The Meaning-Seeking Side of Man Regarding the Sacred and Its Social Reflections

Ali Ayten

Man is a distinguished being with biological, psychological, social and spiritual aspects. When we look at people with a holistic approach, we see that these dimensions should be developed in a balanced way with each other. We can say that it is indispensable for a mature human development that completes itself without neglecting the problems that may arise in these dimensions of human beings. In this article, the psycho-socio-spiritual aspects of the human being are discussed and, rather, the conception of a human being who seeks the sacred and desires to transcend himself is emphasized. First, we will focus on these psycho-spiritual aspects of the individual, and then we will examine the ways in which these tendencies are met in the social structure. We will consider the changes in the way people find the meaning of the sacred in the social structure. First of all, we will focus on the meaning-seeking nature of human beings and trace the changes in their spiritual tendencies that seek meaning in individual and social life. We will deal with the subject mostly through people's search for meaning and their basic concerns. We will focus on the development of human relations with traditional religious meaning patterns that respond to this search for meaning and the process of breaking their ties. We will examine the process of producing one's own sacred and its meaning in the process of searching for meaning in the sacred, and we will talk about the possible causes and consequences of this.

When considered with its psycho-spiritual aspects, human is a being who seeks meaning and happiness. He is always in an effort to satisfy this desire in his daily life. This effort continues, directly or indirectly, as long as human beings breathe. However, man's search for meaning and happiness does not remain within the limits of this worldly life. Because human beings are aware of the finitude of this worldly life. To put it more clearly, the human being is the only living thing that lives with the awareness of being mortal, and that lives by being aware of the existence of death. Since death is the absolute and inevitable end for human beings, it is always there as a main source of anxiety. A person struggles with this anxiety, which is sometimes hidden in the most secluded corners of his mind, and sometimes suddenly appears before him, as long as he is loyal. He tries to survive by suppressing this basic and powerful anxiety. Despite the presence of death, he continues the search for meaning and happiness. Negative experiences, undesirable and unexpected events actually cause this anxiety of the individual to recur and to feel it more deeply. It increases the search for meaning and happiness in such difficult situations where the individual tension increases. This is a manifestation of the general orientation of the human being, which emerges in the way of avoiding pain and desiring happiness and is always present with humans.

As we said, human beings are creatures that seek meaning and happiness despite death. Man is a being who does not limit his search to the life of this world. For this reason, every attempt to make sense of the afterlife, every idea that enriches the world of meaning, and every possible happy life beyond death has attracted the attention of people throughout history. In the historical process, the subject of many beliefs has been the purpose of human beings' existence in this world and what they will achieve in the next world. Mankind has always sought support outside of his mental capacity to make sense of his presence in this world, his being thrown away, the good and bad things that have happened to him in life, but most of all the difficult situations and calamities. Sometimes this has been the cultural structure that forms the close and distant environment of man, and sometimes the flow of information that people think has reached him from the supernatural area.

In the past, meaning patterns about the purpose and value of human beings in the world, where he went and what will happen to him after this life were often presented within institutionalized religious and spiritual structures. However, the new perception of life and world that came with the enlightenment and modernization process, the change in the relationship between human-human, human-nature and human- the sacred one have caused individuals to question their existing meaning patterns. People, especially in Western societies, have attempted to question the institutional religious teachings presented to them in making sense of their future in this world and the next. They began to see the institutional religious structure's answers to life and beyond as inadequate and meaningless.

In the traditional understanding, it included the search for meaning of the sacred that gives meaning to the life and beyond, the spirituality of the individual, the deep feelings and cognitive maturity that the individual feels in the direct and sincere relations he establishes with the Creator, the Holy Power he believes in. However, in today's modern societies, spirituality is not only limited to religion and transcendence, but also includes all the searches of the individual regarding the sacred, whether intra-religious or non-religious, transcendent or not, and all content related to the world of meaning. For this reason, according to the new trends, this search for spirituality of the individual can be religious as well as secular. The individual can provide his spirituality entirely within the framework of his own possibilities and limits, without referring to any transcendent formation, or through the artificial holiness that he attributes to people, life and nature. It can make sense of what they do in the world and what will happen at the end of this life. Today, the situation of most of the people, especially in Western civilization, can be expressed roughly in this way.

Especially in the urbanization processes experienced after the industrial revolution, individuals began to move away from the cultural environments in which they lived for a long time in the historical process. Mankind's mobility has increased and its attachment to space has decreased. He became alienated from the place and the cultural and social environment that filled that place, and began to move away from the values ​​and meaning patterns produced in the conditions attached to the place. People tried to live with collective meaning patterns in the cities for a while, as in the countryside. However, the individual had to make more effort to transform the meaning patterns that he was used to in the past and sometimes transform them because they did not fit in the new living space. But the pace of developments in social life, architecture and technology was more than the pace of transforming human values. After a while, in this rapid and transformative modernization and urbanization process, people thought that the existing patterns, mostly coming from the religious structure, were not enough for them to make sense of what they did, or they felt that their bond with those patterns was weakened. First of all, he concealed the changes that he could not admit even to himself, as a requirement of identity, but this process became normalized over the generations and the distance from collective religious meaning patterns became manifest.

The majority of people in the West moved away from traditional religious meaning patterns in the process and stopped questioning this after a while. However, since the meaning-seeking psycho-spiritual aspect of the individual did not accept a vacuum, new ones were substituted for traditional and institutional religious meaning patterns. Some individuals and groups tried to develop new eclectic forms of meaning by fusing the teachings they received from different faiths, thinking that it would meet their needs. They tried to make sense of what they did in their daily lives, the events that happened to them and what will happen after death, with these new forms that they created by taking what they chose from traditional meaning structures. They changed the old institutionalized religious structures that determined the sacred according to themselves and their wishes. Some individuals and groups also embarked on the process of rebuilding the sacred. They acted by ignoring the meanings in traditional religious structures regarding the connection of human, nature, life and beyond with the transcendent. However, human relations and the actions of the world individual were waiting for immediate meanings. Human relations still needed values ​​and meaning. They attributed a sacredness and meaning to human relations, nature, life and beyond, which were disconnected from their love. This enthusiasm was sometimes named as a humanistic/humanist perspective and sometimes as an ecological or eschatological perspective. Of course, not all people in the West had this kind of tendency, these tendencies were more common especially among individuals with middle class and higher lifestyles.

In different parts of the world, large masses that maintain their relations with the sacred in a traditional way still continue to exist. They still make sense of their lives with traditional religious meaning patterns and try to capture happiness from that window. However, it is increasingly seen that the search for non-religious spirituality, which is mentioned in all societies, especially in modern societies and with globalization, is increasing and more human products and more artificial meaning systems are created besides traditional religious meaning patterns. The most concrete examples of such tendencies in the West are seen in some new religious movements, New Age movements, and spiritualist movements (For examples, see Köse, 2017). Perhaps the most basic feature of these tendencies is that they prioritize the needs and preferences of the individual, and that they put forward views that are contrary to or distant from traditional institutional meaning patterns. Another essential feature is that although they value man and what he does, they sanctify man independently of the Creator, who is transcendent in life and nature.

The changes in the process of making sense of human life, described above, have started to become more evident especially in the last fifty years. Under these circumstances, the following questions are waiting to be answered: Well, why did mankind start to abandon these traditional religious meaning patterns that they have followed, adopted and given meaning to their lives for hundreds of years? Why did he set out to favor more human-made spiritualistic orientations over collectivist patterns of meaning? Why did he start to turn to fluid spiritualist tendencies with low responsibility and bindingness instead of the inner spirituality he preferred to live in religion? Why did human beings reduce the meaning of their daily lives with the intervention of supernatural forces, as their ancestors did in the past? Why do individuals sometimes read spiritualist books that will meet their individual meaning needs, as well as books that will impose responsibilities on them in the world? How did the developments in the digital field reflect on the meaning of life and spiritual tendencies of the internet generation?

Mankind is gradually evolving from a collectivist way of thinking to an individualist way of thinking. The philosophical transformation brought by modernization and the changes in life conditions, less communication brought by technology and the decrease in the need for the other have been effective in this process. Today's people, who have a more individualistic tendency compared to the previous century, think that they need less institutionalized traditional religious structures and the meaning patterns they offer. As an individual, she wants to have more say in her own life and world of meaning. For this reason, he wants to determine his own individual spiritual journey and create his own spiritual story. In the process of searching for meaning, he seeks to create his own meaning schemes as well as making use of ready-made meaning patterns. The process of searching and attributing meaning to the sacred is no different. This is particularly evident in developed societies. In the public surveys on religious and spiritual beliefs in the United States, it has been determined that the religious aspects of individuals weaken and their spiritual aspects increase. For example, in the comparison of PEW company between 2012 and 2017, while 59% of the American society saw themselves as both religious and highly spiritual in 2012, this rate decreased to 48% in 2017, and the rate of those who say they are not religious but have high spirituality increased from 19% to 27%. This picture shows that the search for individual meanings related to the sacred, namely spirituality, is on the rise in American society. Again, according to PEW (2018) data, the number of religious or non-spiritual individuals in Western European countries is higher than those who consider themselves religious or spiritualists. We can also read all these data as that people find answers to their search for meaning in formations that put individualist actions and individualism first, rather than organized institutional religious structures.

Man's pursuit of happiness and meaning has existed since his existence. However, nowadays, human beings have been swept away by the delusion that they will find the abundance and happiness of life only in joyful, enjoyable and entertaining moments. Of course, the world of rapid and gigantic technological advances, information flows and possibilities, which turns people's heads and tempts them, supports people in this delusion. However, life is a whole with its pain and sweetness, and it should be accepted as such. One can also learn a lot from life's difficulties. Every obstacle he overcomes makes him stronger and a better person. It also matures spiritually. However, nowadays people tend to run away, cover up and ignore. In this regard, he mostly exhibits this attitude towards the reality of death. Maybe this is the reason why he turns to the elusive and artificial spiritualist meaning patterns from the great traditional meaning pattern that he breaks and moves away from because it reminds him of death and the aftermath. However, there seems to be no salvation for man beyond a realistic settling of accounts with himself. Because despite all kinds of technological advances, time is at the same time, powerful and wearisome, still continues to take something away from people, and even though people do not want to see it, they always move towards that fateful end.

Another of the most basic features of today's spiritualist structures is the consumption culture and the materialist principle that has gained validity. Although it is flavored with a spiritual sauce in decoration and presentation, the dish contains materialist elements in its essence. In the process, the principles of consumption culture are at work. Perhaps this is why such structures do not bring happiness and peace to people for a long time. Because, in the group dynamics of such structures, there is always the question of reaching more and wishing for more, using the spiritual elements as a motivating factor for more materiality. To put it in Fromm's (1991) concepts, “having” rather than "being" is prioritized in such structures. Instead of asceticism, abandoning and reducing worldly goals, there is more material success, pleasure and fame. The materialist and consumption-oriented lifestyle brought about by modernization can leave individuals' existential questioning of the meaning of life unanswered in the spiritual field, and these dissatisfactions in the search for meaning can lead individuals to more urgent search for meaning, belonging and identity. Spiritualist movements, which can be considered as the product of consumer culture and use marketing and advertising elements and principles, are especially popular in such circles. Excessive emphasis on materiality in human life also creates a feeling of spiritual hunger in some individuals. In order to balance this, individuals with suitable economic and social life conditions can turn to approaches that are detached from their traditional ties and sometimes gain a protest character, and seek answers to their daily needs related to their world of meaning, psychological and physical health and socialization.

Today, especially in developed Western societies and other partially developing societies, people have reached a certain level of prosperity and material opportunities compared to the past. However, as is thought and expected, individuals do not see themselves as happy enough. He cannot find satisfactory solutions to his search for meaning in life and the pursuit of his spiritual aspects as a human being. For this reason, in these countries, the development of the spiritual aspects of individuals in parallel with the material welfare becomes a necessity as a result and expectation of development. In other words, needs that cannot be questioned or met in undeveloped societies due to social and economic conditions emerge as needs in developed societies. In these societies, in addition to physical well-being, psychological and spiritual well-being needs that must be met are also emphasized, and a kind of market is formed to meet them. It is essential that this aspect of the issue is also taken into account when discussing orientations to spirituality.

Individuals think that spiritualist structures offer faster and more practical solutions, and that they will provide this process without putting too much responsibility on people. Perhaps for this reason, teachings that focus on a part of the individual and offer a short-cut promise of well-being are more attractive, instead of a worldview that requires long-term effort, education, effort and effort, includes more virtuous teachings and deals with life from a more encompassing perspective. Sometimes, individuals who are included in spiritualist groups or who determine their own individual spiritual path based on the mystical interpretation of many religions can express that their lives have changed and become more meaningful with a magic touch. They can say that they can cope with the troublesome processes that disturb them spiritually and psychologically in this way.

Today's self-centered individual, who exhibits an anxious structure, actually wants to escape from a pain like death. One of the basic elements of traditional religious structures and the spirituality they produce is to remember death and to regulate this world and the other world of the individual through the awareness of death. The person is reminded that he is in a test, and it is recommended that he should find meaning in the difficulties of this world, and that he should postpone happiness and pleasure to the next world from time to time. However, today's people are more hasty, they want to get the reward as fast as possible. He also wants to get his reward without putting too much effort and without being burdened. The self-presentation style of traditional religious meaning structures does not seem to fit well with the attitudes of individuals who want to create their own world of meaning, preferring rather than believing and committing, and seeking satisfaction. For all these reasons, spiritualist discourses seem more attractive. In particular, such spiritualistic tendencies are increasing in middle class and higher individuals, who have weakened their connection with the traditional religious meaning pattern generations before due to the interruption of cultural transfer with urbanization, and who have the opportunity to buy as much as they want from the spirituality market offered to them economically.

For some individuals who are in search of spirituality in the West and are included in such spiritualist groups, such groups can also be considered as a kind of reaction to the rational explanation and scientific understandings in the West. After all, man is, as E. Morin puts it, a bit wise and a bit strange. In order to live a meaningful life, he needs emotions as much as logic and legends as much as science (Köse & Ayten, 2021). For this reason, sometimes people nurture their spiritual side with rational explanations, and sometimes they try to build a meaning in their lives with practices and beliefs that seem absurd. In addition, for some individuals, joining spiritualist groups and searching for meaning in those structures may not have a detailed purpose and planning. The individual may be attracted to the different and prefer to try the alternative just to feel better. In the end, even the choice itself can provide a sense of spirituality by offering a space of freedom to the individual in our day when individualization is on the rise.

One of the reasons why people move away from institutionalized religious structures and the meaning circles they draw about life and form their own sense of spirituality or join spiritualist groups that they can leave whenever they want without feeling much responsibility is the state and attitude of institutional religious structures and those who represent them that will damage people's perceptions of justice, compassion and goodness. They may think they are in. For this reason, institutional religious structures lose trust and people tend to meet their own spiritual needs. Interpersonal religious and spiritual discontents in the religious field, for example, the negative feelings experienced by individuals who think that the principle of religious brotherhood is damaged or that the clergy are unreliable, may cause individuals to derive meaning from more individual spiritualist tendencies, not from organizational religious meaning patterns.

Today, when it comes to spiritual pursuits and spirituality, one of the issues that needs to be examined is the reflections of spirituality in the cyber world at a time when digitalization has increased and social media has been effective in building the real world of individuals. What kind of answers do the internet generation, those born after 1995, who were born into an environment where the internet is widely used, find answers to their spiritual tendencies in the virtual world? Social scientists who conduct comparative studies on the religiosity tendencies of generations say that one of the main characteristics of the internet generation is the intense disinterest in adult life. Research shows that the internet generation is more reluctant to get a driver's license and interest in sexual life than the previous generation. This indifference to adult life also includes keeping a distance from religious and spiritual life. Again, according to studies, this generation has weaker religious and spiritual tendencies compared to the previous generation (Twenge, 2018). Beyond that, it can be thought that the internet generation has more fluid religious and spiritual identities that tend to meet their religious and spiritual needs in the virtual world. Because being in the cyber world and gaining a place, striving with high motivation for a certain purpose gives a kind of new kind of spirituality feeling for this age group.

It is possible to express the following about spiritual or spiritualist tendencies in Turkey. Compared to Western countries, it can be said that individuals meet their spiritual well-being and spiritual needs within the framework of traditional religious values ​​and beliefs. For the majority of the Turkish people, spirituality still means religious worship, prayer and the emotions and inner experiences encountered in the reflection of religious orders and prohibitions on individual and social life. In simpler terms, individuals experience the feeling of spirituality under the umbrella of religiosity or religious life. Although there are findings (Cengiz, Küçükkural and Gür, 2021) that spiritual pursuits (participating in yoga, reiki and meditation groups, having spiritual energy-based beliefs, etc.) are becoming widespread, especially among middle-class educated and generally female individuals in Turkey. It can be said that this is not a situation that can be applied to the general population. Turkish society in general still considers spirituality largely within the scope of religious beliefs and values. The findings of studies comparing Turkey with Western countries on this subject also support this. The lack of a clear institutional structure in Islam, as in the West, causes people to see the sense of transcendence they experience in their individual experiences as a bond established with God. This means that religion and spirituality are coded in close places in Muslim minds. He remembers Allah both when he prays in the mosque and when he watches the harmony in nature at sunset. Because in Muslim minds, Allah and the transcendent being are not separate from each other (Düzgüner, 2021). In addition, it may take several generations for individuals in Turkey to see themselves as a spiritualist beyond religion as an identity, to accept this and to express it verbally. Although the practices made in tombs for a part of the Turkish people and the folk beliefs formed within the framework of the belief in tombs are described as contrary to religion by religious authorities (religion and theology, etc.), people state that what they do with religious motivation, they perform religious motivations. All these developments suggest that a spiritual counseling process that will encompass the requirements of changing conditions may be beneficial for individuals who experience transformations in their religious and spiritual fields under the conditions brought by modernization and urbanization.

Source

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