Mystical Concepts Research Articles

MYSTICISM CONCEPT IN THE UNHOLY FILM

Mysticism is still an unknown field in terms of scientific research so to find out and explore the mysticism in the belief of religions expands to terms of evidence-based research. The concept of mysticism was analyzed in qualitative descriptive research with the emphasis on collective data extracted through numerous findings and evidence shown in the film to the connection between the statement of the concept as whole terms. Mysticism concept can be found in various religious beliefs of small communities with a sense of communicating through God, it gives a sense of enlightenment and connection towards the creator. Mysticism is a part of the different fields that have interested numerous experts in finding such claims that are based on history itself. In scientific fields, mysticism presents a form of union between the creator that experiences extrovertive (oneness) and introvertive (emptiness). The purpose of this research is to find basic understanding of the mysticism concept in broad view. When various activities in black magic and witchcraft may result in miracle phenomena research should be focused on the different cultures and religions far and wide, small or big communities. The main focus of the religion is Christianity and church authorities and the view to be explored in terms of their faith. The findings based on the main characterization are; Loyalty, Curiosity, Responsibility, and Religious Belief. Mysticism emphasizes all sorts of experiences beyond psychological and neurophysics as a whole. The main idea of this research is (1) to find the evidence based on the findings, (2) to determine the related characterization of Alice Pagett, (3) to find the relevance of the concept. The method used aside from qualitative is using theory of numerous experts related to the field of study from e-journals, e-books, and previous research results of interview depth-in and related characterization of the character. There are five pieces of evidence of concept in the film, three evidence of miracle phenomena, and four characterizations of Alice Pagett.

A educação indígena e a educação Musical

This work exposes a discourse presented in the Master’s Dissertation that investigates MUSICAL ART AS AN EDUCATIONAL TOOL IN THE VITALIZATION OF THE STUDY OF THE MOTHER TONGUE OF THE KOKAMA INDIGENOUS PEOPLE IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL I IN THE COMMUNITY OF SAPOTAL IN THE MUNICIPALITY OF TABATINGA. Music is part of the indigenous life of several indigenous peoples in what is now Brazil, it is part of everything, work, birth, harvesting, rituals and other moments of indigenous life. Music is a human experience. It does not derive from the physical properties of sound, but rather from man’s relationship with sound. Following Penna’s analyses, music is a social and historical phenomenon. Take as an example European music that consolidated the tonal system, creating from its experiences formal codes that Western music obeyed for three centuries. In your system the smallest distance is the perception of smaller intervals. But other people have a different system. The result is when we listen to the music of other peoples, it represents us and to us the music of indigenous peoples may seem strange and in the same way our music seems strange to them. It is clear in the discourse that there is a rupture in mystical concepts regarding music, as it is a production of transcendental origin. In fact, musical sensitivity is not the result of an innate gift, but rather, of acquired stimulus, the result of experience in a given society.

Guides’ Interpretive Techniques in Cocreation Combined with the Experience Broker Theory

In tourism, cocreation is a bilateral relationship between tourists and tourism providers to enhance tourists’ experiences. In this sense, tour guides as tourism providers cocreate experiences and play an essential role in tourists’ encounters through heritage interpretation. Among tourism providers, tour guides, through guided tours, can be considered a facilitator and a mediator of cocreative experiences. Therefore, this study explores ways to offer cocreative heritage tourism experiences through interpretation, highlighting their function as brokers within the framework of Weiler and Black’s Experience Broker Theory. The methodology employed combined in-depth semi-structured interviews with 10 tour guides, and direct observation of 10 guided tours at the Royal Mosque of Isfahan. The study underscores the role of tour guides in creating a profound spiritual experience for tourists. This research demonstrates the importance of tailored interpretive strategies in enhancing tourists’ cognitive and emotional experiences, reinforcing the guides’ role as empathy brokers within the cocreation paradigm. Tour guides progressed through stages of brokering, from accommodating cultural backgrounds to explaining rituals and mystical concepts, culminating in a profound empathetic experience during the call to prayer. This process allowed tourists to deeply connect with the cultural and spiritual elements of the tour.

Mystical Elements in the Novels of Marah Rusli

Marah Rusli is widely recognized as a prominent figure in Indonesian literature, particularly in the field of writing novels. He is regarded as the 'father' of contemporary Indonesian fiction. His well-known writings, including Sitti Nurbaya, were the subject of numerous analyses. The mystical components, another aspect of Marah Rusli's writing that appears to be recurrent, will be examined by the researchers in this article. The findings indicate that Marah Rusli, despite being aligned with modernist ideals and expressing criticism towards traditional Minangkabau rituals, exhibited a profound inclination towards mystical concepts that can be characterized as rooted in folk beliefs. His autobiographical novel Memang Jodoh, in particular, includes numerous mystical influences and illustrates supernatural events. For the reader, this fact is fascinating as it provides new, important background information about the work of Marah Rusli.

Comparing the Roots of the Faculty of Imagination and Analyzing the Concepts of the Divine Names (Asma’ Allah al-Husna) in the Degrees of Human Existence from the Perspective of Ibn Arabi

This research examines and analyzes the roots of the faculty of imagination and the concepts of the Divine Names (Asma’ Allah al-Husna) in the degrees of human existence from the perspective of Muhyiddin Ibn Arabi. The transformations of theological and mystical concepts, from the advent of Islam to the medieval periods, especially in the realm of Sufism, have been accompanied by depth and evolution. From the 8th century CE, Islamic mystics in both the eastern and western parts of the Islamic world solidified and developed the theoretical foundations of Sufism. In the 12th century CE, Ibn Arabi, considering the cultural and intellectual context of his time, revisited mystical teachings and, utilizing the concepts of the faculty of imagination and the Divine Names, reinterpreted ideas such as the Perfect Man (Insan Kamil) and the unity of existence in a novel way. This research demonstrates that Ibn Arabi, by blending previous mystical concepts and employing the power of imagination, restructured and expanded the language of Sufism and the meaning of the Perfect Man. He succeeded in deeply analyzing the Divine Names, interpreting the existential ranks of humans, and presenting a new understanding of humanity’s place in the cosmic order. The goal of this article is to provide a comprehensive view of the impact of the faculty of imagination and the analysis of the Divine Names on the structure of mystical anthropology and to explain the key concepts of Sufism from Ibn Arabi’s perspective.

Подлинное существование человека по учению преподобного Симеона Нового Богослова

The article reveals the main aspects of the teaching of St. Simeon the New Theologian about deification from the perspective of the problems of authentic and inauthentic human existence. An analysis of this teaching is carried out in comparison with the thoughts of some representatives of modern philosophy and sociology. The concept of mysticism is also revealed, the teaching of modern philosophy about the authenticity and inauthenticity of human existence is assessed, and the concepts of existence and deification are differentiated. The article provides characteristics of the authentic and inauthentic existence of a person from the position of the Christian teaching of St. Simeon and from the point of view of some representatives of philosophy and sociology. It is concluded that existence and deification are not the same thing; it is said that inauthentic existence manifests itself in the form of imitation and oblivion, but genuine existence — in the vision of truth, “divine light”, God. The main sign of genuine existence is human repentance and questioning (prayer) (Heb. 5:7–9), and of inauthentic existence — pride and oblivion, which were the reasons for the fall of the first man Adam.

The construction of environmental philosophy rooted in religiosity

One of the causes of poor human-environment relations is the separation of the study of natural philosophy and human philosophy. The awareness to combine natural and human philosophy has been sparked by thinkers such as Henryk Skolimowski and Fritjof Capra. However, both are seen as not showing clear root values. Meanwhile, Sayyed Hossein Nasr has brought the concept of value in the combination of natural philosophy with human philosophy. However, he describes it as a mystical concept that is too complex for many people to understand. Buya Hamka, with his monumental work on Al-Azhar commentary, has succeeded in combining natural and human philosophy based on clear values. Hamka is a multidimensional thinker with thinking characteristics that grow and blend into socio-cultural and religious so that many groups see it as more populist and can understand it. Hamka’s thinking way can be an alternative frame of reference for environmental problems. The Hamka concept constructs three main pillars: transcendent consciousness, caliphate and qana’ah. Transcendent consciousness is human appreciation based on religiosity. Caliphate is the role of humans to become mushlih (nature sustainer), preservers and guardians in efforts to beautify nature, and qana’ah encourages humans to take advantage of nature without exploiting it.Contribution: This research’s main contribution is offering an alternative concept of environmental philosophy construction based on religiosity. This concept is seen as a very accessible paradigm in most people’s minds and is not complicated. This paradigm can be disseminated and applied to many people, including in the junior high school environment, as a form of concern for the natural environment and sustainable life.

Attribution of Wisdom to Prophets in Khaja Ahmad Yassawi’s works

The present research examines the spread of Sufi doctrine throughout Central Asia, with a particular focus on that of Khoja Ahmed Yassawi. We endeavored to demonstrate their fundamental worth by utilizing Ahmed Yassawi's "Divani Hikmet" and "Masnavi" poetry, among other religious writings. In this paper, we examine the relationship between the prophets' words (Yassawi’s list of main Sufi concepts) and other mystical concepts. Our objective was to determine the artistic and aesthetic significance of these concepts in the poet's works. In addition, Khoja Ahmed Yassawi's Islamic viewpoints on morality, empathy, spiritual purification, and other related topics are presented.

Supernormalising Nothing from the Hyperbolic Nihil to the Ordinary Supernothing

Abstract This essay connects the mystical concept of “supernothing” with Bergson’s notion of the image of nothingness as a movement in the making. I do this also with respect to the film The Empty Man (David Prior, 2020) – which explicitly cites Gorgias’s four-part embargo on nothing (it exists, it cannot be known, communicated, or understood): nothingness is re-rendered as movement, in particular, the transmission and reception of images in the brain. Indeed, this is precisely Bergson’s theory of the brain too – as the receiver and transmitter of images, a communication of movements. This “nihilistic” approach to the brain (it does not store images, it has no positive content) is not a valorisation of the ego as void à la Metzinger, but the real, processual rethinking of what nothingness and nihilism might mean – with a full, moving “supernothing” at its heart. Though there is a mystical and a film-philosophical account referenced in this renewal of nothingness, it will not lead to any exotic or hyperbolic excess (the brain as supernatural agent), but rather a very “ordinary” account that we will describe in terms of “supernormalisation”: an “unlearning” or mundanising of the supernatural: an extraction of the supernatural by natural means.

Embracing the Unknowable: Paradigm of Ineffability

Ineffability is a long-time partner of the philosophy of religion and mysticism. Through apophatic conceptions of the divine, it can act to guarantee the transcendence of the divine, elevate it to something beyond our conceptions. It has also held the central role in defining if not the nature, then at least the characteristics of mystical experience. Sometimes it is that which affirms the unique nature of mystical experience, and sometimes it is what challenges the concept of mysticism as incoherent and paradoxical. In this article, I will explore if there could be a Being Ineffable that unites both the mystical experience and its (purportedly) transcendent object, while acknowledging the problem of coherence that ineffability entails. I will do so by forming an argument for ineffability that attempts to both validate and define absolute ineffability as the point of convergence between three meanings of Being Ineffable: as a definition of absolute (ineffability), as a mystical experience of it, and finally, as the Ineffable, that is, the God/Absolute/Ultimate; all the meanings are held together by an argument from ineffability—a permeating and silently expressed attempt to turn ineffability from its usual role of a negation into a necessary affirmation.

REFLECTION OF THE "THREE WORLDS" CONCEPT OF GRIGORY SKOVORODA IN THE PHILOSOPHICAL LYRICS OF ARSENY TARKOVSKY

The article is devoted to the reflection of the "three worlds" concept of Grigory Skovoroda in the philosophical lyrics of Arseny Tarkovsky, who considered the Ukrainian thinker his spiritual teacher. His religious and mystical concept provides for the mutual harmonious interaction of the macrocosm (Universe), microcosm (man) and the symbolic world of the Bible. Using the example of selected poems, the artistic content and poetic structure of images of macro- and microcosm are analyzed. The spatial element of the chronotope in Tarkovsky’s poetry is very revealing. In some cases, it directly correlates with the category of the microcosm. One of its most representative manifestations is the space of the steppe. It retains all the signs of a traditionally self-sufficient geographic landscape with its characteristic realities, and at the same time appears as a universal spiritual space that imparts a sense of inner freedom. The holistic spatial perspective of the macrocosm unfolds both horizontally (steppe and other topoi) and vertically: from the earth to the sky and further to the stars. Tarkovsky’s microcosm, like Skovoroda’s, has a religious and ethical connotation. It is represented by highly suggestive images of a lyrical hero, who gazes intently at the world around him, feeling an integral part of it. Not only is the microcosm likened to the macrocosm, but the great world is organically humanized in the process of active interaction. Tarkovsky’s awareness of the harmonious relationship between the Universe and the man is often realized through biblical contexts, both evident and concealed.

Locating the Sacred: “Claimed” and “Unclaimed” Spaces in John P. Clark-Bekederemo’s Remains of a Tide and Harry Garuba’s Animist Chants and Memorials

In this article I argue that the sacred in John Pepper Clark-Bekederemo’s Remains of a Tide (Ibadan: Mosuro, 2018) and Harry Garuba’s Animist Chants and Memorials (Ibadan: Kraft Books, 2017) evokes a contestation of meanings involving “claimed” and “unclaimed” spaces of the sacred. In the analysis of these poetry collections, I apply Paul Ricoeur’s narrative theory of memory, and concepts of mythology and mysticism. The unclaimed space in the two collections remains impenetrable, deified, and fetishised, but the claimed space is accessible, liberal, and imaginable. In interaction with the unclaimed space, the claimed space breaks the barriers insulating the unclaimed space to interrogate the real and unreal. The claimed space also accommodates the depiction of symbolic objects of interest by the two poets. For both Clark-Bekederemo and Garuba, landscapes, introspection, and recollection are symptomatic responses to experiences of rupture between the claimed and the unclaimed spaces. This article also illustrates that during a rupture, the unclaimed space can take on new meanings and stereotypical symbols can be reshaped. The sacred in literature is complicated by a structure that blends elements of the familiar and the strange in unusual configurations. The sacred in the two poetry collections is delineated along imagined and reimagined spaces.

The Specifics of the Timbral Embodiment of the Figurative & Emotional Sphere in Dmitri Shostakovich's 'Viola Sonata'

The object of the study is the Sonata for Viola and Piano Op. 147 by Dmitri Shostakovich—a work rightfully considered autobiographical and as a farewell. The subject of the study was the specificity of the timbral embodiment of the composition’s figurative and emotional sphere. In the proposed reading, the first part of the sonata is an image of the world to which the composer sends a farewell glance, the second is a sarcastic sketch of bright collective images of the vices of humanity, and the finale is a penetration beyond reality. The author of the article, in detail, referring to specific musical examples given in the text, examines the specific instrumental techniques used by the composer, which made it possible to embody the mystical concept of the sonata. The novelty of the research lies in the identification of three main figurative lines of the composition: eternity, the voice of the soul, and the world, which correspond to different timbral characteristics of the viola, which received their definitions through the use of specific expressive techniques. Eternity is the dispassionate sound of the viola, which is characterized by some programming, inexorability (an allusion to the "knock of fate”), monotonous figuration, and long double notes in the lower part of the range. The voice of the soul is detached, with the dark, gloomy coloring of the sound: melodica, devoid of "beautiful" intonations, sentimental singing, "Beethoven" trio in new refraction, acting as the personification of the otherworldly. The world is a tearing and sharp sound and sarcastic caricature of colors: glissando with access to the flageolet, short caustic foreshocks, exaggeratedly sharp staccato, ascending parallel quarts in sixteenth, illustrating a hysterical burst of laughter. The main figurative spaces coexist throughout the composition, presenting in the sonata genre a new specific characteristic of the viola for the first time, which interprets the world of unreal images in many ways. Shostakovich's sonata is defined as the starting point of the formation of the leading figurative direction of the viola repertoire of the last third of the twentieth century, which secured the viola the role of a guide to the world of the beyond—a kind of Virgil.

The Specifics of the Timbral Embodiment of the Figurative & Emotional Sphere in Dmitri Shostakovich's 'Viola Sonata'

The object of the study is the Sonata for Viola and Piano Op. 147 by Dmitri Shostakovich—a work rightfully considered autobiographical and as a farewell. The subject of the study was the specificity of the timbral embodiment of the composition’s figurative and emotional sphere. In the proposed reading, the first part of the sonata is an image of the world to which the composer sends a farewell glance, the second is a sarcastic sketch of bright collective images of the vices of humanity, and the finale is a penetration beyond reality. The author of the article, in detail, referring to specific musical examples given in the text, examines the specific instrumental techniques used by the composer, which made it possible to embody the mystical concept of the sonata. The novelty of the research lies in the identification of three main figurative lines of the composition: eternity, the voice of the soul, and the world, which correspond to different timbral characteristics of the viola, which received their definitions through the use of specific expressive techniques. Eternity is the dispassionate sound of the viola, which is characterized by some programming, inexorability (an allusion to the "knock of fate”), monotonous figuration, and long double notes in the lower part of the range. The voice of the soul is detached, with the dark, gloomy coloring of the sound: melodica, devoid of "beautiful" intonations, sentimental singing, "Beethoven" trio in new refraction, acting as the personification of the otherworldly. The world is a tearing and sharp sound and sarcastic caricature of colors: glissando with access to the flageolet, short caustic foreshocks, exaggeratedly sharp staccato, ascending parallel quarts in sixteenth, illustrating a hysterical burst of laughter. The main figurative spaces coexist throughout the composition, presenting in the sonata genre a new specific characteristic of the viola for the first time, which interprets the world of unreal images in many ways. Shostakovich's sonata is defined as the starting point of the formation of the leading figurative direction of the viola repertoire of the last third of the twentieth century, which secured the viola the role of a guide to the world of the beyond—a kind of Virgil.

Fütüvvete Dair Teliflerin Bir Süreği Olarak Ali Hemedânî’nin Risâle-i Fütüvvetiyye’sine Dair Bazı Mülahazalar

Futuwwa is considered a mystical concept as a moral ideal that we can see in almost every culture. Ṣūfīs blended futuwwa with mystical content in order to distinguish themselves from various futuwwa conceptions and experiences adopted by segments with different priorities. In this context, the principle of adherence to religious provisions was prioritized on the basis of the definitions of futuwwa, and the virtues aimed at protecting the law of others in social practices, especially generosity and altruism, constituted the essence of futuwwa. Melāmet, as an integral part of futuwwa, facilitated the applicability of futuwwa morality by glorifying the piety that one would live by hiding one's self in the network of social relations. In this direction, the ṣūfīs made various definitions and explanations about futuwwa, and with the emergence of ṣūfī literature, these words were also revealed in the first works under the titles of good morals or futuwwa. The futuwwa treatises, the first example of which we can see in Sulemī, are composed of narrations that ṣūfī sheikhs spoke about within religious boundaries and that reflect the morality of īsār. Apart from Sulemī's treatise, it is seen that futuwwa is only mentioned in the title of the subject in the first period ṣūfī classics. These works presented futuwwa as a sign of a perfect piety on the moral plane. However, it is seen that futuwwa took on an institutional structure in the sixth and seventh centuries of the hijra, later on gained an economic structure under the name of Ahi-order and continued its existence as an individual organization under the roof of Ṣūfīsm. In this period, when the organization became widespread in the community, detached works were written about futuwwa, the content of which was created in the form of a regulation. When we examine these treatises, we see that the futuwwa is now represented at the organizational level and that in addition to its moral dimension, some formal rules and rules of its own are formed. Conditions such as wearing a shalwar or belt, being male, sane, and reaching puberty can be counted among these. In addition, some principles were also laid down regarding the relationship of the members of the futuwwa with each other or with their pirs. On the other hand, St. Ali's leadership in futuwwa manifests itself as one of the main features of the futuwwatnāmes of this period. We come across many examples of futuwwatnāmes, especially the works of Suhrawardī and Ibn al-Mi'mār, one of them being the futuwwa treatise of Seyyid Ali Hemedānī, one of the Kubravī sheikhs. Hemedānī, who continued his life in the geography of India, played an important role in the rise of Islam in this region, and he received his mystical education from Maḥmūd Mezdekānī and Takıyyüddīn Ali Dostī, the caliphs of the Kubraviyya sheikh Alaüddevle Simnānī. The treatise translated into Turkish by Tāhir al-Mawlawī can be considered as an extension of the previous futuwwa in terms of revealing the mystical aspect of futuwwa, making descriptions that we can follow the relationship between ahi-order and futuwwa, continuing the understanding of futuwwa of the early ṣūfīs, and trying to draw the religious boundaries of futuwwa. In this study, the prominent features of the futuwvetnāmes written by some basic names such as Sulemī and Suhrawardī will be examined, and in the second title, Hemedānī's Risāle-i Fütüvvetiyye, which we can consider as an extension of this tradition, will be discussed over points.

What is real? On the dematerialization of matter

In this article I argue that one cannot pinpoint what is in fact real owing to the immaterial conception of matter. This argument is made possible from a scientific, philosophical, and arts-related paradigm. Whether the underlying paradigm is materialism; idealism or the creativity of the arts, it appears that one cannot say precisely what reality id and therefore have no definite sense as to what is real. This might lead to a mystical conception of matter.

Mystifying Kabbalah: Academic Scholarship, National Theology, and New Age Spirituality by Boaz Huss

Reviewed by: Mystifying Kabbalah: Academic Scholarship, National Theology, and New Age Spirituality by Boaz Huss Jeremy Phillip Brown Boaz Huss. Mystifying Kabbalah: Academic Scholarship, National Theology, and New Age Spirituality. Translated by Elana Lutsky. Oxford Series in Western Esotericism. New York: Oxford University Press, 2020. 200 pp. Boaz Huss has made original contributions to research on medieval Kabbalah, the long reception of the Zohar, North African Kabbalah, new religious movements, contemporary Kabbalah, and Jewish spirituality. Mystifying Kabbalah, which runs the gamut of Huss's research agenda, is ably translated by Elana Lutsky from Huss's 2018 Hebrew monograph, The Question of the Existence of Jewish Mysticism: The Genealogy of Jewish Mysticism and the Theologies of Kabbalah Research. The title of the Hebrew original drives from a 1906 letter written by Martin Buber, in which the grandson of the Maskil Solomon Buber made a fledgling argument for "the [mere] existence of Jewish mysticism." The letter is an apt point of reference for a book dealing with the "invention" of Jewish mysticism. Synthesizing several articles composed by Huss going back at least as far as 2007, Mystifying Kabbalah examines the discursive formation of Jewish mysticism as a modern category of analysis, an approach that finds inspiration, per the author's express claims, in the work of Talal Asad, Russell McCutcheon, and Timothy Fitzgerald. Huss's project is comprised of five main trajectories: (1) a genealogy of the modern construction of mysticism, which, per Huss, is based upon universalist presuppositions of a theological order, presuppositions congenial to imperialist sponsorship; (2) a reconstruction of how modern Jewish scholars, with Buber and Gershom Scholem in leading roles, assimilated this construction of mysticism [End Page 427] when casting Kabbalah and Hasidism as "Jewish mysticism" to promote Jewish national consciousness; (3) a daring account of how persevering in their use of a putatively uncritical category has served the interests of the author's own teachers and colleagues; (4) an analysis of how the scholarly construction of "Jewish mysticism" has nourished contemporary spirituality; and (5) a methodological indictment of the category, which seeks to liberate research on Kabbalah and Hasidism from its subordination to "Jewish mysticism." The book is structurally analogous to the conceptual genealogies of other scholars who have leveraged foundational interventions in the study of religion, such as Karen King's 2003 What Is Gnosticism?, or more recently, Daniel Boyarin's 2018 Judaism: The Genealogy of a Modern Notion. In this sense, the analytical mood assumed by Huss fits, like the modern concept of mysticism itself, within a broader historical moment of scholarly discourse. It is a moment, however, dedicated to exposing how broadly organizational categories of research are constructed in historically and epistemically contingent ways. To further qualify Mystifying Kabbalah's relationship to previous scholarship, the book is much indebted to the methodology modeled by Wouter Hanegraaff's 1998 New Age Religion and Western Culture: Esotericism in the Mirror of Secular Thought. Huss also takes a similar approach to Steven Wasserstrom's 1999 Religion after Religion: Gershom Scholem, Mircea Eliade and Henry Corbin at Eranos, but does not invoke this watershed critique of mystocentrism in the History of Religions. One criticism of this otherwise dynamic book is that it operates with a thin concept of theology. While Huss is precise in pinpointing many reasons that the category of Jewish mysticism is wrongheaded (perhaps the most urgent reason being that it generates artificial affinities in the comparative phenomenology of religion), exposing the tacit assumptions of research as "theological" does not in itself articulate the ideological limitations of scholarship. Critical theologians who are certainly practiced in the kind of genealogical analysis offered here may find this line of argumentation inadequate. Similarly, Huss supposes an automatic correlation of theological research commitments with apologetical tendencies. He claims, for example, "The relative lack of criticism toward Kabbalistic androcentrism and misogyny is connected to the theological paradigm of research, which demands an empathetic approach to the research data and glorifies Jewish mysticism as a liberating force in Jewish culture" (96–97). This claim is not just unpersuasive because theology is supposed to determine apologetical outcomes, but also because the research conditions in which the paradigm of "Jewish mysticism" prevailed have produced...

Religious and Mystical Concepts in the Words of Elazig-Harput Folk Songs

Religious and Mystical Concepts in the Words of Elazig-Harput Folk Songs

Beckett and Buddhism

Beckett and Buddhism

Gestalt Theory and the Network of Traditional Hypotheses

Summary Since at least the time of Helmholtz, the process of visual perception has been regarded as a two-stage affair consisting of an initial sensory stage corresponding to the proximal stimulus and a subsequent cognitive stage corresponding to the distal object. This construction amounts to an awkward mind body dualism wherein part of perception is done by the body and the other part is done by the mind. Gestalt theory rejected both raw sensations and their cognitive interpretation, offering a single unified perceptual process that responds to an extended pattern of stimulation. They proposed organizational rules that describe how objects arise from the indifferent retinal mosaic. The same grouping principles by which objects are segmented also function to segregate regions of uniform illumination. Lightness values can then be computed by comparing luminance values within each such framework of illumination, with no need for the mystical concept of taking the illumination into account.