The Unity of Mystical Traditions: The Transformation of Consciousness in Tibetan and German Mysticism

Abstract

136 Book Reviews / Mission Studies 25 (2008) 115–152 Th e Unity of Mystical Traditions: Th e Transformation of Consciousness in Tibetan and German Mysticism . By Randall Studstill. Leiden, Brill 2005. Pp. xii + 304. $127.00. “Mysticism” is a term bandied about so much in popular discourse that it has almost been stripped of meaning, constituting a veritable Rorschach blot whose definition is in the eye of the beholder. Even scholarly circles feature debates about what constitutes the mystical, with essentialists arguing for something inherent in the mystical practices of all religions, while constructivists see no such commonality, viewing