Incarnate Experience
Richard Kearney, Kascha Semonovitch
Fordham University Press eBooks May 2, 2011 DOI: 10.5422/fordham/9780823234615.003.0008 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Key points | Argues that incarnate experiences, unlike acquired or provoked embodied experiences, involve the self being overtaken by a divine Stranger, and that mystical sensibility includes an extra "sense" of balance, harmony, and discernment beyond the five senses. The author presents histories of Saint Teresa of Avila, Rūzbihān Baqlī, and Rabbi Dov Baer as evidence of the multisensory manifestation of the sacred Other. |
Abstract
This chapter deals with different kinds of experiences that pertain to corporeality. It distinguishes between “embodied experience” and “incarnate experience” where the latter includes visitations of the vertical or transcendent. This distinction between embodied and incarnate experience is not to advocate any kind of dualism; rather, it is an attempt to be attentive to modes of givenness that are mutually informing but phenomenologically distinct. Unlike embodied experiences, which are “acquired” or “provoked,” incarnate experiences indicate the overtaking of self by a divine Stranger. With detailed histories from three exemplary mystics — Saint Teresa of Avila, Rūzbihān Baqlī, and Rabbi Dov Baer — this chapter presents evidence of the multisensory manifestation of the sacred Other, arguing that mystical sensibility must be understood to include an extra “sense” of balance, harmony, and discernment in addition to the standard five senses.