Page 217 - Nursing: The Philosophy and Science of Caring

a d m i ni s t er ing s acr e d n u r s in g ac t s
(which are ultimately spiritual in nature) “live within us fully yet anti-
thetically. An impossible set of opposites thereby resides deep in the
modern sensibility” (Tarnas 2006:30) and within each of us.

Modern life is characterized by fundamental conflicts between reli-
gious worldviews that see humans as spiritual beings in a mean-
ingful cosmos and a scientistic worldview that sees physical matter
and physical energy as the only reality.
charles tart (quoted in vaughn 1995:29)

Thus, the human need for self-actualization, spiritual evolution,
spiritual fulfillment, evolving consciousness for transcendence, and
higher connections is complicated by an outer world that is material
and secular at its core. A new worldview or cosmos is upon us at this
point in human history. We are all on a journey toward an evolving
consciousness that is opening to an exploration of a vast spiritual uni-
verse of many paths that lead to wholeness, from fear to love and from
material bondage to wisdom and inner freedom (Vaughn 1995).
This awakening from the Heart center, energetically moving
upward in the body system, is the path of a Caritas Nurse and Caritas
Nursing; this path integrates the shadow and light sides of our deep
humanity, the joy and suffering side by side, not denying any part of
the human experience to which we all belong. We as a civilization at
this point in human history must awaken to a new cosmology and
worldview that can be referred to as a Universal Heart—a universe
that is a spirit-filled energy consciousness to which we all belong and
have our being; a universe that is interdependent, connecting every-
thing and us; a universe alive and evolving in harmony with each of us
on the path of awakening. So, to repeat: what we hold in our hearts
matters and affects our own evolution and that of humanity itself.
As developed in more depth in Caring Science as Sacred Science
(Watson 2005), a model of Caring Science creates open heart space to
connect the ethic and infinity of Cosmic Love, allowing for the inner and
infinite nature of our reality to emerge and be present with respect to
our Being and Belonging to the wider universe. In this work and world
of Caring Science and Caritas Nursing, we are not restricted to the outer,

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