The Mystic Experience: A Descriptive and Comparative AnalysisThe mystic, zero, or void experience the ecstatic disappearance of self along with everything else is considered by those who have had it to be the most beautiful, blissful, positive, profound, and significant experience of their lives. Offering both a descriptive and a comparative perspective, this book explores the mystic experience across cultures as both a human and cultural event. The book begins and ends with descriptions of the author s own mystical experiences, and looks at self-reported experiences by individuals who do not link their experiences to a religious tradition, to determine characteristics of this universal human experience. These characteristics are compared to statements of acknowledged mystics in diverse religious traditions. The mystic experience is also situated within other ecstatic religious experiences to distinguish it from similar, but distinct, experiences such as lucid dreams, shamanism, and mediumism. Jordan Paper goes on to look at how the mystic experience has been considered in various fields, such as sociology, psychology, anthropology, biology, and comparative religious studies. |
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The Mystic Experience: A Descriptive and Comparative Analysis Jordan Paper No preview available - 2004 |
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analysis aspects ātman aware became become Bharati Blakney bliss Brahma brain Buddhism Catholic century chapter China Chinese Christian Church clan common Cosmic Consciousness culture Daodejing Daoism Daoist deity described discussed divine dreams early Eckhart ecstasy ecstatic experiences ecstatic religious experiences Eiyn Sof elite emptiness ences example exist experienced feeling focus function Hasidism Hence Hindu Hinduism human Idel individuals ineffable interpretation Islam Jewish John-Paul Judaism Kabbalah Kongzi Krivocheine Liezi light literature living lucid dreams major means meditation mediums Meister Eckhart merging mind modes moksha monks mystic experience nirvāna nothingness Ojibwa one's perience person Plotinus psychology reality regard religion religious traditions reports rience ritual samsāra scholars self-loss shamanism shamanistic social soul South Asia Su Shi Sufi Symeon term theological trance trans translations transpersonal transpersonal psychology ultimate understanding understood union unitive experiences unity University Upanishads vision Western writings York Press Zhuangzi