Mystical Research Articles

Comparing Eckhartian and Zen Mysticism

Comparing Eckhartian and Zen Mysticism

Living Without a Why: Mysticism, Pluralism, and the Way of Grace by Paul O. Ingram

Living Without a Why: Mysticism, Pluralism, and the Way of Grace by Paul O. Ingram

Rumi and the Concept of Causality

Rumi’s view of the principle of causality is of great importance due to the legacy left for him from his predecessors’ philosophical and theological schools. There are two seemingly opposing views regarding Rumi's principle of causality: the rejection of causation and approval of causation. However, the analysis of these two viewpoints makes us to conclude that although he tries to represent his view of causality as opposite to that of Ash'arites and yet to justify Ash'arites’s determinism by showing the superiority of mystical determinism over logical free will while admitting human will, he is not successful in his justification and finally lapses into the very Al-Ash'arite’s standpoint, that is the rejection of causality in the universe and refutation of free will. Keywords: Rumi, causality, determinism and free will

True and False Mysticism in Leibniz

True and False Mysticism in Leibniz

Pursuing Social Holiness: The Band Meeting in Wesley's Thought and Popular Methodist Practice.

That the economy of Methodism was a complex web is undeniable. The enquirer after faith was met with a system of meetings which could be affective in the experience of seeking faith and ultimately also the establishment of holiness in daily life. From the moment of awakening to the point of death, the early Wesleyan movement had a meeting to accommodate each person.Watson's book sets out to describe the Band Meeting, the earliest of the small group meetings organized by John Wesley, drawn into Methodism from the experience of Fetter Lane. This voluntary group became the vehicle for those actively pursuing holiness.A major premise of the volume is that the Band Meeting was a synthesis of Moravian and Anglican practice and represented a vibrant means to develop a sense of holy living in a communal setting. The book, however, bypasses some other aspects of Wesley's faith development—his reading of Eastern mysticism and correspondence with the Manchester Non-jurors, his reading of the groups arranged by the Marquis de Renty (who was the single most mentioned individual in Wesley's writing), his reading and acceptance of à Kempis, William Law, and Jeremy Taylor and his personal experience of travelling to Georgia in search of Primitive Christianity. That John Wesley described Methodism as Primitive Christianity in 1778 at the opening of City Road Chapel suggests that he did not entirely discard those early influences.Watson has researched the Band Meeting in detail and sets out his thesis clearly—that the Band was the place in which holiness could be attained in a social setting. He draws upon firsthand accounts of Band Meetings and uses anti-Methodist polemic, and published material to support this. The Rules which were set out for the operation of the Band Meetings are examined in detail.Much is made throughout the book of the Band Meeting as a means of grace. This phrase is used by many who wrote diaries and journals or who corresponded with others. The Band was a providential means of grace—a means of use to the individual's growth in grace and holiness—rather than an instituted means of grace, given by Dominical command. Critical examination of this phrase would assist the book in its argument. Why was this phrase so common among the Methodist people and what did they understand it to mean in practice, particularly in relation to the instituted means which Methodists became increasingly unwilling to engage in at the local parish church? Was there a mimetic quality to the term which developed over time and its original meaning was lost to the people as it became repeated? An alternative reading of the anti-Methodist polemic used to support the Band as a means of grace could be to understand this polemic along the lines that the phrase was used but little understood.The important material used within this book has brought together a variety of personal experiences and describes how an individual grew in grace and holiness in a challenging, but ultimately supportive environment. The book would benefit from a description of what difference those who belonged to the Band Meeting made to the rest of the societal life of Methodism. Nothing is said within the book about the Wesley's regulation of the Classes and Bands. Some engagement with the process of regulation within early Methodism, described in detail in both Charles and John Wesley's Journals, could offer insight into this.Published accounts of the proceedings in both Band and Class Meetings are uncommon, primarily because these were not meetings which were to be reported to others. The use of published material in this book alongside manuscript description of Band Meetings requires careful critique. The Wesley brothers sought out accounts for publication as a means of propaganda to counter anti-Methodist feeling. It is therefore important to recognize that accounts were sanitized for publication. John Valton's diary is helpful here. When submitting his manuscript diary for publication he struck through any account which was derogatory of the Methodist movement. This was further revised, firstly by John Wesley himself and later by the editors of The Arminian Magazine or The Lives of the Early Methodist Preachers.It is disappointing that Watson fails to engage with writers with whom he disagrees within the text of his book. Offering a brief critique in footnotes is not a sufficient means with which to properly understand the reasoning behind a disagreement.Overall, this book is helpful to any person who wishes to know more about the Band Meeting. Read with other accounts of early Methodism, this book will assist any person who is eager to understand how Methodism was formed and developed in the eighteenth century.

Mystical Survival: The Geography of the Infinitely Near

Pilgrims Publishing, Varanasi, 2012, 113pp. INR 250/-, Paperback, ISBN 978-81-7769-994-4 by Dr Anuththaradevi Widyalankara

Aquarius and Beyond: Thinking through the Counterculture

Aquarius and Beyond: Thinking through the Counterculture

Substituting Mysticism for Skepticism

Substituting Mysticism for Skepticism

The High of Cultural Experience

Does the experience of cultural consumption have its own sui generis attraction and value in itself, or is it an index of external social ranking? Four criteria are proposed that are observable in microsociological detail: (1) bodily self-absorption in the cultural experience, creating an intense internal interaction ritual; (2) collective effervescence among the audience; (3) Goffmanian front-stage self-presentation in settings of cultural consumption; and (4) verbal discourse during and around the cultural experience. Data from highly committed opera fanatics in Buenos Aires are used to document the extreme pole of cultural consumption that rejects external social hierarchies in favor of pure musical experience. This individualized and internal style of music consumption resembles religious mysticism, and what Weber in his typology of orientations to religious experience called virtuoso religiosity, as distinct from typical social class orientations to religion and to music.

The Contested State of Sufism in Islamic Modernism: The Case of the Muhammadiyah Movement in Twentieth-Century Indonesia

The Muhammadiyah in Indonesia is commonly known not to be very sympathetic towards mysticism in terms of its manifestations in mystical religious fraternities and pantheistic identity mysticism. Although its stance versus these religious phenomena seems to be very clear, many of its members are struggling to determine their attitude towards the issue. The continuing uncertainty about its legitimacy is evident from the questions Muhammadiyah members send to the Suara Muhammadiyah regarding this topic. In this article i focus on the Muhammadiyah’s ‘official’ vision through its first hundred years of existence. My thesis is that its rigidness in rejecting ‘mystical and spiritual’ manifestations is not only caused by its fear of unbelief and heresy, but also closely related to the political and social circumstances in which it is confronted with these ‘mystical and spiritual’ manifestations in the first place.

Sohrab Sepehri's Imaginative Voyage from Negative Romanticism to Positive Romanticism in his Cycles of Poems

Romanticism extended to different countries around the Europe in eighteenth and nineteenth century. This school not only includes European countries but also countries outside the continent like Iran. Similarly, Romanticism developed some of its features out of Iranian contemporary literature. Sohrab Sepehri, the contemporary Iranian poet, has always been at the center of Romanticism investigation in Iran. Regarding Morse Peckham's view of Romanticism, this could be inferred that Sepehri has made a voyage from the static mechanism to dynamic organicims. Sepehri's change of view causing this journey was his acquaintance with the Far Eastern mysticism. Therefore, the present study aims to investigate this phase shifting by focusing on its effect on his poems.

Brouwer’s certainties: mysticism, mathematics, and the ego

Brouwer’s certainties: mysticism, mathematics, and the ego

Mysticism and Imagination in Wordsworth’s Poetry

Mysticism and Imagination in Wordsworth’s Poetry

Da Nietzsche a Heidegger: Mondo classico e civiltà europea

Da Nietzsche a Heidegger: Mondo classico e civiltà europea

Black Fellas and Rainbow Fellas: Convergence of Cultures at the Aquarius Arts and Lifestyle Festival, Nimbin, 1973

Black Fellas and Rainbow Fellas: Convergence of Cultures at the Aquarius Arts and Lifestyle Festival, Nimbin, 1973

The Evolution of a Meme Cluster: A Personal Account of a Countercultural Odyssey through <em>The Age of Aquarius</em>

The Evolution of a Meme Cluster: A Personal Account of a Countercultural Odyssey through <em>The Age of Aquarius</em>

Underhill's Practical Mysticism: One Hundred Years Later.

This essay explores the practical mysticism of Evelyn Underhill and its potential for orienting lived faith today. One hundred years following the publication of Underhill’s Practical Mysticism, her insights and promptings assume more meaning than ever, particularly in the aftermath of many late twentieth and twenty-first century tragedies and in a milieu so influenced by technocentrism, consumerism, and disregard for the environment. The notion of a practical mysticism takes fresh shape today when the need for contemplatively edged action is great.

The Search for “Meaning”: Occult Redefinitions and the Internet

Many fields of specific knowledge develop their own terminology and language, redefining and redeveloping the language as the area develops. The field of the occult is no different. Over the years, many authoritative occult writers have developed their own definitions and, indeed, entire conceptual frameworks within which they operate. As the concept of magic is central to most occult frameworks, the definition of magic has been continuously refined. Within weblogs, web forums and discussion groups these terms are frequently the subject of heated debate, producing definitions which are constantly in motion. The definitions of these terms are of interest to the scholar of the occult, as well as to researchers on new religious movements (NRMS) and popular mysticism, as they are required for the investigation and discussion of many occult phenomena. Changes to these terms directly lead to changes of meanings, and as a result, shifts in the paradigm or framework within which the phenomena are discussed.

THE NEED OF SPIRITUAL ENDEAVOURS FOR AN INTELLECTUAL EXISTENCE: A RE-READING OF HERMANN HESSE’S SIDDHARTHA

HermannHesse’sSiddhartha is focussed on the tribulations of Siddhartha through his quest for inner peace. His journey begins as a young Brahmin who yearned to unwind the complexities of his existence. He ends as an old sage who has found peace within himself and his surroundings. Through this novel Hesse, allows the readers to trace the maturation process both through his experiences and people with whom he comes to contact.Born of Protestant family in Germany he was tremendously influenced by ancient Hindu Philosophy. His search for Eastern mysticism can be seen in this novel. He could recognise the unity of visionin Hinduism and Buddhism. He could detect the essence of Indian spiritual life led by many people.Siddhartha, the protagonist of the novel, identify the path for attaining enlightenment and he goes in the way where he experiences the worldly life hurdles. He could understand that the enlightenment does notcome from mastering either the material or spiritual world but from finding the common ground between these polarities of existence. Siddhartha finds enlightenment only when he understandsOm, the unity of polarities.

EASTERN SPIRITUAL TRADITIONS THROUGH THE LENS OF MODERN SCIENTIFIC WORLDVIEW

Purpose. This paper aims to analyze Eastern spiritual traditions in the context of modern scientific worldview. Methodology. The author has used hermeneutical methodology, along with integrative approach. Theoretical basis and results. Modern perception of the world is undergoing drastic changes: it shifts towards plurality, temporality, and complexity. Increasingly, people feel that their familiar world of order and stability gives way to chaotic, unpredictable world, which exists under its own rules. Old scientific theories, ideologies, and values are destroyed. This leads to awareness of imbalance, ambiguity of human existence and, thus, to the new explanation and understanding of reality. Today the universe is perceived through the lens of syncretism: it is impossible to separate human from nature, consciousness from matter, subject from object. Humanity faces such a chaotic, uncertain worldview not for the first time. Duality and attempts to overcome it permeate the entire history: from traditional archaic cultures to modern civilized societies. M. Foucault, J. Derrida, R. Barthes, U. Eco, G. Deleuze, J.-F.Lyotard urged to abandon dogmatism, monologue perception and explanation, interpretation based on binary oppositions. The world, which is necessary to reach, occurs to be Nothing, Nothingness. In this world, people are seeking for reality regardless of any rules, regulations, notions, and concepts. Here artificial constructs of the human mind, such as Material – Ideal, Determinism - Indeterminism, Finiteness - Infinity, Necessity – Randomness, are united. Trying to reconcile continuity of being with discreteness of consciousness, they appeal to Eastern mystical teachings, in particular, to Zen Buddhism. The core concept of this school is also based on the unity of all things and the idea of the singularity of the world. The main goal of Eastern mystical traditions is to achieve the state of absolute unity through meditative techniques that have been mastered over centuries. Meditation acts as a means of overcoming binary oppositions inherent to any given culture. It contributes to the experience of one absolute unity of all existence. Scientific novelty. Modern science reaffirmed one of the basic statements of Eastern mysticism: our concepts that we use to explain the world (such as past, present, future, physical space, personality, etc.) are not fundamental characteristics of reality. They are products of thinking, that is, they are the map rather than the territory. Conclusion. In contrast to Western paradigm, the main characteristic of Eastern philosophy and science is the non-mathematical, non-technical approach to an understanding of the universe. Eastern sage has never separated himself from the Nature. He has experienced all phenomena in the world as manifestations of a basic Oneness, Wholeness, as the various aspects of spiritual unity.