Spirituality
Leads to Quality of Life: A Conceptual Study
Ajit Singh Negi
G.B. Pant Engineering Institute of Technology, Pauri Garhwal
Abstract
Aim: The main purpose of this article is to examine the views of different
researchers on spirituality and religion and draw a conceptual model which
throws light on the true “innerself” Subject and methods: In the realm
of previous literature on spirituality the main theme are connection with self,
others and higher self has emerged as the main theme. This connection will
further cultivate love, faith and hope among people. This state of connection
binds a person to lead a committed life with meaning and purpose. This
commitment helps a person to contribute for the well-being of society. Result:
When a person recognizes the influence of inner connection, they experiences
that there is a complete pureness, filled with hope, faith and compassionate
love, which provide them a sense of meaning and purpose in their life. In this
state of self-realization a person has sense no apprehension, no external
conflict, and no forceful control on external circumstances. Conclusion:
This moment of spiritual wellness is effective for spawning the quality of life
that enhances contentment in the life of human beings.
Keyword: Spiritual Wellness, Self-Realization, True-Self, Quality Of Life
Introduction
“Spirituality
is a way of accepting the fact that there is a spiritual force in the universe
larger than all of mankind”. (John clarke).
Spirituality is the science of self-realization. It is a profound
innate ability that is unique to all human beings. It teaches how to connect
with one’s true self and ultimately to the “higher power” or “God”. Aristotle
and Plato have suggested that human beings are always seeking to lead a good
life (McMahon 2006). A person experiences spiritual well-ness in the state of
happiness, peace, satisfaction and accomplishment. Spirituality coined from a
latin word “Spiritus”, which means life energy full of vigor and courage (Hill,
Pargament, Hood, McCullough, Swyers, Larson and Zinnbauer 2000). Cook (2000) “expounded
spirituality as an inner, personal entity that alive in one’s heart”. It is
also manifest as the state of “internal experiences and well-being” (Legere
1984). Spirituality expresses as “one’s ability totap the deepest resources
within oneself and embrace the unseen and mysterious resources of the entire
universe”; spiritual intelligence is “an ability to consciously seek the divine
knowledge, conscious of every moment and consciously navigate one’s inner
resources to the fullest” (Negi, Khanna and Aggarwal
2019).
Spirituality
and religion
Before continuing, it is important to note that theorists and
researchers have defined spirituality in
many different ways (Zinnbauer, Pargament and Scott 1999). Although no
single definition is likely to satisfy everyone, we would like to make explicit
the definition of spirituality that guides this research. Spirituality is
defined here as a “search for the sacred” (Pargament 1999). There are two key
terms in this definition: “search” and “sacred”. The term “search” indicates
that spirituality is a process to discover the sanctified and regulate the
sacred once it is experienced. The term “sacred” refers to things that are set
apart from the ordinary, worthy of veneration and respect. The “sacred”
includes the “God”, the “divine”, and the “transcendent”, also includes other
objects that take on extraordinary power by virtue of their association with
the supreme divinity(Pargament 1999). The richness of spirituality is a
reflection of the variety of pathways people take to find and conserve the “sacred”,
as well as the variety of forms the “sacred” can take in people’s lives.
Although the term “religion” is also used occasionally in this paper in
reference to established measures of coping. These measures are not restricted
to a narrow set of religious beliefs, practices, or institutions. They cover a
wide spectrum of beliefs and practices i.e. “individual and institutional”, “subjective
and objective”, “traditional and non-traditional” that is oriented in some way
to the “sacred”. Different people have different ways to get peace and comfort
in their life. Religion is the path to attain spirituality in one’s life. Holy
scriptures as “Srimad Bhagavadgita”, “Quran”, “Bible” direct us to realize
the path of supreme consciousness. Some religious/spiritual people experiences
contentment, low frustration in difficult situations of life by reading
spiritual books, attending religious ceremonies and daily prayer (Meraviglia
1999).
Researchers have diverse views on spirituality. Generally, spirituality is that wisdom which
connects with the ‘God’ or ‘Higher power’ the ultimate being. “Religious” or “Theistic”
views on spirituality are concerned with the specific category of religion. The
“Existential” view on spirituality is an indispensable concept because it means
to search for the authentic “Meaning and Purpose” of life (Krishna kumar and
neck 2002). Ellison (1983) proposed a “Vertical-Horizontal” model of
spirituality. These are two interrelated but different dimensions which
intersect each other. The vertical dimension is directly related to “God” or “Transcendent”
whereas, the second horizontal dimension is directly related to “Self”, “Others”
and “Environment”. Vertical dimension indicates that “God” or “higher power” is
beyond the realm of “Self” and hence a guiding strength for all human beings.
Horizontal dimension indicates our connection with “Self” and “Others”. These
dimensions enhance spiritual well-being and also give a sense of meaning and
purpose to our life. The core spiritual qualities like meaning, hope, love and
faith are the driving force which transcend experience of fulfillment and
dispose stability in one’s life (Rovers and Kocum 2010).
Shift from
Religion to Spirituality
Whereas religiousness historically included both individual and
institutional elements, spirituality is now commonly regarded as an individual
phenomenon and identified with such things as personal transcendence,
supraconscious sensitivity, and meaningfulness (Spilka and McIntosh 1996).
Religiousness is often described as organized and recognized with religious
institutions and prescribed theology and rituals. Additionally, both terms now
differ according to how they are evaluated. It is elucidated that the interest
in spirituality has greatly increased in the past 25 years and American
religious life has moved to embrace more elements of spirituality (Roof 1993;
Turner et. al. 1995). There has been a severe decline in public confidence in
religion and religious leadership. According to Lambert (2004) the number of
people in Europe today who attend church and believe in a personal God is
dropping steadily, whereas more and more people are looking for meaning and
purpose in their lives and in spiritual experiences outside or across religious
traditions (Brown 2007; Heelas 2005). Spirituality has been variously defined,
but the definition and operationalization of spirituality seem to encompass two
approaches. One is a “religious”, often “theistic” approach. The other approach
is often based on secular, humanistic, and existential elements (McSherry and
Cash 2004). Spirituality is the “One’s striving for and experience of connection
with the essence of life” which incorporates three main dimensions: “Connectedness
with oneself”, “Connectedness with others and nature” and “Connectedness with
the transcendent”.
Methods
In recent years, many scholars, sociologists, journalists, historians
have raised their concerns over the accelerated changes in the society as
comparison to the past generation. Futurist Alvin Toffler in his contemporary
classic “Future Shock” proposed that “Too much change in too short
period of time” is a distressing situation. These frequent changes of modern
life bring uncertainty, burnout, anxiety, depression, insecurity, sense of
helplessness and despair. Exploration of spiritual dimensions is the only way
to get rid of these turbulent circumstances. This instinctive ability gives
meaning in life, connectedness, peace, hope, wellness and a wisdom of
completeness. A person who is spiritually depleted generally involved in
immoral practices or performs action against true inner self. Either they are
not aware of the consequences of spiritual laws. Regular spiritual practices
help and empower an individual to listen the voice of inner consciousness and
act virtuously. This stage is also known as inner soul consciousness. Current
article is an endeavor to elucidate the conceptual realm of spirituality that
propels its essential dimensions and leads to quality of life. A complete
understanding of these dimensions is essential to insight life and also benefit
in the negative consequences of life.
Result and discussion
A conceptual understanding of Spirituality
A conceptual
understanding of the concept of spirituality is developed after an extensive
literature review.
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Conceptualize
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“Spirituality is the Science of Soul”. (Swami
Vivekananda)
All human
beings have an exceptional relationship with their trueself i.e. “soul”.
However, it a challenging task to revive one’s true consciousness. Sometimes
due to our past mistakes we are unable to realize our true self which is aware
of everything. Therefore, spirituality is a comprehensive and universal
concept. Its truthful essence is same for different people, at different period
of time and in all places. True self can be experienced by regular spiritual
practices. Spiritual intelligence is the inner journey of human beings. It is
the quality of self-realization that can be analyzed effectively by an individual.
“Spiritual intelligence” is the inter-relation of mind and spirit that is exists
in all human beings. Spiritual intelligence can be foster and increases with
the help of regular mindful training and practice (Vaughan 2002). “Spiritual
intelligence” can be enhances by integrating the various yogic exercises, practice
of deep meditation, self-introspection. The capacity to experience the spirituality
vary from person to person because it is highly “Individualistic”. This innate
power moves a person towards positive direction in life such as love, peace,
hope, connectedness, compassion, wellness and completeness. Spiritual power
comes from inner resources of an individual that enhances resilience and encourage
a sense of meaning from the comprehensive experiences of life.
Proclamation 1.There is a positive connection
between spirituality and true inner self i.e. “soul”.
Connection
According
to King (2009), Myers et al. (2000), spirituality is an individual self-belief
that goes beyond the physical aspect of being and creates a sense of
connectedness to the higher self. Interconnectedness of self, others and god
are the three key elements of spirituality and also known as “heart of
spirituality” (Hungelmann et al. 1985). Spirituality is the state to connect
with “God” to one’s “inner self” (Ley and corless 1988). Fish and Shelly (1988)
proposes a deep connection arises from unconditional acceptance and love, also
highlighted the importance of connection between these three components. The
harmony between these three aspects self, others and a sense of relatedness and
closeness to “god” is essential for humanity (Burkhardt 1989). An Individual
can experience a sense of completeness or wholeness when they utilizes their
power of connectedness to the self, others and supreme consciousness. National
Interfaith Coalition on Aging (NICA 1975) has proposed that “The positive
assertion of life is connected with personal, communal and environment and
supreme divinity that encourages and rejoices completeness”. It is examined
that in the previous studies of spirituality that these four themes have been discussed
in many studies (Ellison 1983; Burkhardt 1989).These four major dimensions assimilated
the other sub-dimensions as personal, psychological, emotional and communal. The
personal domain emanates the intra-personal qualities within an individual for
example meaning and purpose, virtues and ethics in life, self-awareness,
self-worth etc. Some of the inter-personal qualities that incorporate in communal
domain are as follows love, forgiveness, trust, acceptance etc. The
environmental domain preserves the harmonious relationship and cultivates a
sense of reverence. Transcendental domain involves faith on the “higher-self”
or “master of the universe”. In all definitions of spirituality “connectedness”
is one of the major dimension (Chiu, Emblen, Van Hofwegen, Sawatzky, &
Meyerhoff 2004; Dyson, Cobb, & Forman 1997). Characteristics such as
genuineness, inner harmony/inner peace, realization, self-knowledge, meaning in
life are being included within“oneself” (Chiu et al. 2004; Elkins, Hedstrom,
Hughes, Leaf, & Saunders 1988; Howden 1992). Characteristics related to
empathy, forgiveness, gratitude, and feelings are being connectedness with
others and with nature. Transcendent embraces connectedness with something or
someone beyond the human level, such as the “universal” reality, “transcendent”
reality, “higher power”, or “God”.
Proclamation 2: There is a positive connection
between Spirituality and Self, Others &Higher-Self
Cultivation
Vaughan
(2002) suggested that spiritual knowledge can be expressed and cultivated by
regular training and practice. Various spiritual traits emanates when a person
is connected to his/her inner self. Spiritual traits such as acceptance,
forgiveness, honesty, purpose, intuition etc. are embraced within three main dimensionsas
“faith”, “hope”, and “compassionate love”.
Faith
There is a
strong “connection of faith with religion and spirituality that is grounded on
the existence of transcendental aspect of life” (Peterson & Seligman 2004).
It is believed that higher purpose in the big scheme of the universe that gives
an Individual a new direction, comfort in a manifold ways. In this manner a
person can accept the power of existence in a significant way. It is also assumed
that higher power has a greater scheme for the entire universe. In spite of
enormous developments in science and technology, ninety percent of the world
population is engaged in some form of religious/spiritual practices (Barrett ,
Johnson 2001). Across the entire world it is rare to find people who don’t
believe in any ultimate power. Survey predicts that there is no person who is atheist
in more than thirty countries around the world. Roughly there are only five
percent atheists in 12 out of 238 countries (Smart, Denny 2007). Less than 0.1%
of the population in many eastern and african countries. Non-religious
population in Canada is 12.5% whereas 1.9% are atheist (Smart, Denny 2007).
Koenig (2008) defined spirituality in terms of religion. He suggested using religion/spirituality
(SR) simultaneously because of their identical nature that is related to the
faith of human beings. It is difficult to remove the faith of people on their “God”
or “Higher power”. Thus, “theistic” spiritual approach is aptly explicated by ‘faith’.
Connection between spirituality and faith has been recognized by Miller and
Martin (1988). According to their philosophy, human beings make an intentional
effort to align themselves with the “sacred” or “ultimate” or “transcendental”
reality. There are several benefits in daily life by being connected to “sacred”
or “ultimate power”. The universal power is discerning in the life of all human
beings whether “theist” or “atheist”. This ultimate power is the guiding force
which stabilizes and facilitates daily life. Connection with the ultimate power
contributes in giving meaning and purpose to one’s life (Harmon 1985). The
reasoning behind the meaning of existence, suffering of life, health and
ailment can be influence or expounded by religious faith. It has been reasoned
that without these intentions an individual begin to perish (Oldnall 1996).
When an individual
is involved in a spiritual activity, it is imagined as a unifying energy that
provides a context for principles, codes of conduct, and customs encouraging
all aspects of an individual’s life (Granstrom 1985). Religious viewpoint of “theistic”
spirituality embraces the belief on “god” that increases the lives of individual
and encompasses the meaning to the transcendental reality (High field &
Cason 1983; Labun 1988).This dimension expresses the ‘sacredness’ (a sense of
ultimate reality) in the life of human beings (Hill et al. 1998). Faith can
best be elucidated by the association with “god” or “divine” or “ultimate
power” (Martin Rover & Lucie Kocum 2010).
Proclamation 3 (a): Faith is positively
related to Spirituality.
Hope
Hope is
associated with the future. “Nothing stops me” (Synder, Lapointe, Crowson, and
Early 1998), an optimistic attitude about the future. Hope is a cognitive,
emotional and motivational drive present in an individual which explains
existential reality that drives meaning and purpose in one’s life (Seligman
1991). Hope gives us power to work hard to achieve best in life and also
encourages a strong belief about an optimistic future. Hope originates from
one’s core belief that there is an existence of greater power which empowers
and spread goodness across the humanity an “ultimate concerns” (Emmons 1999).
Many studies have suggested that hope is an integral part of spirituality. It
is the common need of everyone (Nowotny 1989). Hope has astounding effect to recover
people (Gardner 1983). Scientific techniques are only effective when people are
willing to recover from within themselves. A study conducted on the
relationship between hope and will to live propose a significant positive
result of hope on the patients (Ross 1994). Hope can be advantageous in a
number of ways. It helps in exchanging a positive energy in the environment and
in the process of interpersonal relationship. Hope emerges from a positive
sense of association with self and with the community. Positive psychological
functioning is positively related to hope, religion and spirituality (Hill and
Pargament 2003). Positive Youth development is also positively related to hope
(e.g., Snyder et al. 2003). Hope increases goal-directed thinking (Snyder et
al. 1991). Overall Hope scores are interconnected with worldwide life
fulfillment (Valle et al. 2004), individual adjustment (Gilman et al. 2006) and
conceptual well-being (Snyder 2002). Life satisfaction is significantly
predicted by hope, spirituality and religious practices (Gilman et al. 2006).
Future expectation, positive feelings, imagination all are positively interconnected
with hope (Dehbashi et al. 2015). Sense of meaningful life is positively
related to hopefulness of an Individual (Halama and Dedova 2007). Hope is
significantly identified with the serious illness (Folkman 2013), improved
quality of life, mental and psychological distress (Baljani et al. 2011). Hope
as a coping mechanism for people who are suffering from acute and chronic
conditions (Baljani et al. 2013). People have hope for meaning and purposeful
life (existential spirituality) and it is also true that existence of people is
meaningful when it is attached to hope. Integration of faith and hope is termed
as “winged” spirituality (Wuthrow 1998).
Proclamation 3 (b): Hope is positively related
to Spirituality.
Compassionate love
True
spirituality is a mental attitude that you can practice at any time. There are
religious beliefs that form one level of spirituality. But there are another
level of spirituality called “basic spirituality also known as basic human
qualities of goodness, kindness, compassion, caring” (Dalai Lama).Compassionate
love is a quality of positive thoughts and emotions which drives an individual
to serve others in need without any expectation. It enhances faith, courage,
will-power, and inner strength which gives ultimate meaning and purpose in
life. A compassionate person can spread love by extending helping hand to
others in need for the growth of humanity. Serving, helping, caring others are
some of the traits which are connected to most definitions of love such as “unconditional
love”, “giving love”, ‘”altruistic love”, “compassionate love” (Fehr and
Russell 1991). “The ability to behave with wisdom and compassion, while
maintaining inner and outer peace, regardless of the situation” is known as
spiritual intelligence(Cindy Wigglesworth 2006). Wisdom and compassion best
explained by “head” and “heart”. Unconditional loving behavior is created by
the qualities incorporated by head and heart. Love lies at the foundation of
our nature (Dalai Lama). The utmost point of inner serenity comes from the
expansion of love and compassion. The more we take care for the contentment of
others, the greater our own wisdom of well-being becomes. Cultivating a close,
warm-hearted feeling for others automatically puts the mind at ease. These
benefits eliminate uncertainties or anxieties and provide us the strength to
deal with any obstructions that come across in the journey of life. “Community
spirituality” or “Compassion and Love”termed as “Rooted spirituality” (Wuthrow,
1998)
Proclamation 3 (c): Compassionate love is
positively related to spirituality.
Commitment
Highest
excellence is accomplished in the form of self-realization and
self-satisfaction by incessantly performing one’s duty with commitment and
devotion. Meaning and purpose spawned commitment in one’s life. This is one of
the critical dimensions of spirituality that was cited in all the published
research papers. Many authors have noticed that meaning and purpose is the core
dimension of spirituality (Highfieldand Cason 1983; Burkhardt and
Nagai-Jacobson 1985, Fish and Shelly 1988). All domains of life may be
affected, if an individual lack meaning and purpose in life. “Man’s principal
concern is not to gain pleasure and elude pain but to comprehend a meaning and
purpose in life” (Frankl 1959).
There are
many studies conducted in the field of clinical psychology and Psychiatry which
correlate meaning and purpose with mental well-being. Meaning and purpose of
life is significantly correlated with communal contribution, internal locus of
control, self-esteem and self-concept (Chamberlain and Zika 1988), well-being
and positive life changes (Edwards and Holden 2001), resistance to pressure and
managing efficacious aging and
appreciation of death (Debats and Drost1995). Thus, we can state that the spirituality
leads to a virtuous way of life with meaning and purpose. Daily practice of
spiritual discourse like prayer, yogic exercises, meditation, chanting holy
mantras etc. can be helpful in leading a principle life with meaning and
purpose. It can be said that religion and spirituality are linked but not
identical concept.Therefore, both are significantly helpful in giving meaning
and purpose in daily life.
Proclamation 4: There is a positive relationship
between spirituality and virtuous life with meaning and purpose in life.
Contribution
There is a
positive correlation between spirituality/religiosity and health such as physical,
mental, emotional. Spiritual/Religious practices like meditation and prayer
stimulate a moderating reaction by lowering the blood pressure, balancing the
activities of nervous system and ultimately contributing to a good health.
There is a positive correlation between intrinsic religiosity and high
self-esteem which progressively help in reducing the level of deleterious
impact of stress, anxiety and depression on human body (Pargament 1997).
Spiritual/religious practices also act as a coping mechanism against daily stress
(Ellison, Boardman, Williamsand Jackson 2001). Spiritual/religious practices
help inrejecting the unproductive behavior like smoking, alcohol and drug abuse
(Strawbridge et al. 2001), improving social support which lead to preserve a
positive mental and psychological health (Strawbridge et al. 2001). A spiritual
dimension like meaning and purpose in life, connectedness with oneself, others,
environment and the higher power, create a strong impact in the life of an
individual and therefore, enhances overall well-being in all sphere of life
(Greenberg 1985; Egbert 1980). Psychological distress can be recovered by
religious and spiritual practices(Koenig 2007). Spirituality act as resilience
against the stressful events of life (Southwick, Vythilingam and Charney2005)
and also minimizes the level of psychological and mental distress (Carmody,
Reed, Kristeller and Merriam 2008;
Johannessen-Henry, Deltour, Bidstrup, Dalton and Johansen2013). Faribors et al.
(2010) state that there is a significant association between spiritual
intelligence and happiness of nurses in Iran. Spirituality acts as a coping
mechanism against stress and is also beneficial in the reduction of mental
distress(Koenig 2010)
Manifestation
of spirituality is viewed in the perspective of belief, meaning, hope, and
connectedness. According to McSherry et al. (2004) nature of “god” has many
forms precisely it depends on an individual to contemplate it as a highest
value in his/her life. Spirituality is considered as one of the imperative
holistic development of the whole person rather than isolated parts. All
religious scriptures of the world believe in spirituality and indicating the
finest technique to make improvement in life threatening conditions which may
give positive results in all sufferings.
According to Indian philosophy there are three gunas (satva, rajas and tamas) present
in all individuals and it is the predominance of one over the other that
decided the personality trait of an individual as “saatvic”, “rajasic” and “taamasic”
(kiran kumar 2006). Spiritual traits of human beings that are related to
saatvic qualities are brightness, illumination, transparency etc. A “saatvic”
person is exemplified as one who has discriminative intellect, self-controlled,
serene, equanamous, virtuous, generous, detached and duty bound without much
expectation, a seeker of self and awareness of the unity underlying all diversities.
A “rajasic” person is agitated and under stress and has an additional need for
a strong likes and dislikes, sensory pleasures and self-centered. The
principles of enlightenment, energy and inertia symbolize as “tamas”.
Unterrainer et al. (2010) examined that the different dimensions of R/S
significantly predict personality traits and psychological well-being.
It is also said that healthy
development is the consequence of spiritual well-being (Vaughan 2002). It is elucidating
that a spiritually healthy person cannot only take of self but also contribute
in the progress of society as a large.
Proclamation
5: Spirituality is positively related to quality of life.
Conclusion
“Everyone who is seriously involved
in the pursuit of science become convinced that a spirit is manifest in the
laws of the universe- a spirit vastly superior to that of man, and one in the
face of which we with our modest powers must feel humble”(Albert Einstein).“Bible” the holy scripture of christians,
“Quran” the holy scripture of muslim’s and “Bhagavad gita” the holy scripture
of hindu’s. In Christianity the holy spirit is known as “god”; in islam the
holy spirit is known as “allaha”, in hinduism it is known as “paramatman”. All
religious teachings of the world spread the message of compassionate love,
peace and non-violence in the society. These scriptures teach us a significant
lesson in life such as effective ways to control on one’s senses and also to
lead a contended life in this materialistic world. Except physical body all
other entities are subtle, invisible but their power is recognized. The reality
of life is hidden in the power of true self i.e. “soul”. To control the speed
of thought, one needs to control the mind. It is a well-known example in
bhagavad gita that the master of the chariot is atman (soul) and chariot as a
body; Intellect (buddhi) a charioteer (driver), regulating the command mind and
five sense organs. A wise person can integrate atman (soul) with the senses,
the mind and the body and this is the state as an enjoyer. If a person is not
able to control his senses then he/she lost the meaning and direction of life
in pursuit of materialistic pleasure. The presence of eternal atman or
soul in every human being is the part of ‘God’ or ‘higher power’. The soul of a
person is perpetual. An individual inner soul is connected with all the energy
permeated by the “universal soul”. The soul is the foundation of genuine
awareness which is full of imagination and innovation. Thus, human beings are
stronger with the sacred soul. Consequently, our life experiences oscillate
between dualities love-hate, etc. human beings have little control on external
happenings. Thus, we can definitely regulate our emotional outcomes evolve due
to external triggers, provided we can control over our mind. A person who
thrives in regulating the mind and creating a state of inner silence, ultimate
peace, contentment, wisdom and bliss.
Thus, spirituality gives direction to a person to lead a virtuous life with
true meaning and purpose.
Conflict
of Interest
Conflict of Interest: The authors declare that they have no conflict of
interest.
Ethical
approval
This article does not contain any studies with human participants or
animals performed by any of the authors.
Informed
consent
Additional informed consent was obtained from all individual
participants for whom identifying information is included in this article.
Funding
Authors have not received fund from any source.
Fig 1: Conceptual
diagramme on spirituality leads to quality of life
Abbreviation used in the fig 1.
Rws:
Relationship with self
Rwo/n;
Relationship with others/nature
RwG/Hs:
Relationship with God/Higher-self
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