중국에서 개인적 영성추구 활동의 등장원인과 의미 — ‘상하이 리푸 심령센터(上海丽夫心灵中心)’의 활동을 중심으로

Abstract

The purpose of this thesis is to examine the reason and meaning of emergence of personal spiritual activities in China. To this end, the analysis targets the spiritual activities conducted at the “Shanghai Lifu Psychic Center”. China’s personal spiritual activities have a view of the universe and a world view, which are the basis of their ideology, and are experiencing spiritual awareness. In other words, they are engaged in a religious activity that pursues their own ultimate enlightenment and truth. From this perspective, personal spiritual activity can be seen as a new form of religious activity emerging in China. The reason for the emergence of personal spiritual activities in China is that the Chinese people’s interest in self has increased and a social environment has been created for this. In the void of the value system created by the dissolution of the ‘unit’ and ‘commune’ after the reform and opening up, Chinese think that they are the only ones who can protect themselves. As the self becomes the criterion for value judgment, Chinese are more focused on how they can discover and realize their true nature or their potential nature. And the Chinese people chose the alternative form of pursuit of personal spirituality because of its skepticism and unfamiliarity with the institutional religion itself. Due to the traditional religious customs of the Chinese people and the characteristics of the socialist state system, Chinese are not trained in religious practices within institutionalized religious organizations and religious systems. And recently, the formation of a market for religious and cultural contents such as yoga, meditation has become a social platform to further revitalize spiritual activities.