Interpretation and Mystical Experience
Religious Studies October 1, 1965 DOI: 10.1017/s0034412500002341 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Mystical experience |
| Citations | 64 |
| Key points | Argues that monistic and theistic mysticism need not involve different experiences, and that the Theravādin experience of nirvana may be substantially identical with them, while rejecting the idea of a common 'perennial philosophy'. |
Abstract
Summary Professor R. C. Zaehner's distinction between panenhenic, monistic and theistic mysticism will be examined. It will be argued that there is no necessary reason to suppose that the latter two types involve different sorts of experience: the difference lies rather in the way the experience is interpreted. Likewise it will be argued that the Theravādin experience of nirvana, which is interpreted neither in a monistic nor in a theistic sense, may well be identical substantially with the foregoing two types. All this raises important methodological problems, in relation to the contrast between experience and interpretation. The fact that mysticism is substantially the same in different cultures and religions does not, however, entail that there is a ‘perennial philosophy’ common to mystics. Their doctrines are determined partly by factors other than mystical experience itself.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on mystical experience, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Religious and Mystical Experiences as Artifacts of Temporal Lobe Function: A General Hypothesis | 1983 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| The Psychedelic Mystical Experience in the Human Encounter with Death | 1969 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Vectorial Cerebral Hemisphericity as Differential Sources for the Sensed Presence, Mystical Experiences and Religious Conversions | 1993 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| The epistemic innocence of psychedelic states. | 2016 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Mystical Experience and Religious Doctrine | 1982 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
Citations in the library
Cited by 20
- Mystical Experience in the Lab Method & Theory in the Study of Religion September 4, 2014
- Mystical Experience Among Tibetan Buddhists: The Common Core Thesis Revisited Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion June 1, 2011
- Mystical Experience Religions June 24, 2022
- The Psychology of Mysticism Cambridge University Press eBooks January 27, 2026
- The Construction of Mystical Experience Faith and Philosophy 1988
and 15 more in the library