“Power of Mysticism” and “Mysticism of Power”: Understanding the Sociopolitical History of a Neo-hindu Movement
Federico Squarcini
Social Compass September 1, 2002 DOI: 10.1177/0037768602049003003 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Mysticism |
| Key points | Argues that religious institutions founded by a single charismatic figure attempt to preserve and routinize charisma, but that this effort often fails: the transformative "power of mysticism" gradually gives way to crystallization, stratification, and bureaucratization, becoming a "mysticism of power" that loses its former elasticity, dynamism, and persuasive capacity. |
Abstract
Religious institutions created by the extraordinary efforts of a single founder—like the one examined in this essay—try hard to assure the preservation of charisma, and to guarantee its Weberian “routinization”. But this attempt does not always succeed, and quite often what originally looks like the “power of mysticism”, allowing resolute individual and social transformations, in the gradual collective evolution of a religious field turns to crystallization, stratification, bureaucratization, quickly becoming a “mysticism of power” and losing its former elasticity, dynamism and persuasive capacity.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on mysticism, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| The mystical mind: probing the biology of religious experience | 2000 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Religious and Mystical Experiences as Artifacts of Temporal Lobe Function: A General Hypothesis | 1983 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| The Problem of Pure Consciousness: Mysticism and Philosophy | 1993 | Edited collection of essays | |
| Irreducible Mind: Toward a Psychology for the 21st Century | 2020 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Mysticism and schizophrenia: A phenomenological exploration of the structure of consciousness in the schizophrenia spectrum disorders. | 2016 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |