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A Pathway to Spirituality.

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Title: A Pathway to Spirituality.
Authors: Shaw, Jon A.
Source: Psychiatry: Interpersonal & Biological Processes. Winter2005, Vol. 68 Issue 4, p350-362. 13p.
Subjects: Spirituality, Conversion therapy, Psychotherapy, Psychiatry, Dante Alighieri, 1265-1321, Wordsworth, William, 1770-1850
Abstract: The phenomenology of mystical experiences has been described throughout all the ages and in all religions. All mystical traditions identify some sense of union with the absolute as the ultimate spiritual goal. I assume that the pathway to both theistic and secular spirituality and our readiness to seek a solution in a psychological merger with something beyond the self evolves out of our human experience. Spirituality is one of man's strategies for dealing with the limitations of the life cycle, separation and loss, biological fragility, transience, and non-existence. Spirituality may serve as the affective component to a belief system or myth that is not rooted in scientific evidence but is lived as if it is true. Spirituality may take many forms, but I will suggest that in some instances it may serve as a reparative process in which one creates in the external world, through symbolic form, a nuance or facet of an internalized mental representation which has become lost or is no longer available to the self; or it may represent the continuity of the self-representation after death through a self-object merger. Lastly I will illustrate from the writings of two of our greatest poets, Dante Alighieri and William Wordsworth, how their poetry became interwoven with a profound spirituality. In Dante we will see the elaboration of a religious spirituality, while in the writings of Wordsworth a secular spirituality emerges interwoven with nature and belatedly his identification with "tragic man" as his mythos. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Psychiatry: Interpersonal & Biological Processes is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Database: Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Psychiatry%3A+Interpersonal+%26+Biological+Processes%22">Psychiatry: Interpersonal & Biological Processes</searchLink>. Winter2005, Vol. 68 Issue 4, p350-362. 13p.
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Spirituality%22">Spirituality</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Conversion+therapy%22">Conversion therapy</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Psychotherapy%22">Psychotherapy</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Psychiatry%22">Psychiatry</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Dante+Alighieri%2C+1265-1321%22">Dante Alighieri, 1265-1321</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Wordsworth%2C+William%2C+1770-1850%22">Wordsworth, William, 1770-1850</searchLink>
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  Data: The phenomenology of mystical experiences has been described throughout all the ages and in all religions. All mystical traditions identify some sense of union with the absolute as the ultimate spiritual goal. I assume that the pathway to both theistic and secular spirituality and our readiness to seek a solution in a psychological merger with something beyond the self evolves out of our human experience. Spirituality is one of man's strategies for dealing with the limitations of the life cycle, separation and loss, biological fragility, transience, and non-existence. Spirituality may serve as the affective component to a belief system or myth that is not rooted in scientific evidence but is lived as if it is true. Spirituality may take many forms, but I will suggest that in some instances it may serve as a reparative process in which one creates in the external world, through symbolic form, a nuance or facet of an internalized mental representation which has become lost or is no longer available to the self; or it may represent the continuity of the self-representation after death through a self-object merger. Lastly I will illustrate from the writings of two of our greatest poets, Dante Alighieri and William Wordsworth, how their poetry became interwoven with a profound spirituality. In Dante we will see the elaboration of a religious spirituality, while in the writings of Wordsworth a secular spirituality emerges interwoven with nature and belatedly his identification with "tragic man" as his mythos. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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  Data: <i>Copyright of Psychiatry: Interpersonal & Biological Processes is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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