S3 – LESSON 4: SPIRITUAL SELF
SPIRITUAL SELF Through acts of faith, hope, and love, man is able to
➢ Is one of the four constituents of the “self”
according to William James in his book, The
Principles of Psychology in 1890. It is the most
intimate, inner subjective part of self.
➢ The spiritual aspect of the self is the inner essence,
the part of the self that connects the person to the
sacred, the supernatural, and the universe.
➢ Enables the person to experience a feeling of
oneness with a higher being and the universe and
gives a deeper purpose or meaning of one’s life.
➢ Understanding and nurturing the spiritual self is as
important as with the other aspects of the self.
Develops through interaction, observation, and
imitation. The family, school, and church play a
very important role in a child’s spiritual
development.
➢ The ability to use moral sensibility and conscience
may be seen through the expressions of religion,
its beliefs and practices.
➢ Cultural rituals and ceremonies are some
manifestations what people believe in. Seeking the
meaning of life is a journey that the spiritual self is
on.
SPIRITUALITY
Root meaning of spirituality is taken from the Latin word
spiritus, meaning breath of life force.
Can be understood as the search for the sacred, a process
through which people seek to discover, hold on to, and
when necessary, transform whatever they hold sacred in
their lives.
Generally, refers to meaning and purpose in one’s life, a
search for wholeness, and a relationship with a
transcendent being.
The sacred transcendence could refer to a higher being.
The term “spirituality” originally developed in early
Christianity. Christians use the term “Spirit” to describe
the Holy Spirit.
In Christian Ethics, Peschke (1994) describes that the
experience of the sacred is characterized by reverence,
faith, fear, trust, love, and admiration which are
intimately connected to God.
Worship is regarded as an essential act to realize the ultimate
meaning of transcendence and human life.
Acts of worship may include prayer, reading the Bible,
attending sacraments, and doing sacrifices.
encounter God and understand God’s words of salvation.
Spirituality is connected with religion.
RELIGION
▪ Organized system of ideas about the spiritual
sphere or the supernatural along with associated
ceremonial practices by which people try to
interpret and/or influence.
▪ All religions recognize the importance of
spirituality in one’s life. One’s spirituality may be
expressed through religion and participation in
religious rituals and ceremonies.
▪ Spirituality and religion fulfill numerous social and
psychological needs, such as the need to explain
human sufferings and death.
▪ Through the practice of religious activities such as
prayers, people may find comfort, security, and
stability in times of sufferings, loss, insecurities,
and uncertainties.
▪ Spirituality and religion may be a source of love,
hope, and affection.
SEARCH FOR THE MEANING OF LIFE
Victor Frankl (Man’s Search for Meaning Book)
He begins sharing his personal experiences in Nazi
concentration camp. He explains how a prisoner passes
through three major phases in the concentration camp,
and how each phase transformed the prisoners from
their previous lives to a new one and how they
developed various pathologies. The prisoner was first in
a state of shock, which was followed by the phase of
developing apathy, and lastly, the psychology of the
prisoner after liberation. During the last phase, the
prisoners experienced depersonalization or a state in
which everything seemed unreal, unlikely, as in a
dream.
--Frankl’s personal experiences in the Nazi concentration
camps during World War II led him to develop the basic
tenets of logotherapy, which were tested and found valid
even amid all the dark forces in human existence. He
embraces both the bright and dark sides of human existence
and believed that inevitable human suffering could
contribute to human achievement and the search of meaning
in life.
 S3 – LESSON 4: SPIRITUAL SELF
LOGOTHERAPHY

➢ Is the pursuit of human existence as well as on

man’s search for such a meaning. The striving to
find a meaning in one’s life is the primary
motivational force in man. One can discover the
meaning of life in three different ways: by doing a
deed, by experiencing a value, and by suffering.

DEED – way of finding meaning in life is through

achievements or accomplishments.

Frankl elaborates that love is the only way to grasp another

human being in the innermost core of his or her personality.
No one can become fully aware of the essence of another
human being unless he or she loves him or her. By his or her
love, he or she is enabled to see the essential traits and
features of the beloved person.

Love finds its deepest meaning in one’s spiritual being – the

inner self.

THE PRACTICE OF ANIMISM

• Spirituality is also associated with animism.

• Belief about the sacred also include the primitive
concept about animism or the belief that
creatures, objects, and places possess certain
spirits.