The Varieties of Mystical Experience
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The Varieties of Mystical Experience
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Re: The Varieties of Mystical Experience
#2Quote of the month, sin-non-e-vero-e-ben-trovato category:
Critchley puts it nicely: “The mystics are constantly effing the ineffable, for as long as it effing takes.”
P.S. It took me a bit to recognize the obvious riff on William James in the title: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Varieties_of_Religious_Exp...
Re: The Varieties of Mystical Experience
#3Are there any good broad multi-tradition books on mysticism?
Re: The Varieties of Mystical Experience
#4Are there any good broad multi-tradition books on mysticism?
Not a textbook in any way, but I've enjoyed Aldous Huxley's Perennial Philosophy
https://www.amazon.com/Perennial-Philosophy-Interpretation-G...
Re: The Varieties of Mystical Experience
#5Are there any good broad multi-tradition books on mysticism?
Concordant Discord by Robert Zaehner is a book compiling a lecture series he gave at St. Andrews in the 1960's. I found it quite deep and a good view into some of the theological implications of different variants of mysticism, though it can be a bit dry, definitely not an airport-level treatment.
Re: The Varieties of Mystical Experience
#6Related: The Varieties of Spiritual Experience: 21st Century Research and Perspectives by David B. Yaden and Andrew Newberg
https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-varieties-of-spi...
Re: The Varieties of Mystical Experience
#7Are there any good broad multi-tradition books on mysticism?
For me the gateway was Sam Harris, Eckhart Tolle, Ramana Mahrishi and Ram Dass. Steve Jobs also kind of helped indirectly with his association with Neem Karoli Baba, Zen, India etc.
Welcome to the pathless path.
Maybe Schrodinger's What is Life might also help.
Re: The Varieties of Mystical Experience
#8What I find most intetesying is the concept of rehashing, that mystics pickup where other mystics left off, sometimes after decades have past. I think in today's world, given our newly acquired technology of AI, we can finally stitch all the mysticism pieces which have been woven by past mystics with the aim of finally creating the big picture and hunt for naturally occurring patterns. I for one want to find what Jesus' method of meditation was. Funny how the jewish scribes went to lengths to record the our-father prayer, yet not a single sentence on how to meditate, yes meditation, something which according to written records, Jesus did on a nightly basis by ascending to hilltops!!
Re: The Varieties of Mystical Experience
#9What I find most intetesying is the concept of rehashing, that mystics pickup where other mystics left off, sometimes after decades have past. I think in today's world, given our newly acquired technology of AI, we can finally stitch all the mysticism pieces which have been woven by past mystics with the aim of finally creating the big picture and hunt for naturally occurring patterns. I for one want to find what Jes…
Be still and know that I am God. Pretty sure that's in the bible. But I think they're missing quotes: Be still and know that "I am God" (i.e. know it for yourself). At least that's how I interpret it.
Re: The Varieties of Mystical Experience
#10Are there any good broad multi-tradition books on mysticism?
Becoming Supernatural by Joe Dispenza has promise. The meditation in that (especially the focus on pushing the cerebrospinal fluid up the spine) is probably the clearest instruction you can find (and mirrors the primary meditations in Taoism and Indian yoga).