Spirituality is an unceasing experiment with self, culture, society and the world for fuller and greater realization of beauty, dignity and dialogues in self, culture, society and the world. This calls for an experimental self and society which has the courage of wondering and wandering and engages itself with creative and transformative action and meditation . In this volume which is a sequel to our first volume, “Practical Spirituality and Human Development: Transformations in Religions and Societies,” we discuss several experiments in practical spirituality and human development for alternative futures where future itself is freed from an apriori closure and bondage which in turn liberates both past and present as well (Giri 2018). We discuss movements which bring service, struggle for justice and movements for alternative futures together.1
Our journey begins with Part I entitled “New Visions and Cultivation of Practical Spirituality and Human Development” with Carolyn Swift Jones’ essay, “On the Holy Ground: Practical Spirituality and Practical Moral Courage,” in which Jones tells us how practical spirituality is characterized by practical moral courage which embodies the healing power of love. In their subsequent essay, “Multidimensional Mysticism,” Shivjot Gill and John Clammer discuss how mystical engagement can give rise to creative practical spirituality and human development and lead to a struggle for justice and dignity. They discuss the vision and practice of multidimensional mysticism in self, culture, religion , society , art and the sports and tell us how it can help us in having access to deeper sources of knowledge and insight such as intuition and a new epistemology, ontology and politics . Practical mysticism in their view can lead to the transformation of politics where we are not concerned only with the acquisition of power but a new relationship with power, empowerment and world transformations. In their subsequent essay, “Practical Spirituality : The Art and Science of Conscious Living,” Karminder Ghuman, Michael A. Wride and Phillip Franses present practical spirituality as an art and science of conscious living which leads to spiritual empowerment. As they write, “Through this transformative and unifying meaning, spirituality helps us discern the route that connects us to a creative space (a generative order to use Bohm’s terminology), which is both transcendent and immanent, idealistic and practical.” This is followed by Marta Botta’s essay, “The New Spiritual Paradigm as Facilitator of Social Change ” in which Botta talks about new mythologies and spirituality as pathways of cultural transformation. Botta also tells us about intentional communities as incubators of new forms of spirituality. In this context, she presents us the work of Damanhur intentional community in North Italy. As Botta tells us, “In the spirit of practical spirituality , Damanhurians provide service to others, get involved in local politics, and are volunteering in the Italian Red Cross and the local Fire Brigade.”
The subsequent essays in Part I present us different reflections on visions and experiments with practical spirituality . In his essay, “Expressions of Self in Market, Society and Self: Toward Spiritual Praxis for Human Development,” Subash Sharma helps us understand the way practical spirituality helps us rethink self, society and market. In their following essay, “Cultivating Practical Spirituality: Soil, Soul and Sarvodaya ,” Alexander Scheiffer and Ronald Lessem present us the way practical spirituality brings together soil and soul in movements such as Sarvodaya Sramadana in Sri Lanka. This mediation with soul and soil is accompanied by Ananta Kumar Giri’s exploration of new circles of gender liberation which embodies beauty, dignity and dialogue. In his subsequent essay, “Practical Spirituality and Human Development: Circles of Gender Liberation and the Calling of Lokasamgraha ,” Giri argues how practical spirituality needs to cultivate new circles and movements of gender relations which goes beyond dualism and help us uphold our world which is called Lokasamgraha in Indic traditions.
With these essays we come to Part II of our book, “Creative Experiments in Practical Spirituality and Human Development.” This begins with Christoph and Nisha Woiwode’s essay, “Practical Spirituality and the Contemporary City: Awakening the Transformative Power for Sustainable Living,” in which Woiwode and Woiwode present us the way practical spirituality is emerging in contemporary city planning and architectural dynamics. They present us the work of movements such as Heilhaus movement in Kassel, Germany which tries to recreate urban community with a touch of practical spirituality. As they write:
Community life, mutual support, taking part at social and cultural activities, creating community and spiritual practice are an integral part of every-day life. Through the presence and activities of the ‘Heilhaus,’ the adjacent urban neighborhood is changing as well. The area where it is located is an old industrial estate ridden by unemployment, poverty and social issues. By harboring many children and adolescents and a multi-ethnic population, it is a lively neighborhood with a great development potential. The ‘Heilhaus’ movement has a commitment to play an active part in this, following its guiding qualities of hope, compassion and community life.
This essay on practical spirituality and the contemporary city is followed also by another experiment in creative service delivery in an urban space. In her essay, “Practical Spirituality: Dabbawala Case,” Mala Kapadia presents us the case of Dabbawala from Mumbai who deliver healthy and cheap lunches to many people in Mumbai as an aspect of their practical spirituality. This is followed by Thomas Kaufmann’s essay, “Practical Spirituality and Developmental Challenges amongst Tibetan Communities in India,” in which Kauffman presents us different development initiatives among Tibetan communities in India as expressions of practical spirituality. In her following chapter, “Practical Spirituality of Meher Baba and Human Development,” Rachel Diamond then describes the work of Meher Baba from India and his vision and practice of practical spirituality as well as that of his many followers at the roots of which lies a creative silence as well as meaningful work with others and society . This is then followed by Sabith Khan’s essay, “Pluralism, New Forms of American Muslim Giving and Practical Spirituality,” in which Khan tells us about Islamic philanthropy initiatives in the contemporary USA as an aspect of practical spirituality.
The subsequent three essays in Part II present us different aspects of creative and critical practical spirituality at work in different parts of the world. In her essay, “Community and Practical Spirituality: Perspectives on L’Arche as an Arena for Contemplative Transformation ,” Anne Escrader presents us the dynamics of practical spirituality at work in the vision and practice of Jean Vanier and the L’arche movement which works with differently and specially abled children. In the following essay, “Assertive Sprout from Wounded Psyche: Glimpses into Dalit Spirituality ,” A. Maria Arul Raja , SJ presents us the force of critical spirituality of rage and reconstruction in Dalit Spirituality. In his subsequent essay, “The Politics of Spirituality: Dissident Spiritual Practice of Poykail Appachan and the Shared Legacy of Kerala Renaissance ,” Ajay S. Sekher presents us the work of Poykail Appachan or Sri Kumara Gurudevan (1879–1939) who challenged both Christian missionary modes and caste dominance in Kerala. This is followed by a similar experiment with another critical and creative experiment with spirituality in the vision and works of Kundrakudi Adigalar , “a Sannyasin social visionary , a spiritual revolutionary and a humanist.” As Ponniah writes in his essay, “Transforming Life-worlds: In Praise of Kundrakudi Adigalar’s Practical Spirituality,” “Adigalar placed religion and spirituality, science and technology at the heart of human development. He made religion serve humanity by redefining and reconstructing its various aspects and related institutions. He was not only a visionary but a catalyst who drastically altered the very portrait of a Hindu Sannyasi. He was a true proponent of practical religion as he worked relentlessly for the transformation of lives of ordinary human beings in the rural areas by revisiting, revisioning and reinterpreting the age-old domains of religion and spirituality.”
The last three essays in this Part present us work of practical spirituality in Islam . In his essay, “Subud: A Practical Mystical Path for the Twenty-First Century,” Reynold Ruslan Feldman tells us his experience with the Subud movement which is a dogma-free movement of inner generation from Islam. In his subsequent contribution, “Islam, Political Culture and Practical Spirituality in Kedah , a State in Northwestern Malaysia,” Ahmad Fauzi Abdul Hamid tells us about the role played by practical Sufis in Kedah. As he writes:
In Kedah , Sayyids and other Arabs assimilated themselves with the local populace through inter-marriages with Malays, competence in Malay language and socio-political activism. Carrying with them the tag of defenders of Islam , they displayed admirable diplomatic skills, negotiated dexterously with foreign powers, provided advisories to ruling elites and led anti-colonial movements. As practical sufis who synergised individual piety with socio-political activism, these emigrant Muslims unhesitatingly adopted indigenous norms and mores as their own, becoming Malay-Muslims in their own right in the space of a few generations. These indigenised Muslims later played a major role in injecting their originally native co-religionists with religio-political zeal in defending their motherland against the onslaught of invading powers from the West and Siam. Helping their ascendancy in the local political terrain was the good impression the Arab migrants enjoyed among Malays as ’people of good character’, buoyed by an emigrant spirit, a work culture which stressed diligence and a religious understanding that perceived economic activity as a sublime deed […]
Hamid’s essay is followed by Smita Tewari Jassal and Sobnam Koser Akcapar’s essay, “Ziyaret and Practical Spirituality: Women Shrine Visits in Anatolia ,” in which they tell us about women shrine visit in Turkey especially to shrines such as in Ziyaret and their experience of practical spirituality in such journey and engagement.
These contributions bring us to Part III entitled “Transformation of the Material and the Spiritual and Practical Spirituality as New Movements of Awakening” which presents us glimpses of further experiments with practical spirituality . It begins with John Clammer’s essay, “The Material and the Spiritual: The Provisionality of Matter and the Politics of Miracles in Japanese New Religions,” in which Clammer tells us about the intertwining of the material and the spiritual in the politics of miracles in Japanese new religions . Clammer has studied Japanese new religious movements such as Mahikiri where objects are not only ma...