IS THERE A REASON FOR ADMITTING MYSTICISM?
Keywords:
MYSTICISMAbstract
Human quest for the ultimate understanding of reality seems to be unquenchable. The rigour and ingenuity with which various intellectual disciplines have been formed and perfected over the centuries testify to the human ability to soar higher and higher, accessing the ever-deeper and unfathomable dimensions of reality. The undying and ever-stronger determination and commitment on the part of seekers to unravel the inner recesses of reality against the deep and profound dimensions of the same reality that challenge human inquisitiveness continue to elicit renewed spirit and novel strategies. It would be preposterous to restrict this process exclusively to those rigorous scientific disciplines and the studies that they carry out. In fact, every human attempt is capable of taking us a step closer to the understanding of reality.
References
John V. Apozyhski, “Mysticism and Epistemology,” Studies in Religion 14, 2 (1985), 201.
C. D. Broad, “Arguments for the Existence of God, II,” The Journal of Theological Studies 40 (1939), 164.
Bernard Lonergan, Method in Theology, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2003, 316.
Friedrich von Hügel, The Mystical Element of Religion as Studied in St. Catherine of Genoa and Her Friends, 2nd ed., 2 vols., London: J. M. Dent and Sons Ltd., 1923, 1:51-53.
Louis Dupre, “General Introduction,” in Louis Dupre and James A. Wiseman, Light from Light: An Anthology of Christian Mysticism, New York: Paulist Press, 1988, 6-7.
Evelyn Underhill, Mysticism: The Nature and Development of Spiritual Consciousness, Oxford: Oneworld Publications, 2006, 75.
Ernst Neumann, Kulturentwicklung und Religion, Frankfurt am Main: Fischer, 1981.
Bruce Janz, “Mysticism and Understanding: Steven Katz and His Critics,” Studies in Religion 24, 1 (1995), 85.
