almut beringer - in search of the sacred an analysis of spirituality

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In

Search

of

the

Sacred:

A conceptual analysis of

spirituality

Almut

eringer

Spirituality has

captured

experiential

educators' attention

primarily via

researching

lived

experience

and

exploring

implications for progra mming. This article seeks to complement empirical study and pedagogy with conceptual

inquiry. Drawing on religious studies, a conceptual

analysis

of

spirituality

reveals the sacred to be fundamental to

understanding spirituality The article

discusses

the two notions of

broad

and

specific

spirituality, and considers

modes of human consciousness and functioning that make spiri tual experience

possible

The

article,

further, alerts

experiential educators that

spiri tual

education is, in part, religious educa tion. Issues this raises are addressed.

T

he growing interest in spirituality in and beyond

experiential

education has given rise to applying

the terms spiritual ity and spiritual to all

sorts of phenomena and experiences. Yet conceptual

ambiguity surrounds spiritual ity (Dyson, Cobb, &

Foreman,

1997; Martsolf & Mickley, 1998 ; McSherry,

1 9 9 8 ; Sokanovic & Muller, 1 9 9 9 ; Thoresen, 1 9 9 9 ) . As a

result, spiritual education practice seems to rest on pre

carious foundations and to be controversial to some.

This

article seeks to lift this conceptual muddle at least

to some extent; it asks, what is spirituality, and strives

to illuminate the phenomenon via philosophical-con

ceptual analysis.

Spirituality—The need for conceptual inquiry

In

experiential education, spirituality has captured

the attention of researchers and practitioners particular

ly

as it transpires on extended journeys in wilderness

settings and in its implications for programming (e.g.,

Anderson-Hanley, 1997; Fox, 1999 ; Frederickson and

Anderson, 1 9 9 9 ; Stremba,

1 9 9 7 ;

Stringer, 1 9 9 0 ; Stringer

& McAvoy, 1 9 9 2 ) . Aiming to more fully understand

spirituality and to make its transformative and healing

effects (Goddard, 1995) available to students and

clients,

experiential educators have focused their efforts

Almut Beringer,

PhD,

lectures

in environmental studies

in

the Department of Outdoor Education and Nature

Tourism at La

Trobe University,

Bendigo, Bendigo,

Victoria, Australia. She can be

contacted

on e-mail

[email protected]. edu.au.

on empirical analysis of lived spiritual experience, pri

marily via qualitative research.

Documenting and analyzing lived spiritual experi

ence

is one way to approach spiritual phenomena, and

a

necessary and—when done well—a valuable one.

Qualitative research regarding spirituality also has limi

tations, limitations due to non-empirical aspects of spir

itual phenomena, a discussion of which, however, is

beyond the scope of this article (for more detail, see

Dawson, 1997; S l i f e , Hope, & Nebeker, 1999; see also

McSherry,

1 9 9 8 ) . Further, limitations arise when taking

the tremendous variety of lived spiritual experience as a

starting point for inquiry, and trying to discern the

nature of what is a complex phenomenon via inductive

analysis. Rigorous and thorough philosophical inquiry

is also needed. In this paper, I try to unpack the dis

course on spirituality, in the hope of contributing to bet

ter conceptual grounding of spirituality, for research,

theory, programming, and practice.

Spirituality is conceptually challenging and diffi

cult to define, a difficulty not eased by the facts that the

phenomenon seems to be multidimensional (Cusveller,

1 9 9 8 ; McSherry , 199 8) and profoundly personal

(McSherry,

1 9 9 8 ) , and that the meaning of the term

seems

to be changing (Mahoney & Graci , 1 9 9 9 ) .

Inconsistencies

in defining or describing spirituality do

not help in shaping practice to secure the spiritual out

comes

experiential educators strive for. Claims that

spirituality doesn't need to be defined because that

would limit it, discussions about true versus false

spirituality without clarifying the criteria by which such

discrimination is made,

1

or defining spirituality as the

Winter

2 0 0 0 , Volume 23, No. 3 157

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intangible aspects of

l i f e

are deeply unsatisfactory.

Spirituality lacking precise theoretical-conceptual defi

nition and being subject to increasing speculations

regarding its nature (Goddard, 1995) has unfavorable

implications

for experiential education. First, it may

impede assessing and meeting students' spiritual needs.

Second, it may prevent recognizing clients' spiritual

growth as well as distress and hence, appropriate

edu

cational

or therapeutic interventions (Dyson et al., 1997;

Goddard, 1 9 9 5 ) .

A reputable framework of spirituality would help

experiential educators distinguish between behavioral,

mental,

affective,

and spiritual dimensions of human

experience

and functioning. Given a clearer conceptual

separation between spiritual and other modes of being,

spiritual education and development can then also be

grasped more fully, delineated more precisely, and

implemented more effectively.

O n e may ask why a more systematic and thorough

conceptual- theoretical analysis has evaded spirituality

and prevented adequate investigation into its nature.

Scientific

skepticism about what is essentially a meta

physical phenomenon together with limited and limit

ing methods of scientific inquiry have been mentioned

in the literature (Emmons, Cheung, & Tehrani, 1998 ;

Goddard, 1 9 9 5 ; McGrath, 1 9 9 7 ; Nasr, 1 9 9 3 ; S l i f e , Hope,

& Nebeker, 1999; Teske, 1 9 9 9 ) . Yet another,

perhaps

underestimated, explanation for the

lack

of critical

inquiry and rigorous scholarly analysis in the literature

is that communicating about spirituality and essential

concepts

like soul and spirit is difficult at best, particu

larly

so because many researchers have not accessed

bodies of knowledge that have insights as well as lan

guage to advise on these. In particular, I am thinking of

such bodies of knowledge as religious studies, spiritual

traditions, the perennial philosophy (see, for inst ance,

Huxley, 1 9 7 0 ) , and sacred psychology, all of which are

invaluable in

understanding

the soul and spirit, precise

ly because they recognize and make explicit what

defines spirituality and spiritual experiences as distinct

from other

life

experiences.

Spirituality—The need for interdisciplinary

analysis

In my own attempts at achieving greater clarity on

the question of what is spirituality, I have found it ben

eficial

to

study

the discourse on spirituality beyond the

experiential education literature. Spirituality has firmer

disciplinary foundations outside fields usually repre

sented in experiential education, such as education,

psychology, and psychotherapy; consequently, an inter

disciplinary analysis is necessary to more adequately

define spirituality. Conceptual clarification can be

achieved by

drawing

foremost on the discipline that has

traditionally investigated spirituality, namely, religious

studies (see also Clayton, 1 9 9 9 ) .

Drawing on religious studies as a field of expertise

is probably done with some hesitation, given the nega

tive and fettered connotations of religion and trouble

some issues such as faith, dogma, fanaticism, and indoc

trination (Chenery, 1 9 8 4 ) . Experiential educators are not

alone in their reluctance. Goddard ( 1 9 9 5 ) and Ballou

( 1 9 9 5 ) provide examples from philosophy and nursing,

respectively,

of circumventing the essence of spirituali

ty and thus, a religious analysis. In her analysis,

Goddard ( 1 9 9 5 ) arrives at a philosophical definition of

spirituality as integrative energy and claims that

[t]he metaphysical

nature

of this phenomenon makes it

the proper concern of philosophy; consequently, a

philosophical analysis. ..was completed .... (abstract).

Ballou ( 1 9 9 5 ) wants to locate the discussion of spiritu

ality within psychology but later admits the necessity of

including multiple epistemologies and multiple experi

ences (see also Marrone, 19 99 ; McSherry, 19 98 ;

Thoresen, 1 9 9 9 ) .

M y own learning about spirituality via interdisci

plinary

study,

particularly in exchange with religious

scholars, has resulted in five main insights. Considering

these five points in research, theory, and practice, I

believe

will help experiential educators realize what

they aspire to do: facilitate spiritual experiences to pos

itively

affect participants' spiritual development and

growth. The conceptual ambiguity

surrounding

spiri

tuality may be attributed largely to two factors:

(1 ) Researchers and practitioners being

unaware of, and thus mixing, two notions of

spirituality: broad or secular and

specific

or

genuine spirituality.

2 An insufficient discrimination between

mind or consciousness, affect/sentiment,

and spirit.

Experiential

educators (and others) can avoid fur

ther conceptual confusion and programming pitfalls by:

• Distinguishing clearly between broad and

specific versions of spirituality. This distinc

tion is made by reference to a transcendent

other or the sacred.

• Understanding that spiritual functioning and

development are distinct from - albeit inter

twined with - cogni tive, affective and cona-

tive (behavioral)

human

functioning and

development.

• Accept ing that spiritual education and

development are fundamentally about nur

turing

spiritual consciousness. Providing

experiences

that connect

students

and

clients with self, others, and

nature

has

potential for stimulating spiritual growth;

1 5 8 The Journal of Experiential Education







however, not all experiences of connection

are relevant spiritually.

T h e rest of this article is devoted to explaining these

points in depth.

Spirituality—A religious studies

perspective

A conceptual analysis of spirituality via religious

studies shows that spirituality is fundamentally linked

to questions of meaning, and that questions of meaning

rest on metaphysical assumptions. Exploring spirituali

ty thus implies reflecting on metaphysical premises and

associated cosmological issues. This approach to mean

ing would include but not be limited to unconscious or

conscious beliefs about the world,

understandings

of

human

beings, humanity' s role in the world and

beyond, and ontological and epistemological questions,

such as, what is the ground of

being?

How and what can

we know about which world or worlds? (See also

Batten,

1 9 9 9 ; Cusveller, 1 9 9 8 ; McGrath, 1 9 9 7 ; Westgate,

1 9 9 6 . )

Religious

scholars and metaphysicians are adamant

that spirituality cannot be understood without a meta

physical

framework, and without reference to such

metaphysical concepts as spirit, the divine, God,

otherworldly realms, the transcendent, the

sacred,

holy, and so forth.

2

Because the sacred or

holy

are commonly associated with religion, spirituali

ty has religious connotations (Griffin, 1 9 8 8 , p. 1). This

may draw forth skepticism and elicit resistance espe

cially from those who disapprove of religion and argue

that spirituality should not be constrained by it.

However, as a colleague in religious studies remarked,

T h e many new age versions of spirituality notwith

standing, there can be no discussion of spirituality

without reference to the sacred (Oldmeadow, 1 9 9 9 ; see

also Das, 1 9 9 9 , p. 9; Sherrard, 1 9 9 0 , p. l).

Spirituality, as stated, also alludes to otherworldly

or metaphysical realms (Griffin, 1 9 8 8 , p. 1 ) . Dyson et al.

( 1 9 9 5 ) confirm many experiential educators' inclina

tions: that to assume spirituality is synonymous with

religion is to

adopt

a restrictive view, a view which is

probably unhelpful for professional practice (see also

Chenery, 1 9 8 4 ) . However, even if religion is rejected in

delineating spirituality, this must not be coterminous

with rejecting the metaphysical. Neglecting the sacred,

or accepting the idea that the spiri tual can do without

the metaphysical, has led spirituality to losing its

essence, spirit, and assuming secular meanings.

Spirituality

as used in popular discourse and as

reflected in the literature

tends

to refer to a person's

ultimate values, meanings, and commi tments, irrespec

tive of their content (Dyson et al., 1 9 9 7 ; Griffin, 1 9 8 8 , p.

2 ; Spohn, 1 9 9 7 ) . What has made the treatment of spiri

tuality so ambiguous and the terms spirituality and

spiritual so amorphous is the lack of a clear distinc

tion between what Griffin ( 1 9 8 8 , pp. 1-2) calls spiritual

i ty in the broad sense and spirituality in the stricter

sense.

3

Griffin ( 1 9 8 8 , p. 1) distinguishes these two

notions of spirituali ty on four grounds:

(1 ) what is considered to be sacred or holy in

a person's

life

or in a cultural paradigm;

i .e . , what is of ultimate importance, mean

ing , or value;

(2 ) who/what God is;

(3 ) whether an individual or culture con

sciously commits to realizing God in

everyday life;

(4 ) whether one's individual or a culture's

worldview acknowledges a non-material,

non-physical realm or realms or an other

worldly dimension or dimensions.

Ultimate values, meanings, and commitments

reflect some presuppositions about what is sacred or

holy

(Griffin,

1988, p. l ) . How the sacred is inter

preted and how far the metaphysical, transcendent,

otherworldly dimension is captured in the conceptu

alization of spirituality is critical to distinguish between

secular and specific spirituality. In the following para

graphs, I look at each of Griffin's ( 1 9 8 8 ) four criteria in

some detail.

1)

What

is

sacred

or holy?

T h e distinction between broad and specific spiritu

ality

is made on how the sacred is defined and/or where

the sacred or holy is located. Associated with how the

sacred is conceptualized is whether a personal or cul

tural

paradigm contains a realm or realms other

than

the

physical-material world.

4

Ultimate value can be located in the physical-mate

rial realm, which includes the sociocultural worlds, and

ca n be as ordinary as football , one's family, one's career,

or money. Saturday afternoons may be sacred to

watch one's favorite sport on TV, and one may reli

giously —with much commi tment and devotion—pur

sue how one's team fares in the weekly matches. If the

sacred

is unders tood in this sense and ultimate value is

derived from the material-sociocultural worlds, Griffin

( 1 9 8 8 ,

p. 1) speaks of broad spirituality. As he explains,

an individual's or culture's ultimate values and com

mitments can be very thisworldly; The presupposed

holy can be something very worldly, such as power, sex

ual energy, or success (p. 1). Th e otherworldly, meta

physical dimension of spirituality is lost in this inter

pretation; hence, it becomes very difficult if not impos

sible to distinguish spiritual experiences from other

kinds of experiences. Nonspiritual experiences are all,

b y definition, purely thisworldly, that is they are

Winter

2 0 0 0 , Volume 23, No. 3 159







restricted to the secular, profane dimensions.

Demarcating

between spirituality and other

l ife

experi

ences

becomes very fuzzy in a secular cosmology which

recognizes

only the physical-material realm and this

realm is the source of ultimate value.

In contrast, the sacred can be otherworldly, and is

then located within an explicit metaphysical frame

work. In this case, the sacred takes on superhuman

meaning and assumes divine dimensions. When the

holy is located in a world other than the physical-mate

rial, the existence of such a world is either presupposed

or experienced; in either case, the universe is under

stood as a living cosmos imbued with spirit in which

non-physical-material worlds are implicit (or explicit).

When non-material, non-physical or spiritual worlds

are part of an individual's worldview or culture's c o s

mology,

Griffin

( 1 9 8 8 )

speaks of strict(er) spirituality or

spirituality in the true sense.

Schuon, a metaphysician, defines the sacred as it is

understood in strict spirituality:

That is sacred which in the first place is attached to the

tran

scendent order, secondly possesses the character of absolute

certainty and thirdly, eludes the comprehens ion of the ordi

nary

human

mind. ... Th e sacred is the presence o f the cen

tre in the periphery... . The sacred introduces a quality of the

absolute into relativities and confers on perishable things a

texture of eternity. ( 1 9 7 6 , in Oldmeadow, 199 8, pp. 1 6 - 1 7 )

In Schuon's analysis, only that is sacred which is

transcendent to the physical-material realm, is absolute

and unchangeable, and is beyond ordinary human con

sciousness. If the sacred is beyond the physical-materi

al which we discern with our five senses (and their

extension, scientific instruments), and is beyond our

ordinary thoughts and feelings, how then can and do

we perceive it? This question leads back to the concep

tion of human beings mentioned earlier in the meta

physical

assumptions: human beings must be more than

matter (body, mind, feelings) and their five senses

which allow us to experience the world of matter and

form

(the perceptual world). A paradigm that locates the

sacred

in the spiritual world demands not only that an

individual or culture recognizes other than the material-

physical (perceptual) world (in Schuon's words rela

tivities, perishable things ); but also, such a paradigm

asks further that we conceive of human beings as having

spiritual dimensions — as having not simply an ordi

nary human mind (in the sense of consciousness) but

also a higher, spiritual consciousness, one with which

we can access the sacred in its otherworldly domains.

William

Paden, in Interpreting

the

Sacred ( 1 9 9 2 ) ,

confirms

Schuon's notions of the sacred having a super

human keynote (see also Sherrard, 1990, p. 1); he also

clarifies

the role of religion in experiencing the sacred:

[T]he sacred refers to those focal objects which to the insid

er seem endowed with superhuman power and authority.

Depending on the culture, it could be a scripture, a great

perso n or high religious leader, a god, an ancestor, an insti

tution like the Catholic Church, an aspect of nature such as

a moun tai n or river, a

path

of discipline taught by a Buddha,

or a sacred rite. These objects , words, bei ngs and obser

vances are charged with a power that governs, inspires and

obliges the life of particip ants.. .. Any religion is a system of

ways of experien cing the sacred, that is, objects which con

vey

superhuman

meaning, (p. 72)

The

sacred or divine may be located in a transcen

dent, absolute, metaphysical-spiritual realm. However,

it

is not limited to that order but penetrates into the

physical-material worlds. In other words, spirit is both

transcendent and immanent in matter, which is why we

can

sense the otherworldly sacred in and through ordi

nary experience. We can go on a canoeing trip and expe

rience

the otherworldly sacred in the beautiful back-

country, and then speak of having had a spiritual expe

rience

(see Knowles, 1992; Leenders & Henderson,

1 9 9 1 ) . We can experience the sacred entering into a lov

ing interact ion with a friend, and then refer to the

intangible quality that made that conversation differ

ent from others. Not all canoeing trips or conversations

have those qualities, though, and drawing on the other

worldly sacred (spirit) as an aspect of the metaphysical

explains spiritual as distinct from non-spiritual lived

experience.

A religious discipline or spiritual practice can help

open one's consciousness to those realms of spirit or, to

paraphrase Paden, can inspire and guide practitioners'

lives.

Religious scholars and spiritual teachers advise

that attaining a spiritual consciousness is accelerated by

and may even depend on committing to spiritual/reli

gious practice, or, in other words, a systematic pursuit

of

perfection of the divine ideal. As my colleague put it:

Relig ion provides the formal means (by way of doctrine,

spiritual method, sacred art, etc.) by which we can cut

through the various obscurations which hide the spirit. To

do this on one's own, without recourse to the resources of a

part icul ar rel igious tradition , is so difficult as to be more or

less imposs ible for anybody but the spontaneousl y enlight

ened saints and sages. (Oldmeadow, 1999)

Annie

Besant ( 1 9 9 1 ) , reflecting and writing on the

spiritual

l ife

in the early 20th century, further clarifies

the links between spirit, the sacred, higher conscious

ness, and the spiritual realm. She also alludes to the true

meaning of the human spirit, helping us to draw the

critical

distinction from mind (thoughts) and feelings:

Th e

word spirit is restricted to that divinity in us that

manifests on the highest plan es of the universe and is dis-

1 6 0 The Journal of Experient ial Education







tinguished

by its consciousness of unity. Unity is the

keynote of spirit, for below the spiritual

realm

all is divi-

sion.... The spirit is

that

part of human

nature

in which the

sense of unity resides, the part in which primarily we are

one with God [the sacred, spirit], and seco nda rily one with

all

that lives throughout the universe, (pp. 7 4 - 75 )

Besant confirms that as human beings, we have a

mode of consciousness that allows us to access the spir

itual realm and experience the qualities of that world.

The human spirit is our higher aspect or conscious

ness,

is that divinity in us which is part of the spiri

tual realm immanent in us. With and through it, we can

reach into, connect with, and experience the divine or

higher world. Even in our secular Western culture, we

admire men and women who have achieved to a high

degree this divinity or spiritual consciousness in ordi

nary l i fe , and refer to them as holy, such as Saint

Francis, Mother Teresa, or Nelson Mandela. Again,

without drawing on metaphysical dimensions, it is very

difficult if not impossible to clearly demarcate the spir

itual from other domains and modes of human func

tioning, leading to the aforementioned conceptual

ambiguity. Teske

( 1 9 9 9 )

provides an example of placing

the human spirit in a secular (thisworldly) worldview,

equating it with the cognitive-affective domains. He

claims: Understanding the human spirit, the thinking,

motivating, feeling aspect of a person, need not entail

supernatural reference in any more than a boundary

sense

(abstract). In a secular cosmology, ignoring meta

physical (supernatural) dimensions leads to conceptual

ambiguity between the cognitive, affective, behavioral,

and spiritual modes of human functioning, arguing the

human spirit to be synonymous with thoughts, feelings,

and/or the psyche.

If [ujnity is the keynote of spirit, then experiences

o f union or connection—to self, others, nature and God

—can

be classified as spiritual experiences, a finding

confirmed

in the literature (Dyson et al., 1 9 9 7 ; Golberg,

1 9 9 8 ; Haug, 1 9 9 9 ; Mahoney & Graci, 1 9 9 9 ; Reed, 1992;

Skamp,

1 9 9 1 ;

Westgate, 1 9 9 6 ; Woods & Ironson, 1 9 9 9 ) .

As research has documented, lived spiritual experience

seems to be about connection—connection to self, to

others, to the natural world (also known as ecospiritu-

ality), and to a or the transcendent other (e.g., Dyson et

al.,

1 9 9 7 ;

Ramsden

Scott,

1 9 9 5 ) . However, as stated ear

lier in the examples from canoeing and conversation,

not all types of experiences of connection can be cate

gorized as spiritual experiences. Connection can occur

on many levels—on the cognitive, affective, behavioral,

and spiritual levels. As Besant's perspective suggests,

God, the sacred, spirit, or divinity needs to be present in

a spiritual experience. When the transcendent other

enters ordinary experience, experience is infused with

the sacred and thus, transformed from the profane to the

spiritual. Strict ly speaking, spiritual experiences are

only those where spirit (otherworldly sacred, God)

touches one's interaction with self, others, and nature;

or, stated differently, when a person approaches inter

actions with the world

(self,

others, nature) with and

from an activated spiritual consciousness.

To

summarize:

Specific

spirituality, by definition,

takes us beyond the physical-material realm; beyond

matter, body, and form; and beyond sensual perception

and the perceptual worlds, including beyond the emo

tional as well as the intellectual domains. If not in lived

experience, at least conceptually, feelings are distinct

from

spirit, as both are from thoughts and behavior. In

the discourse on spirituality, further conceptual confu

sion can be avoided by experiential educators recogniz

ing that emotional and intellectual development are as

distinct from each other, albeit intertwined, as they are

from spiritual development. As Oldmeadow ( 1 9 9 9 )

shared, Nor does the spirit have much to do with sen

timent, although the

path

of devotion

(Bhakti)

is one

avenue through whi ch it can be approached .

Admittedly, in practice this mandate for differentiation

is much more difficult to carry out, as these four modes

o f human functioning interact synergistically in lived

experience to the extent that a precise distinction

between thoughts, feelings, behavior, and spirit

becomes almost impossible.

2)

Who/what

is

God?

The sacred, writes Paden ( 1 9 9 2 , pp. 7 1 - 7 3 ) , is not

necessar ily and not exclusively God or a god, a fact con

firmed by and in the nontheistic religions like

Buddhism.

5

A further distinguishing characteristic

between spirituality in the broad and the specific sense

is

who/what God or the divine is. In spirituality in

the broad sense, God or the gods is synonymous

with ultimate meaning and values which, again, can

be very thisworldly, devoid of superhuman meaning

(Dyson et al.,

1 9 9 7 ;

Griffin,

1 9 8 8 ) .

My God can be bas

ketball,

nature, the wilderness, adventure, or climbing

trips, for instance. Yet when we feel that by being in

nature or that via climbing adventures we more fully

apprehend an otherworldly sacred, we are moving away

from

a secular toward a specific spirituality.

In the stricter sense, God is a being, force or ener

gy with divine qualities. Divinity, by definition, tran

scends the human realms—is superhuman or supernat

ural. This does not mean, however, that humans (or

nature, for that matter) cannot embody divine qualities.

The goal of spiritual development is just that. Spiritual

teachers like Krishna, Buddha, Mohammed, and Jesus

model this embodiment of holiness and are venerated

because

they exemplified divine qualities to such a

Winter

2 0 0 0 , Volume 23, No. 3 161







level of perfection to become founders of respective reli

gions, or frameworks which guide the aspirant in culti

vating a spiritual consciousness.

3) Conscious commitment to realizing God?

Spirituality in the strict(er) and in the broad(er)

sense is further demarcated by whether an individual

(or culture) consciously tries to increase her/his (or its)

commitment to those ultimate values and meanings

(Griffin,

1 9 8 8 ,

p. 1) . The strict(er) version of spirituality

implies some form of religious discipl ine or spiritual

practice (Griffin,

1 9 8 8 ,

p. 1) and employs these as a con

scious commitment to spiritualize

oneself

and

l i fe ,

in

the sense of experiencing and realizing the holy; trans

forming ordinary consciousness into spiritual con

sciousness;

and building virtues or divine qualities such

as love, tolerance, patience, and so forth into one's char

acter.

As Cole ( 1 9 9 9 ) states:

Spirituality really mea ns inner beauty revealed in a visi-

ble

expression of virtues. If you relate constantly with

peace, understanding, wisdom and mercy, then you will be

influential on the basis of spirituality. Others will trust in

your love and acceptance of them. It is suc h a personality

that the effort of appreciation leads to. (p. 22)

It would seem that realizing one's highest thisworld-

ly values (i.e. , broad spirituality) can proceed with the

same enthusiasm, commitment, and systematic pursuit

as following a spiritual discipline. I can just as devoted

ly and methodically pursue canoeing for relaxation and

pleasure, for instance, as I can pursue it as a means for

spiritual connection with others and/or nature. In the lat

ter

case,

canoeing can be regarded as a conscious com

mitment to bringing spirit into matter, to infuse the

ordinary with a sense of the holy. This example shows

that it is not the action per se, but the intent, the attitude,

and a receptive consciousness that enables experiencing

the sacred (Besant,

1 9 9 1 ,

pp. 7 8 - 7 9 ) .

4)

Otherworldly

dimensions?

Griffin's last criterion finalizes the distinction

between broad and strict spirituality, alluding to the

fundamental metaphysics most directly. A cosmology

not only outlines an individual's or a culture's views of

the universe; it also includes a conception of who we

are as

human

beings. Broad and specific spirituality

have quite different conceptions of human beings,

which has implications for spiritual development and

education.

In strict spirituality, the absolute world is the

ground of being. This world gives rise to the relative

world; the relative (perceptual) world

depends

on the

absolute world for its cont inued exi stence and func

tioning. Similarly,

human

beings are ultimately spirit

(or soul)

6

who exist in the relative material world by

virtue of form (body, matter). In essence, in strict spiri

tuality,

human

beings are conceived of as spiritual

beings having a

human

experience.

As stated, broad(er) versions of spirituality have no,

or

only a limited, concept ion of a, or the, spiritual

world.

Human

beings are primarily known by their form

(body)

or lower consciousness (personality); occasional

ly, we can and do have spiritual experiences

( human

beings having spiritual experiences ). However, strictly

speaking, these experiences of connection to self, oth

ers, and

nature

are not spiritual experiences. As secular

paradigms do not acknowledge a transcendent other,

spirit, and spiritual consciousness, so-called spiritual

experiences are thus by default exper iences of connec

tion on the cognitive-affective-conative levels. What

then does spiritual development mean in this context?

Without metaphysical dimensions, it is difficult to rec

ognize and

understand

the two distinct modes of

human

consciousness (lower vs. higher, perceptual-

material vs. spiritual), and spiritual development and

growth become extremely difficult to define, frequently

being confused with particularly improved affective

functioning.

From this reflection on Griffin's four criteria, two

things now become clear: First, spirituality in its strict

sense

requires a metaphysical framework and rests on a

cosmology that includes other than material-physical

dimensions. When it is claimed that spirituality is

something we all have, what is being referred to is spir

ituality in its broad connotation. Only in the broad

notion, spirituality is not an optional quality which we

might elect not to have. Everyone embodies a spiritual

ity,

even if it be a nihilistic or materialistic spirituality

(Griffin, 1988 , pp. 1-2). In other words, the claim that

spirituality is universal (Goddard, 1 9 9 5 ) is a reference to

spirituality in the broad sense. From the perspective of

spirituality in the stricter sense, secular spirituality is an

oxymoron, and any form of spirituality not reflecting an

otherworldly orientation becomes a consumer spiritual

ity

(Jones,

1 9 9 7 ) , pseudospirituality, or even antispiritu-

ality (Griffin, 1 9 8 8 , p. 2).

Second, and this is of particular importance for

experiential educators, without a metaphysical frame

work that acknowledges a higher consciousness and

locates the

human

spirit in otherworldly realms, spir

itual development and education become meaningless.

As

such, they can become easily confounded with the

affective domain in particular.

Implications for experiential education

In

the popularized, secular version of spirituality,

any form of experiential education that aims to teach a

1 6 2

The Journal of Experiential Education







connection to self, others, and/or nature can be per

ceived as a form of spiritual educat ion (see, e.g., Skamp,

1 9 9 1 ) . As the foregoing analysis concludes, this is not

spiritual education in the strict sense. To reiterate: con

nection can occur on the cognitive level (e.g., studying

the natural history of a wilderness area I backpack

through deepens my connection to that place), the

affective level (e.g., having an argument with someone),

and the behavioral level (e.g., sharing a rafting

trip

with

friends).

Although the four modes of human function

ing are interwoven in lived experience, for purposes of

conceptual clarity, I am asking that experiential educa

tors (and others) apply greater precision and not refer to

these as synonymous with spiritual connection.

Spiritual connection means uniting with a tran

scendent sacred (spirit) through experiences in the

physical-material-perceptual world, a connection that

is enabled by the human spirit, or human beings' spiri

tual consciousness. Spiritual education is the process of

nurturing this spiritual consciousness. Spiritual con

sciousness expresses

i t s e l f

and receives feedback via

practical, lived experience.

T h e

analysis of spirituali ty via religious studies

shows that when experiential educators are advocating

spiritual education, they are asking, albeit often

unknowingly, for much more than to facilitate spiritual

experiences

(see Anderson-Hanley, 199 7; Stremba,

1 9 9 7 ) . They are also not merely asking how students'

and clients' spiritual consciousness can be fostered. As

soon as we move beyond secular spirituality, spiritual

consciousness,

education, and development are

grounded in a transcendent human spirit framed by a

metaphysical cosmology. Impl icit in requesting and

promoting spiritual aspects to experiential learning

programs, then, is advocating a non-secular cosmology.

Comprehensive and transparent spiritual experiential

education, then, would not only be about cultivating a

spiritual consciousness via providing the conditions

and context for spiritual experiences to occur. It would

also be about teaching the metaphysical dimensions of

human experience and about worldviews other than

the modern western secular paradigm (see DeQuincy,

1 9 9 9 , and Sherrard, 1 9 9 2 , for further detail).

Experiential educators know that providing experi

ences

is not enough; experiences require reflection to

become educational. Consequently, experiential educa

tors need resource material to help students debrief and

integrate spiritual experiences, to capitalize on their

transformative and healing effects (Goddard, 1995; see

also

Hay, 1 9 9 8 ; Mahoney & Graci, 1 9 9 9 ) , and to transfer

learning into daily l i fe . Part of the transformative poten

tial of spiritual experiences is that they frequently lead

to an increased sense of ethical responsibility and prac

tical ethical commitments (Martin, 2 0 0 0 ) . Spirituality

enters murky waters when its links to ethics are severed

(Spohn, 1997) and can easily lead to a consumer spiri

tuality

(Jones,

1 9 9 7 ) , to seeking spiritual encounters

because they

feel

good. Experiential educators need to

caution against this by being able to help their students

and clients translate spiritual experiences into ethical

commitments.

Material that links spiritual experience to ethical

frameworks is contained in the world's religious and

spiritual traditions (McGowan, 1997; Spohn, 1 9 9 7 ) .

Spiritual education, thus, becomes religious education;

religious education in the sense of studying the different

wisdom traditions, including indigenous ones, inter

preting sacred texts, and reading and/or listening to the

stories

of those who have reflected on spiritual experi

ences and the sacred before us. It is possible to talk

about religion without such discussion touching on per

sonal beliefs and faiths—although reflection on these

too can be a valuable part of spiritual education (see

McGowan,

1 9 9 7 ) . Contemplating the truth one encoun

ters on all wise paths needs to be done in a spirit of

inquiry and open-mindedness, and requires more than

a superficial exposure to each tradition. This raises the

question of whether this kind of spiritual education can

b e done adequately in short-term experiential education

and learning contexts.

A s spiritual education is fundamentally concerned

with cultivating a spiritual consciousness to access the

otherworldly sacred or to experience union with the

divine, genuine spiritual education, further, would be

guidance into ways of experiencing the sacred in its

transcendent dimensions and introducing systems that

methodically guide the student toward those experi

ences, that is, spiritual/religious traditions. In this inter

pretation, too, genuine spiritual education is religious

education. From my assessment of the field, I would

contend that very few experiential educators are ade

quately prepared for this. Experiential educators may

indeed have a mandate for spiritual education (Skamp,

1 9 9 1 ) ,

yet do they have the training for leading students

and cl ient s into dimensions of the sacred? Most experi

ential educators are not spiritual teachers, nor should

they be.

If ,

indeed, spiritual education is at least partially

religious education, as this analysis suggests, experien

tial educators have to ask themselves whether they are

prepared to venture into this terrain, or whether they are

more comfortable with and would thus rather confine

themselves to teaching about and for secular spirituali

ty . In any

case,

to be inclusive (see also Skamp, 1 9 9 1 ) ,

experiential educators have to find ways to teach about

different worldviews, both secular and sacred, and need

to think through how to respectfully present those to

students and clients.

Winter

2 0 0 0 , Volume 23, No. 3 163







Chenery's discussion

on

Nurturing

the

human

spirit

in

camping

( 1 9 8 4 ) is to me a

good example from

practice of how genuine spiritual experiential education

is

possible. It also serves as an example of what I have

contended: a clear conceptual grounding prior to devel

oping program and pedagogy. Chenery's

( 1 9 8 4 )

descrip

tion of spirituality was developed in conjunction with a

religious scholar and makes clear reference to meta

physics or otherworldly dimensions in humans as well

as in nature without being exclusive by limiting such a

paradigm to any particular spiritual/religious tradition.

Relying on Schumacher ( 1 9 7 7 ) , Chenery writes:

By

spiritual I me an rela ting to spirit or soul, to the gro und

of

being, whatever we may conce ive it to be.... Spiritual

suggests con tem plati on of the intangible, whet her it is a

spirit within oneself or a spirit in

nature.

Spiritual sug-

gests

that

there are higher

levels

of eing and higher

levels

of

hu ma n capability.... Spiritual develo pment refers to the

cultivation of the higher

levels

of human capability and the

contemplation of higher

levels

of being, (p. 23)

I

cannot go into detail here about how Chenery trans

lates this understanding into a program that aims at

uplifting her campers, and how a program philosophy

that emphasizes spiritual development and growth can

inform and shape all aspects of an experiential education

program. What Chenery's case study of a summer camp

shows, and what is important to note and to remember, is

the tremendous potential of experiential education to

stimulate and refine spiritual consciousness.

Conclusion

T h e

potential

of

experiential education

for nurtur

ing spiritual consciousness

can be

more fully realized

when experiential educators

can

accurately

and

dis

tinctly

answer for themselves and their stakeholders

the

question, What

is

spirituality? Analysis

o f

the sacred

v ia

religious studies leads discourse

of

spirituality

out

o f the

conceptual quicksand

and

onto firmer founda

tions. This paper has argued that

a concise

definition of

spirituality based on rigorous and thorough conceptual

and interdisciplinary analysis is critical to sound prac

tice in experiential education and other practice-orient

ed fields. Such conceptual analysis does not distract

from practice; in contrast, it illuminates it by shedding

light on some tacit assumptions, unconscious issues,

and unasked

or

unanswered questions. Conceptual

analysis

thus needs

to

complement empirical research

and ideally needs

to

precede pedagogical reflection

and

action in the

form of curriculum development

and

pro

gram design

and

implementation.

Notes

1

S t a t e m e n t s m a d e by p a r t i c i p a n t s of a f o r u m on r i t e s of p a s s a g e

a n d s p i r i t u a l i s s u e s for a d o l e s c e n t s inJ u n e 1999.

1

S o m e a u t h o r s s p e l l s p i r it w i t h a c a p i t a l S to d e n o t e its m e t a

p h y s i c a l and d i v i n e n a t u r e . A l t h o u g h I h i g h l i g h t t h e s e q u a l i t i e s of

s p i r i t as c r i t i c a l , I s t i c k t o th e s m a l l s .

3

The

f i r s t

is

a l s o c a l l e d b r o a d e r , f a l s e , s e c u l a r , g e n e r i c , c o n s u m e r ,

p o p u l a r , New A g e , p s e u d o -

or

a n t i s p i r i t u a l i ty

in

th e l i t e r a t u r e ; the

s e c o n d ,

s t r i c t , g e n u i n e , t r u e , a u t h e n t i c .

4

S o m e p a r a d i g m s s p e a k

of th e

v a r i o u s w o r l d s

in the

s i n g u l a r , as in

t h e p h y s i c a l - m a t e r i a l w o r l d ,

the

p e r c e p t u a l w o r l d ,

the

s p i r i t u a l

w o r l d ;

o t h e r s

in th e

p l u r a l ,

i.e., the

p h y s i c a l - m a t e r i a l w o r l d s

and

s o f o r t h . H e n c e f o r t h , I

u se the

s i n g u l a r ,

and

m e a n t h i s

to

be i n c l u

s i v e of b o t h p e r s p e c t i v e s .

5

cf.

S h e r r a r d

( 1 9 9 0 ,

p.

1): He

[ G o d ] a l o n e is s a c r e d .

6

I c a n n o t go i n t o d e t a i l h e r e a b o u t how s o u l and s p i r i t d i f f e r ; see

B e s a n t ( 1 9 9 1 , p. 74) for an e x p l a n a t i o n .

Acknowledgements

thank

colleagues at

La

Trobe University, Bendigo—

Mary Faeth Chenery,

Alison

Lugg, Peter

Mart in,

Deirdre

Slattery,

and Harry Oldmeadow— for helping to clarify

my

thinking

on

spirituality,

and for constructive feed

back on earlier drafts of this paper.

Thanks

are also

extended to AEE reviewers for their comments and their

patience.

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Winter 2 0 0 0 , Volume 23, No. 3 165

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