Phenomenology Of Mysticism Research Articles

ФЕНОМЕНОЛОГІЯ МІСТИЦИЗМУ ГЕРДИ ВАЛЬТЕР І БОГОСЛОВСЬКА АНТРОПОЛОГІЯ ЕДИТ ШТАЙН: ІСТОРИКО-ФІЛОСОФСЬКИЙ ПІДХІД

This article examines two prominent aspects of contemporary philosophical and religious discourse: the phenomenology of mysticism in the work of Gerda Walther and theological anthropology presented in the writings of Edith Stein. Phenomenology of mysticism is one of the most interesting topics in modern philosophy and religious studies. This deep research area examines and analyzes spiritual experience and mysticism through the lens of a philosophical approach called phenomenology. Two outstanding women and friends, Gerda Walther and Edith Stein, made a significant contribution to the development of this field. Deep reflections on the nature of mysticism, faith and theological anthropology are found in their research works. Phenomenology of mysticism allows us to better understand the nature of spiritual experience and inner experiences, and also to show the phenomena of mysticism through the phenomenological method. The works of G. Walther highlight the key aspects of this approach. On the other hand, E. Stein offers theological anthropology, which examines faith and religious experience in the context of human existence and through the relationship with God. Her works provide a strong conceptual basis for understanding faith and its role in the modern world. Therefore, the article is an attempt to consider their thoughts and contribution to the development of the phenomenology of mysticism and theological anthropology and their contribution to philosophy and religious studies.

Zen Buddhism and the Phenomenology of Mysticism

Abstract In this paper, I use a comparative analysis of mysticism in Zen and the Abrahamic faiths to formulate a phenomenological account of mysticism “as such.” I argue that, while Zen Buddhism is distinct from other forms of mystical experience in important ways, it can still be fit into a general phenomenological category of mystical experience. First, I explicate the phenomenological accounts of mysticism provided by Anthony Steinbock and Angela Bello. Second, I offer an account of Zen mysticism which both coheres with and problematizes these accounts, arguing that Zen demonstrates the inadequacy of these accounts as descriptions of mysticism as a universal religious category. Lastly, I use this investigation to propose that Zen mysticism does generally cohere with the mystical experiences of other religions, but only if we devise a new formula for speaking phenomenologically about mystical experience as such which captures this phenomenon in all of its manifestations.

IN-BETWEEN MIND, SPIRIT, AND BEING: A CRITICAL APPRECIATION OF GERDA WALTHER’S PHENOMENOLOGY OF MYSTICISM WITH PARTICULAR REFERENCE TO CORRESPONDENCES TO POST-MATERIALIST NOTIONS OF REALITY

In her main work, Walther exposes the unio mystica as meta-transcendental constitution of (fundamental) spiritual being (the bracketing indicates that this demonstration can be read in a metaphysical, i.e., strong, as well as in a secular, i.e., weak, version). While reflecting her approach theoretically and methodologically by drawing on Husserl, Landmann, Stein, just as on Pfänder and Conrad-Martius, Walther proposes a genuine approach that pushes the transcendental idealistic paradigm further. Its crucial claim is (imperfect) perceptibility and experientiality of (fundamental) spiritual being (labeled “God” by Walther). It is based on a substantially and ontologically differentiating—though integrative—notion of the conditio humana: entanglement of ego-center (both belonging to the transcendental realm and transgressing it meta-transcendentally), self (belonging to psychophysical being), and soulspiritual implications of personal basic essence (belonging to spiritual being) with its “metaphysical-real core” (belonging to fundamental spiritual being). By the help of mystical vision, (fundamental) spiritual being is not only (though imperfectly) perceived and experienced; rather, according to Walther, human ego-consciousness also communicates with God as a spiritual person. However, the latter cannot be supported by Walther’s analysis. In other words, a critical distinction must be made between the—phenomenologically demonstrable—philosophical content of Walther’s investigation and its theologically motivated readings. Accordingly, the present article can appreciate the philosophical significance of her Phenomenology of Mysticism without thereby being committed to its theological interpretations. Walther’s main work, in summary, is a substantial—if not consistently concise—contribution to the philosophy of mind/spirit and being, which, moreover, is able to act as a bridge between philosophical phenomenology and theology. Additionally, in the weak reading, Walther’s integrative concept of mind/spirit and being is connectable to postmaterialist notions of reality.

From Phenomenological Self-Givenness to the Notion of Spiritual Freedom

In my paper, I want to focus not only on the notions of givenness and evidence in Husserl’s phenomenology, but also on phenomenological work “after” Husserl. I will elaborate on how these phenomenological key ideas can methodologically be made fruitful, especially for an investigation into religious phenomena. After giving an outline of Husserl’s notions of (self-)givenness, evidence, and original intuition (I), I want to portray key elements of Steinbock’s discovery of a generative dimension in Husserl’s phenomenology and show how this approach correlates to the field of religious experiences (II). Subsequently, I want to focus on Steinbock’s book Phenomenology of Mysticism: The Verticality of Religious Experience (2007), and elucidate how for Steinbock different historical examples of mystical experiences can serve as leading clues for the revelation of the essential, eidetic structures of “vertical experiences”—or, phenomenologically speaking, the eidos of religious experience, which turns out to be “epiphany” (III). The expression “verticality,” as opposed to “horizontality,” denotes the existential and dynamic dimension of experiences which are oriented toward a new height (religiously or morally) “beyond” ourselves.

God and givenness: towards a phenomenology of mysticism

This essay addresses the questions of whether the givenness of God is something possible, intelligible—and, if so, what such givenness might involve. In the interest of situating these questions in historical context, I first summarize Kant’s, Hegel’s, and Habermas’s respective accounts of the relationship between belief in God and philosophical knowledge. I then further situate critical philosophy’s appropriation of God by way of a discussion of how some of this appropriation’s fiercest critics—existentialists such as Sartre, Shestov, and Kierkegaard—object to its gambit of using God to serve moral and cultural goals even as it denies God’s actual existence. Though this objection is a salient one, it leaves something to be desired. For although the existentialists may demonstrate what is misguided about the philosophers’ God, they do not have anything especially compelling to say about whether or how God can be given experientially. I address this aporia by exploiting what I take to be a happy intersection between the phenomenological conception of the saturated phenomenon and two moods—agape love and ecstatic joy—the mystical tradition frequently attributes to the nature of divine givenness. I argue that, when mystical experience is situated within the framework of saturated phenomena rather than within the Kantian enclosures of phenomenality, two intriguing possibilities emerge. First, it seems plausible that the religious experience of the mystic can, in principle, involve the very givenness of God that Kant and his heirs denied to be possible. Second, though phenomenology has yet to provide a complete positive portrait of the religious life, the mystical tradition emerges as a legitimate, invaluable source with which such a phenomenological portrait might begin.

On Pike on “Union without Distinction” in Christian Mysticism

Perennialists regarding the phenomenology of mysticism, like Walter Stace, feel that all Christian mystical experiences are fundamentally similar to each other and to experiences described by mystics across religious traditions, cultures and ages. In his seminal work, Mystic Union: An Essay in the Phenomenology of Mysticism, Nelson Pike convincingly argues that this extreme position is inadequate for capturing the breadth of experiences described by the canonical Medieval Christian mystics. However, Pike may have leaned too far away from perennialism in claiming that all the experiences of (Christian) mystic union are essentially theistic. Here, I argue that Pike did not successfully establish this point and that union without distinction, often described as the pinnacle of “union” by Christian mystics, remains a viable candidate for an instance of a trans-traditionally type-identical mystical experience.

Unanticipated Inner Experiences: Three Cases and a Reflection on Discernment

This essay, "a spiritual-theological sinfonietta in five movements of unequal length" is written to draw the reader's attention to a distinctive phase of growth in the affective life with both God and God's entire human family, the latter often referred to as "the neighbour" (i.e., any actual neighbour(s)). Being distinctive, it is possible to describe it; it actually has been described, not just by "light on" mystics, but also by spiritual theologians familiar with the phenomenology of mysticism. Unsurprisingly in this light, it has also been accounted for, in strictly intellectual—i.e., philosophical and theological—terms.

Religious awe: Potential contributions of negative theology to psychology, "positive" or otherwise.

A hallmark of Christian mysticism is negative theology, which refers to the school of thought that gives prominence to negation in reference to God. By denying the possibility to name God, negative theology cuts at the very root of our cognitive makeup—the human impulse to name and put things into categories—and thereby situates us “halfway between a ‘no longer’ and a ‘not yet’” (Iser, 1978, p. 213), a temporality in which “the past is negated, but . . . the present is not yet formulated” (Iser, 1978, p. 217). The affective corollary of this “no longer” and “not yet” state is the “dark night of the soul” that mystics are known to have bouts of. One particular variant of the “dark night of the soul” is awe, which will be the focus of this paper. My investigation starts with an introduction to the two primary themes of negative theology—negativity and self-reflexivity, followed by a critique of Keltner and Haidt’s model of awe, which is compared with Rudolf Otto’s phenomenology of mysticism in general and religious awe in particular. In the concluding section, I examine the relevance of religious awe to contemporary life on the one hand, and to emotion research on the other. The soul’s greatness takes its measure from its capacity to achieve the flaming vision by which the soul becomes at home in pain. (Heidegger, 1971, p. 18.) Negative theology refers to the school of thought that gives prominence to negation in reference to God. St. Augustine’s statement is a fine example: “God is wise without wisdom, good without goodness, powerful without power” (quoted by Derrida, 1992, p. 113). This mode of thinking and speaking has been a hallmark of Christian mysticism, in which: “Negation is both a means of distinguishing mystical experience from other acts of cognition—“unknowing” from “knowing,” for example—and a corrective to misleading propositions about the being of God” (Lees, 1983, p. 7). How do we understand this “ascendancy of negative over affirmative values” (Lees, 1983, p. 137) in negative theol\\server05\productn\T\THE\22-2\THE204.txt unknown Seq: 2 21-MAR-03 12:52

Dimensions of the Mysticism Scale: Confirming the Three‐Factor Structure in the United States and Iran

In a mostly Christian American sample (N = 1,379), confirmatory factor analysis of Hood’s (1975) Mysticism Scale verified the existence of Stace’s (1960) introvertive and extrovertive dimensions of mystical phenomenology along with a separate interpretation factor. A second study confirmed the presence of these three factors in not only another group of Americans (N = 188), but also in a sample of Iranian Muslims (N = 185). Relationships of the introvertive and extrovertive factors with the interpretation factor were essentially identical across these two cultures, but the Americans displayed a stronger association between the two phenomenology factors. In both samples, the interpretation factor correlated positively with an intrinsic and negatively with an extrinsic religious orientation, and the introvertive factor predicted psychological dysfunction. Associations of the interpretation factor with relative mental health appeared only in the Iranians. These data offered general support for Stace’s phenomenology of mysticism, although the ineffability he linked with interpretation proved to be as much or even more a feature of the introvertive experience, as hypothesized by Hood.

Mystic Union: an Essay in the Phenomenology of Mysticism.

Mystic Union: an Essay in the Phenomenology of Mysticism.

Pike's Mystic Union and the Possibility of Theistic Experience

In his long-awaited Mystic Union, Nelson Pike offers a phenomenology of mysticism. His account is based on the reports and descriptions of third parties, not on his own, first-person experience. So he calls his enterprise ‘phenomenography’, an attempt to describe the experiential content of conscious states by way of reports of them. Pike finds in the Christian mystical tradition three different kinds of experiences of mystic union, the ‘prayer of quiet’, the ‘prayer of union’ and ‘rapture’. These experiences differ phenomenologically, i.e. in experiential content. But they are all ‘theistic’ experiences; that is, they are all phenomenologically of God. By this Pike means: (a) whether these experiences are veridical or not, their object – what they are veridical or hallucinatory experiences of – is God; and (b) that they are of God is part of, or given in, the phenomenological content of the experiences themselves.

Mystical Union: An Essay in the Phenomenology of Mysticism. Nelson Pike

<i>Mystical Union: An Essay in the Phenomenology of Mysticism</i>. Nelson Pike

Mystic union: an essay in the phenomenology of mysticism (review)

Mystic union: an essay in the phenomenology of mysticism (review)

Book Review: Mystic Union: An Essay in the Phenomenology of Mysticism

Book Review: Mystic Union: An Essay in the Phenomenology of Mysticism

Mystic union: an essay in the phenomenology of mysticism

Mystic union: an essay in the phenomenology of mysticism

Phenomenology of Mysticism

Phenomenology of Mysticism