spirituality

The current paper provides an analytical study of Eliot’s poem, “The Hollow Men.” The methods that have been employed in this research are textual and reader-response analyses. The poem has been explored from both approaches in order to know the first impression of the researcher of the poem and backed by critics’ notions of the poem. The study thus intends to shed light on two main themes including religion, spirituality, meaninglessness and nothingness. It also tends to demonstrate how Eliot portrays his own view on the modern men and the modern life through this poem. Eliot believes that modern men are hollow from their insides, and they are empty yet filled with straw just like a scarecrow. The paper tackles the critics’ views on Eliot, Eliot’s view on modernity, and the role of tradition and intertextuality in Eliot’s poetry. The paper finally depicts major themes in the poem. Eliot, in his quest for finding a satisfying religion, penned “The Hollow Men” as a mirror to the conditions of the society after the World War I which caused suffering from lack of faith, religion and morality.

Modern-minded man, as the modern time necessities, believes in the concrete world, and if does not deny metaphysics, he finds it unperceivable and unreachable and hence, ignores some of his potential and spiritual abilities. Metaphysics form man’s spiritual life, absence of which results in mental nervousness and leads to nihilism, and thus death, men’s inevitable final destiny, appears like a monster. To be away from which and forget it, man requires engaging himself in the concrete, and not reflecting upon death at all. This paper attempts to investigate the questions as: How does Molavi perceive metaphysics? How does he engage himself with it? And while he follows his religious and spiritual way of thinking, how the face of death is displayed in Molavi’s thoughts? Molavi’s works represent a human’s perception and experience gained from the Prophets’ teachings which were put into practice in Molavi’s own life. One can find lots of Molavi's couplets dealing with the same, pondering upon which can smooth the harshness of the concrete world in the light of the spiritual world, and generate yet another type of world

Humanistic philosophic approaches and the ever-increasing dominance of humans on nature and the excessive use of it have all led to the emergence of an environmental crisis. This incident has necessitated the clarification of the causes, as well as understanding the spiritual and philosophical dimensions of the crisis for all. Researchers have found that this crisis is the result of philosophical approaches that have led to the exploitation of nature through the fundamental transformation of human's understanding of nature. This theory has had many consequences, due to a secular look and the elimination of spirituality from nature and the instrumental look. Seyyed Hussein Nasr, to restore spirituality to nature and revive his sacred reality, by looking at the man as part of nature to save the natural life of man, challenged this theory. The method of this study is library research based on the analysis. The purpose of this research has been to study and analyze the spiritual foundations of the environmental crisis and to improve the awareness of people to protect the environment. In this article, Seyyed Hossein Nasr's views, the oppositional views, and the cause of the emergence The results of the research show that although some scholars attribute the environmental crisis to religious teachings, arguing that the beliefs of religious leaders have led to the deterioration and degradation of environmental resources, as well as weakening their motivation to develop a safe environment, recognizing the spiritual dimensions of the crisis can play an important role in developing the appropriate attitudes and behaviors toward the environment; So the solution to the crisis is restoring spirituality to nature and reviving the sacred reality.

among different theories concerning the relation between spirituality or ethics and politics, the acceptable one is the inseparability of spirituality and politics. Because, based on a rational conception of the world, there is not any convincing justification for separation between the two categories. In a true understanding of religion, there is no separation between religion and politics and all religio-political principles, teachings, values must be simultaneously ethical, rational and just. Therefore, there is no space for any type of immorality, irrationality and injustice; because, they are against the world’s objective; meaning man’s highest perfection. If all are not just towards one another based on the Divine Revelation, man and societies cannot improve their spiritual aspects of life. The schools of thought which consider religion’s objective as mere individual salvation, neither pay attention to religion’s socio-political aspects, nor understand its socio-political dimensions. In between, the political systems and politicians that intend to acquire, preserve and increase more and more power, and know that the Divine Books and the Holy Prophets are the greatest obstacles on their way, try to hide the true understanding of religion and keep people ignorant about them. For them only the theories, which can explain dirty hands and legitimize the absolute authority of domination of wealth and power, are very beneficial and should be supported.

A connection has long existed between tourism and spirituality. More specifically, travel for spiritual purposes has for centuries been a popular manifestation of human mobility. Pilgrimage and other spiritually-motivated travel is widely considered to be one of the earliest forms of tourism and nowadays, religious tourism, in all its forms, has evolved into a major sector of the global tourism market. Over the last three decades, however, an alternative perspective on the tourism-spirituality relationship has emerged. Focusing on the meaning or significance of contemporary tourism, it is argued that tourism is a sacred journey, a secular spiritual experience; in other words, tourism has become a secular alternative to the institution of religion, the contemporary tourist a modern, secular pilgrim. Hence, a conceptual divide exists in the relationship between tourism and spirituality, between spiritual (religious) tourism and tourism as spirituality (religion).  Moreover, that divide is evidenced in much of the extant research into tourism, religion and spirituality.                 As this paper suggests, however, such a conceptual divide over-simplifies the relationship between tourism and spirituality; not only is the distinction between spiritual / religious tourism and tourism as a secular spiritual experience becoming increasing fuzzy – some traditional religious travel experiences, for example, are taking on the aura of commoditised tourism products, with implications for the experience of participants themselves – but also the relationship can be viewed from different disciplinary and theoretical positions. A humanistic perspective, for example, questions the notion of spirituality itself, whilst varying interpretations of religion / spirituality also cast the relationship in different lights. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to explore the complexity of the spiritual dimension of tourism. Reviewing the extant literature, it highlights the dimensions of and limits to research into the relationship between tourism and spirituality and, exploring the phenomenon from a variety of perspectives, challenges contemporary understandings and points to areas demanding further research.  

Although today it is common to categorize spiritual tourism separately as a type of tourism, spirituality can be found at the heart of any travel. What might be taken as granted is that the tourist is going to add something to his/her self and, in this respect, some degree of spirituality can be sought in every type of tourism. Therefore, through entrepreneurship and innovation it would be possible to focus on the development of businesses which are able to offer some degree of spirituality to tourists according to their needs. This paper seeks to provide a deeper view of the relationship between authentic experiences and spiritual tourism and the role of entrepreneurship in utilizing this relationship in order to enrich tourists’ experiences. In other words, the spiritual dimension of every type of tourism is discussed and the necessity of its reinforcement through entrepreneurship in tourism and a systematic approach towards the issue is considered.

In todays’ world of climate change and increasing pollution, the concept of green travel and tourism has been proposed as a possible mitigating solution. However, the pace with which tourists embrace this new concept is slow. It can be argued that the reluctance to embrace is linked to the inability to understand the spiritual side of green travel and tourism. It is said that humankind have the tendency separate itself from nature. Nature is considered as ‘others’ and does not merit the same level of respect. Nature is there for humankind’s use and consumption, a thinking that easily leads to abuse and destruction. The same can be applied to tourism. While international travel includes a substantial number of tourists who would consider themselves to be religious and spiritual, it is argued that not many of them will be able to decipher the spiritual aspect of opting for green travel and tourism compared to mass tourism. This paper attempts to demonstrate the close link between green travel and tourism with spirituality. It tends to explain why more people who believe in religion and spirituality should strongly consider the concept in their travel decisions. The hope is to increase public awareness on the spirituality of green travel and tourism so the concept will soon become the order of the day.  

Supposing that today’s growing range of human needs with the increasing growth of technology is not only limited to material dimensions but non-material aspects are of an undeniable role in the human self-actualization. In this regard, the concept of spirituality dramatically manifests itself in different aspects of human life, even though the technological evolutions and tourism can be an important lever in this area. In this study, using content analysis techniques and using ideas of experts, we assessed the components of ‘styling the future’, ‘tourism’, and ‘spirituality’ comparing elements of these variables such that the relationship between tourism and spirituality was extracted in the form of ‘a sense of excellence’, ‘a sense of meaning’, ‘human values’ and ‘interaction with existence’. Also, the relationship between tourism and futures studies (futurology) was defined using the extracted parameters including ‘consultation prior to social and cultural reforms’, ‘future analysis and alert against challenges’, and ‘determining strategic priorities’. Eventually, in relation to these three components, the obtained results emphasized the need for taking the advantage of spirituality in the study of the tourism industry.

The objective of this study is to investigate the extent of spirituality in various types of tourism, and to test the hypothesis of the existence of common spiritual experiences among all types of tourists. McKercher's typology of cultural tourists and Norman's (2012) typology of tourists' spiritual experiences were applied to classify various groups of spiritual tourists participating in each type of tourism activity. The study population consisted of all individuals who have travelled with the purpose of pilgrimage, recreation, visiting cultural historical attractions, business, visiting religious sites, or participating in ecotourism and nature-based tourism. Sampling was done based on the convenience method according to the size and nature of the target population. Finally, it was concluded that most pilgrims and visitors to the religious sites were purposeful and sightseeing spiritual tourists with a deep intention to search for spiritual growth. Also, among nature-based tourists, ecotourists, business and recreational tourists, and those who had traveled to visit cultural and historical sites, a considerable number were Casual, Incidental and Serendipitous Spiritual Tourists, whilst only a small proportion had purposefully travelled for spiritual growth. Nevertheless, the research indicates the existence of at least one powerful element of spirituality in all types of tourism. 

Tourism development is considered an important tool in promoting economic growth, alleviating poverty, and advancing spirituality development. This paper aims to review the relationship between tourism and spirituality and to explain how tourism development could contribute to spirituality development goals. The paper provides an analysis of the relationship between tourism and spirituality development. It explores definitions and constructs of spirituality and reviews experiences and practices in relation to spiritual resources. However, by looking at a brief history of human intelligence we learned that there is a low agreement today upon the spirituality definition. In order to reach a broad agreement, the paper was divided into two sections. The first section explains the importance of tourism and spirituality as components of life success while the second section discusses some important issues regarding the development of spirituality through tourism activities by presenting a model that provides clarification, definition, and relations to the terms of faith, spirituality, religion and tourism. The model can serve as a means to begin the dialogue needed to increase understanding of this important concept. The paper also suggests that the ability to effectively develop tourism can strongly and positively influence spiritual principles and practices.

The main motivations behind creative tourism, as a new form of tourism in the postmodern world, consist in achieving a new understanding of the “self” and the pursuit of “meaning,” “identity,” and “authenticity,” which have transformed the paradigm of tourism. With the development of the phenomenon of “spiritualism” in our time in which people turn away from the religion as a predetermined and organized phenomenon, in these new styles, the criterion is not to discover the religious other; it is to discover the self in the other. In this paper, we introduce the essential difference between creative tourism as an instance of postmodern tourism and cultural tourism, and we will examine the component of spirituality in creative tourism, and then elaborate the former as an opportunity for the development and understanding of religious beliefs and a ground for the creativity of the religious culture. Using historical-hermeneutical approach, this paper examines the concept of "spirituality" in lived travel experience of a creative tourists and argues that when discussing spirituality of tourism, one potential avenue is flourishment of religious creativity. A key objective of this paper therefore, is to provide an initial mapping of, and insights into this territory.

As one of the richest intellectual domains of mankind, Islamic culture has played a prominent role in the formation of diverse dimensions of Islamic community. In this regard, the rich Islamic art, which is intermixed with the elegance of Islamic architecture, is regarded as one of the aspects of Towhid (belief in the oneness of God) and divine worldview. Since the mankind is not a single-dimensional creature, and is innately inclined to beauty and innovation, architects have sought to create an original work imbued with spiritual meanings and themes within a material realm through reliance on their experience, thoughts, individual creativity as well as an aesthetic spirit on one hand, and the manifestation of spirituality and other notions on the other. The contemporary human, by setting out on journey on the earth, has made an attempt to seek knowledge and awareness, and Islamic architecture is considered as an epiphany of human nature as well as a manifestation of contemplation and existence in the depth of human spirit, which is believed to be one of the most significant elements of tourism. The present research is aimed at exploring the conceptual symbols in Islamic architecture originating from Islamic worldview, as the rich Islamic principles have inspired Muslim architects, whose thoughts and environment have been influenced by Islamic worldview. The present article has been written adopting a descriptive-analytical method. The results indicate that architectural elements in Iran have not been created without taking Islamic ideology and concepts into account, but rather all the elements applied are endowed with spirituality and divine symbols.

Religion is the core and key element of human life and as a travel organizer, it has played an important role in human life from the past to the present. The essence of a human being has been founded based on the primordial nature and spiritual dimension, which is not merely composed of material dimensions and, possibly, its existential spiritual dimension is a key element of humanity. Therefore, spirituality as a type of psychological quality -that is beyond religious beliefs and motivates man and creates feelings such as understanding divine solemnity and respect for creation in a human being- is an important factor in recognizing the nature of man in the perspective of monotheistic religions. This research was done by means of a qualitative-descriptive method, in the form of library studies and field interviews in two sections besides the content analysis method. In the fall and winter of 2017, an in-depth and semi-structured interview was conducted with 60 professors, experts and scholars of Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Christianity and Islam religions in three parts: defining the concept of spirituality, the place of travel in these religions, and the relationship between spirituality and travel. The results of the comparative studies show that spirituality is based on the human being's existential nature and its natural, spiritual, and immaterial dimension in order to help human beings to fulfill the purpose of creation as mentioned in monotheistic religions. In the meantime, human beings travel, especially do pilgrimages, as one of the sources of knowledge.

One of the ways to consolidate peace and friendship despite the remarkable progress of humanity, is tourism and spirituality. Tourism can change the tourists’ worldview and attitude by increasing their knowledge from visiting the landscapes of nature, geographical locations and legacy of the ancients, a change in adherence to the principles and values and the Slavery of the unique god. Being combined with peace and friendship, tourism can create a strong friendship and solidarity in the minds of tourists through recognizing the legacy of the past and the recognition of different nations and religions and different ethnicities and cultures. This solidarity and friendship is very important especially in the current and global era due to the problems of community life such as air pollution, psychological problems, cyber threats, social abnormalities. Given this approach and employing the analytical-descriptive method, this paper seeks to answer the following question: How the tourism-related dimension of spirituality can be able to create peace and stability and to strengthen peace and friendship among different societies from a local to the global scale? The findings of the research indicate that in the event of spirituality overcome in the tourist industry and travel of tourists, all activities of the tourist have the capacity to establish peace and cooperate on all scales. And tourism and spirituality for peace and friendship between nations and cultures are a powerful tool and a good platform.

Search for and gaining the meaning in life and attaining the perfection had been the primordial motive of human creation. The main reason for manifesting vacuum feelings in human is the crisis of lack of spirituality. Nowadays, human beings are seeking to mean of life and are searching for something more than materiality; because with the modern and advanced technology, the dissatisfaction with life and the sense of daily routine motivates him to discover the cause and the way out of the crisis. Understanding the meaning of life and obtaining satisfaction requires the use of spiritual intelligence and will not be achieved through rational and emotional intelligence solely. In this article, we studied the various dimensions of spiritual intelligence and presented the best model for spiritual intelligence. Then, according to the literature, the impact of tourism on the human was also studied. The results of the content analysis indicate that tourism and travel are effective factors in enhancing the components of spiritual intelligence and, as a result, the promotion of spiritual intelligence, and consequently they will increase the perception of spirituality in life.

When deliberating on the spiritual dimension of tourism, one key question is that how individuals are seeking for their life meaning and experiences of divine existence, as well as their connectedness as subjectively lived during their travel.  In fact, tourism is closely connected to religion which has always been a powerful travel motivation from the time of early pilgrimages to contemporary journeys to sacred places. Religious sites, rituals, festivals and ceremonies are considered important attractions for both religious followers with special systems of belief and tourists with a casual interest. Perhaps, this characteristic of the tourism experience is the main reason for spiritual tourism experiences being recently popular among individuals who have started engaging in spiritualitydriven experiences and among persons aiming to develop their continuing sublime engagement by means of travel. There are various reasons for travelling for spiritual growth which is opposed to the traditional notions of pilgrimage and religious tourism. However, relatively few scholars have explored the multitudinous relationships between religion, spirituality, and sustainable tourism, despite the pervasiveness of religious tourism and spiritual connections to place. A subject that has received only scant attention in the literature is the negative social and ecological impacts of religious (mass) tourism. Several authors have noted the negative impacts of religious tourism on the commercialization of places and artifacts that were once held as sacred locations. The commodification of religious symbols and the economic implications of selling them should become of increased interest to researchers as the world becomes more consumption-oriented.

By producing the paradigm of creative tourism, the knowledge increasing discipline of tourism invites tourists to visit and interact with the unique and live culture of societies instead of just sightseeing in museums and ancient monuments. In this paradigm, tourists engage all of their senses in the creation of their unique experience and improving their relations with local people from seller/buyer to a master/apprentice level. Not only the cultural capital but also the social capital would be increased from this interaction. The main goal of this research is to show that, contrary to what appears at first, the creative domain of gastronomy is a spiritual one and flourishing local communities and creative tourism based on this paradigm can evolve the wellbeing and material life of inhabitants and tourists as well. Moreover, this includes significant spiritual endowments both for guests and hosts in the creative gastronomic destinations. Creative tourism based on gastronomy regards new looks to local communities as the first step in creating unique and added value experiences including economic, human, and social values. In creative tourism, locals and tourists will open their eyes on the destination in completely new ways, so that they could see better in creating new and valuable experiences. This definition is closely related to the Quranic command of “The man must consider what he eats”. In this research, using thematic analysis and Delphi method, it is shown that the components of spiritual perception have significant overlaps with the components of gastronomic creative tourism. Factors such as “comfort and satisfaction”, “Giving meaning to life”, “interaction with others”, “friendship with nature and environment”, and “surrender and thanksgiving “, as the components of the spiritual understanding, showed common and undeniable spaces with the components of creative tourism. These components include “authentic experiences “, “active participation “, “learning”, “self-esteem and self-awareness”, “new products and processes”, and “new spaces”. Based on our results, each of these components has their own proprietary domains and non-negligible common spaces, and even in some cases are subsets of each other.

Studying the concept of spirituality in tourism is neithera newapproach nor a study of a particular kind of tourism or simply a religious perspective to tourism. Rather, it is an indicator of spiritual contents that today’s tourism is submerged into discover and attain non-material values and the reality duringthe length of its journey. This research offers a new perspective in the study of the methodology of tourism studies with a descriptive-analytical approach, conjunctive viewwhile using library documentation and a review of theoretical foundations according to the fuzzylogicmethodology. The fuzzy logictheory possesses a more precise capacity to explain and analyze concepts and phenomena and also a spectral reading of phenomena thatuses the binary numbers of 0 and 1 as the extreme points of reality and accepts that there are infinite points of reality between the two of them; therefore, in order to more precisely and comprehensively understand reality, one must have a hierarchical view towardthephenomena. With this approach, spirituality in tourism includes a great variety of concepts and elementsthat are allambiguous and graded. These elements include reasoning and probing, religious denomination and beliefs, mutual relations, and quality of life and culture. The propositions of spirituality in tourism essentially exist in bothfuzzy and spectral logic,not justwith fuzzy logic because of the essential ambiguity existingin concepts and elements andtheir metaphysical aspects. Therefore, this study is built upon the studies related to spiritualityin tourismconducted through the fuzzy logicmethodologies. According to the obtainedresults, this important approach must be paid attention so that the great capacities of spirituality in tourism in the areas of knowledge and action can be correctly utilized.