The Spiritual Psychology of Howard Thurman: An Afrocentric Perspective

Dissertation, California Institute of Integral Studies (1997)
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Abstract

Howard Thurman was an important African American scholar in the area of Religion from the 1940's until the time of his death in 1981. He is most remembered for his meditations, sermons, and prayers which echo his spirituality. This study seeks to answer the following question about Howard Thurman: What are the essential aspects of the Spiritual Psychology of Howard Thurman? The initial, general understanding of Spiritual Psychology is that it refers to drawing on one's sense of spirituality in order to deal with the circumstances of life. The Afrocentric perspective consists of contemporary ideas about African and African American culture, philosophy, and spirituality as well as the existential context of past and present eras of racial oppression. ;The preceding question is answered by using a phenomenological hermeneutic methodology which includes the Afrocentric context as a part of its interpretive criteria. A tentative definition of Spiritual Psychology was achieved by first applying the methodology to Thurman's autobiography, Head and Heart. The first application of the methodology resulted in the identification of four dominant themes which are an integral part of Spiritual Psychology: Existential Concern, Spiritual Practice, Spiritual Experience, and Spiritual Resources. The methodology was applied again to Disciplines of the Spirit in a way that amplified the dominant themes and resulted in sixteen additional subthemes. This further refined the definition of Spiritual Psychology. ;Having established the Afrocentric context with chapters on "The Existential Situation" and "The Afrocentric Perspective" , Thurman's ideas are examined from within an Afrocentric contextual framework . This study concludes that Thurman, in an effort to deal with the existential concern of racism with a sense of authenticity and integrity, utilized a Spiritual Psychology that has features resembling those of ancient African spiritual systems. This study also demonstrates the importance of considering the enduring qualities of African culture which shapes the world view and religious behavior of people of African descent when carrying out research projects about them

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