Spirituality in Religious Education: Implications of Changing Contemporary Contexts

A new consciousness: social and educational considerations

Most of us are hesitant to fancy that we might be living through one of the most fundamental shifts in the history of Western civilization (Harman, 1998, p. xviii).

Given the daunting and discouraging scenario that has been discussed in the first part of this paper, there is a distinct need to find ways to transcend it and it is, therefore, heartening to discover signs that proclaim a shift in human consciousness; a move towards a more connected way of being; indeed, a ‘spiritual awakening’. Groome (1998) used these words to describe ‘people’s abiding desire for something more than possessions or personal success… a renewed consciousness of the hunger of the human heart that only Transcendence can satisfy (p. 323).

A particular viewpoint offered by Willis Harman (1998) is that there are various signs that the Western world is going through a paradigm shift. Harman argues that at one level of Western society there is an emerging consciousness which is tracing a move away from a positivistic, reductionistic scientific worldview to one that is grounded in the totality of human experience, that is, an integration of an objective and subjective reality. He reflects on the duality that pervades western thought generated by the compartmentalization of science and religion. It is Harman’s contention that every knowledge system reflects and is shaped by the society that constructs it, and it is sustained because it satisfies the tests that are put to it, that is, it is confirmed by lived human experience in the society of its origin. In other words, western science is what it is because of the particular nature of the society in which it was developed and other knowledge systems (for instance, in the East) differ from it because they reflect the characteristics that were valued in the particular societies where they evolved. In noting the implications that arise from this contention, Harman suggests that while the West has assumed a certain confidence and superiority that its scientific view of reality is essentially correct and all other views are wrong, there is a need to consider that other views may perceive reality through different cultural windows which emphasize other aspects of the total human experience.  This would make them complementary rather than wrong.

Harman bases his argument on the shift that, he believes, is taking place in the understanding of metaphysics, that is, the understanding of reality and how things have come to be. The first, M1 (Metaphysic 1), has been the dominant perspective in the past and it holds that consciousness evolved from matter and it can only be understood by a study of the physical brain. The second, M2 (Metaphysic 2), recognizes two dimensions to knowledge, one which can be studied objectively but which recognizes the value and complementarity of subjective study as well. The third, M3 (Metaphysic 3), recognizes that consciousness came first and all matter-energy is somehow generated by the mind.

Ultimately, Harman attributes the cause for the global mind change that is becoming evident in the contemporary world to the shift of the understanding of the metaphysic from M1 to M3 which does not necessarily deny the reality of the physical world; rather it offers a different vantage

point from which to view the world, that is, it appears to point to*‘a reality behind the physical world that modern science, in its present form, is in no position to affirm or deny’ (p. 31)* . To support his contention, Harman identifies three characteristics that he believes are evidence of this paradigm change and which distinctly contrast with the positivistic, reductionist view of modern science:

•Increased emphasis on the interconnectedness of everything which includes both our inner and outer worlds, for instance, in the various social movements - ecological, feminist, holistic health and the new spirituality.

•A shift in the locus of authority from external to internal, for instance, the growing disenchantment in religious and political spheres with external authorities which has prompted more reliance on intuition and inner wisdom. Harman particularly points to the assumption of inner divinity in transpersonal psychology and other forms of contemporary spirituality.

•A shift in the perception of cause from external to internal, for instance, the concept that we create our own reality and that ultimate cause is to be sought not in the physical world but in our minds, or consciousness.

In the end, Harman asserts that it is the neglect of the subjective realm of experience in Western cultures that has created a certain confusion about values for it is, ‘ultimately in this realm of the subjective, the transcendent, and the spiritual that all societies have found the basis for their deepest value-commitments and sense of meaning (p. 24). Thus, the recognition that the human world may be living through the dawning of a new era of consciousness which brings into interplay the objective and subjective realities of existence has certain implications for educational programs, which in the recent past have been determined by objective and rationalistic thinking and dominated by learning in the cognitive domain. The next section of this paper revisits an integral learning approach which incorporates the objective and subjective aspects that Harman speaks about, which in turn address the inner and outer lives of students to enhance their learning experiences.