Spiritual Knowledge in Eastern and Western Cultures and Human Health

The author of the article analyzes the interrelation of culture and people's ideas about their health. The report shows the peculiarities of Eastern (Chinese and Indian) and Western cultures, and how the understanding of the spiritual element in them defines the concept of health and development of ways to acquire it. The East thinks spirituality as something organically growing from the body (which is also characteristic of the ancient Greek culture) – the principle of kalokagathos. The theistic culture of the transcendent origin (Christianity) stems from the principle of faith (Philokalia), the disengagement of spirituality and body. The author concludes that it is necessary to synthesize the spiritual experience of the East (Taoism, yoga) and the West (faith), following the path of creating an integral culture, to reach the state of being healthy.