Wairua

I have used the terms wairua rather than ‘spiritual’ as the term spiritual does not adequately cover these terms. If I were to employ an Indigenous research paradigm to this term ‘spiritual’ then I am made aware that the western understanding of ‘spiritual’ is entwined in the western knowledge stratification that privileges religion and religious studies which is held separately to the lesser research category of ‘spirituality’. I would then need to articulate a Māori understanding. In general it is the understanding that ultimate reality of any person is both equally tangible and intangible (Marsden, in Royal 2003).