Mysticism and the Question of Bridging Subject-Object Duality in Joy
Maroof Shah
Routledge eBooks October 30, 2026 DOI: 10.4324/9781042009541-22 (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 mysticism is joy-centric rather than joyless: genuine mystical union transcends ego and the subject-object divide without dissolving either pole, and joy arises from contact with reality while sorrow stems from imagined separation. Invoking Evelyn Underhill, Ibn Arabi, and Eckhart, the authors propose a 'transpositional' epistemology and ontology in which wonder, creativity, and love replace subject-centered striving. |
Abstract
Against the culture of narcissism in modernity, we find mystics of all hues pleading for transcending the cocoon of narrow individuality and ego-centred subjecthood and invitation to transform into a unity where dualism of subject and object and corresponding dualisms of self and Other/non-self/God/neighbour, mind and matter, body and spirit, pleasure and pain are transcended. The unity centred on the divine subjectivity which embraces human subject without dissolving it or denying its unique flowering is expressed through love and its concomitant joy as it is the Spirit or Consciousness as ananda that gets in the foreground. Contact with the reality is what constitutes joy and distance from it or alienation from it on account of imagined separation/autonomy of subject sorrow. Mysticism as a time-tested path for cultivation of virtues and participation in the divine life characterized by unity – the flowering of which include love, joy, creativity, beauty and higher values that constitute aspiration of every culture – and transcendence of this world and other world, sacred and profane dichotomies that have sometimes led to fleeing from the world and its joys. Life affirmatory mysticism, explored here in the classic exposition of Eleyn Underhill, has not advocated shunning the world or its joys – that would be dualism of a sort – and instead it has advocated enjoying all things in God. Mysticism understood as a science of transforming oneself, transposing the self into the Self that is the Other or oneself is another, and instead of self as substance or subject/cogito, there is a dialogical space or process, a self that gets identity in the face of another and God, is what makes life joyful adventure of Spirit. Transposition of subjectivity into subject-object unity preserves both subject and object, but without cutting edges and its intimations of eternity in time, which makes the odyssey of life meaningful. Mysticism, contrary to popular perception of it as sombre, juiceless or joyless exercise and its association with pessimistic asceticism, has always been a celebration of life as a carnival of joy, though sometimes this dimension couldn’t be foregrounded. Traditional mystics celebrate life with all its joys and see God as the fount of Joy Everlasting. Reality, all mystics come to realize, is made of the substance of Joy. It is ananda , bliss. In fact, all earthly joys are a reflection of this heavenly Joy. Amongst pioneer modern interpreters and scholars of mysticism, it is Eleyn Underhill who has argued for a joy-centric interpretation of mysticism that is not susceptible to the simplistic pursuit of bliss project associated with certain New Age mystical figures. Ananda/Joy-centric understanding of mysticism overcomes the problem of fragmentation of self and suffering that is always a result of failure to reach out to the heart of the other due to ignorance or imagined distance between subject and object. Alluding to Ibn Arabi and Eckhart, we see how their unity centrism and the former’s perspectivism are attuned to the ontology of joy and overcoming sorrow. Showing mysticism is joy-centric and noting how it requires transcendence of ego and moving from subject-centric object-directed movement to transposing subject and object onto transpositional epistemology and ontology, we see how wonder, creativity, and love take central place in approaching life and ideologies.
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 |