Sign Up Now
Get instant access to over 1 million+ study documents
OR
Already registered? click here to login
By creating your account, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and student honor code.
Today, self-inflicted pain is generally interpreted as a form of psychopathology, but within the mystical context, "pain unmakes the profane world with its corporeal attachments and leads the mystics away from the body to self-transcendence," thus pain and discipline elevates the individual into a world of deeper human community (Post). According to Glucklich, pain is even blotted out via a process in the brain known as gate-control that significantly alters biochemistry and consciousness, therefore "intentionally painful manipulations of the body could lead to states of self-transcendence or effacement" (Post).
Glucklich believes that today's society has lost the capacity to understand why and how pain could be valuable for mystics and members of religious communities, and even for humanity as a whole (Post). Historians of religion have long acknowledged the ubiquitous presence of intentionally painful rituals and practices, and have used this awareness as a key to understanding religious experiences (Post). For society at large, acts such as the "excruciating rites of passage among Native Americans, or the Muslim who walks for weeks on pilgrimage to Mecca with bloodied bare feet," runs against what is considered normal and healthy (Post). The tendency to pathologize such actions is well documented, and Glucklich agrees that the line between religious experience and psychopathology can be a bit vague, however by appreciating the sacred pain in the religions of the...
Society has become less capable of coping and dealing creatively with the physical and psychological experiences of pain that are coeval with the frailties of human existence (Post).
Works Cited
Hansen, Suzy. "Sacred Pain." Retrieved December 12, 2006 at http://archive.salon.com/books/int/2001/11/26/glucklich/index.html?source=rss
Pazola, Ron. "Sacred ground: what Native Americans believe." U.S. Catholic.
February 1, 1994. Retrieved December 12, 2006 from HighBeam Research Library.
Post, Stephen G. "Sacred Pain: Hurting the Body for the Sake of the Soul." First Things:
Monthly Journal of Religion and Public Life. March 1, 2002. Retrieved December 12, 2006 from HighBeam Research Library.
Simeone, Lisa. "Analysis: Lessons for pain sufferers gleaned from the use of pain to reach religious enlightenment." Weekend Edition: National Public Radio. February 2, 2002. Retrieved December 12, 2006 from HighBeam Research Library.
Works Cited
Hansen, Suzy. "Sacred Pain." Retrieved December 12, 2006 at http://archive.salon.com/books/int/2001/11/26/glucklich/index.html?source=rss
Pazola, Ron. "Sacred ground: what Native Americans believe." U.S. Catholic.
February 1, 1994. Retrieved December 12, 2006 from HighBeam Research Library.
Post, Stephen G. "Sacred Pain: Hurting the Body for the Sake of the Soul." First Things:
Gemeinschaft Society The work Gemeinschaft is translated as "community" and is a reference to the "closeness of holistic social relationships said to be found in pre-industrial communities, and imputed to the community as moral worth." (Hughes, nd, p.1) Gemeinschaft is reported to be dependent in terms of its existence upon the member's "subjective will" and as stated in the work of Tonnies (1925) "The very existence of Gemeinschaft rests in the
While this isn't considered definitive proof, many scholars have come to accept that a Jewish leader named David ruled in what is now Jerusalem. Thousands of years of battle and torment occupied the land of Jerusalem after David's reign. The city was ruled at various times by Persians, Alexander the Great, the Romans, Muslims, the Turks, the British, and several other empires through history. Throughout these transitions of power, many
The Epilogue, focus of much allegorizing, alludes to the parallel between Prospero's abandonment of his art, and the actor's abandonment of his role when he steps forward to ask for applause"(F. Kermode, 49) Prospero does not give away his ability to use magic, only because he has found redemption and he has put things right. It is a symbolic gesture, an attempt to make the reader and the individual member of
Nature of the ProblemPurpose of the ProjectBackground and Significance of the Problem Brain Development Specific Activities to engage students Data-Driven Instruction Community Component of Education Research QuestionsDefinition of TermsMethodology and Procedures Discussion & ImplicationsConclusions & Application ntroduction The goal of present-day educational reformers is to produce students with "higher-order skills" who are able to think independently about the unfamiliar problems they will encounter in the information age, who have become "problem solvers" and have "learned how to learn,
Spear of Destany The history of civilization is full of legends and myths that have cut across cultural barriers and are nowadays some of the most well-known stories related to the old times of religion and civilization. One of these myths include, among others, the Holy Graal, the Shroud of Turin, or the Spear of Destiny, both of them linked to the life and death of Jesus Christ. The present research provides