Self-Transformative Research: Effects on Researchers of a Holistic Collaborative Study of Spiritual Exemplars

What happens to researchers interested in spirituality, as they engage with a large number of spiritual exemplars? This question is explored, based on the experience of 14 research collaborators in a qualitative phenomenological study of spiritual exemplars (individuals perceived by others as exemplifying the spiritual life) of different traditions, paths, and cultures. Over 5.5 months, two groups of research collaborators watched video recordings of interviews with 20 spiritual exemplars, analyzed their transcripts, wrote down their impressions of each exemplar, and discussed them in biweekly meetings. At the end of that period, the effects of the process on the collaborators were explored through individual interviews and group discussions. The data collected suggests that the collaborators both formed and experienced the process as holistic and self-transformative in different ways. Three main effects were described: “self-reflection and insight,” “opening and broadening,” and “fostering spiritual self-reliance.” In choosing their “most exemplary exemplars,” the collaborators relied mainly on their somatic-intuitive impressions—and there was great diversity in their choices. These findings suggest that spiritual exemplarity is determined by “sympathetic resonance” between the exemplar and the person perceiving them as such. The conditions that contributed to the effects of the process and the potential of its application to facilitate interreligious dialogue and personal growth are discussed.