Place Spirituality in the imaginary locus

Abstract

This commentary on the target article underscores the need to examine the imagined trajectory of Place Spirituality, where person attachment and attachment to place through prior exposure are minimum or absent. Examples of such place attachment through sheer spiritual imagination or belief have been provided. It is further argued that while Place Spirituality may be complex, the exact developmental trajectory of Place Spirituality has not been investigated and requires future research attention. The model of transitional phenomenon and transitional space by Donald Winnicott has been presented as a possible explanatory model.

A space of transition and transaction

“…Basu’s (2019) commentary illuminates the underlying features of PS in Hinduism, which is presented as a transitional space where ‘the self can give free rein to imagination’. Although place attachment can be an imagined experience in Hinduism, it enables the religious believer to practice deeper detachment-a cherished state of mind-in order to attain a complete unification with a Divine entity or the sacred (Basu, 2019). This synchronicity is one that is achieved through rigorous training exercises and affective-cognitive practices that involve, but are not limited to, place visualisation.…”

“…Basu (2019) comments on the ambiguities associated with PS developmental pathways, stressing the need for more clarity. While we still defend the value of the compensation and correspondence models, we refer readers to a published sequel addressing the limitations of attachment theory in relation to PS, which offers a psychoanalytic interpretation using motivational systems theory (Counted, 2018).…”

“…While we still defend the value of the compensation and correspondence models, we refer readers to a published sequel addressing the limitations of attachment theory in relation to PS, which offers a psychoanalytic interpretation using motivational systems theory (Counted, 2018). We draw on this sequel to address some of the developmental issues raised by both Basu (2019) and Sternberg et al (2019). This is partly because attachment theory is limited in terms of understanding PS dynamics.…”

“…The experience of PS goes beyond the need for attachment and is largely based on the individual’s subjectivity (Counted, 2018). To address the concerns raised on the PS psychological pathways (Basu, 2019) and the religious/non-religious discourse (Sternberg et al, 2019), we will expand the compensation and correspondence attachment pathways in order to integrate two motivational systems models adapted from Lichtenberg (1988, 1989): attachment-affiliation and exploratory-assertion (Counted, 2018). This PS motivational model was developed because there is a high probability that attached individuals will be drawn to more than one object of attachment simultaneously, depending on the drives that influence which motivational system (e.g.…”

“…We enjoyed reading the commentaries because they looked at Place Spirituality (PS) from various different perspectives (e.g. Basu, 2019; Latifa, Hidayat, & Sodiq, 2019; Sternberg, Engineer, & Oberman, 2019). The diversity of their approaches was enriching and complementary to our own (Counted & Zock, 2019).…”