Relationship Between Spirituality And Human Life Happiness And Fulfillment: Case Study Of Pakistan

Introduction

Background

The prevailing days life is riddled with all sorts of challenges and stresses. Life can be more meaningful and living more peaceful when there is an absolute awareness of existence of support and that is with us in all times of trial and tribulations. In problem, one has three choices, either solve the problem systematically or through help of others or by just run away. Even then there remain such problems in life, which do not go no matter how much one tries. This is because of the fact that about 80% of life problems have their root cause in the spiritual dimension of life. We are unaware of this vital fact.

Spirituality

Spirituality is all about knowing who you are and connecting with something larger than yourself. Spirituality is an all prevalent human phenomenon, which empowers and gives direction to human life. This is about positive inward qualities and perceptions which dispels ramifications of rigid dogmatic belief and imposed religious observance (Wulf, 1996). Spirituality is the basic feeling of being connected with one’s self, others and the entire cosmos. It brings mind, heart and soul-aligned in a concrete state of existence (Mitroff & Denton, 1999). Psychological researches support the belief that spirituality is a positive state of mind, and that it is a universal strength of transcendence (Peterson, Character strengths and virtues: A handbook and classification., 2004).

Enlightenment

Enlightenment, simply, is human reasoning to discover truth about the world, self, religion and politics and could be used to improve the lives of human beingsInvalid source specified..In this world judging others is easier and convenient then gathering courage to look inward and find kindness and compassion for all. Spiritual awakening is discovering a world founded on essence of kindness and compassion. Spiritual enlightenment gives a freedom thought, feeling, and movement with true realization that we are the center of the universe and the universe is centered in them (Davis, 2019).

Happiness

Happiness means a meaningful and pleasant life that results from using psychological strength (Sliegman, 2002). A sense of happiness IS satisfaction with one’s self and your surroundings. It is equated with self-confidence, self-esteem, and other concepts that marry “the self” with feeling content and happy. In general, it means that you are pleased with yourself and your choices, and with the person that you are. (Ackerman, 2019).

Fulfilment

life is believed all about day to day activities and limited to survival and physical and material well-being. Any need in life when fulfilled is only to the extent of novelty and resultant excitement. on extinction of associated novelty, a new need and desire mount nerves to tax life. The cycle sets in motion and goes on for more and more, never-ending more. The life become miserable (Peter, 1985). We are not human with spiritual experience rather we are spiritual with human manifestation. The escape from the vicious cycle is in knowing that there is much more to life than achievement, acquisition and accumulation.The spiritually enlightened one knows that he showed up here with nothing material and leaves the same way (Dyer, 2002).

Benefits of Spiritual Enlightenment

Life is concerned today with how soon or how late one is and also how much and how little. Everything revolves around the calendar, assignments and schedules. Everyone is busy passing time, wasting time, having no time, seemingly waiting forever. In the spiritual reality presence is ensured, nothing is missing. Life is more than complete. The spiritual world is wonderfully whole. All answers are present and any and everything wanted is already given. Awareness is happy and full in and of itself. When the supreme universal power is omnipresent how can there be time, need, or anything separate. Enlightenment is the end of suffering and extinction of continuous conflict within and without, it also ends of the dreadful enslavement to incessant thinking. What an incredible liberation this is! (Tolle, 1999)

Study Purpose and Justification

Pakistan has faced a number of devastating terrorist attacks, after 9/11 in United States it was seriously felt to consider Spirituality for its potential for improving effectiveness in tackling such menace and public service delivery (Freidman, 2005). In book The Art of the Deal by Tony Schwartz co-authored with US President Donald Trump consider lack of fulfillment in life and missing of primary values like authenticity, humility, service and health are the factors for dwindling public service.

This study shows a relationship between spirituality and human life happiness and fulfillment and, therefore, provide a stimulus for promoting the idea of including Spirituality into human life process in order to advance life satisfaction and freedom from inward and outward stresses. When this happens any individual in general and officers in particular will be able to help people and government become more effective. The result of this study may be a step affording Spirituality its place in mandatory trainings of civil officers alongside with other important subjects.

Research Scope

• Objective / Purpose of Research: Objective of this study is to find out the relationship between spiritual enlightenment and happiness.
• Problem of Statement: Current generation is with the most comforts but definitely this is not the most joyful generation or the most loving or the most peaceful one (Sadhguru, Inner Engineering-A Yogi’s Guide To Joy, 2016). We tried to fix all outside environment but this does not work. We are not happy than our ancestors. The question is that, can the Spiritual enlightenment be helpful to providing a happy and fulfilled life? By that matter, it is also pertinent to analyze, what are paths to enlightenment? And, what are beliefs in enlightenment?
• Formulation of Research Question: Spirituality is a vast subject and the nature human life complex. Taking an account of various factors like, psychological, cultural, political, social and social this study is about exploring the relationship between spirituality and happiness and fulfillment in human life. Therefore, my research question is: Do the Spiritual enlightened people live a happy and fulfilled life?
• Boundaries of Research: Time line; from 2001 0nward. Space; National Institute of Management Karachi. Subject of study; spiritual enlightenment enriches life with experiences of truth, beauty, love and compassion and also intuition, creativity, insight and focused attention resulting in happiness and fulfillment. Data; comes from questionnaire based on Subjective Happiness Scale (SHS) and Daily Spiritual Experience Scale (DSEC). KPI’s; Spiritual Enlightenment, Paths of Enlightenment, Beliefs for Enlightenment, Spiritual and non-spiritual being, Beyond life toil, Happiness and fulfillment.
• Limitations of Study: Availability of recent quantitative data; difficult to gather information; time and resource constraint.

Literature Review

The concept of Spirituality has been defined from different aspects relating to human feelings. These feelings are related to belonging to the universe, searching for a sense of purpose or meaning, longing for the truth, attaining transcendence, knowing the unity with visible and invisible, having an internal relation with the divine, attains personal wholeness and belief in the power (Sharma, Charak, & Sharma, 2009). . In general, spirituality is a universal human experience of connection to something bigger and higher than self and search for meaning in life. It is something that touches us all. Spirituality may be described an experience of sacredness or transcendentness or simply a deep sense of aliveness and interconnectedness.

Spiritual life is wider than religious one. Some associate themselves with a church, temple, mosque, or synagogue to feel lifted. Some find comfort by praying in a personal relationship with God or a higher power. Still others seek meaning through their connections to nature or art. Nurses Ruth Beckmann Murray and Judith Proctor Zenter say the spiritual dimension makes one in harmony with the universe, and supplies answers about the infinite, and comes to rescue when one faces emotional stress, physical illness, or death.

The word “Enlightenment” has been a captive for people. This is neither the first nor the last step in spiritual path of enlightenment. Till recent past questions regarding existence of God and proof of heavens were mind boggling but now spiritual enlightenment has settled all such issue for ever. A casual Google search on the word “Enlightenment” reflects its popularity: something like 15 million word hits; 5 million images; 23,000 videos; and 30,000 books registered in a matter of seconds (Sadhguru, Enlightenment Life the way it is, 2010). Broadly spirituality can have categorized as, inside religions and also religion. In simple terms, spirituality is for all humanity and a way of life based on the belief that life is much more than senses experience, universe is more than just purposeless mechanics, consciousness is more than electrical impulses in the brain, and it is more to our existence than the body and its needs. It usually involves the belief in a higher form of intelligence or Consciousness running affairs of the universe, as well as life after death (Giovanni, 2018).

Happiness is an inner state of well-being. A state of well-being enables you to profit from your highest: thoughts, wisdom, intelligence, common sense, emotions, health, and spiritual values in your life.

The way to true happiness is the way to enlightenment. Attainment of spiritual enlightenment awakens the truth of being, ideal way to live and knowing of journey between the world here and hereafter (The Science of Happiness, 2009). Irrespective of the goals and philosophy behind those all types of spiritual enlightenment offer chance for personal transformation. This leads to move beyond ego. This serves the purpose of attachment to higher self, overcoming sufferings, internal freedom, service and happiness.

Humans are driven by desire to cultivate a reputation irrespective who they are in reality. The human mind is shaped by the evolutionary process to win in the game of life. one must present his/her best possible self to others. A person with positive self-esteem feels good about self and future and these people are happier (Altimar, 2015)

Research has found that spirituality is strongly linked with health and happiness (king & Benson, 2006) (Colucci & Graham, 2008). Spirituality brings good life through its effects on physical health (George & Linda, 2009). Spirituality through psychological factors creates such conditions which ensure a happy life. The psychological factors are – like cognitive, affective self and socio-psychology (Hill, Pargament, & Hood, 2000). There are also other important psychological factors like self-esteem, auto efficiency and will power associated with better health and mental health prerequisites of happy life (Troyer, 1988).

Study, based on the SHS questionnaire of Lubomirsky and Leeper to measure happiness and DSES study, established that Spirituality and happiness being important concept of a human life relate one’s self to a more broader than one’s self and also make able to find a meaning or purpose of life this process also make him happy and satisfied in life (Sharma & Sharma, 2016). Another pertinent study is about belief that happiness is not is the result of external factors in human lives it explains that actual happiness is Inner happiness. It is a happiness which is found inside a person and it also explains that inner happiness is seated in the heart and consists of things like serenity, tranquility, peace, satisfaction, faith and sweet calm spirit (Kanisal & Paliwal, July 2012).

Message of this study is please commit yourself to create a beautiful situation in this country. Look at the plight of people around you, do not condemn abysmal state of common men and women as Divine plan.” You can talk this kind of philosophy because your hunger is satiated and thirst quenched and your life is comfortable. If your stomach is empty, you will have your own plan to get your food. Now life is comfortable for some people, those people are saying, “It is all Divine plan. When innocent people are being killed, spread with bullets of terrorists killed or by a crisis of governance and poverty is rampant. There is no hope. where half the people do not have enough to eat. This is not a Divine plan (Sadguru, 2010).

Conclusion

Spirituality is the individual way of understanding the nature and relate oneself to it and transcendent with the cosmos including everything in existence. The identity of whom I am and what I am is the essence of Spirituality. This is commonly achieved by many forms from religious beliefs and practices, but not always so. World Psychiatric Association’s section on religion, spirituality and psychiatry, the spirituality and psychiatry special interest group in Royal College of psychiatrists, and majority of APA members have endorsed the incorporation of spirituality in the psychiatric treatment (see the respective websites and blogs) (Thatikonda, 2019).

An atheist will also have a spiritual dimension. Even in western countries, the recent studies have found that spirituality may serve as a physiological and psychological resource for coping with stress (Koeing HG, 1992). And that term ‘quality of life’ overlaps but is synonymous with a terms, including ‘well-being,’ ‘social indicators,’ and ‘way of life’ among others (Andrew, 1980).

Bibliography

1. Ackerman, C. (2019, February 16). What Is Happiness and Why Is It Important? (+ Definition in Psychology). Retrieved from Positive Psychology.com: http://www.PositivePsychology.com
2. Colucci, E., & Graham, M. (2008). Religion and Spirituality Along the Suicidal Path. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, pp. 229-44.
3. Davis, B. P. (2019, September 25). Life after Spiritual Awakening. Retrieved from Huffpost.com.
4. Dyer, W. W. (2002). Wishes Fulfilled Mastering the Art of Menifestation. New York: William Morrow.
5. Freidman, C. A. (2005). Spiritual Survival for Law Enforcement. US: Compass Books.
6. George, & Linda, K. (2009). Expalianing the relationship between Religious involvement and Health. Psychological Inquiry, pp. 190-200.
7. Giovanni. (2018). What is spirituality-A Guide to Spiritual Paths and Practice. Retrieved from Live &Dare Master your Midd Master your Life: http://liveanddare.com
8. Hill, P. C., Pargament, K. I., & Hood, R. W. (2000). Conceptualizing religion and spirituality: Points of commonality, points of. Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour 30:, pp. 51–77.
9. Kanisal, D. M., & Paliwal, M. P. (July 2012). How Inner Happiness Generated Through Spirituality Woks as fuel for Success. International Journal of Marketing, Financial Services & Management Research.
10. King, P. E., & Benson, L. P. (2006). Spiritual development and adolescent wellbeing and thriving. In The Handbook of Spiritual Development in Childhood and Adolescence (pp. 384-98). Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publishers.
11. Mitroff, I. I., & Denton, A. E. (1999). A Study of Spirituality in the workplace. MITSolan Managemnt Review.
12. Peter, F. (1985). Understanding and Fulfillment of Our Earthly Life. london: The Library of Light.
13. Peterson, C. &. (2004). Character strengths and virtues: A handbook and classification. American Psychological Association/New York: Oxford University Press.: American Psychological Association/New York: Oxford University Press.
14. Peterson, C. &. (2004). Character strengths and virtues: A handbook and classification. Washington, DC: Oxford University Press.
15. Sadguru. (2010). Enlightenment life the way it is. Coimbatore: Isha Foundation.
16. Sadhguru. (2010). Enlightenment Life the way it is. Coimbatore: Isha Foundation.
17. Sadhguru. (2016). Inner Engineering-A Yogi’s Guide To Joy. New Dehli: Thomas Press India Ltd.
18. Sharma, P., Charak, R., & Sharma, V. (2009). Contemporary Perspectives on Spirituality and Mental Health. Indian J Psychological Medicine, 16-25.
19. Sharma, S. K., & Sharma, O. P. (2016). Spirituality leads to Happiness: A correlative study. The International Journal of Indian Psychology.
20. Sliegman, M. (2002). Bringing Science of Happiness to Life. Retrieved from The Pursuit of Happiness: pursuit-of-happiness.org
21. The Science of Happiness. (2009). D Capo Lifelong Books.
22. Tolle, E. (1999). The Power of Now. London: Clays Ltd, St Ives plc.
23. Troyer, H. (1988). Review of cancer among 4 religious sects: Evidence that life-style are distinctive sets of risk. Social Science and Medicine, pp. 1007–17.
24. Wulf, D. M. (1996). Psychology of Religion: Classic and Contemporary. New York: John Wiley &Son.