Table Of ContentTHE SACRED
IN EXILE
What it Really Means
to Lose Our Religion
Gillian McCann
Gitte Bechsgaard
The Sacred in Exile
Gillian McCann · Gitte Bechsgaard
The Sacred in Exile
What it Really Means to Lose Our Religion
Gillian McCann Gitte Bechsgaard
Nipissing University Vidya Institute
North Bay, ON, Canada Toronto, ON, Canada
ISBN 978-3-319-66498-9 ISBN 978-3-319-66499-6 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-66499-6
Library of Congress Control Number: 2017950687
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This book is dedicated to the memory of Sri Krishan Mantri
A
cknowledgements
The authors would like to thank Phil Getz, Amy Invernizzi and the
anonymous reviewers at Palgrave Macmillan for their support of this
work. We would also like to thank Kim White, Ursula Darby, Xiaolan
Zhao, Bessie Janopoulous, Amy and Shivaram. Special thanks to the
team at Vidya Institute: Valerie Grieco, Claire Wicks, Matt Donnelly,
Raenel Leppky, Rikke Krabbenhoft, Katy Curtis, Janine Keller, Jennifer
Jairam, (Satyanand) Arnold Doobay, Linda Swanston, Lisa Harris,
Christine O’Rourke and Jody Howson. Thanks also to all our students
who have asked the questions and participated in ways that have clarified
and inspired much of this work.
Gillian McCann would like to thank Nipissing University for the
sabbatical of 2015–2016 that allowed time to work on this project.
Gillian would also like to thank Dr. Neil McMullin, and her family
Angela Rogers, Jeffrey McCann, Paulina Gillies, Kirsten McCann and
Logan McCann. Special thanks to Dr. Susan Srigley for reading and
commenting on this work and her early encouragement.
Gitte Bechsgaard would like to thank her husband Dario Ruberto,
and children Daniel and Maya. You are in my heart every day. Also a
special thank you to family and friends in Denmark, whose continued
support and generosity is felt in spite of the geographical distance: Inga
and Helge Bechsgaard, Torben Bechsgaard and family, Bo Bechsgaard
and family, Ellen Bork and family. Jette Berring and Claus Wittig, Tine
and Niels Lassenious Kram—thank you for continually opening up your
homes and hearts for us all and sharing so many special times together.
vii
viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I must also thank the Iyengars for their continued support in my
work and practice. A special thank you goes out to BKS Iyengar, Geeta
Iyengar, Jette Berring, Claus Wittig, Gloria Goldberg, Manouso Manos,
Sheila Haswell for the abundance of teachings and sharing in this path
together. As mentors and teachers in psychotherapy, I thank Anna
Binswanger, Jim Healy, Adam Crabtree and Dorothy Gardener. Your
work and presence in my life have been a tremendous inspiration.
Gratitude also goes out to Sri Senthinatha Ghnapatigal,
Ramanasramam Veda Patasala, director and principal, and Sri Anand
Shastrigal, Sri Ramanasramam, head priest, and a special heartfelt thank
you to Michael Highburger.
c
ontents
1 Introduction: The Spiritual Malaise of Our Time 1
2 Religion as Ordering Principle and Higher Law 17
3 The Importance of Self-cultivation 37
4 The Limiting and Structuring Function of Religion 51
5 The Sacrality of the Body 69
6 The Relational Matrix 93
7 The Supremacy of the Subtle 111
8 Conclusion
Coming Out of the Desert:
The Vision of Ezekiel 129
Index 147
ix
CHAPTER 1
Introduction: The Spiritual Malaise of Our
Time
Abstract The authors argue that rather than being viewed as a prob-
lem to be managed by the state, religion can instead be viewed as a
cultural and public resource. From this point of view, religious ideas can
lend themselves to the creation of solutions to some of our most press-
ing social and environmental problems including sky rocketing rates of
depression, anxiety and addictive behaviour.
Keywords Charles Taylor · Modernity · Secular · Psychology
Few words cause as immediate and as strong a reaction as the word reli-
gion. It could be argued that religion has become close to a taboo sub-
ject in polite conversation. One is expected to speak in hushed tones, to
instead use words like spirituality or to avoid it altogether. Even, a short
conversation will elicit predictable comments like “religion is the cause
of all wars”, and the word fanaticism will inevitably be brought into the
discussion. For many, religion is a topic that has been laid to rest and
doesn’t bear further thought. For a good many others, the topic of reli-
gion is treated with outright hostility and contempt.
In countries like Canada, Britain and New Zealand, roughly a quarter
of the population identifies as having no religious affiliation.1 While this
1 http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/rise-in-new-city-churches-bucks-secular-
trend-1.2486024.
© The Author(s) 2017 1
G. McCann and G. Bechsgaard, The Sacred in Exile,
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-66499-6_1
2 G. MCCANN AND G. BECHSGAARD
trend has been greeted largely with indifference by many in mainstream
culture, the actual impact of the erosion of religion on society has rarely
been seriously considered. At the same time, as religion has been losing
much of its influence, a growing body of research is revealing that reli-
gious belief and practice has a significant positive effect on human health
and well-being.
A recent cover story in Macleans magazine announced The Science
is In. Jesus Saves (seriously). So do Muhammad, Yahweh, Buddha and
Vishnu. The immediate response to this article, unsurprising to anyone in
the field of religious studies, was swift and hostile. The research of clini-
cal psychologist Lisa Miller, whose work is the basis of the article, has
often prompted a similar reaction from many of her colleagues. Yet her
research among teenagers has shown that religious belief is “more pro-
tective than any other factor” against substance abuse and depression.2
Miller’s study is just the latest in a growing body of evidence that dem-
onstrates clearly the link between religious belief, longevity and general
well-being.
A growing number of those who work in the field of psychology and
psychotherapy are acknowledging the need to recognize the role of a
religious outlook on mental health. Though trained to seek for neutral-
ity and to focus primarily on the client’s needs and self-interest, more are
calling for issues such as moral responsibility, obligation and spiritual care
to be addressed within the context of the psychotherapeutic work. In his
book, Psychology, Religion and Spirituality (2003) David Fontana notes
that despite the evidence that religion contributes to both physical and
mental health, the field of psychology largely fails to engage in any sub-
stantive way with the subject (3).
Over the past two decades, the findings of numerous studies have
demonstrated the connection between religious belief and practice and
better health.3 Even so, many in both the medical community and the
2 Brian Bethune, “God is the Answer” Macleans April 6 & 15, 2015, 45.
3 See, for example, Helms SW, Gallagher M, Calhoun CD, Choukas-Bradley S, Dawson
GC, Prinstein MJ (2014). Intrinsic religiosity buffers the longitudinal effects of peer vic-
timization on adolescent depressive symptoms. Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent
Psychology 44(3): 471–479, Balbuena L, Baetz M, Bowen R (2013). Religious attendance,
spirituality, and major depression in Canada: A 14-year follow-up study. Canadian Journal of
Psychiatry 58 (4): 225–232. Also see Duke University Center for Spirituality, Theology and
Health website for a list of current research: http://www.spiritualityandhealth.duke.edu/.
