The Unifying Aspects of Cultures

SECTION:

Well Being: Integrating Eastern Knowledge in Western Culture and Western Knowledge in Eastern Culture

Yogesh Mohan, M.D. (Department of Preventive and Social Medicine, Pondicherry, India)
Spiritual Well-Being: An Empirical Study with Yogic Perspectives

The last few decades are witness to resurgence in the interest in the religion/spirituality in all the fields of human endeavor, especially in physical and mental health. This is evident from the special section on "Spirituality, Religion, and Health" published in January 2003 American Psychologist. The reviews in this special section (See Miller & Thoresen; Powell, Shahabi & Thoresen; Seeman, Dubin, & Seeman; Hill & Pargament, 2003) have clearly indicated the link between spirituality/religion and healthy. Similarly, research has also shown that spirituality/religion has also bearing on well-being (Mohan, 2001). Unlike in the past spirituality/religion has now come to be recognized as an integral part of health and well-being. Importantly, the 37th World Health Assembly adopted a resolution to the effect that spiritual dimension should be added to the scope of health. However the various research studies are characterized by a varied understanding of the terms spirituality and spiritual well-being, adding more to the romance and enigma surrounding the word "spiritual". Two areas of research are imperative:

1) An exploration of spiritual well-being as understood and experienced by a cross section of population
2) To explore spiritual well-being from the direct experiential perspective of a Yogi.

The objectives of the present paper are (a) to explore the construct of spiritual well-being as understood by a broad section of Indian population belonging to varied religious and spiritual backgrounds and (b) explore the construct of spiritual well-being from the yogic insights of Sri Aurobindo.

The study was carried out in two parts. In the first part an attempt was made to explore the construct of spiritual well-being and to identify its main facets based on the perspectives gained from people belonging to varied religious and spiritual backgrounds. For the fist part in-depth interviews were conducted for thirty-four respondents.

The findings of the qualitative analysis of the first part revealed: (a) the respondents considered spiritual well-being to be an important aspect of their health and well-being; (b) the respondents understanding of spiritual well-being in relation to health and well-being varied widely in their experiences, reflecting the vast spectrum of consciousness we are not normally aware of but which nonetheless exist and influence every one; (c) the common principles underlying the different descriptions of the respondents was: spiritual well-being was distinct from ritualistic behavior and morals; (d) twenty-five common dimensions of spiritual well-being were identified, some of which are similar to the facets of spirituality as identified by the WHOQOLSRPB module; (e) certain facets enlisted by the WHO such as 'Death and dying', 'Awe', 'Kindness to others', 'Hope and optimism', 'Control over your life', 'Freedom to practice beliefs and rituals' and 'Code to live by', were however not identified in the present study, where as other facets identified by WHO such as 'Acceptance' and 'Forgiveness' were identified by only a few of the respondents; (f) besides the above facets, the interviews with the respondents revealed additional facets of spiritual well-being which include 'aspiration', 'morals and ethics', 'higher states of consciousness', 'spiritual experiences', 'transcendence of ego', 'awareness', 'growth in sensitivity', 'inner freedom'', 'equanimity and equality', 'mastery and control', 'balance and moderation', 'surrender/devotion', 'joy', 'harmony', 'selfless work', and 'detachment'.

The second part of the paper deals with the yogic insights of Sri Aurobindo. A brief description of the organization of human body, the different parts of the being, and their relation to different states of well-being is described. Spiritual well-being is explored from a consciousness perspective. The different states of well-being are related to the map of consciousness as described by Sri Aurobindo. An effort is made to differentiate spiritual well-being from emotional, mental and moral well-being. An attempt is made to understand spiritual well-being from eastern and western perspectives and implications for integration of eastern wisdom into western science.

THE UNIFYING ASPECTS OF CULTURES