Spiritual transformation
Encyclopedia
Spiritual transformation has a variety of overlapping meanings that carry distinct connotations:
- In psychologyPsychologyPsychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...
, spiritual transformation is understood within the context of an individual's meaning system, especially in relation to concepts of the sacred or ultimate concern. Two of the fuller treatments of the concept in psychology come from Kenneth PargamentKenneth PargamentKenneth I. Pargament is a professor of psychology at Bowling Green State University .-Biography:Born in 1950 in Washington, D.C., Pargament received his Ph. D from the University of Maryland in 1977. He currently studies various relationships between religion, psychological well-being and stress,...
and Raymond Paloutzian:- Pargament says that "at its heart, spiritual transformation refers to a fundamental change in the place of the sacred or the character of the sacred in the life of the individual. Spiritual transformation can be understood in terms of new configurations of strivings" (p. 18).
- Paloutzian says that "spiritual transformation constitutes a change in the meaning system that a person holds as a basis for self-definition, the interpretation of life, and overarching purposes and ultimate concerns" (p. 334).
- In New Age spirituality, spiritual transformation is the act of transforming the deepest aspects of the human spiritSpiritThe English word spirit has many differing meanings and connotations, most of them relating to a non-corporeal substance contrasted with the material body.The spirit of a living thing usually refers to or explains its consciousness.The notions of a person's "spirit" and "soul" often also overlap,...
via a self-induced or "divine" act.
Research
Scientific research on spiritual transformation has been sponsored by Metanexus Institute.See also
- Aurobindo
- Integral transformative practice
- MeditationMeditationMeditation is any form of a family of practices in which practitioners train their minds or self-induce a mode of consciousness to realize some benefit....
- Sivananda
- Spiritual evolutionSpiritual evolutionSpiritual evolution is the philosophical, theological, esoteric or spiritual idea that nature and human beings and/or human culture evolve, extending from the established cosmological pattern or ascent, or in accordance with certain pre-established potentials...
- SupermindSupermind*Supermind in philosophy of S.Aurobindo*Professor Supermind and Son a comic from the 1940s...
- Transpersonal psychologyTranspersonal psychologyTranspersonal psychology is a form of psychology that studies the transpersonal, self-transcendent or spiritual aspects of the human experience....
- Shriram Sharma AcharyaShriram Sharma AcharyaShriram Sharma was an Indian seer, sage, a prominent philosopher, a visionary of the New Golden Era, and the Founder of the All World Gayatri Pariwar, which has its headquarters at Shantikunj, Haridwar....