WHY SPIRITUALITY IS DIFFICULT FOR WESTERNERS

The term spirituality is used in a wide variety of contexts and even disciplines, as shown in the different approaches adopted by the authors of these four books, all of whom are academics in religious studies, sociology of religion and the study of religious experience. Nevertheless, a number of common themes do emerge, along with considerable disagreement about their interpretation. One theme to be found in all four studies is that of individualism and the privatisation of religion. Here David Hay offers an interesting historical analysis, associating the growth of atheism with individualism and egotism. He traces the abandonment by theologians of religious experience, which means a greater emphasis on abstract thinking, itself associated with a disembodied and theoretical outlook. This, he thinks, obscures our natural capacity to be aware of the transcendent, of which he himself has found considerable evidence in his many years of research on religious experience. Crucially, this way of thinking entails the loss of what he calls relational consciousness, resulting in a sense of separation, isolation and alienation. After a scathing analysis of cultural despisers, Hay shows how empirical science can meet empirical religion and how spiritual practices such as prayer and meditation can result in self-forgetfulness and transpersonal identification. He is optimistic that this kind of practices can contribute towards a more balanced society in the 21st century.

Carrette and King are also concerned with the privatisation of religion and its association not only with individualism but, at worst, with narcissism and self-indulgence. In addition, they focus on the relationship between spirituality, capitalism, neoliberalism and the general marketisation and commodification of life. They call for socially engaged forms of spirituality, and plot a spectrum of relationships between spirituality and capitalism. They regard as atomisation the individualisation of responsibility with no consideration of society, and argue that spirituality has been corporatised and taken over by the profit motive, consumerism and market ideology. I found their thesis of a silent takeover by these forces overstated, but their focus on the neoliberal framing of spirituality serves to sharpen this issue. They state that 'spirituality in its privatised and psychological formation is not a cure for our sense of social isolation and disconnectedness but is, in fact, part of the problem' because it fails to connect with social justice. There are two very interesting chapters on the psychologisation of the Western world and its political implications, and the privatisation of ancient wisdom traditions. In the first case, William James places an emphasis on private spiritual experience, while in the second, they show how Buddhism and Taoism have been adapted for Western usage and arguably distorted in the process. For example, Buddhism is not compatible with a religion of the self. Hence also their criticisms of the syncretism of writers like Deepak Chopra, partly based on the idea that religion should involve some form of renunciation. There is no doubt that the word Tao has been commercialised in all sorts of senses and that its message of simplicity has been largely lost in translation. They do point out that some dichotomies like that between secular and religious are now being overcome, which might be grounds for optimism. And they acknowledge that new forms of 'engaged spirituality grounded in an awareness of our mutual interdependence, the need for social justice and economic sustainable lifestyles, may yet prove our best hope for resisting the capitalist excesses of neoliberalism.' They do not seem to think that such movements already exist, but many leading holistic practitioners already adopt this viewpoint and are far from being disengaged.

Paul Heelas takes on some of the arguments of Carrette and Heelas in his Spiritualities of Life, which is a detailed and wide ranging study. He defines 'inner-life spirituality' and disputes the thesis that holistic spirituality is a consumerist extension of capitalism or that it represents the fag-end of the sacred following the decline of institutional religion in Europe. He sees spiritualities of life as a significant part of the new subjective well-being culture that do make a real difference to practitioners and society. An interesting finding is that 37% of a UK sample believed that God is something within each person, as opposed to 23% believing in a personal God. This reflects a cultural emphasis on immanence rather than transcendence, reflecting a shift in authority from the outside to the inside consistent with the rise in individualism. Moreover, recognising God within oneself implies recognising the Divine equally in others. Heelas is a great deal more positive about developments in holistic spirituality, taking on the Lasch critique of hedonism and Steve Bruce's contention that such forms of spirituality have little or no impact the world at large. He points out that many disciplines involve considerable inner work aimed at transformation rather than consumption and self-indulgence. People aspire to a better quality of life rather than simply a higher standard of living. His last chapter, Inside Out, argues that inward looking is for the outward bound and is leading to the emergence of a politics of well-being, which is not incompatible with the liberal values of individualism, freedom and the pursuit of happiness. It is about flourishing as a form of expressive humanism, building on the romantic apprehension of the world as sacred but also ecologically and socially engaged at a local level.

Ursula King's book is the most comprehensive, accessible and sympathetic of the four books reviewed here. She is an expert on Teilhard de Chardin and Professor Emerita of Religious Studies from Bristol. Her book focuses on the global quest for meaning and fulfilment in response to what she sees as a deep spiritual crisis that calls for a transformative spirituality to address common global challenges. This involves more than an inner quest; social engagement is also essential, as advocated in some of the studies above. For King spirituality is dynamic, it is about lived experience and creative action, 'wisdom for living.' The value of the book lies in the scope of application of spirituality or a spiritual outlook to different domains of self, society, culture and nature: the Earth, interfaith, education, health, gender, science and the arts. King does not see this as any kind of takeover but rather a pervasive shift in worldview that balances inner and outer, person and planet, recognising our deep social and ecological interdependence. She also provides an informative annotated bibliography at the end of her book.

From Teilhard de Chardin she draws the idea of Nature as the divine milieu in which matter and spirit are intertwined, and she calls for a growth of sensitivity towards self, others, nonhuman creation and God. An important strand largely neglected by the men above is the emergence of Goddess and feminist spirituality in response to centuries of patriarchal domination. This also means a greater emphasis on the body, immanence and humanity rather than reason, transcendence and divinity (p. 141), all of which is consistent with the growing awareness of the God within already referred to. No one religion can claim a monopoly of truth, but each can be an expression of planetary spirituality. Above all, spirituality should be nourishing and life-enhancing, embodying the zest for life and the power of love. King quotes the little-known research of the Russian sociologist Pitirim Sorokin on the Ways and Power of Love, which I reviewed here in 2004. It is time for us to take this kind of research seriously and to apply its findings to create a vision of hope and renewal for the world as a whole, a global spiritual awakening. King suggests the powerful metaphor of pneumatophores, the air roots of plants growing in water – literally bearers of spirit who can kindle spiritualities of life. These four books give different views of the contemporary spiritual landscape and show that spirituality and a spiritual worldview are positive and rising forces in our culture, but they also warn of potential pitfalls as we navigate our way with new forms of inner compass to engage with the global challenges of our time.