Leisure of the Aged and Social Development: An Indian Model

Leisure and quality of life in an international and multicultural context: what are major pathways linking leisure to quality of life?

“…For example, besides the central role of family ties in various cultural contexts (e.g., Middle-East; Martin and Mason, 2003), Wang and Stringer (2000) described that Taoism, which strongly influences the lives of many Chinese people including leisure, values a close connection to the nature, holistic wellness, arts, literature, cultural celebrations, and spiritual tourism (e.g., visits to Taoist temples). Also, Sharma (2002) indicated that maintaining the harmony among the body (action), mind (thought), and awareness (spirit) is essential in yoga to experience ''true self,'' while a positive significant association between participation in yoga and QOL was found in Damodaran et al's (2002) study in Bombay, India. Consistent with such evidence, Baumeister and Vohs (2002) argued that ''the essence of meaning is connection'' (p. 608), while Lopez et al (2002) suggested that seeing ''the possible connections among things, events, and relationships'' is important to achieve life meaning (p. 705).…”

“…From an Indian perspective, Sharma (2002) suggested that ''leisure, in the vedantic understanding, would be a state of being as against one of having or doing,'' and it is seen to be ''the realization of human urge for happiness'' (p. 18). Sharma also noted that through leisure ''the mind is cleansed of impurities'' with the ''identification of joy and fulfillment'' (p. 18).…”

“…Sharma also noted that through leisure ''the mind is cleansed of impurities'' with the ''identification of joy and fulfillment'' (p. 18). For example, speaking of yoga as ''a discipline for the quietening of mental modifications'' (p. 19), Sharma (2002) explained that yoga enables one to experience ''true self,'' by aligning the harmony among the body (action), mind (thought), and awareness (spirit). A positive significant association between participation in yoga and QOL was found in Damodaran et al's (2002) study in Bombay, India.…”