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OVERVIEW

Spirituality is a general concept and involve different views. It motivates the person through acts of faith,
hope and love. This chapter provides a general understanding of spirituality and religion. It also includes
emotional health and practice of animism.

Learning Outcomes

At the end of the chapter, you should be able to:

Demonstrate an understanding of the spiritual self.

life.
Discuss how spirituality is connected to religion.
Describe how spirituality relates with emotional health
Analyze how spirituality animism are associated.

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The Spiritual 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. Understanding and nurturing the spiritual self is as
important as with the other aspects of the self. It develops through
interaction, observation, and imitation. The family, school and church

Spirituality begins at an early age but develops throughout life as

people continuously interact in the environment (Monilla & Ramirez,
2018).

Spirituality
The root meaning of spirituality is taken from the Latin word
spiritus, meaning breath or life force. Spirituality 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 (Hill & Pargament, 2003). It is a collective
human experience something that links us all. Some people may say
that spiritual experience as sacred or mystical or just a deep sense
of joy and interrelatedness with the Supreme Being. Similarly, it may

wholeness, and a relationship with a transcendent being (Hage,

Hopson, Siegel, & DeFanti, 2006).

According to Dr. Christina Puchalski, Director of the George Washington Institute for Spirituality

meaning and purpose and the way they experience their connectedness to the moment, to self, to others,
come into focus with their spirituality when
faces with emotional trauma, physical ailment or even death.

was initially developed in early Christianity.

Christians use the 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 linked to God. Adoration is an important deed to understand the
fundamental meaning of transcendence and human life. There are various
ways of doing worship, it may include prayer, reading the bible, attending
sacraments or even doing sacrifices.

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Spirituality and Religion

Spirituality and religion are not the same thing. But spirituality is connected with religion. Religion
is an 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 aspects of the universe otherwise

rituals and ceremonies (Haviland, Prins, Walrath, & McBride, 2013). Spirituality and religion may be a
source of love, hope, and affection (Brown & Parrish, 2011).

In Spirituality, the questions are: where do I personally find meaning, connection, and values?
In religion, the questions are: what is true and right?
Where the circles overlap is the person experience, which affects the way you, think, feel and
behave.

Spirituality vs. Emotional Health

Emotional and spiritual well-being
influence one another:

Spirituality is about finding significant

association with something bigger than
yourself, which may effect in positive emotions,
like peace, contentment, acceptance,
understanding , gratitude.
Emotional health is about nurturing a
positive state of mind which can broaden your
attitude to know and integrate a connection to
something larger than yourself.

Thus, emotions and spirituality are distinct but linked, deeply integrated with one another.

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Discovering Life s Meaning

This part of the module features the concept of well-being and life satisfaction, what they mean
to an individual, and the factors that contribute to them. It also stresses the importance of well-being and
lenging times, wherein we are facing fear, and anxiety due to the COVID-19
pandemic.

Well-being and Life Satisfaction

Individuals are inclined to evaluate their life, reflect and analyze the
choices they have made and most importantly learn lessons from these
experiences. Some says that well-being and life satisfaction are the same but
there is a bit difference between the two. Well-being is an inner, personal
construct, associated with self-esteem, and self-understanding. It is how good
one feels for himself/herself. While life satisfaction is a general attitude
towards life. When both are present, happiness can be felt.

On the other hand, in some situations,

happiness is generally regarded as the emotional result of life
satisfaction. Life satisfaction
life, satisfaction with the past, satisfaction with the future, and views

life. Research has cited many factors that influence how they can be
achieved:

Environmental conditions contribute to individual life

satisfaction.
Socio-economic status, home and social environment,
-
being and life satisfaction.
Personal factors such as personality, cognition, physical health
In the present time, most of us are facing difficulties and struggles. People try to seek comfort or even
security in various ways. In so doing, they experience struggles in achieving happiness and satisfaction.

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Viktor Frankl, a famous psychiatrist and writer, wrote a book

entitled shared his personal experiences
in the 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 former lives to a
new one and how they developed various pathologies. At first, the
prisoner was in a state of shock, which was followed by the phase
of developing apathy. Apathy is the blunting of the emotions and
the feeling that one could not care anymore. It could be considered
a protective shell from the brutalities in the camp. The last phase is
the psychology of the prisoner after liberation. During this time, the
prisoners experienced depersonalization or a state in which
everything seemed unreal, as in a dream.

led him to develop the basic tenets of logotherapy. He embraced both

the bright and dark sides of human existence and believed that human
suffering could contribute to human achievement and the search of
meaning in life. Logotherapy is the quest of human existence and on

meaning of life in three different ways: by doing a deed, by experiencing

a value, and by suffering.
In doing a deed way of finding meaning in life is through
achievements or accomplishments
By experiencing something or someone, such as loving a person. 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, he or she
is enabled to see the essential traits and features of the beloved person. Love finds its deepest
- the inner self.
By suffering. It is through sufferings that man encounter the central theme of existentialism: to
live is to suffer, to survive is to find meaning in the suffering. If there is purpose in life at all, there
must be a purpose in suffering and in dying. Each one must find out for himself or herself and
must accept the responsibility that his or her answers prescribe. If he or she succeeds, he or she
will continue to grow despite way to live can bear almost any
according to Nietzsche.

Everyone has his or her own specific vocation or mission in life; everyone must carry out concrete

in life, accepting limitations and celebrating strengths, enabling love and concern for others, and engaging
in behaviors that embody all these will lead one to have well-being and life satisfaction.

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The Practice of Animism

Spirituality is also associated with animism. Animism is the belief
that creatures, objects, and places possess certain spirits. It is also the belief
that things and places are alive and grounded by a supernatural order. In
the Philippines, indigenous peoples are known to practice animism. For
example, they believe that the spirits of the sun, sky, and moon are their
gods and that different deities exist to protect them and guide them toward
a fruitful life. Others believe that spirits inhabit animals and nature such as
trees, rocks, mountains, and bodies of water, and that respect must be
given to them through acts of worship. Being linked with folk belief,
animism cultivates among people a consciousness of the environment that
they are in, thus making them more mindful of how they act according to
the different things they come in contact with (Molina & Ramirez, 2018).

References:

Monilla, Ma. Joycelyn A. & Ramirez, Normaliza C. (2018). Understanding the Self. C & E Publishing, Inc.

Haviland, W., Prins, H., Walrath, D., & McBride, B., (2013). The Essence of Anthropology (3 rd edition). USA
Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.

http://webtakingcharge.csh.umn.edu

Hage, S., Hopson, A., Siegel, M., Payton, G., & De Fanti, E., (2006). Multicultural Training in Spirituality: An
Interdisciplinary review. American Counseling Association.

Evaluate
Answer the following questions.

1. Distinguish the difference between belief in spirits and belief in the Holy Spirit.

2. What is the relationship between religion and spirituality?

3. Give at least two kinds of spiritual beliefs (animism) in the Philippines. What are the reasons for having
those spiritual beliefs?

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Assess.
1. Answer the test on How Spiritual Are You? The test may be downloaded at
http://web.pdx.edu/~tothm/religion/Spiritual%20Quiz.pdf. What are your insights on the outcomes of
the test?

2. Write ten (10) things that you should be thankful to God. Explain your answer

Lets Reflect.

( Otig, Gallenero, et.al, A Holistic Approach in Understanding the Self, Mutya Publishing, 2018)

Procedure:
1. Do some reflection by walking for at least 30 minutes in a place where you can find peace.
2. Scribble in a journal your personal experience by answering the questions below:
a. What thoughts come up while you were walking?
b. What happened when you were walking?
c. How did you respond to such distractions?

GEC02: UNDERSTANDING THE SELF SOUTHERN LUZON STATE UNIVERSITY