Mystic Experiences

Author : Jordan Paper
Publisher : State University of New York Press
Page : 187 pages
File Size : 46,7 Mb
Release : 2012-02-01
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9780791484289

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The Mystic Experience by Jordan Paper Pdf

The mystic, zero, or void experience—the ecstatic disappearance of self along with everything else—is considered by those who have had it to be the most beautiful, blissful, positive, profound, and significant experience of their lives. Offering both a descriptive and a comparative perspective, this book explores the mystic experience across cultures as both a human and cultural event. The book begins and ends with descriptions of the author's own mystical experiences, and looks at self-reported experiences by individuals who do not link their experiences to a religious tradition, to determine characteristics of this universal human experience. These characteristics are compared to statements of acknowledged mystics in diverse religious traditions. The mystic experience is also situated within other ecstatic religious experiences to distinguish it from similar, but distinct, experiences such as lucid dreams, shamanism, and mediumism. Jordan Paper goes on to look at how the mystic experience has been considered in various fields, such as sociology, psychology, anthropology, biology, and comparative religious studies.

Author : Dr. Sant Dharamananda
Publisher : Enlight-n-Scent LLC
Page : 290 pages
File Size : 43,6 Mb
Release : 2024-06-30
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
ISBN : 8210379456XXX

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Mystic Experiences with Himalayan Masters by Dr. Sant Dharamananda Pdf

This exciting and fascinating book chronicles Dr. Sant Dharamananda's real life experiences with the great Himalayan Masters. Explore the spirituality and ancient wisdom from the perspective of a practicing monk. Santji's life has been filled with incredible mystic experiences that will open your mind to a wider world, and fill you with the optimisim, love, and hope. Few words can sum up such an interesting and exhilarating life, and you'll find yourself turning each page in fascination and wonder.

Author : Ralph W. Hood
Publisher : Rodopi
Page : 194 pages
File Size : 51,6 Mb
Release : 2001
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9042013397

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Dimensions of Mystical Experiences by Ralph W. Hood Pdf

Main headings: Part 1. Conceptual issues in the empirical study of mysticism. - Part 2. The measurement of mysticism. - Part 3. The quasi-experimental elicitation of mystical experience. - Part 4. Mysticism, religious orientation, eroticism and death. - Part 5. Triggers and evaluation of mystical experience. - Part 6. The veridical nature of mystical experience. - Epilogue.

Author : Miklós Vassányi,Enikő Sepsi,Anikó Daróczi
Publisher : Springer
Page : 274 pages
File Size : 42,5 Mb
Release : 2017-01-19
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9783319450698

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The Immediacy of Mystical Experience in the European Tradition by Miklós Vassányi,Enikő Sepsi,Anikó Daróczi Pdf

This volume examines mystical experiences as portrayed in various ways by “authors” such as philosophers, mystics, psychoanalysts, writers, and peasant women. These “mystical authors” have, throughout the ages, attempted to convey the unsayable through writings, paintings, or oral stories. The immediate experience of God is the primary source and ultimate goal of these mystical expressions. This experience is essentially ineffable, yet all mystical authors, either consciously or unconsciously, feel an urge to convey what they have undergone in the moments of rapture. At the same time they are in the role of intermediaries: the goal of their self-expression – either written, painted or oral – is to make others somehow understand or feel what they have experienced, and to lead others toward the spiritual goal of human life. This volume studies the mystical experiences and the way they have been described or portrayed in West-European culture, from Antiquity to the present, from an interdisciplinary perspective, and approaches the concept of “immediate experience” in various ways.

Author : Anthony J. Steinbock
Publisher : Indiana University Press
Page : 329 pages
File Size : 52,5 Mb
Release : 2009-12-22
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
ISBN : 9780253221810

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Phenomenology and Mysticism by Anthony J. Steinbock Pdf

Exploring the first-person narratives of three figures from the Christian, Jewish, and Islamic mystical traditions—St. Teresa of Avila, Rabbi Dov Baer, and Rūzbihān Baqlī—Anthony J. Steinbock provides a complete phenomenology of mysticism based in the Abrahamic religious traditions. He relates a broad range of religious experiences, or verticality, to philosophical problems of evidence, selfhood, and otherness. From this philosophical description of vertical experience, Steinbock develops a social and cultural critique in terms of idolatry—as pride, secularism, and fundamentalism—and suggests that contemporary understandings of human experience must come from a fuller, more open view of religious experience.

Author : Paul Mommaers
Publisher : Peeters Publishers
Page : 304 pages
File Size : 46,8 Mb
Release : 2003
Category : Experience (Religion).
ISBN : 9042912324

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The Riddle of Christian Mystical Experience by Paul Mommaers Pdf

A distinctive feature of mystical experience is that it is "imageless". Mystics of various traditions witness indeed to their going beyond all intermediaries so as to enjoy immediate union. Understandably, the idea of imageless immediacy is attractive, and it is especially in vogue with those who hope to discover that different (religious) spiritualities converge if only the particularity of, say, the Christian way would be left behind. However, a crucial question arises here. If mystical union consists in simply transcending what is part and parcel of the human condition, where is its relevance? Is the mystic as such in a position to be his or her human self - thinking and loving, enjoying and suffering? Can he or she be active in the world of humankind? Obviously, it is especially in the Christian tradition that this matter comes to the fore as a radical difficulty. For here there is the divine Image and Mediator, so much so that the Humanity of Jesus ought to be integral to a person's union with God. Perhaps the Christian mystic is such an extraordinary figure that the Humanity and all other images and intermediaries are, for him or her, at best a stepping-stone that is bound to disappear? The Riddle of Christian Mystical Experience aims to clarify this issue by analyzing the writings of such visionaries as Julian of Norwich, Teresa of Avila and Maria Petyt; of the ecstasy-minded masters Richard of Saint Victor, Bernard of Clairvaux and Bonaventure (describing Francis of Assisi's experience); of the cream of the Flemish mystics, namely Hadewijch and Jan van Ruusbroec. Nevertheless, the preference for the mystical text does not prevent the Riddle from drawing on the insights of modern philosophers such as Jean-Paul Sartre and Jean-Luc Marion when treating of images and idols, or Michael Polanyi and Ludwig Wittgenstein when reflecting on intermediaries. The main result of this procedure may come as a surprise. Far from turning into a detached creature who forgets about the Humanity and the human, the full-fledged mystic is, as a Flemish mystic puts it, "wholly in God, where he rests in enjoyment, and wholly in himself, where he loves with works". Experiencing union "with intermediary and without intermediary", the true Christian mystic is "unimaged" as well as "imaged upon the humanity of our Lord through heartfelt affection".

Author : Richard H. Jones
Publisher : SUNY Press
Page : 440 pages
File Size : 43,9 Mb
Release : 2016-03-23
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9781438461199

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Philosophy of Mysticism by Richard H. Jones Pdf

A comprehensive exploration of the philosophical issues raised by mysticism. This work is a comprehensive study of the philosophical issues raised by mysticism. Mystics claim to experience reality in a way not available in normal life, a claim which makes this phenomenon interesting from a philosophical perspective. Richard H. Jones’s inquiry focuses on the skeleton of beliefs and values of mysticism: knowledge claims made about the nature of reality and of human beings; value claims about what is significant and what is ethical; and mystical goals and ways of life. Jones engages language, epistemology, metaphysics, science, and the philosophy of mind. Methodological issues in the study of mysticism are also addressed. Examples of mystical experience are drawn chiefly from Buddhism and Advaita Vedanta, but also from Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and Daoism. “This is a significant extension of the seminal work by Walter Stace, Mysticism and Philosophy. That work has stimulated much literature, all of which Jones manages to review here. He critically extends Stace’s universal core and embeds it in a sophisticated discussion of the extent, range, and metaphysical implications of mysticism.” — Ralph W. Hood, Jr., coauthor of The Psychology of Religion: An Empirical Approach

Author : David S. Ariel
Publisher : Jason Aronson, Incorporated
Page : 258 pages
File Size : 48,8 Mb
Release : 1977-07-07
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9781461631644

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The Mystic Quest by David S. Ariel Pdf

The Mystic Quest explains the major ideas and concepts of Jewish mystical thought in a way that the general reader can clearly understand. Drawing upon his own extensive research as well as on the growing body of scholarly material on the subject, Dr. David Ariel, president of the Cleveland College of Jewish Studies, presents the extremely difficult and complex elements of Jewish mysticism in language that makes it accessible to the layperson. Jewish mysticism is as old as the Bible itself. It is a rich and subtle web of secret teachings and practices that has been part of Judaism since antiquity and has sought to keep the original spark of religious experience alive through the centuries. It is the relatively unknown, esoteric dimension of Judaism that has nourished a deep spiritual power within a tradition of law, ritual, and observance. A central element in Judaism, the "mystic quest" has shaped both Judaism and Jews throughout history, generating the kabbalistic tradition and Hasidism, which continue to thrive today, As Ariel says, "This book is concerned primarily with the development and meaning of the Kabbalah, the principal tradition of mystical Jewish thought." The Mystic Quest begins with an examination of the variety of phenomena known in different cultures as "mysticism." Ariel then located the Jewish mystical tradition within the context of Jewish history and traces its evolution throughout the ages. Jewish mystical theories about the hidden and revealed God, the feminine aspects of divinity, the mystical Torah, and the concepts of the soul and human destiny are then explored in detail. Finally, the author considers Hasidism and modern Jewish mystical thought, discussing the role of mysticism in contemporary Judaism. In language accessible to the beginner, yet sophisticated enough to captivate the advanced student, The Mystic Quest fills an important gap in our knowledge of mysticism by bringing a comprehensive and fresh understanding of the subject to a new generation of

Author : Osho
Publisher : Lawrence Verry Incorporated
Page : 543 pages
File Size : 40,6 Mb
Release : 1977
Category : Kunḍạlinī
ISBN : 084261026X

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The Mystic Experience by Osho Pdf

Author : James R. Horne
Publisher : Wilfrid Laurier Univ. Press
Page : 145 pages
File Size : 42,8 Mb
Release : 1983-11-17
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9780889201491

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The Moral Mystic by James R. Horne Pdf

Mysticism is condemned as often as it is praised. Much of the condemnation comes from mysticism’s apparent disregard of morality and ethics. For mystics, the experience of “union” transcends all moral concern. In this careful examination of the works of such practitioners or examiners of mysticism as Paul Tillich, Thomas Merton, Evelyn Underhill, and Martin Buber, the author posits a spectrum of uneasy relationships between mysticism and morality. Horne explores the polarities of apophatic (imageless) and imaginative mysticism, the contemplative and the active life, and morality and amorality. He stresses the importance of the distinction between “proper-name” (entirely personal) morality and “social” morality, for the history of Christian mysticism is a mix of minimal moral concern, proper-name morality, and social morality. The volume will be of interest to students of religious experience, ethics, and the recent history of mysticism. Carefully reasoned and documented, the argument is couched in clear prose, easily accessible to lay readers as well as to scholars.

Author : Nelson Pike
Publisher : Cornell University Press
Page : 252 pages
File Size : 44,5 Mb
Release : 1992
Category : Mystical union
ISBN : 0801426847

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Mystic Union by Nelson Pike Pdf

What is it to experience union with God? In this highly original and accessible book, one of our leading philosophers of religion seeks to answer this question by analyzing the several states of mystic union as they are described and explained in the classical primary literature of the Christian mystical tradition.

Author : Arthur MacDonald Allchin,Michael Ramsey
Publisher : SLG Press
Page : 68 pages
File Size : 48,8 Mb
Release : 1996
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9780728301429

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Evelyn Underhill: Anglican Mystic by Arthur MacDonald Allchin,Michael Ramsey Pdf

Fairacres Publications 126 The publication of ‘Mysticism’ in 1911 established Evelyn Underhill’s reputation as a significant writer on a subject previously somewhat neglected within the Church of England. Her writings, emanating from a life of profound prayer, have become classics for those seeking to deepen their prayer lives. They combine learning, authority and readability and are written in an ecumenical spirit of striking breadth and generosity. These two essays, together with a series of letters she wrote to a novice testing her vocation to the religious life, demonstrate her gifts as writer, theologian and spiritual director.

Author : Harvey D. Egan
Publisher : Wipf and Stock Publishers
Page : 232 pages
File Size : 55,8 Mb
Release : 2020-09-22
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9781725284968

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Ignatius Loyola the Mystic by Harvey D. Egan Pdf

Author : Moshe Idel
Publisher : State University of New York Press
Page : 262 pages
File Size : 49,8 Mb
Release : 2012-02-01
Category : History
ISBN : 9781438407456

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The Mystical Experience in Abraham Abulafia by Moshe Idel Pdf

This book represents the first wide-scale presentation of a major Jewish mystic, the founder of the ecstatic Kabbalah. It includes a description of the techniques employed by his master, including the role of music. There is a discussion of the characteristics of his mystical experience and the erotic imagery by which it was expressed. Based on all the extant manuscript material of Abulafia, this book opens the way to a new understanding of Jewish mysticism. It points to the importance of the ecstatic Kabbalah for the later developments in mystical Judaism.

Author : Jess Hollenback
Publisher : Penn State Press
Page : 657 pages
File Size : 54,7 Mb
Release : 1996-09-08
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9780271072685

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Mysticism by Jess Hollenback Pdf

This sweeping study of mysticism by Jess Hollenback considers the writings and experiences of a broad range of traditional religious mystics, including Teresa of Avila, Black Elk, and Gopi Krishna. It also makes use of a new category of sources that more traditional scholars have almost entirely ignored, namely, the autobiographies and writings of contemporary clairvoyants, mediums, and out-of-body travelers. This study contributes to the current debate about the contextuality of mysticism by presenting evidence that not only are the mystic's interpretations of and responses to experiences culturally and historically conditioned, but historical context and cultural environment decisively shape both the perceptual and affective content of the mystic's experience as well. Hollenback also explores the linkage between the mystic's practice of recollection and the onset of other unusual or supernormal manifestations such as photisms, the ability to see auras, telepathic sensitivity, clairvoyance, and out-of-body experiences. He demonstrates that these extraordinary phenomena can actually deepen our understanding of mysticism in unexpected ways. A unique feature of this book is its in-depth analysis of "empowerment," an important phenomenon ignored by most scholars of mysticism. Empowerment is a peculiar enhancement of the imagination, thoughts, and desires that frequently accompanies mystical states of consciousness. Hollenback shows its cross-cultural persistence, its role in constructing the perceptual and existential environments within which the mystic dwells, and its linkage to the fundamental contextuality of mystical experience.