Through darkness to light: a phenomenological inquiry into suffering and transformation
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Authors
Brady, Margaret
Issue Date
2003
Type
Thesis
Language
en
Keywords
Consciousness
Alternative Title
Abstract
The main research question of this study is 'how universally applicable are the experiences and insights recorded by literature from different cultures and times, when viewed in the light of contemporary individuals trying to create meaning from experiences of extreme loss and adversity?'
In addressing this question, I have chosen a number of frameworks that seem to honour and offer meaning for experiences of loss and suffering in a way that the mainstream of modern western society does not. The contexts I have chosen to present range from an ancient Sumerian myth involving a descent to the underworld, to the teachings of Buddhist saints and Christian mystics, and even to a 201h century psychological/ philosophical perspective represented by theorists such as C. G. Jung and Viktor Franki. These examples may be viewed in conjunction both with each other and with the data gathered from interviews, in an attempt to discover whether the human experiences of loss and suffering, as well as the significance with which these experiences are imbued by those who undergo them, are universal in nature.