Spiritual struggles and compassion: the positive side of moral concerns

A large body of research has focused on the negative consequences associated with spiritual struggles, with little consideration to the potential positive aspects of these experiences. To fill this void in literature, we investigated the relationship between spiritual struggles and state compassion using film methodology. The results of this study show that the moral concerns component of spiritual struggles is the only one that predicted feelings of compassion, and this relation was not explained by other individual differences factors. The results demonstrated that one facet of spiritual struggles can predict positive outcomes, such as compassion.     

“It’s like a charge – either fuses you or burns you out”: an interpretative phenomenological analysis of extreme mental states in meditation context

Meditation, an ancient Eastern spiritual practice, is increasingly being practised in the West where its benefits for mental and physical health have been established. Extreme mental states that can be encountered in the context of meditation have also been reported and often have been labelled as psychosis or spiritual emergency. This study aimed for more nuanced understanding of the phenomena. Interpretative phenomenological analysis was employed to explore the meaning-making of three meditation teachers from different philosophical traditions. The teachers described phenomenology of various extreme mental states, explained their nature according to their traditions and discussed ways of helping persons who experience these. Significance was given to having a spiritual teacher to provide guidance and support. The study highlights the importance of acknowledging the diverse understandings of the phenomena and cultivating a non-judgemental attitude towards it, which could help clinicians and meditation teachers work together to support persons experiencing these.     

Pierre De Bérulle (1575–1629) and the renewal of Catholic spiritual life in France

Pierre de Bérulle, founder of the Oratoire de Jésus (commonly known as the Oratoire de France), is a leading figure in the renewal of the Catholic Church in France in the first half of the seventeenth century. He is generally regarded as the founder of the French School of Spirituality (École française de spiritualité), though this term has been much criticised in recent years. He is often described as a ‘reformer’ of the Church in France, but this is a half-truth which obscures his real originality; he certainly shared the aims of those striving to create a clergy which would be better educated, more morally upright and more pastorally sensitive and zealous; but above all else he was concerned with the spiritual renewal of the clergy and with the Church in France generally. Lastly, he has often been accused of wishing to create chiefly, if not exclusively, a spirituality of the priesthood and to work for the ‘sanctification’ of the clergy. But his work and ideas must be seen here in a broader perspective, for Bérulle and his disciples shared with St Francis de Sales the aim, expressed in his Introduction à la vie devote (1608), of creating and promoting a spirituality available to all Christians. This article examines his conception of the Oratory, which he intended to be an intermediary between the religious orders and the secular clergy, his spiritual theology, what I have called his ‘spiritual pedagogy’, and his influence in France and elsewhere.     

Shared Moral and Spiritual Development Among Human Persons and Artificially Intelligent Agents

Technical advances in artificial intelligence make somewhat likely the possibility of robotic or software agents exhibiting or extending human-level intelligence within a few decades. Theological investigation can help meet significant research goals in artificial intelligence by orienting the development of agent communication and moral reasoning toward a shared moral and spiritual development of human persons and intelligent agents. In particular, Josiah Royce’s Loyalty-to-Loyalty initiates a moral stance within which humans and intelligent agents can develop constructive ethical frameworks and his semiotic philosophy of community can guide the development and functioning of an agent’s interpretive processes and can model shared spiritual formation.     

规则的不同特点对儿童判断的影响

本研究探讨不同领域的规则(安全领域规则,个人领域规则)和不同的规则提出者(成人权威,同辈权威)对儿童判断的影响。研究考察了48名4~7岁的儿童在道义推理、奖惩判断、愿望理解和行为判断的发展变化特点。结果表明:(1)直到7岁儿童才能根据规则的不同特点做出不同的判断,7岁儿童预测更不应该违反安全领域规则,违反安全领域规则和成人权威制定的规则后应该受到更多的批评,而4岁组和5岁组儿童在不同规则情境下的判断没有显著差异;(2)各年龄组儿童预测应该给予表扬的数量在各情境下没有显著差异;(3)在规则与愿望相冲突时,高年龄组儿童比低年龄组儿童更多地报告主人公会坚持自己的愿望;(4)在预测主人公是否会违反规则上,各年龄组在不同规则情境下均无显著差异。     

The poet’s school and the parrot’s cage: the educational spirituality of Rabindranath Tagore

Rabindranath Tagore (1861–1941), Asia’s first Nobel laureate, was a man of myriad gifts, but he sought to articulate a single global vision. He believed that for our flourishing we must strive towards ‘the other and the beyond’. In so doing we discover that, as we seek, we are ourselves being sought. Tagore believed that we find our meaning and fulfilment relationally; in our relationships one with another, to be sure, but fundamentally in our kinship with all that is. We must be liberated, Tagore believed, from the bounds of our separateness and so discover a wholeness larger than our individual well‐being. That wholeness is ultimately realised in our union with the eternal Divine Spirit. In the establishment of his ‘poet’s school’ at Shantiniketan Tagore sought to make his ideals come true. This paper will focus on Tagore’s understanding of childhood and on the pattern of education by which, he believed, the spirit of the child may be nurtured. It will also enter a plea that we return to someone whose neglect in the West has been much to its loss.     

The spiritual dimension and curriculum change

The impetus for curriculum change should ultimately be to improve student learning. Implementing change can be very stressful and diminish a teachers’ sense of well‐being and thereby minimise the chances of successful or effective change. Drawing on a recent study that investigated how faculty leaders managed curriculum change in religious education this paper reports on one key finding which suggested that attention to the spiritual dimension can help teachers to overcome feelings of anxiety and stress and lead to effective change management. In particular this paper identifies some characteristics of connectedness as expressions of the spiritual dimension within an educational context. This paper will situate the findings and provide a brief background to the study and the role of faculty leaders in managing curriculum change. It will then proceed to give an account of the spiritual dimension and how it may be fostered through experiences of connectedness within the educational setting. An overview of some characteristics of connectedness used by the faculty leaders are then outlined and conclusions drawn.     

《教师权威认知问卷》的编制

为揭示影响中小学生对教师权威认知的因素而编制教师权威认知问卷。通过对所收集的项目进行因素分析,得到了一个包含6个因子,即“师德与知识”、“规则”、“道德”、“情感”、“个人生活”、“处理方法”,共27个项目的教师权威认知问卷。     

6岁儿童面子谎及其熟悉度与权威效应初探

本实验以 85名大班 6岁儿童为被试 ,其中实验组 45人 ,采用 2× 2设计 (即熟悉度 (熟悉 ,陌生 )×权威性 (老师 ,同伴 ) ) ,以 7点量表评画为任务 ,考察了儿童在当事人是否在场情况下的评分改变问题。研究发现 :(1 ) 6岁儿童在 4位不同身份的人士面前均出现较高的说面子谎率。 (2 ) 6岁儿童在说面子谎上无性别差异。 (3) 6岁儿童在说面子谎上更倾向于给熟悉的人面子 ,而权威性则对儿童的说面子谎行为无显著影响。     

战国民族思想与民族统一

战国时期,我国出现“华夷一体化”的民族发展趋势。诸子民族思想均有所变化,并表现为诸多共识。位处不同区域的华夏政权楚、燕、赵、秦等国所推行的民族统一卓有成效,为秦最终建立多民族中央集权国家打下了根基。