew Len, PHD. (2007). Zero limits. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons Inc.
Vitale, Joseph Gary. (2010). The attracting factor new edition. Wimberley, Texas: Hypnotic Marketing Inc.
Life of aristotle, 384-323 b.c.. (2010). Unpublished manuscript, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina. Retrieved from http://www.cals.ncsu.edu/agexed/aee501/aristotle.html
Aristotle the free encyclopedia. (2010). Wikipedia. Retrieved November 14, 2010, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aristotle
Heatlh and Yoga, Initials. (2006). Meditation towards a stress free life. Retrieved from http://www.healthandyoga.com/html/meditation.html
Maharishi, Psychosomatic Medicine. (2004). Transcendental meditation . Retrieved from http://www.mmyvv.com/tmhealth.jsp
Calaprice, Alice. (2000). Albert einstein (1879-1955). Retrieved from http://www.stephenjaygould.org/ctrl/quotes_einstein.html
Layng, Anthony. (2010, May). When the spirit moves them . USA Today, pp. 64-66.
Firshein, Janet. (1997). Spirituality in medicine gains support in the USA. Science and Medicine, 349(9061), 1-2.
Hummel, Charles E. (1991). The faith behind the famous isaac newton. Christian History, 10(2), p38, 4p.
Rogge, Michael. (2010). New age spirituality: the roots of the new age movement part 1. Global Oneness.
Renfrew, Colin, & Morley, Iain. (2007). Roots of spirituality project. Informally published manuscript, McDonald Institute for archeological research, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, USA.
Wachholtz, Amy B. , & Pargament, Kenneth I. . (2005). Is spirituality a critical ingridient of meditation? Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 28(No.4), p 369 - 384.
Amarasingam, Amarnath. (2009). New age spirituality, quantum mysticism and self psychology: changing ourselves from the inside out. Mental Health, Religion & Culture, 12(No.12), p 277-287.
