4 6 S p i r i t ua l i t y S t u d i e s 7 - 2 Fa l l 2 0 2 1 Notes [1] Heelas and Woodhead argue that the characteristic of modern religion is an experience-centered in the individual life. According to them, people today are no longer worship to authoritative absolutes or external laws, but rather to experience religiosity in their actual lives. He defines an important function of modern religion as spirituality in life (Heelas and Woodhead 2005, 3–7). I think his view of religion will be useful in providing the spiritual welfare for the elderly, and that it is somewhat in line with the religions of East Asia that emphasize personal religious experience. [2] The question of whether Confucianism is a religion has long been a topic of debate. This has to do with the question of how to define religion. Some Confucian scholars define Confucianism as a humanistic religion different from Christianity. Mou Zongsan (1970, 76–77) states in this regard: “God in Christianity is separate from the human world. The entity of worship in Confucianism, on the contrary, is not separate from the human world. While it can be down to earth to regulate and guide everyday life, it can also be as lofty as confirming a transcendent and universal moral, spiritual entity.” I generally agree with him, and this study is therefore based on his views. [3] It is recognized that the culture of respect for the elderly is due to the agricultural and settlement culture of ancient East Asia. Farmers lived from generation to generation using the natural knowledge discovered by their ancestors on the land handed down by their ancestors, and this life pattern naturally formulated an ethic of reverence toward the elderly (Fung 1948, 21). Seniors have been regarded as indispensable beings in society, who posse important knowledge and wisdom through many experiences. [4] In Western Christian spirituality, the idea is conceptualized in terms of the intellect versus will primacy dispute (Ching 2004, 90). As for Confucianism, investigation of things emphasizes the intellect similarly to the traditional Dominican stance on the matter, while keeping reverence emphasizes will and is thus more aligned to the traditional stance of Franciscans. [5] Taoism and Buddhism also emphasize a quiet, sitting meditation, but the meaning is quite different from that of Confucianism. Because Taoist and Buddhist pursue an absolute nothingness through sitting in stillness. The most representative is probably the story of sitting and forgetting everything (Zh. zuowang) in Zhuangzi. In the fictional dialogue between Confucius and his pupil Yanhui, Yanhui is portrayed as he progresses, forgetting social values and norms one by one. At the end, he forgets everything including the body, the perceptive organs, material form, and knowledge, and finally, the become one with the Great Pervader (see Chan 1969, 201). Acknowledgment The study was supported by The Hankuk University of Foreign Studies Research Fund (2021).
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