Spiritual Quest Among Young Adults: Andrés G. Niño, PH.D
Spiritual Quest Among Young Adults: Andrés G. Niño, PH.D
Spiritual Quest Among Young Adults: Andrés G. Niño, PH.D
graduate of Wellesley, Bergen Nelson, described with great clarity and self-knowledge her personal
struggle to heal the split in her own education and integrate theory and practice, or inquiry and
engagement in the terms Andrés G. Niño, discusses later in this book. As we enter the next millennium,
we know we will need more Bergen Nelsons, people working honestly to achieve Andrés Niño’s
“authentic reflective stance” that unifies head and heart. We will need people dedicated to living in ways
that will ensure a sustainable future, people committed to combining the life of the mind with work for
the common good. We will need leaders who can reason well and bring diverse communities together,
who can inspire a shared sense of participation and mutual accountability, who can be critical thinkers,
who ignite hope”
( Diana Chapman Walsh, President of Wellesley College. From the Introduction, pp.2-3)
The larger socio-political context that has evolved at the end of the twentieth
century adds the impact of rapid and profound changes and technological advances
that undermine an individual's sense of personal progress and control. As a result,
young adults who are simultaneously negotiating important developmental tasks in
relationships, career choices, and identity feel overwhelmed and disoriented. This is a
common phenomenon that students often describe as the experience of leading
"fragmented lives."
45
As a clinical psychologist and a teacher, I have long felt a great personal
investment in this issue. Consequently, a central preoccupation in my work has been
to convey the importance of the ways in which a person can function at the highest
possible level, and I have explored with many patients and students how that can be
done. Along the way I have taken notes in a variety of situations, from the consulting
room to the classroom, through informal conversations and through exchanges in
workshops and conferences, that spark further interest and mutual learning, all of
which is part of real and ordinary life. I have placed my work within the boundaries of
a co-exploration with others, and in that manner have learned one important thing:
that beyond the complexity of people trying to make sense of their lives and how they
express it, there is a common ground of experience that makes the old, venerable
concept of spiritual quest a fundamental aspect of our human condition.
One of the most striking challenges of this century has been the negotiation of
demands emerging from a wide variety of ideas and practices that affect fundamental
areas of living, including religion, politics, and relationships. This is a fact that is even
more impressive within the microcosm of college and university campuses, and
applies with particular intensity to the concept of the spiritual quest. In my
conversations about the spiritual quest with people in various situations, references to
specific religious faiths and beliefs are often made as sources of inspiration and
nourishment, and rightly so because the spiritual life has often been associated with
the message of the great religious traditions. However, it is important to note that
there are many people who either have not identified traditional religious sources for
the construction of meaning or cannot integrate those sources into their development
of a coherent self - yet they may be people with a profound sense of spirituality.
46
It’s underlying dynamic is not a transitional state of doubt or conflict, but a persistent
searching that moves forward throughout life.
3. Although the process of a spiritual quest takes shape and strength from the
individual's own motivation, it is also greatly influenced by the socio-cultural context in
which it takes place. Observers from different disciplines have noted the increasing
complexity and impact of the interplay between societal transformations and the
changing life courses of the individual. Analysis of the so-called postmodern period
shows cultural trends that cause confusion and make one's strivings toward "meaning
with a sense of transcendence" particularly difficult. For example, we have seen (or at
least been made aware of) totalitarianism, ethnic cleansing, and violence in this
47
century, in addition to an overwhelming display of materialism and widespread
disruption in families and institutions. Yet, even in the face of these obstacles we find
a strong sense of spiritual striving among many individuals.
This fact has a bearing on our understanding of the human condition and the
gradual shifts in the thinking and feeling that influence the way individuals and groups
of different generations negotiate the spiritual quest. Although ideas and experiences
associated with spirituality may suggest a character of permanency there is, in fact, a
great deal of variability within this phenomenon.
4. An active engagement with the concerns and tasks of the spiritual quest
builds internal coherence and strength in the individual. Although theoretical
perspectives vary on this issue, this finding is consistent across health-related
disciplines. Some recent publications have emphasized the importance of the
relationship between spirituality and physical, mental, and social health.7
Expanding on the basis of such core self, Levinson's work explores the life
structure of adulthood.9 His emphasis is on the self in relation to the world, supported
48
by the dynamics of both central and peripheral components such as family, work, and
political and social activities, through the various periods of the life cycle. In that
manner, one sees the whole person rather than compartmentalized elements.
Levinson spent most of his professional life studying narratives of adult men
and women. He saw a continuity through different periods and eras of the life cycle
and identified general human characteristics for both genders. He clarified, however,
that the genders differ with regard to the kind of life circumstances they encounter
and the ways in which they progress through each developmental period. Women, for
example, tend to build life structures with "different resources and constraints,
external as well as internal.”10
In this essay I make reference mainly to that large period between late
adolescence and the mid-thirties, which essentially corresponds to the formative
period encompassing the years that may be spent in higher education. This is a time
which produces a fundamental turning point in the life cycle as young adults move
away from parental homes and fairly well-defined rotes and frames of reference into a
rather uncharted territory where they begin to build a provisional life structure through
choices in relationships, career orientation and work, organization of their priorities,
and even through personal life style. Gradually, as the college years come to an end,
those tasks become a definite hallmark of progress. Crises in this developmental
context will occur when a person is having great difficulty negotiating the tasks and,
due to internal and external factors, cannot build an adequate structure which would
facilitate moving ahead. This experience is different in scope and quality from those
crises associated with problems related to coping with a particular situation or event.
Fundamental Striving
49
In order to develop an idea of what sort of unified experience a person has, I
invite individuals to glance at the synopsis of a life structure (Figure 1) and consider a
few questions:
Creative Work
Learning Occupation Political/Social
Teaching Causes
1. What are the most important components of your life (major sources of meaning
and satisfaction) at the present time and how are they interrelated?
2. What particular events or situations have been the most influential in some of your
critical decisions, changes, gains and losses?
3. Do you have a sense that the balance of your life structure allows for the
expression of your real self'?
4. What sort of modifications do you think would be needed for you to have a deeper
sense of internal coherence, long-term purpose, and meaning?
50
detrimental forms of dispersion and fragmentation. In order to encourage the
development of the self, aided by the wisdom of spiritual writers and modern
psychologists and philosophers, 11,12 it is imperative to create a protective zone of
silence and solitude that provides a favorable environment for personal growth, and
which in turn may improve the quality of relationships with the outside world.
A Relational World
51
There is a particular process which, despite vicissitudes and unevenness of course,
includes degrees of transformation:
1. There is a long way from the primal centering of the will-to-be and the ability
to have a mutuality in relationships. In between, a developmental struggle unfolds,
unveiling joy and suffering alike. Young adults become acquainted with many forms of
a "craving for others" that generates transient and superficial attachments. All along
there is a growing realization and acceptance of the limitations that the other brings to
the encounter. It becomes clear that the others are not always available or empathic.
Changes and losses occur against the desire for stability and emotional comfort. A
measured recognition of the limitations of the other and the negotiation of mutual
needs is an important task in life.
Friendship had other charms to captivate my heart. We could talk and laugh
together and exchange small acts of kindness. We could join the pleasure that books
can give. We could be grave or gay together. If we sometimes disagreed, it was
without spite, as a man might differ with himself, and the rare occasions of dispute
were the very spice to season our usual accord. Each of us had something to learn
from the others and something to teach in return. If any were away, we missed them
14
with regret and gladly welcomed them when they came home.
In the past, most of what we have known about spiritual quests has been
based on the dynamics of this relationship with God. Religions have generally
provided the central resource of inspiration. However, as various forces within society
52
have defused or even at times eclipsed the influence of religion, we see more
individual quests taking place without such attachments to tradition.15
There are two critical aspects from which this matter takes its relevance and
urgency:
53
imply movement and transcendence, creating conditions that allow people to build
viable life structures on their own. Rather than complacency and isolation, a quest
fosters taking a courageous stance vis-à-vis the contrasting realities of wealth and
poverty, the massive urgent problems related to ecological exploitation, politics of
discrimination, cultural wars, and the impact of violence in the media.
Such an empathic position can be useful for building common ground for an
intergenerational experience of spirituality. In some ways it would also resonate with
efforts stemming from a theological foundation, such as Hans Kung's work on the
concept of "global ethics."
This trend is indicative of the fact that people are willing to engage themselves
and others in the process described in this essay. The task is to help people explore
and cultivate the potential of their quest in a manner that steadily contributes to the
growth of the whole person.
Deciphering Transcendence
Every discipline, in its own way, contributes to the noble pursuit of truth and
knowledge. As long as a person is directly involved in the discovery, construction, and
54
interpretation of meaning around the subject, there is a potential for raising and
responding to questions of ultimacy. Didactic work can engage the student in a
progressive effort toward deciphering transcendence, that is, searching beyond the
accumulation of data or facts, through the important questions put to the mind by
each discipline, and integrating the results into an overall meaning-making process
that is both relevant to the individual's life and to forming a connection with the world
beyond.
The divorce between fact and value has always been an impediment in both
education and psychotherapy. The prevailing trend has been an attempt to avoid any
potential entanglement with subjectivity, which has been seen as standing outside of
the province of the academy. In recent years, however, there has been a shift in this
position. A systematic effort is in progress toward working through issues of value in
the curriculum. I have been able to integrate questions of ultimacy into my regular
courses on "Personality and Psychopathology" as the subject matter leads the
students into inquiry beyond the initial proposition: "Why do we behave the way we
do?" Stump and Murray19 have published a series that has taken a similar approach
through various disciplines.
A Mentoring Role
- exploring and working through those questions that establish links with contexts of
significance and that are responsive to personal and communal concerns, and
- Integrating discoveries and progress into a unified concept of a well functioning
personality. In this manner the individual can reach a realistic measure of success and
satisfaction.
55
Throughout the years of academic learning, young adults constitute a large
group of people who face "a fundamental turning point in the life-cycle.''21 The thesis
of this essay is that their central task is to build life structures with a sense of internal
coherence, meaning, and purpose. Both spiritual and intellectual inquiry need to be
cultivated as a unifying process and an integral part of that task. It is the degree,
quality, and balance of activity present, in such a process that has the potential for
personal transformation and development.
The role that the Education as Transformation Project can play along this line
may be critical. The momentum for a national dialogue and a certain urgency to
follow that dialogue with practical programs has been created. The goals of the
Project will be achieved mainly by developing a sustained interest in the academic
community. Elsewhere22 I have offered guidelines derived from my work that can be
adopted for implementation through seminar and workshop formats. As a brief review,
I will summarize these guidelines here so that they can be utilized by colleges and
universities that wish to integrate them into their programs and structures.
56
1. A Seminar
Using both theoretical and applied perspectives, the seminar focuses primarily
on three areas of activity, which I have defined as inwardness, relatedness, and
generativity. Selected readings help the student to gradually deepen her
understanding of the spiritual dimension of personality.
57
participation in the Education as Transformation Project.
2. A Workshop
Good research, which usually facilitates good teaching and practice, takes its
vital questions from real life and people. In that regard, the participation from young
adults is critical for our understanding of how fundamental strivings and questions
associated with spiritual quests are being formulated and negotiated by different
generations. Further discussion on this point would go beyond the limitations of this
essay but I would like to stress the fact that understanding and interpreting
generational experiences with regard to spiritual quests is vital to the educational
enterprise as a whole, as well as to civic and political life.
Endnotes
1. Spretnak, Charlene. Stages of Grace: The Recovery of Meaning in the Postmodern Age.
( New York: Harper: San Francisco, 1997)
2. Torrance, Robert, M. The Spiritual Quest: Transcendence in Myth, Religion, and Science.
( Berkeley: University of California Press, 1994)
3. Coles, Robert. The Secular Mind. (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1999)
4. Niño, Andrés G. “Assessment of Spiritual Quests in Clinical Practice.” International Journal of
Psychotherapy, vol 2, n. 2, 1997: 193-212.
5. Jones, C., G. Wainwright and E. Yarnold, eds. The Study of Spirituality (Oxford/New York: Oxford
University Press, 1986)
6. Niño, Andrés G op. cit.
7. Larson, DB.; Swyers, J.P.; and McCullough, M.E., eds. Scientific Research on Spirituality and Health:
A Consensus Report (Rockville, MD: National Institute for Healthcare Research, 1998).
8. Kohut, H, The Restoration of the Self (New York: International Universities Press, 1977).
9. Levinson, D. J. "A Conception of Adult Development." American Psychologist, 41 (1) 1986: 3-14.
58
10. Levinson. D. J. in collaboration with Judy D. Levinson. The Seasons of a Woman's Life (New York:
Alfred B. Knopf, 1996): 36.
11. Taylor, C. ,Sources of the Self : The Making of the Modern Identity (Cambridge: Harvard
University Press, 1989).
12. Modell, Arnold H. The Private Self (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1993).
13. Jordan, J.V., A.G. Kaplan. J.B. Miller, L.P. Stiver, and J.L. Stiver, eds. Women's Growth in
Connection (New York: Guilford Press, 1991).
14. Augustine. Confessions (New York: Viking Penguin, 1961): 79.
15. Roof, Wade Clark. A Generation of Seekers (New York: Harper, 1998).
16. Beaudoin, Tom. Virtual Faith. The Irreverent Spiritual Quest of Generation X (San Francisco:
Jossey Bass, 1998).
17. Marsella, A.J. "Toward a Global Community Psychology: Meeting the Needs of a Changing World,"
American Psychologist, 53 (12), 1998: 1282-1291.
18. Kung, Hans. Yes to a Global Ethic (New York: Crossroad, 1995/96).
19. Stump, Eleanor and Michael Murray, eds. Philosophy of Religion: The Big Questions (Oxford:
Blackwell, 1999).
20. Wink, P. and R. Henson. "Practical and Transcendent Wisdom: Their Nature and Some
Longitudinal Findings." Journal of Adult Development, Vol. 4, No. 1, 1997: l-15.
21. Levinson, 1996. op. cit.
22. Niño, Andrés G. op. cit.
59