«DARKNESS» AND «EMPTINESS» OF THE SUBJECT. COMPARATIVE ANALYSES OF «MYSTICAL THEOLOGY» AND «THE HEART SUTRA»

Abstract

This article is the result of a compare analyses of the treatise by Pseudo- Dionysius the Areopagite «Mystical Theology» and one of the central sutras of the Mahayana’s tradition «The Heart Sutra». This article has the following objectives: firstly, to conduct a comparative analysis of two fundamental texts, in which displayed the central categories of each tradition. Special attention was paid to negative notions and also to concepts that maximally generalize and express denials. These primarily «the darkness» by Pseudo-Denys and «the emptiness» by the author of Heart Sutra. Secondly, to explain of the patterns identified during the research. According to the author, modern scientific studies devote low attention to the problem of interpretations of irrational categories. However, these categories are used in a rational discourse, often without hermeneutic strategies. An analyses of the modern thematic literatures to show the absence of a single consensus when addressing to issues related to the categorical apparatus of mystical-religious traditions.Their semantic content is often explained by the influence of the previous tradition, by the dominant culture and chronological relevance. According to the author opinion, there are fundamental similarities and background content of some categories, which are used in different traditions. Originality: Firstly, in the approach itself – the text considered in the article where not previously compared. Secondly, as a result of comparing the main categorical apparatus of the texts manifest consisted pattern of content, methods of presentation and structure of both treatises themselves and categories under consideration. Thirdly, the article offers an interpretation of the revealed patterns in the context of the consequence of the autodeanthropomorfization.The studied treatises have some coincidences are observed at the level of organization of the text, as well as pattern consisting in a consistent “unfolding” of a content from a central negative category, which, in turn is a category symbolizing the state of the subject outside of the self-creating experience.