A Re-Examination of the Approaches to Spirituality in Contemporary Iran with Emphasis on a Comparative Approach

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Assistant Professor, Department of Philosophy, Shahid Motahari University, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract

The issue of this research is the re-examination of the three main approaches to engaging with spirituality in contemporary Iran through a descriptive-analytical method. The approach to spirituality, particularly the emerging forms of spirituality in Iran, has often been addressed in one of two ways: either with a theological approach, characterized by the binary of false versus true mysticism, focusing on distinction and rejection, or through a cultural feeding and fusion approach, sometimes in an eclectic manner, aiming for a policy of similarity. However, the third approach is the systematic comparative approach between Islamic spirituality and other Eastern and Western spiritualities, which takes into account both convergence and divergence. The comparative study approach to spirituality is a descriptive method with an explanatory processing of realized spiritualities, transcending the false-true dichotomy in theological approaches. It engages in more complex classification and typologies to achieve theoretical growth or the practical development of the mystic researcher through comparing and evaluating classical, modern, and post-modern spiritualities. This approach requires adopting theoretical and practical foundations for comparison and methodology to reach the later truth derived from the application of this comparison, recognizing the spiritual "Other" free from the Ptolemaic self-centeredness and without reducing it to one's own spirituality. Additionally, it necessitates establishing a correct relationship with our own cultural self-awareness in connection with our own spiritual tradition and the spiritual diversity of the contemporary world.

Keywords


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