The purpose of this paper is to define a new and broader concept of spirituality called holistic spiritual capital (HSpC), which encompasses and identifies the dimensions proposed by various authors and to propose a metric scale for HSpC and its validation. The analysis is based on a survey of 201 residents of Spain administered in May, 2015. Exploratory factor analysis and a subsequent confirmatory analysis were conducted using structural equation modeling (SEM) techniques with EQS software. Four dimensions reflect the latent construct of HSpC in different ways: health, creativity, morality and religiosity. The measurement of HSpC should be considered relevant to organizations, but not merely because it may be a tool to increase productivity. Ethical climate influenced organizational commitment and hence it enhances performance indicators. The proposed scale encompasses in a unique instrument some dimensions considered previously in the literature independently. Mas-Machuca, M. and Marimon, F. (2019), "Holistic spiritual capital: definition and its measurement", International Journal of Organization Theory & Behavior, Vol. 22 No. 1, pp. 96-110. //doi.org/10.1108/IJOTB-05-2018-0057 Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2019, Emerald Publishing Limited
Holism is based on the experience that all aspects of life are intimately related and part of the same whole. Holistic principles have existed since ancient times in the most varied cultures and contexts, including science, sociology, education, religion and medicine.
According to a holistic perspective there is no separation or dualism, and we can find our sense of purpose only if we acknowledge the wider and united reality in which we exist. This reality also includes what lies beyond our ordinary perception and can effectively deepen the awareness of who we truly are; our core self.
For many people the term “God” has lost interest and in some cases even produces strong resistance. In certain situations it is awkward to mention “God,” since this can easily give wrong impressions and cause prejudices. This is probably because some concepts of God trigger fear, guilt, and judgment. “God” is merely a term, which can take other names and forms, and even no name or form at all. What counts here is the direct experience of God, and of our true nature devoid of any assumption.
What most people on a spiritual quest seek today are not mere formalities, doctrines or creeds, but paths of direct experience. They search for a first-hand knowledge of their true self, or a direct encounter and communion with God, which is ultimately the authentic essence of what all spiritual traditions pursue.
The main characteristic of our spirituality and of the related teachings is given by its explicit provisionality. Practices, rituals, cosmologies, techniques, the ideas we convey have a purely strategic and theatrical function, the purpose of which is to facilitate a direct experience of the mysteries that concern our nature and of the reality in which we live or believe to live.
Spirituality for us is not a race to achieve individual enlightenment or an effort to spread religious ideas around the world; it is an experiential process of recovering our original unity, returning to be consciously part of the Whole and understanding the mystery of existence, accepting also the possibility that there is really nothing to understand.
A universal theology is impossible, but a universal experience is not only possible but necessary. (A Course in Miracles, Manual, p. 77)
The Provisional Institute, directed by Franco Santoro, supports unity among all religions, honoring traditional doctrines, mystical, gnostic and alternative paths, including atheism. We pray and work for total ecumenism, spiritual healing, expansion of consciousness and the recovery of our multidimensional nature.
In ordinary life, we are not aware of the unity of all things, but divide the world into separate objects and events. This division is useful and necessary to cope with our everyday environment, but it is not a fundamental feature of reality. It is an abstraction devised by our discriminating and categorising intellect. To believe that our abstract concepts of separate ‘things’ and ‘events’ are realities of nature is an illusion. (Fritjof Capra)
Not long ago, an acquaintance of mine asked me what my religious affiliation was. I was caught just a bit off-guard; this person and I had not yet crossed into genuine friendship territory, and the question seemed quite personal. I told her that I didn’t belong to any particular religious group, but practiced holistic spirituality. She was puzzled: it was clear she hadn’t heard the phrase before. She asked point blank, “What’s that?” The fact that I was less than 100% prepared to answer that question prompted me to give it some thought, which in turn led to my writing this post!
When people hear the term “holistic spirituality,” a host of images usually come to mind: candles and incense, people doing yoga to Ambient New Age music; meditating in the Lotus Pose, and chanting mantras. All these (and more) are indeed potential elements of holistic spirituality, but I view it first and foremost as a particular way of seeing the world.
For me, holistic spirituality is very much about overcoming the dualistic mentality that has been enshrined in Western thought for millennia: the notion of opposing forces at war. Centuries of thought have conditioned us to conceive of the Universe in terms of various clashing elements, such as flesh vs. spirit,; good vs. evil; dark vs. light; and so on. In contemporary holistic spiritual practice, devotees work instead toward cultivating a sense of the oneness of all things. We do not conceive of our bodies and spirits as being opposed to one another, but embrace the view that mind, body and spirit comprise a unified whole (putting the “holistic” in holistic spirituality). According to this view, human beings are neither heroically good nor abysmally evil in their totality; rather, they are infinitely varying mixtures of light and shadow sides. (Of course, most practitioners of holistic spirituality would concede that there are individuals who—for whatever reason–so fully embrace their shadow sides that the light is fully extinguished. I doubt we would find many practitioners who would contest the idea that these people cause a great deal of harm.)
In this approach to spirituality, divinity is not perceived as a transcendent being standing outside creation, but an immanent spirit suffusing it. I know both non-theists who are intensely spiritual, and devout faith practitioners in whom the divine spark has been all but entirely snuffed out. And the converse is true as well.
In terms of spiritual practice, the great common denominator among practitioners is some form of meditation. This takes many forms: mantra repetition; candle-gazing; conscious breathing; labyrinth walking; the creation of Mandalas; and others. What these practices have in common is that they are all methods of focusing the mind in order to gain clarity and insight. My own approach is to combine elements of Insight Meditation and Transcendental Meditation. I’ve had a Sanskrit mantra that I’ve been using for more than a decade, and it’s served me well. Of course, there’s no need to select a mantra in an obscure language; anything that helps one focus and quiet the mind is a good choice.
Since that day when that acquaintance I mentioned asked me about my religion, the two of us have, in fact, crossed into “friend” territory. Interestingly enough, it was the “contrast and compare” element of our conversation (she’s a devotee of one of the “Big Three” monotheistic faiths) that kicked off our friendship, and it’s going well. Although I don’t have supernatural beliefs, I have no problem relating to those who do (so long as I don’t sense that their agenda is to make a convert rather than to simply relate). I like the approach of The Brights, an online community of people devoted to illuminating the naturalistic worldview. They refer to themselves as “Brights” and those who view the world through a supernatural lens as “Supers;” so there’s no built-in sense of superiority in their nomenclature.