For the first time, an ecstatic aura has been evoked through the electrical stimulation of the dorsal anterior insula during presurgical invasive intracerebral monitoring in a patient who did not suffer from an ecstatic form of epilepsy. This case provides more evidence that the anterior insula is the major generator of such a mystical-type experience even in individuals with no underlying...
Abstract In Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature (1902) William James examines the role of mysticism in the development of religion. James argues that the root of all religions is precisely the experience of mystical states of consciousness. As we shall see, although James himself admits that his own psychological constitution shuts him out from these experiences, the...
In a context in which various artistic groups resorted to periodicals to stage their public appearance, the editors of the Brussels-based magazine Hermès: Revue trimestrielle d'études mystiques et poétiques (1933–39) mobilized Middle Dutch mystical literature to carve out a space for themselves in the cultural scene of interwar Belgium. Drawing on methods and concepts of transfer studies and...
While one can certainly debate about the forms Modernism (in the artistic sense) manifested itself in and what actually qualified as Modernism, one cannot deny that the desire for freedom was one of its underlying tenets. In the 21st century it would seem however that the desire for freedom has not been satiated. In the following essay I will explore whether emancipating art from a moral...
AbstractIt has often been claimed, e.g. by William James or Aldous Huxley, that mystical experiences across times and cultures exhibit a striking similarity. Even though the words and images we use to describe them are different, underneath the surface we find a common experiential core. Others have rejected this claim and argued that all experiences are intrinsically shaped by the mystics’...
William James proposed in 1902 that states of mystical experience, central to his idea of religious experience, can be identified based on their ineffability and their noetic quality. The epistemological category of the noetic quality, modified by W. T. Stace in 1960, plays a central but somewhat confounding role in today’s biomedical research involving psychedelic drugs such as psilocybin and...
In this paper, I use a comparative analysis of mysticism in Zen and the Abrahamic faiths to formulate a phenomenological account of mysticism “as such.” I argue that, while Zen Buddhism is distinct from other forms of mystical experience in important ways, it can still be fit into a general phenomenological category of mystical experience. First, I explicate the phenomenological accounts of...
Abstract This article argues that the Indian philosopher-mystic Sri Aurobindo (1872–1950) espoused a sophisticated form of cosmopsychism that has great contemporary relevance. After first discussing Aurobindo’s prescient reflections on the “central problem of consciousness” and his arguments against materialist reductionism, I explain how he developed a panentheistic philosophy of “realistic...
The author examines the paradoxical dramatic dynamics of the Dreyer's masterpiece, according the Matte Blanco's theoretical model, as a tormented path of self awareness that consists in a progressive immersion in the unconscious. Anne, the young wife of an old Lutheran pastor, marginally involved in the witchcraft trial of a friend of her mother (now dead, but suspected to be a sorceress as...
Early analytic philosophy is known for its logical rigor that seems to leave no place for non-rational sources of knowledge such as mystical experiences. The following paper shows on the example of Bertrand Russell and Ludwig Wittgenstein that despite of this early analytic philosophy was interested in mysticism and it also shows the roots of this interest. For Russell an application of logical...
Meta-analytical approaches can provide researchers with the overall results of studies which share the same themes. Adopting such an approach in the field of comparative literature can inform and set directions for future research. In the present paper, more than forty-three articles with the shared theme of ‘mystical journey’ were studied and their findings were employed to create an...
Abstract This article examines three early writings of Hans L. Martensen, Søren Kierkegaard’s teacher and the target of his criticisms. The writings focus respectively on self-consciousness, mysticism, and freedom. They each make important claims about religion, and together they disclose the young Martensen’s systematic understanding of the epistemological, mystical, and moral-ethical...
Background: In controlled, clinical studies of the impact of psilocybin on patients with life-threatening cancers, Johns Hopkins and NYU researchers found that the “intensity of the mystical experience” induced by psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy was directly correlated with the alleviation of cancer-related mental distress. Objective: The purpose of this article is to explore the proposition...
The work addresses the mystical elements in the selected poems of W. B. Yeats and Lal Shabaz Qalander. For this purpose, the concept of mysticism and Sufism was understood in the light of different material taken from books, journals and articles. After thorough study of concerned literature, the selected poems were analyzed on the mystic pattern as suggested by Elvyn Underhill’s book on the...
How are mystical experiences related to self-rated spirituality? Is the recently developed short 8-item version of Hood’s (1975) Mysticism Scale an efficient measurement? The current study expands evidence for both questions using N = 1,582 American and N = 1,492 German samples measured in three waves, average 4 to 5 years apart. Results show that the 8-item brief M-Scale has good psychometric...
Applying descriptive-analytical research method, the present study critiques and analyzes Ibn-e Bazaz Ardabili’sSafvat al-Safa based on the mythical view of Mircea Eliade. From the perspective of Eliade, myth is the most important from of real, sacred, and communal thinking and for this reason it is exemplary and repeatable. In myth, the hero achieves trans-human conditions by transforming the...
ادبیات عرفانیJuly 24, 2021Seyyedeh Sara Kashfi, Ghorban Elmi, Naser Gozashteh
According to phenomenologists of religion, revelation means the manifestation of the sacred based on divine grace to man, the output of which is a spiritual experience, unity, novel recognition, and rebirth. On this basis, the phenomenon of revelation can be studied regarding three aspects: the manifestation of the sacred, man, and the role of revelation. Since the writings of Ruzbihan Baqli...
F1000ResearchJuly 22, 2021Vivian Siegel, Benjamin Emmert-Aronson5 citations
Background: Practitioners in a variety of spiritual/religious traditions have described “mystical experiences”, defined by a common set of qualities. The “Mystical Experience Questionnaire” (MEQ30) provides a validated and quantitative measure of mystical experience, and has been used successfully to demonstrate that the hallucinogenic substance psilocybin triggers a mystical-type experience....
In response to a recent call to rid psychedelic science of the concept of mystical experience, we argue that acknowledging the varieties and weirdness of psychedelic experiences should be at the heart of any research program on this topic. We highlight the rich tradition and scientific tools for studying mystical-type experiences, their relevance for understanding the therapeutic effects of...