Mystical Research Articles

The Vine and the Branches: An Exegetical Study of John 15:1-8 and the Implications of “Abiding in Christ” (Unio Mystica) for Christian Formation Ministries

This article explores the impact of Jesus’ “true vine” metaphor on discipleship and spirituality. The first part is a study of John 15:1-8, the passage where these teachings are recorded. The second part presents some theological developments, showing how Jesus’ lessons about abiding on Him have influenced the doctrine of unio mystica within the Reformed tradition. Finally, the third section features some implications from the exegetical and theological study for Christian ministries and discipleship.

Leveling Up: Gamification Pedagogy in the Hagiological Classroom

Gamification is a specific type of experiential learning theory (ELT) that emphasizes student choice and activities to transform mundane tasks into a desirable opportunity to learn. This pedagogical approach is particularly useful in information-heavy courses, such as courses that engage in the study of religious mysticism or “hagiology”. In hagiology classes, students are exposed to new hagiographic media and discuss methods that are particularly complicated because this content is not only heavy on data but also engages the affective dimensions of human experience. This article explores leessons learned from the successes and failures of gamification pedagogy in my “Masters and Mystics” course, where students comparatively study Christian mysticism and Muslim Sufism. In particular, this article analyzes gamifacation’s ability to promote intrinsic student motivation through “game mechanics and experience design”, which is particularly salient in the hagiological classroom. I end the article with a discussion of how I have reworked the course with new gamification practices into a “Comparative Mysticism: Christianity and Islam” course.

Bessarion on the Value of Oral Teaching and the Rule of Secrecy

Cardinal Bessarion (1408–1472), in the second chapter of the first book of his influential work In calumniatorem Platonis, attempted to reply to Georgios Trapezuntios’ (1396–1474) criticism against Plato in the Comparatio Philosophorum Platonis et Aristotelis. Bessarion investigates why the Athenian philosopher maintained, in several dialogues, that the sacred truths should not be communicated to the general public and argued in favor of the value of oral transmission of knowledge, largely based on his theory about the cognitive processes. Recently, Fr. Bessarion Kouotsis has argued that Cardinal Bessarion’s reasoning draws primarily on the “Disciplina Arcani”, i.e., the rule of secrecy, which was an established practice of the Early Christian Church, aimed at protecting and preserving the core elements of the religion from outsiders. While I find Kouotsis’ approach interesting and thought-provoking—for instance, the idea that Bessarion’s argumentation was likely influenced by Eastern Christian views on the rule of secrecy—I intend, first of all, to discuss why Bessarion did not explicitly mention it. Moreover, I would like to argue that Bessarion’s good knowledge of the long Platonic tradition and Eastern mysticism, encompassing both pagan and Christian elements, should also be considered a significant source. Furthermore, I would like to question Kouotsis’ implicit argument that Bessarion’s views were dominated by his training in Orthodox theology and discuss the possibility that Pletho’s (1355–1454) teaching was the obvious influence for Bessarion’s defense of secrecy. After all, we should bear in mind that Anastos has already pointed out Pletho’s reverence for the rule of secrecy. Finally, I would like to support that Bessarion, in the specific text, focused predominantly on the epistemological and cognitive aspects of oral teaching, resorting to the rule of secrecy only to enhance his views.

Eminescu and Kabbalah

In the pages of this article, we will bring together a series of interpretations of Eminescu’s writings that prove the influence of the mysticism of Kabbalah on the great Romanian author. The understanding of Eminescu’s poems through the lens of Kabbalah is a perspective adopted by several scholars. For example, starting with G. Călinescu, Hyperion (from the poem “Luceafărul”) was compared to a sefirah. Since the influences of the Far East seem to be much more significant in the literary context in question, we will start from them and, later, correlate them with elements from the ideological background of Near Eastern mysticism. We will also point out certain aspects of the symbolism of the elements and, above all, of water – which is, ultimately, an emblem of the primordial space from which existence is born. Thus, starting from the perspective of Gaston Bachelard’s poetics of the elements, we will investigate the correlation with the mysterious Ain Soph of Kabbalah.

Jewish Mysticism as a Form of Feminism in Early 20th Century Hungarian Jewish Literature: Anna Lesznai’s Response to Otto Weininger

This article examines Anna Lesznai’s radical imagining of sex and its use for transcendental purposes that heavily rely on Jewish mystical ideas intertwined with Otto Weininger's theory of gender binarism. In her gender theory—part of feminist discourse at the turn of the twentieth century—Lesznai describes female love, using religious language and ideas from Jewish mysticism, especially those resembling Hassidic concepts, and ultimately compares sexual union to yihud- unio mystica with God. Working within the patriarchal understanding of the biological definition of gender and of the concept of "female difference," Lesznai’s feminism rooted in the belief that certain personality traits and skills are inherently gendered, but she reverses the hierarchy by placing women in the position of power, thus turning Jewish mysticism and Weininger’s gender philosophy on its head.

Paolo Pagani’s St. Sebastian in Krakow

The picture of Saint Sebastian has been ordered to the Krakow University church by professor Sebastian Piskorski, who was in charge of the construction, decoration, and furnishing of the building. The canvas had been placed in the chapel, which was made available to the public yet in 1696, while the rest of the church remained a fenced construction site for seven more years. This small interior must have made a great impression on viewers, encouraging them to financially support the works. A contemporary writer stated that the chapel began decorative works of the church in forms that had not been seen before. Its main part, the exquisite painting by Paolo Pagani, sensually showing the saint’s naked body, could evoke the viewer’s admiration, but also an impression of uniqueness and peculiarity. Thus, the term queer can be applied to this work, at least in its original sense, meaning something strange, odd or eccentric. Pagani’s painting is a good starting point for questions about the hidden meanings that were associated with the male act in the early modern environment of the clergymen and university. Repressed or subconscious erotic associations could have been connected there with religious mysticism – as indicated by Piskorski’s particularly personal attitude to the sculpture of the crucified Christ. Similar links are also present in the patronage of Jacek Łopacki, who in the middle of the 18th century refurnished St. Mary’s church.

Проблема выразимости невыразимого: слово-звук, сознание и реальность в индийской мысли

For traditional Indian philosophy, which tends to establish its identity on the basis of the rationally incognizable Absolute (Ātman, Brahman), the verbal expressibility of the latter is one of the central issues. In fact, what is at stake here, is an attitude to language, trust or distrust in its capacity to be a tool for transmitting the experience of reality, which for the Indian tradition is of the highest soteriological and metaphysical value. Namely, it is the experience characteristic of the culminating transpersonal states of meditation and yogic practices, as well as at the moment of unio mystica (between a believer and the personal God). The best way to point to such states is to demonstrate their radical otherness in comparison with everyday speech behaviour (vyavahāra) and discursive ways of reporting it. That is why, the apophatic approach is used, meanwhile, that does not exclude the applicability of its cataphatic opposite. In the first part of the paper, the author emphasizes a tendency to privilege the apophatic approach (‘not that, not that’) to the definition of Brahman on the example of some mahāvākya (‘great sayings’) from the Upaniṣhads. In the second part, the author elucidates a phenomenon of phonocentrism, characteristic of traditional Indian culture, taking as example an incarnation of the goddess Vāk (Speech) in Vedic literature and in Tantrism. The third part is devoted to Bhartṛihari’s (ca.V century A.D.) concepts of ‘linguistic monism’ (śabda-advaita), and of the three-part speech, and their culmination in Kashmiri Shaivism. The author shows that in Bharitṛhari and Kashmiri’ s expressibility and inexpressibility of vocalized speech does not presuppose the recognition of a separate reality of object referred to by it (correspondence principle), but varied within the boundaries of the word (śabda) itself as identical to the dynamic nature of Brahman constituted by potencies (śakti).

Architectural Features of the First Period (13th-15th Century) Tekkes in the Balkan

Islamic religion spreading was influenced by the different local traditions among which Sufism, a religious mysticism (tasavvuf) organized under the institutions of tariqa emerged. This was followed by the emergence of as a place where divisions (orders) members were gathered known under names of tekke, zaviye, hankâh, ribat and a dervish lodge. This study elaborates several tekkes established by the Ottomans in the Balkans. Building style of the tekkes varied according to the procedures as well as manners of the order. Tekkes, which have a simple appearance, generally consist of a mosque, semahane, cellar, kitchen, cells, çilehane, selâmlık and harem. However, most of the buildings within the tekke are constructed over a large span of time. The aim of this study is to better understand the spatial setup of this organizational structure, which directly contributed to the conquest in the Balkans through the janissary corps and to the futuwwa (a set of religious and moral vocational norms) through the ahis (religious and moral vocational chamber). For this purpose, the locations of the tekkes and their architectural features, which were established successively one after the other with the conquests, have been analyzed. In final, the architectural typological of the tekkes is obtained according to the belief tradition, positioning, foundation schemes and special plans of the early period structures set within the tekke.

Architectural Features of the First Period (13th-15th Century) Tekkes in the Balkan

Islamic religion spreading was influenced by the different local traditions among which Sufism, a religious mysticism (tasavvuf) organized under the institutions of tariqa emerged. This was followed by the emergence of as a place where divisions (orders) members were gathered known under names of tekke, zaviye, hankâh, ribat and a dervish lodge. This study elaborates several tekkes established by the Ottomans in the Balkans. Building style of the tekkes varied according to the procedures as well as manners of the order. Tekkes, which have a simple appearance, generally consist of a mosque, semahane, cellar, kitchen, cells, çilehane, selâmlık and harem. However, most of the buildings within the tekke are constructed over a large span of time. The aim of this study is to better understand the spatial setup of this organizational structure, which directly contributed to the conquest in the Balkans through the janissary corps and to the futuwwa (a set of religious and moral vocational norms) through the ahis (religious and moral vocational chamber). For this purpose, the locations of the tekkes and their architectural features, which were established successively one after the other with the conquests, have been analyzed. In final, the architectural typological of the tekkes is obtained according to the belief tradition, positioning, foundation schemes and special plans of the early period structures set within the tekke.

Religious Mysticism and the Psychology of Religion: on the Question of the Limits of Reduction. Part 2

Relevance. At the present stage of the development of religious studies, the importance of revealing the psychological "slice" of mysticism is increasing from the point of view of comparing two approaches – the reductionist, which reduces mysticism to intense and unusual psychological experiences, and the anti-reductionist, which sees in mysticism something more than just subjective experiences.The purpose is to supplement the understanding of the limits of psychological reduction of religious‒mystical experience by understanding the limits of anti-reductionism.Objectives: to determine the specifics of the approach of the Russian psychology of religion to the phenomenon of mysticism in the unity of its religious and non-religious forms; to demonstrate the content of antipsychologism as a worldview and methodological attitude of Russian religious philosophy in its approach to religious mysticism; to comprehend the boundaries of the reductionist attitude against the background of its comparison with antireductionism.Methodology. The comparative method was used in the process of analyzing ideological attitudes (on the one hand, Western psychology of religion, and on the other – Russian psychology of religion) in the process of studying religious and mystical experience. The principle of consistency made it possible to comprehend reductionism and anti-reductionism as scientific programs that have heuristic potential only in the general space of interdisciplinary dialogue and interaction.Results. Firstly, the heuristic value of considering religious mysticism through the prism of "genuine – inauthentic" is substantiated and the significance of demarcation of spiritual phenomena forming the three-dimensional space of religious mysticism is revealed. Russian Russian religious philosophy demonstrates the prerequisites of an antipsychological attitude within the framework of the approach of Russian religious philosophy to the phenomenon of mysticism in the unity of its religious and non-religious forms, and also defines the specifics of the Russian psychology of religion. Thirdly, the limits of the anti-reductionist approach to mystical phenomena are demonstrated.Conclusions. In the context of the increasing influence of the neurobiological approach to the study of mysticism, new perspectives of discussion arise between the research programs of reductionism and anti-reductionism. The "boom" of neurotheology creates prerequisites for raising the question of a new composition of the interdisciplinary space for the study of religious as well as non-religious mysticism.

Sri Aurobindo Ghosh: A Visionary Philosopher and Spiritual Luminary

Sri Aurobindo Ghosh emerges as a multifaceted luminary whose life's narrative transcends conventional categorizations. Rooted in Calcutta, his journey evolves from a passionate political activist and freedom fighter to an introspective philosopher and yogi. This metamorphosis is threaded by a seamless fusion of spirituality and practicality, culminating in the articulation of his Integral Yoga philosophy – a synthesis of Eastern mysticism and Western thought. His writings, including "The Life Divine" and "Savitri," weave an intricate tapestry of existence's interconnectedness. This journey is embodied in the Sri Aurobindo Ashram, where he collaborated with The Mother to nurture a community devoted to spiritual evolution. This legacy continues to inspire seekers, embodying the infinite possibilities when spirituality and materiality converge. Sri Aurobindo's life resonates as a testament to the transformative power of a life committed to bridging the spiritual and the material.

ON THE CRISIS OF CULTURE AND MAN IN THE «FAR-FETCHED» TRADITIONALISM OF R.GUENON

The problem of the crisis situation of Western European culture at the beginning of the 19th century became the central problem in the ideological heritage of R. Guenon. In his reflections, the French thinker turns to the consideration of the role and significance of traditions in the life of a person and society. R.Guenon fills the term “tradition” with his semantic load, making this term a key element in his philosophy. The reflexive space of Guénon’s philosophy is the sphere of the philosophy of religion and it is difficult to attribute it to the sphere of religious philosophy. This difficulty lies in the departure of the French thinker from the traditions of the Christian worldview to the ideological foundations of Eastern mysticism, agnosticism and theosophical views. Perhaps it is these preferences of Guénon that lead the researchers of his work to the idea that he is, in a certain sense, the “forerunner” of the postmodern era in Europe. Tradition and the crisis of traditions for the philosopher are considered as the main subject of study. The scale of historical and philosophical analysis is taken by the thinker without embarrassment as wide as possible. Ultimately, the very crisis of culture for Guenon can and must serve as a transition to a new stage in the development of culture. In this new stage, a syncretic creative renewal of world religions on the basis of the Eastern mysteries will take place. The cyclic concept of the author’s history does not retain its traditional connection with the Christian understanding of the future, the loss of the Christian eschatological understanding of man. the Renaissance is declared a break point with the traditional understanding of being. For a philosopher, tradition is not reduced to folk custom. And already at this stage, we are witnessing Guénon’s attempt to give the established philosophical terms their own sound, fitting them to his concept and esoteric context.

Pancreatic cancer, depression, and spirituality in therapy: "Unio Mystica" and "Achrayut," 2 case reports.

Pancreatic cancer is a major site of gastrointestinal tumors and remains a leading cause of cancer death in adults in the United States. There is also a strong association between pancreatic cancer and depression. When struggling with cancer, along the different phases of illness, a human being is confronted with manifold issues, which might profoundly interfere with their sense of meaning and purpose. From this standpoint, several different therapeutic techniques have been designed to manage the psychological needs of the patients. Here we provide 2 clinical scenarios, where there was a strong religious correlation to the therapeutic techniques employed with patients suffering from pancreatic cancer. The 2 cases described showed some improvement in their overall life view and could recalibrate their expectations based on a strong religious foundation. The role of religion and spirituality in health has also received increasing attention in literature. Religion and spirituality can help patients with cancer find meaning in their illness, provide comfort in the face of existential fears, and receive support from a community of like-minded individuals. In effect, they also provide evidence toward the scope of and integrating the domain of spirituality into holistic cancer care.

Religious Mysticism and the Psychology of Religion: on the Question of the Limits of Reduction. Part 1

Relevance. Due to the departure from religious traditions that once mediated the content and interpretation of religious and mystical experience, in the situation of postmodern new religious and mystical quests, eclectic, and sometimes surrogate mystical psychologism, arises.The purpose is carry out an understanding of the limits of the reductionist approach of the psychology of religion to religious and mystical experience.Objectives: comprehend the subject field of the psychology of religious and mystical experience; reveal the dramatic relationship between reductionist and non-reductionist approaches to the content of mystical experience; substantiate the need for interdisciplinary interaction as a means of avoiding the absolutization of psychological reductionism and anti-reductionism in understanding the content of religious and mystical experience.Methodology. The study uses methods of synthesis and analysis, which allow revealing the specifics of the content-based approach of the psychology of religion to religious mysticism. The comparison method made it possible to establish the differences between various research programs within the latter, which, to varying degrees of intensity, either absolutized or limited the use of reduction.Results. An approach to religious mysticism from the position of a psychologist as an external observer, i.e. without penetration into its semantic fabric, characteristic of a particular religion, does not lead to an essential understanding of mystical experience and the discretion of its transpersonal ontology.Conclusions. In the coordinates of a purely psychological approach, far from religious dogmatic subtleties and philosophical generalizations, there is a danger of reduction, which does not take into account the gradation of mystical experiences into genuine and inauthentic.

N. Berdyaev as a Researcher of the Religious Mysticism of Christianity: The Specificity of the Philosophical Approach

N. Berdyaev as a Researcher of the Religious Mysticism of Christianity: The Specificity of the Philosophical Approach

ТОЛКОВАНИЕ РОМАНА «ЛЮБОВЬ» ЭЛИФ ШАФАК ЧЕРЕЗ ПРИЗМУ «НОВОЙ ЭСТЕТИКИ» МЕТАМОДЕРНИЗМА

In the article, a new structure of feeling, called by its creators metamodernism, is applied to the analysis of novel “Love” by Elif Shafak. An important stage of our research was the consideration of Melvina’s ideas through their reflection in modern literature. Since the majority of modern researchers explore Safak’s work within the framework of postmodernism, the scientific interpretation of the novel is limited by the conceptual apparatus of postmodernism. Therefore, the adaptation of the medieval poet’s ideas is defined as the “exploitation” of the heritage of Eastern culture in order to popularize the novel. The “new aesthetics” of the metamodern, in our opinion, can form a new understanding of the novel in the light of its perception in society. The information field created around the text of the novel after its release indicates a highly positive perception by the public not only as a world bestseller, but also as a text referring to Eastern mysticism, Sufi heritage and instructive history. This study is aimed at re-evaluating the Sufi positions in the novel from a new perspective, and identifying the possible positive effects of such a narrative on society. The article proves that Elif Shafak uses selected Sufi positions and “metamodernization”, legendarization, of existing historical figures to create a “new myth” in the metamodern plane. In addition, we conducted an analysis of hypertextual space of the novel.

Отражение суфийского миросозерцания Джалаладдина Руми в современной турецкой литературе на примере романа Элиф Шафак «Любовь»

Jalal al-Din Rumi is one of the most controversial figures of medieval Sufi poetry. Thesystem of his ideas, which originate from the legacy of earlier Sufi scholars, can be traced in many mod-ern pop-cultural elements. The article examines Sufi motifs presented in Jalal al-Din Rumi’s writings as they appear in the novel Love(Aşk) written by the modern English writer of Turkish origin Elif Shafak. Turning to religious and philosophical motifs in modern literature is associated with the ambiguous popularity of Rumi in the Western media space. The purpose of this study is to identify the features of the domestication provided by Shafak as an example of cosmopolitan combination of Eastern mysticism and current socio-cultural problems. The article analyzes the novel with the aim of revealing intertextual characteristics in the text and also aims toestablish the feasibility of their use. To this end, the article proposes an analysis ofseveral provisions of Jalal al-Din Rumi’s worldview system, which he developed in his works in the context of the Arab-Muslim picture of the world and Sufi poetry: the concept of Love, dialectical understanding of the Unity of Existence, Sufi ethics, and tolerance of views. The transfer of elements of Sufi philosophy and ethics, present in the works of Jalal al-Din Rumi, into the novel serves as an ideological basis for the prob-lems that arise in Shafak’s narrative. The analysis reveals formal and substantive correlations between Sufi narrative, especially the narrative found in Rumi’s Masnavi-ye-Ma’navi, and the novel Loveby Shafak. Thearticle concludes that the writer successfully attempted to transfer Sufi philosophy to modern realities through addingthe idea that can be considered as a call for transcending inner barriers and following ideolo-gy of tolerance in order to overcome current social and individual crises.

T.S. Eliot’s Translation of Religious Mysticism to Literature: Richard of Saint Victor and Saint John of the Cross

T.S Eliot read and quoted the great European mystics, among them Richard of Saint Victor and Saint John of the Cross and was influenced by the Biblical prophets. Their works coincide not only in religious believes, but there is a parallelism between Eliot`s linguistic devices and style and religious concepts like the disappearance of the Ego. The expression of the mystical experience through images implies a theory of imagination which uses visible things to explain the invisible and provides a source for meditation, in the same way as Eliot understands poetry as a means to make humanity aware of its need to turn to God.

Reverie

Reverie

Rasgos etnoterritoriales, racionalidad ecológica e interacción comunicativa en las celebraciones yoreme-mayo

The aim of this document is to explore the construct of ecological rationality, highlighting the role of animals and plants in religious and organizational animist traits, in the traditional celebrations of the yoreme mayo ethnic group in southern Sonora. The eminently qualitative method examines such a construct in its expression as tropes, which are used in the communicative interaction that takes place in celebrations of this ethnic group. In this qualitative approach, a series of interviews were conducted with the main actors of such ceremonies. The results indicate that rationality, which emerged as sustenance in the ancestral vision of this social group, was intertwined between nature and religious mysticism, to the point of considering it as its own. The animals, plants, the river and its built utensils are used for their communicative interaction, revealed in the form of tropes in their stories and the lyrics of their songs, which serve as scaffolding in their ceremonial acts. Thus, the animist manifestations between prayers, musicians, dancers, and the entire brotherhood, expose an ecological rationality that brings them together, transcending even everyday rationality.