Religious Logotherapy of Suffering in Paradise Lost and Mathnavi Ma’navi

Subject Areas : Christianity

Arastoo Mirani ¹ (PhD, Department of Comparative Study of Religion and Mysticism, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran)

Received: 2014-06-11 Accepted : 2014-07-11 Published : 2014-07-23

Keywords: suffering, logotherapy, Paradise Lost, Mathnavi Ma’navi,

Abstract :

Suffering is the undeniable and unavoidable fact of human life that itsalleviation or reduction has always been a significant goal for religionand Science. As a new psychotherapeutic approach, logotherapy, hasdefined alleviation of suffering or making it bearable by finding ameaning for it. Christianity and Islam, as other religions, has accountedfor suffering, explained its emergence and suggested certain attitudestowards it. Religious literary texts, by their capacity for conveyingmeaning to suffering can play a great role in giving a true meaning toour life. Since early 19th century, psychotherapist became aware of thebook reading affectivity in psychotherapeutic process and nowbibliotherapy has a half century of theoretical underpinnings. Religiousliterary text inspired by religious worldview and their effectiveness ininfluencing both emotional and cognitive components of their reader’smind can be extremely useful in psychotherapy of believers. ParadiseLost and Mathnavi Ma’navi, respectively, are two very influencing andhighly important text in Christian and Islamic cultures. So, inspired bytheir relative sacred texts can be highly effective in alleviating theirreader’s suffering. This essay illustrates that, in this context, MathnaviMa’navi is so much more effective than Paradise Lost.