Spirituality and Religiosity in Indian Society

Description

Page: 272-275

Rupan Dhillon¹ and Rumita Arora² (Department of Psychology, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, Punjab¹ and DAV College of Education, Amritsar, Punjab²)

Spirituality has been associated with religion to such an extent that it hinders in defining this concept. However, the emerging paradigms are making way for a broader view of spirituality. But the problem is that even though wider perspectives exist, the association of spirituality gets correlated with religious faith and beliefs. In an Indian society, many questions are being raised by the students about what it means to be spiritual. They attach different meanings to it and compare it with the Western thought process which is considered as more humanistic and naturalistic. Do we associate Spirituality with the spirit? There are traditions and ideologies like Buddhism, Sufism, and Hinduism which are associated with Spiritual Psychologies. In this field, the Indian wisdom literature of Vedas, Upanishads, Yoga Sutras, etc. relates spirituality with soul searching and realization. The effectiveness of Spirituality is now being witnessed as it is becoming an essential component of Positive Psychology. This paper discusses the Eastern perspective of spirituality and further shifts its direction toward Happiness and Positive Psychology. A review has been presented to support the association of spirituality with good mental health. Research outcome suggests that spiritual well-being can play an important role in decreasing depression and anxiety and should be integrated into the field of Counseling and Psychotherapy, especially in the case of adolescents.