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Almut Beringer - in Search of The Sacred An Analysis of Spirituality
Almut Beringer - in Search of The Sacred An Analysis of Spirituality
Almut Beringer - in Search of The Sacred An Analysis of Spirituality
Spirituality
has captured
implications
inquiry.
for programming.
Drawing on religious
understanding
modes
experiential
spirituality
of human
experiential
This article
attention
seeks
studies,
a conceptual
The article
discusses
consciousness
educators
educators'
and functioning
that spiritual
education
primarily
via researching
to complement
analysis
empirical
of spirituality
reveals
of broad
"the sacred"
and specific
experience
education.
lived experience
possible
and
with
exploring
conceptual
to be fundamental
spirituality,
and
to
considers
alerts
addressed.
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It would seem that realizing one's highest thisworldly values (i.e., broad spirituality) can proceed with the
same enthusiasm, commitment, and systematic pursuit
as following a spiritual discipline. I can just as devoted
ly and methodically pursue canoeing for relaxation and
pleasure, for instance, as I can pursue it as a means for
spiritual connection with others and/or nature. In the lat
ter case, canoeing can be regarded as a conscious com
mitment to "bringing spirit into matter," to infuse the
ordinary with a sense of the holy. This example shows
that it is not the action per se, but the intent, the attitude,
and a receptive consciousness that enables experiencing
the sacred (Besant, 1991, pp. 78-79).
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Notes
S t a t e m e n t s m a d e b y p a r t i c i p a n t s o f a f o r u m o n rites o f p a s s a g e
a n d s p i r i t u a l i s s u e s f o r a d o l e s c e n t s in J u n e 1 9 9 9 .
gests that there are higher levels of being and higher levels
1
S o m e a u t h o r s s p e l l "spirit" w i t h a c a p i t a l "S" t o d e n o t e i t s m e t a
s p i r i t a s c r i t i c a l , I s t i c k t o t h e s m a l l "s."
T h e first is a l s o c a l l e d b r o a d e r , f a l s e , s e c u l a r , g e n e r i c , c o n s u m e r ,
popular, N e w A g e , p s e u d o - o r antispirituality in t h e literature; t h e
s e c o n d , strict, g e n u i n e , true, authentic.
S o m e p a r a d i g m s s p e a k o f t h e v a r i o u s w o r l d s in t h e s i n g u l a r , a s i n
"the p h y s i c a l - m a t e r i a l w o r l d , " " t h e p e r c e p t u a l w o r l d , " " t h e s p i r i t u a l
w o r l d " ; o t h e r s in t h e p l u r a l , i.e., " t h e p h y s i c a l - m a t e r i a l w o r l d s " a n d
so forth. Henceforth, I u s e t h e singular, a n d m e a n this to b e inclu
sive of both perspectives.
I c a n n o t g o i n t o d e t a i l h e r e a b o u t h o w s o u l a n d s p i r i t differ; s e e
B e s a n t ( 1 9 9 1 , p. 7 4 ) f o r a n e x p l a n a t i o n .
Conclusion
The potential of experiential education for nurtur
ing spiritual consciousness can be more fully realized
when experiential educators can accurately and dis
tinctly answer for themselves and their stakeholders the
question, What is spirituality? Analysis of "the sacred"
via religious studies leads discourse of spirituality out
of the conceptual quicksand and onto firmer founda
tions. This paper has argued that a concise definition of
spirituality based on rigorous and thorough conceptual
Acknowledgements
I thank colleagues at La Trobe University,
Bendigo
Mary Faeth Chenery, Alison Lugg, Peter Martin, Deirdre
Slattery, and Harry Oldmeadowfor
helping to clarify
my thinking on spirituality, and for constructive
feed
back on earlier drafts of this paper. Thanks are also
extended to AEE reviewers for their comments and their
patience.
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