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Evolution, Compassion and The New Spiritualities Paul Gilbert PhD FBPsS Mental Health Research Unit Derby University a

New Spiritual Focus . Alistair Hardy explored lived experiencesHave you ever been aware of, or influenced by a power, whether you call it God or not, which is different from your everyday self"Expansiveness - beyond the self or current realityConnectedness - peacefulnessEnvironment and sens

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Evolution, Compassion and The New Spiritualities Paul Gilbert PhD FBPsS Mental Health Research Unit Derby University a

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    1. Evolution, Compassion and The New Spiritualities Paul Gilbert PhD FBPsS Mental Health Research Unit Derby University and Mental Health Trust Kingsway Hospital Derby compassionatemind.co.uk

    2. New Spiritual Focus Alistair Hardy explored lived experiences “Have you ever been aware of, or influenced by a power, whether you call it God or not, which is different from your everyday self” Expansiveness - beyond the self or current reality Connectedness - peacefulness Environment and sensory cues Reorganises self-values

    3. Religion and Spiritualities The word religion comes from the Latin religiere meaning to reconnect Religious schools and beliefs focus on forms of connectedness and meaning Forms of connectedness are shaped via innate mechanisms for understanding social roles God images shaped by socio-economic processes –e.g., help in warfare or nurture harvests.

    4. What Shapes the forms for Religion and Spiritualities? Heath, Bell and Sternberg (2001) point out that to adopt a belief system, like a belief in witchcraft, God, or the power of compassion, the focus must be on something that is relevant to a person and have certain qualities and functions Public engagement Personal endorsement Nature of threat (physical, isolation, meaning, control)

    5. Religion and spiritualities * Usually contains messages about types of threat and how to deal with them (e.g., have to develop a relationship with them to win them over) * Is transpersonal (affects others) * Must fit with the ecological needs of the group (e.g., developing beliefs in Gods of the sea are relevant to sea farers but not land locked peoples) * Guides social behaviours and informs rituals; it is emotionally textured, and it provides a sense of group coherence and belonging (believing in the same things)

    6. Place in Historical and Cultural Contexts Soul Concepts –Relational (Single or Multiple Gods) Vadic tradition – Life as a journey - soul progresses/evolves via learning via trails -- re-incarnation Arabic tradition - World is where one is tested: Good go to heaven and bad are punished Greek/Roman - We are play things of the Gods: can aspire to join the elite – nice and unpleasant places after death Christianity - Introduces family and attachment psychology Pantheism God Consciousness pervades all - Material world (including humans) are patterns of its form

    7. God AS….. God as beyond human reason and human understanding - the unknown (as in Aristotle) versus God as human-like with feelings, passions and desires - issue of projection vs empathy God as awakening via the consciousness of humans (as in Jung) versus God as already fully formed and conscious and in the process of revealing himself to us God as accessible only via deep mediation, intuition and mystical knowledge versus God who relies on science, reason and philosophy to reveal himself God as a personal and available deity with whom we can personally relate versus God as an impersonal, pantheistic force (as in Star Wars movies; or Buddha consciousness)

    8. God as a Performer of Functions Social Regulator (social function) Law giver/judge Leader/protector Ultimate authority/power to reward/punish The more threatened groups feel the more submissive behaviour and obedience dominates the forms Personal Self/Object (personal function) Father Soother Saviour Blade Runner – kill the creator Jung “save us from what”

    9. Forms of Spirituality

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