Abstract
The objective of this paper is to elucidate the problematic and the nature of spiritual care as contrasted with terminal care and palliative care. In Japan, spiritual care is often identified with pastoral care. However, it should not be regarded as limited to a particular form of religion, but as a universal matter of human beings. In other words, it should be applicable to anyone in any place at any time. We will investigate spiritual care in terms of spirit and care. As far as care is concerned, at least two points need to be clarified. The first is to determine the basic structure underlying the human relationships of how the self and the other are related to one another. The second is to explore the semantics of pain of sickness and detect its root, that is, to see whether the human relationships are distorted or not among the self, the other, the world, and the transcendent. Pursuing these questions drives us to the dimension of the spirit. The term spirit, derived from the Latin spiritus (breath), has been referred to as both an invisible principle as well as visible phenomenon. Its dual structure of meaning is similar to that of such Japanese equivalents for it as rei (霊), tama (たま), and hi (ひ). What emerges from the etymological analysis of spirit is the problematic of how one should transcend oneself. Giving careful consideration to spiritual care from the above-mentioned perspective, a new human view, but existing from time immemorial, comes into view. Specifically, it is a trichotomy which regards the human being as a whole, or total man, with spirit, mind, and body. This way of looking at the human being will necessarily bring about a drastic change in our way of self-understanding.
