Make a Place - Dwell in Time

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MAKE A PLACE – DWELL IN TIME

be elaborated followed by views on supirichua in KF that will be accounted through narratives and examples of practice. Contemporary spirituality makes it possible to join a spiritual or religious group, to practice yoga or move in with Konohana Family. This makes the Japanese community part of a global trend where beliefs in faith healing are increasing. The trend of so-called 'do-it-yourself religions' and 'diffuse religions' that involve choosing elements from different religions irrespective of dogmatic positions (Varga 2007:145). Mixing elements from Shintoism, Buddhism, Christianity, New Age and possibly other religions and philosophies, the KF members were striving to connect with “the inner depths of their unique life-in-relation” and by such they follow the 'modern' trend of subjective-life (cf Heelas and Woodhead 2005:4). A change that makes “individuals emphasize their personal experiences as their source of meaning” (ibid:11). Not to say that subjective-life is new to human history or culturally specific, but to emphasize that there has been a 'modern' turn towards an understanding of self and culture in direction of a 'person-centred' and 'self-centred' understanding (Heelas and Woodhead 20054; E. J. Hobsbawm 1995; C. Taylor 1989;1991;2002). An such KF members are following the 'modern' trends, although some of their practice and narratives shows an aim to create a place and be in time opposed to the “modern” notion of time and place. Spirituality and KF are both phenomenas based on the 'modern' worldview of the subjective self. During my research of spiritual experiences in KF my focus was kept on understanding the bodily experiences in a larger perspective, that can tell us something about how people create places through embodiment, practices and narratives. The anthropological focus on the “individual as an acting subject and creator of social relations and notions as well as representation of the world allows us to connect the individual religious experience with the historical and political processes that make up the context” (Ryle 2004:259). Combining the phenomenological experiences and collected narratives with history and theory, this paper takes steps towards a deeper understanding of how 'spirituality' can be part of the social creation of place and time. Chapter five takes a closer look at the prioritization of “communal harmony” and what I call spiritual environmentalism. The following examples will be used to explain spiritual environmentalism in the glocal context where KF is situated. To do so we will look at their “holistic” worldview, the messages KF are receiving from “spirits Above”, their Japanese view on the connection between humans and nature, an explanation of how spirituality is related with environmentalism.

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