Expanding the scope of "trans-humanism": situating within the framework of life and death education - the importance of a "trans-mystical mindset".

Life and death education, as noted from the literatures, has been studied and researched extensively in China, Malaysia, and Taiwan. Our own research undertakings over the past several years, situated in different sociocultural settings have delved into aspects of life and death that could help advance theoretical understanding of the subject matters (e.g., does the meaning of "effective life functioning" connote differing interpretations for different cultural groups?). Situating within the framework of life and death education, we expand the study of trans-humanism by introducing an extended prefix or nomenclature known as "trans-mystical". Specifically, our philosophized concept of trans-mysticism considers a related concept, which we term as a "trans-mystical mindset". A trans-mystical mindset, differing from an ordinary mindset, from our philosophical rationalization, is defined as "a person's higher-order state of consciousness, espousing her perception, judgment, belief, and attempted interpretation of life and death phenomena that are mystifying and fall outside the ordinary boundaries of human psyche." Our focus of inquiry, as reported in the present article, seeks to advance our proposition: that a trans-mystical mindset, unlike an ordinary mindset, may help a person to rationalize, appreciate, and understand metaphysical contexts, mystical experiences, and the like. This focus, interestingly, serves to highlight an important discourse - namely, that there is a dichotomy in theoretical lenses (i.e., objective reality vs. individual subjectivity) that a person may use to rationalize the significance or non-significance of universal contexts, events, phenomena, etc. (e.g., a person's experience of "premonition"). As such, then, there is an important question that we seek to consider: whether philosophization, or the use of philosophical psychology, would yield perceived "scientific evidence" to support or to reject the study of metaphysicism, mysticism, and the like? For example, does our philosophization of an "equivalency" between a person's trans-mystical mindset and her experience of self-transcendence help to normalize and/or to scientize the subject matters of metaphysicism, mysticism, etc.?

On the need for metaphysics in psychedelic therapy and research.

The essential proposal of this text is that psychedelic-induced metaphysical experiences should be integrated and evaluated with recourse to metaphysics. It will be argued that there is a potential extra benefit to patients in psychedelic-assisted therapy if they are provided with an optional, additional, and intelligible schema and discussion of metaphysical options at the integrative phase of the therapy. This schema (the "Metaphysics Matrix") and a new Metaphysics Matrix Questionnaire ("MMQ") stemming therefrom will be presented, the latter of which can also be used as an alternative or additional tool for quantitative measurement of psychedelic experience in trials. Metaphysics is not mysticism, despite some overlap; and certainly not all psychedelic experience is metaphysical or mystical-all three terms will be defined and contrasted. Thereafter psychedelic therapy will be presented and analysed in order to reveal the missing place for metaphysics. Metaphysics, with epistemology (theory of knowledge) and axiology (ethics and aesthetics), is a defining branch of Philosophy. Metaphysics, in contrast to mysticism, is considered to be based on argument rather than pure revelation. Thus, in psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy one sees here the potential bridge between reason-based philosophy and practical therapy-or, more broadly, with psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy there is the potential and mutually beneficial fusion of philosophy with practical science.

The miracle of Maglavit (1935) and the Romanian psychology of religion.

This paper examines the debates around the "miracle of Maglavit", a shepherd's vision of God that took place in 1935 in Romania and attracted much contemporary popular and intellectual interest. The debates drew in arguments from doctors and theologians, who discussed the psychology of divine revelation and tried to elaborate the implications that such an event could have for the life of the Romanian nation. The paper places these debates in the context of wider contemporary discussions about psychology and religion. I argue that what Maglavit shows is that, in Romania at least, public debates about visionary experience in the 1930s were not only debates about its psychology, but of a psychology thoroughly imbricated with political concerns.

[A case for the inclusion of oculocutaneous albinism as a skin-related Neglected Tropical Disease]. / Plaidoyer pour une intégration de l'albinisme oculocutané au sein des Maladies tropicales négligées dermatologiques.

Oculocutaneous albinism (OCA) is genetically transmitted. In this paper we advocate for this disease to be included in the NTD list of the WHO. OCA type 2 is the most common form of albinism in sub-Saharan Africa, with a prevalence of 1 in 7900 among the Bamileke of Cameroon, 1 in 3900 in South Africa and 1 in 1100 among the Ibos of Nigeria, as compared to a prevalence of 1 in 10,000 among African Americans and 1 in 36,000 among White Americans and Europeans. The medical problems related to ophthalmological aspects (poor visual acuity, ametropia, nystagmus, photophobia) and dermatological aspects of albinism (sensitivity to UV rays from the sun and development of skin cancers) are well known. However, their management is often challenging for persons with albinism in sub-Saharan Africa because of their financial burden and the difficulty of accessing medical specialists. In many African countries, persons with albinism are also very often the subject of social, cultural, medical, moral and economic discrimination, which can limit their access to education, employment and community life. They are considered 'white Africans', intermediary and incomplete, with innate powers for good and evil. This particularity has made persons with albinism the targets of mutilations and/or ritual attacks for the purposes of using their body parts in the preparation of charms to bring good luck, health or prosperity. On 13 June 2013, as a result of lobbying by the Canadian NGO Under the Same Sun and African albinism associations, United Nations bodies including UNESCO and the WHO (World Health Organization) responded and a Resolution addressing the discrimination and attacks was voted in. The date has since become International Albinism Awareness Day and is celebrated on a different theme each year with great energy and impact, especially by French, English and Portuguese speaking albinism associations across sub-Saharan Africa. In 2015 the Human Rights Council created the position of Independent Expert on Albinism to better collect and analyse data on the rights of persons with albinism around the world, and especially in countries where ritual attacks occur. The data collected by albinism associations and the authorities thus go directly to the UN Human Rights Directorate. Despite this international attention to the attacks on persons with albinism, one of the biggest threats is skin cancer, which very often leads to early death. In 2022, the WHO launched a strategic framework for the control and management of neglected skin-related neglected tropical diseases - an additional reason to include oculocutaneous albinism as an NTD. Although the focus is currently limited to dermatoses of an infectious nature, we argue here for the integration of oculocutaneous albinism among NTDs because the deadliness of these carcinomas in sub-Saharan Africa is well-known and has been examined in a number of medical publications. Here, we propose that oculocutaneous albinism in sub-Saharan Africa be classified as an NTD to help people with albinism have access to health, economic, social and cultural rights.

Exploring tranquility: Eastern and Western perspectives.

Although tranquility is a fundamental aspect of human life, the experiential nature of tranquility remains elusive. Traditionally, many philosophical, religious, spiritual, or mystical traditions in East and West have strived to reach tranquil experiences and produced texts serving as manuals to reach them. Yet, no attempt has been made to compare experiences of tranquility and explore what they may have in common. The purpose of this theoretical study is to explore the experiential nature of tranquility. First, we present examples of what we consider some of the most central experiences of tranquility in Eastern and Western traditions. For the sake of simplicity, we sort these examples into four categories based on their experiential focus: the body, emotions, the mind, and mysticism. Second, we offer an exploratory account of tranquility, arguing that the different examples of tranquility seem to share certain experiential features. More specifically, we propose that the shared features pertain both to the content or quality of the tranquil experiences, which involves a sense of presence and inner peace, and to the structure of these experiences, which seems to involve some degree of detachment and absorption.

More spiritual than religious: Concurrent and longitudinal relations with personality traits, mystical experiences, and other individual characteristics.

People who self-identify as predominantly spiritual constitute a considerable and well-established part of the religious landscape in North America and Europe. Thus, further research is needed to document predictors, correlates, and outcomes associated with self-identifying primarily as a spiritual person. In the following set of studies, we contribute to some of these areas using data from German and United States adults. Study 1 (n = 3,491) used cross-sectional data to compare four religious/spiritual (R/S) self-identity groups-more religious than spiritual (MRTS), more spiritual than religious (MSTR), equally religious and spiritual (ERAS), and neither religious nor spiritual (NRNS)-on sociodemographic characteristics and a range of criterion variables (i.e., Big Five personality traits, psychological well-being, generativity, mystical experiences, religious schemata). In Study 2 (n = 751), we applied the analytic template for outcome-wide longitudinal designs to examine associations of the four R/S self-identifications with a range of subsequent outcomes (assessed approximately 3 years later) that were largely comparable to the criterion variables assessed in Study 1. The cross-sectional and longitudinal findings from these complementary studies provide further evidence of differences between these four categories of R/S self-identification, including strong evidence in both studies of an association between the MSTR self-identity and mysticism.

An incandescent self-exploration: Ambiguities and unconscious logic in Day of Wrath (Vredens Dag), directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer (Denmark 1943).

The author examines the paradoxical dramatic dynamics of the Dreyer's masterpiece, according the Matte Blanco's theoretical model, as a tormented path of self awareness that consists in a progressive immersion in the unconscious. Anne, the young wife of an old Lutheran pastor, marginally involved in the witchcraft trial of a friend of her mother (now dead, but suspected to be a sorceress as well), falls in love for his son-in-law, leaving the child-wife position held so far. It's a new very strong vital drive for Anne, to which she adds the belief to own the magic powers of the witches: the ability to evoke the living and the dead, kill with thought and communicate through dreams. All the emotions are at an infinite level of intensity. Nevertheless, after she's left by her lover and after her husband's wished-upon death, the protagonist confesses her presumed witchcraft before the husband's coffin and, in the derangement of ambiguities, affective contradictions and shift of position, she attains a sort of mystic epiphany (significantly represented by the flow of filmic images): maybe a contact with the deepest layer of the mind where, according to MatteBlanco, the symmetrization is total.

Epilepsy - from mysticism to science.

The understanding of epilepsy has been in progressive evolution since Antiquity, with scientific advances culminating in the last few decades. Throughout history, epilepsy was plagued by mystical misconceptions involving either demonic possessions, witchcraft, or divine interventions. This has frequently altered or even halted any real progress in its scientific understanding or its social perception. This metaphysical context is also at the core of the stigma revolving around this condition, some of which still lingering today. This review explores the origins of these mystical beliefs, and describes the chronological evolution of epilepsy from mysticism to science across different civilizations and eras.

Sacerdotes, apropiación del discurso médico y experiencia mística en la Francia del siglo XIX / Priests, the appropriation of medical discourse and mystical experience in nineteenth-century France

Resumen El artículo explora la apropiación de la terminología psiquiátrica por parte de teólogos y párrocos franceses, en el contexto de la patologización de la religión del siglo XIX. Esta apropiación le sirvió al clero para demarcar la experiencia mística "auténtica" de la simulada o "desviada". En primer lugar, analizamos manuales médico-teológicos pensados para crear una oposición entre la histeria y la santidad, útil desde el punto de vista eclesiástico. En segundo lugar, presentamos los informes de tres párrocos sobre presuntas místicas y estigmatizadas. Concluimos que la apropiación de la retórica médica por parte del clero podía servir para definir los límites de la experiencia religiosa aprobada por la Iglesia católica.

Abstract This article explores the appropriation of psychiatric terminology by French theologians and priests, within the context of the pathologizations of religion in the nineteenth century. This appropriation allowed the clergy to differentiate "authentic" mystical experience from feigned or "deviant" ones. Firstly, it analyzes medical and theological manuals that sought to create an opposition between hysteria and saintliness, which was useful from the ecclesiastical point of view. Secondly, it presents the reports of three priests on supposed female mystics with stigmata. It concludes that the appropriation of medical rhetoric by the clergy could be used to define the limits of religious experience approved by the Catholic church.

'Ghosts from other planets': plurality of worlds, afterlife and satire in Emanuel Swedenborg's De Telluribus in mundo nostro solari (1758).

In 1758 in London, Swedish natural philosopher and mystic theologian Emanuel Swedenborg published De Telluribus in Mundo nostro Solari (Earths in our solar system), a treatise on the plurality of worlds and life on other planets. During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, these topics formed a heterogenous literary genre which encompassed theology, astronomy, philosophy and satire. In De Telluribus, Swedenborg made detailed claims of communication with extraterrestrial spirits in the afterlife, through which he sought to spread his theology to new audiences. The paper will explore the role of De Telluribus in Swedenborg's career, explain its content and analyse its polarized reception. It will show that De Telluribus combined for the first time the literary codes of two popular genres during the period, namely those concerning the plurality of worlds and the dialogues of the dead. By doing so, the paper revises current scholarly understanding of Swedenborg by showcasing him as a versatile yet ill-fated recombiner of literary genres. More broadly, the paper will shed light upon previously unnoticed eighteenth-century literary interactions along with a wider overview on the reception of themes such as the plurality of worlds, mysticism and satire in Scandinavia and Germany.

Ecstatic expeditions: Fischl Schneersohn's "science of man" between modern psychology and Jewish mysticism.

This article examines Fischl Schneersohn's (1887-1958) "science of man" as a psychotherapeutic approach situated between modern psychology and Chassidic mysticism. While almost forgotten today, Schneersohn was a prolific writer, well-known in Yiddish-speaking circles as a psychologist, educationalist, novelist, and psychotherapist. As a descendant of an important dynasty of Chassidic rebbes, he grew up inside the Chabad movement, but followed a secular career. The first part of this article traces Schneersohn's biography from the outskirts of the Russian empire to Germany, Poland, the United States, and Palestine, and shows how his upbringing and historical experiences shaped his psychological works and his self-understanding as educationalist and psychotherapist. The second part examines Schneersohn's main work, Studies in Psycho-Expedition, which blended Chassidic mysticism and contemporary psychology in a way that was both idiosyncratic and unique. The psycho-sociological "science of man" was a modern psychological and psychotherapeutic approach, using specific methods to gain knowledge about the human mind, and to counteract and treat mental disorders, neuroses, and nervousness. At the same time, however, it was deeply influenced by Chassidic mysticism; revolving around the assumption of a universal human need for spiritual ecstasy. Schneersohn universalised, secularised, and reframed elements of the Kabbalah as a modern psychotherapy. By examining an almost forgotten psychotherapeutic approach outside the mainstream in its specific historical context, this article contributes to the history of the connection between religion and the psy-disciplines, as well as to ongoing debates about the role of spirituality and ecstasy in psychology and psychotherapy.

A vocação mística da psicanálise / The mystical vocation of psychoanalysis

Esse estudo pretende pensar na psicanálise enquanto uma prática clínica essencialmente compatível com certas características dos fenômenos místicos, os que lhe permite abordá-los clinicamente. Iniciamos o texto apresentando nossa compreensão de mística como um fenômeno de alteridade ontológica, ao contrário de uma produção subjetiva do ser humano. A partir disso, abordamos três características da psicanálise que a tornam relevantes para uma clínica dos fenômenos místicos: seu método apofático, sua prática de desconstrução identitária do "eu" e sua inscrição antropológica entre o universal e o particular. Finalizamos o estudo, dessa maneira, pensando na possível função clínica da psicanálise ao abordar a mística, a partir da ideia de adoecimentos espirituais

This study intends to reflect on psychoanalysis as a clinical practice essentially compatible with certain characteristics of mystical phenomena, wich enables it to clinically approach them. We start the text introducing our understanding of mysticism as a phenomenon of alterity, rather than a subjective production of the human being. Through such idea, we approach three characteristics of apophatic method, its practice of deconstructing the identity of the "I" and its anthropological inscription between the universal and the particular. Thus, we finalize the study, thinking about the possible clinical function of psychoanalysis when approaching the mystic, based on the idea of spiritual illness

Os estigmas da Paixão de Cristo: dois casos de invenção ou de impostura mística / The stigmata of the Passion of Christ: two cases of invention or mystical invention / Les stigmates de la Passion du Christ : deux cas d'invention ou d'imposture mystique / Los estigmas de la Pasión de Cristo: dos casos de invención o de impostura mística

Apesar da rarefação de casos de estigmatização cristã, o interesse por esse fenômeno corporal insólito perdura. Um estudo dos casos Madeleine Lebouc e Yvonne-Aimée de Jesus revela que seus estigmas derivam ou de uma automutilação ou de uma farsa. No entanto, este não é o ponto essencial. Mais frutífera ainda mostra-se a pesquisa focada nesse modo original de relação do sujeito a seu corpo, e principalmente por que ele se sustenta em uma relação mística com Jesus. Orientando-se pela teoria freudiana e lacaniana, o presente artigo demonstra, a partir da clínica, as duas funções principais dos estigmas para esses dois sujeitos, a saber: o tratamento de um gozo louco pertencente ao corpo próprio e a emergência de um processo de representação permitindo assumi-lo e tratá-lo.

Although cases of Christian stigmatization have become rare, general interest in this unusual physical phenomenon endures. Yet, a study of the cases of Madeleine Lebouc and Yvonne-Aimée de Jésus has revealed that their stigmata proceed either from self-mutilation or fraud. However, that's not the main point. Research into this peculiar form of relationship between a subject and his body proves to be quite rewarding, mainly because the phenomenon is sustained by a mystic relation to Jesus. Based on Freud's and Lacan's theories and on clinical elements, the present paper describes the two main functions of stigmata for these subjects, i.e. the processing of uncontrollable jouissance assigned to the body itself and the development of a process of representation that enables the subject to accept it and to deal with it.

Malgré la raréfaction des cas de stigmatisation chrétienne, la passion pour ce phénomène corporel insolite perdure. Pourtant une étude des cas Madeleine Lebouc et Yvonne-Aimée de Jésus révèle que les stigmates relèvent soit d'une automutilation, soit d'une feinte suggérant leur présence. Là n'est cependant pas l'essentiel. Il importe d'interroger ce mode original du rapport du sujet à son corps et ce d'autant plus qu'il se soutient d'un rapport mystique à Jésus. A la faveur des enseignements freudiens et lacaniens, cet article démontre, à partir de la clinique, les deux fonctions principales des stigmates pour ces sujets. Soit le traitement d'une jouissance folle appartenant au corps propre et d'un processus de représentation permettant de l'assumer et de la prendre en charge.

A pesar de los pocos casos de estigmatización cristiana, el interés por este insólito fenómeno corporal perdura. Un estudio de los casos de Madeleine Lebouc e Yvonne-Aimée de Jesús revela que los estigmas delatan una automutilación o un ademán que sugiere su presencia. No obstante, esto no es lo esencial. Se muestra aún más fructífera una investigación basada en este modo original de relación entre el sujeto y su cuerpo y principalmente porque se sostiene en una relación mística con Jesús. Gracias a los aportes freudianos y lacanianos, este artículo demuestra clínicamente las dos principales funciones de los estigmas para estos dos sujetos, a saber: el tratamiento de un goce loco que pertenece al cuerpo propio y el advenimiento de un proceso de representación, permitiendo asumirlo y tratarlo.

Trotz der Seltenheit von Fällen christlicher Stigmatisierung besteht das Interesse an diesem ungewöhnlichen Körperphänomen weiter. Eine Untersuchung der Fälle Madeleine Lebouc und Yvonne-Aimée de Jésus zeigt, dass ihre Stigmata entweder auf Selbstverstümmelung oder Betrug beruhen. Dies ist jedoch nicht der wesentliche Punkt. Die Erforschung dieser eigentümlichen Form der Beziehung zwischen dem Subjekt und seinem Körper erweist sich als notwendig, vor allem weil das Phänomen sich auf eine mystische Beziehung zu Jesus stützt. In Anlehnung an die Theorien von Freud und Lacan enthüllt dieser Artikel anhand klinischer Elemente die zwei Hauptfunktionen der Stigmata für diese Subjekte: einerseits die Verarbeitung unkontrollierbaren Genießens [Jouissance], dass dem Körper selbst zugeordnet wird und anderseits das Entstehen eines Repräsentationsprozesses, der es dem Subjekt ermöglicht, dieses Genießen zu akzeptieren und es zu verarbeiten.

A vocação mística da psicanálise / The mystical vocation of psychoanalysis

Esse estudo pretende pensar na psicanálise enquanto uma prática clínica essencialmente compatível com certas características dos fenômenos místicos, o que lhe permite abordá-los clinicamente. Iniciamos o texto apresentando nossa compreensão de mística como um fenômeno de alteridade ontológica, ao contrário de uma produção subjetiva do ser humano. A partir disso, abordamos três características da psicanálise que a tornam relevantes para uma clínica dos fenômenos místicos: seu método apofático, sua prática de desconstrução identitária do “eu” e sua inscrição antropológica entre o universal e o particular. Finalizamos o estudo, dessa maneira, pensando na possível função clínica da psicanálise ao abordar a mística, a partir da ideia de adoecimentos espirituais.

This study intends to reflect on psychoanalysis as a clinical practice essentially compatible with certain characteristics of mystical phenomena, which enables it to clinically approach them. We start the text introducing our understanding of mysticism as a phenomenon of alterity, rather than a subjective production of the human being. Through such idea, we approach three characteristics of psychoanalysis that make it relevant for a clinic of the mystical phenomena: its apophatic method, its practice of deconstructing the identity of the “I” and its anthropological inscription between the universal and the particular. Thus, we finalize the study, thinking about the possible clinical function of psychoanalysis when approaching the mystic, based on the idea of spiritual illness.

Protestant Techniques of Care: The Hindu, the Pentecost, and the "Secular".

Modern techniques of caring for the self through staying healthy rely on an ethic of choice, often evoking critiques of the (neo)liberal subject. This sense of choice has carried frequently overlooked Protestant commitments from Luther to Kant and Locke to 19th-century American health reformers, premised on a refusal of ritual, mysticism, and the priest as the source of truth. This article explores how these implicit commitments shape the relation to other religious traditions in countries like Trinidad. Campaigns against chronic disease in Trinidad carried out in public health venues and churches echo multinational health projects in pronouncing, "We all want a healthy life." The article draws on a Caribbean ironic sense of secularity to analyze the way that the threat to this "want" found in other religious traditions such as Pentecostal healing and Hindu ecstatic practices reveals Protestant commitments masked within a modern global "secular" care of the self.

Bruno's Score.

Many of our experiences in hospice and palliative care medicine are challenging. We support dying patients and their families as they struggle with the transition from life to death and continue to support those in mourning. Many times, in America, it is difficult to even appreciate a glimmer of spiritual grace as our patients die. We easily remain stuck in the material and distance ourselves from the spiritual. Some exits are quite graceful, however. I present the case of an exceptional person, who enjoyed an exceptional life and had an exceptionally graceful dying process and death, in hopes that his story may encourage other healers as much as he inspired me. Bruno was a composer and cognitive musicologist, whose art forms of light and music simultaneously move and challenge virtually all the people and other artists he interfaced with and taught, including his talented wife and family, his friends, his acquaintances, his students, his colleagues, and his deans. He embodied theories as diverse as mathematical strange loops, continually paradoxical/recursive illusory art, contrapuntal fugues, and artificial intelligence. Bruno's spirituality was uncommonly profound. It spanned and interconnected many eclectic faith traditions, theologies, and philosophies, including Taoism, Greek mythology, distributed cognition, mathematics, and Tibetan Buddhism. It resonated strongly with Zen and Christian mysticism. Some of Bruno's being and transformation to nonbeing was obvious; some of it was inscrutable.

The main nursing metaparadigm concepts in human caring theory and Persian mysticism: a comparative study.

Metaparadigm concepts comprise the central issues in a discipline. Fawcett has named person, health, environment and nursing as the four main concepts of nursing that need to be comprehensively defined. The Human Caring Theory is significant because of its focus on the spiritual dimension of human beings. The aim of this study was to comparatively explain three of the main metaparadigm concepts of nursing in the Human Caring Theory and Persian mysticism, and find the similarities and differences that can help develop the theory and its application in societies with a theistic point of view. This comparative documentary study was done in two phases. First, a concept analysis was performed to find the attributes, antecedents and consequences of the concepts of human being, environment and health in the two fields of Persian mysticism and Jean Watson's Human Caring Theory. Then they were apparently and deductively compared with each other. In spite of some similarities between the two perspectives, Persian mysticism was found to provide more comprehensive conceptualizations of the three main concepts of nursing.

A Gratuitous Grace: The Influence of Religious Set and Intent on the Psychedelic Experience.

Psychedelic drugs, or entheogens, have been used for religious purposes among various cultures for thousands of years. Recently, these substances have caught the attention of Westerners for many reasons, including their propensity to induce mystical experiences. This study examined the relationship between religion and having mystical experiences. A total of 119 participants were drawn from psychedelic-related websites and asked to complete an anonymous online questionnaire containing items regarding history of psychedelic use, set and setting for psychedelic use, and a measure for mystical experiences. A majority of respondents were White males who displayed at least some level of post-secondary education. The findings indicated that respondents who used psychedelics for specifically religious purposes, as well as those who identified with a religion, were more likely to score higher on the Mysticism Scale than those who did not.

Grief as a Mystical Journey: Fowler's Stages of Faith Development and Their Relation to Post-Traumatic Growth.

This paper explores the relationship between embedded theological assumptions and the ways in which one copes with loss and bereavement. Based on James Fowler's research on Stages of Faith Development, the paper examines common Western psycho-spiritual beliefs related to loss, trauma, and grief, and proposes that profound loss experiences have the potential to lead the griever to a shift in theological thinking. It addresses the ways in which a "crisis of faith" triggered by loss or trauma prompts the questioning of closely-held beliefs, which can lead to an expanded spiritual perspective that can be beneficial to the healing process.

Alvars of South India: A psychiatric scanner.

Vaishnavism, the other important Hindu tradition besides Saivism, gained importance by the Bhakti movement sprouting from the Tamil land in the 7th-9th centuries Common Era and spreading all over the subcontinent, and as preached by the Alvars, which is discussed along with the evolution of the Godhead of Lord Vishnu is briefly mentioned. The maternal care of the divine child Sri Krishna by Yashodha as described by the Alvar, Perialvar, is summarized. The mysticism of Nammalvar and the religious experiences of other two Alvars, Kulasekarar and Andal, are sketched in this study.