The experiential bias in modern understandings of spirituality has led to readings of the pre-modern texts of Pseudo-Dionysius as referring to “negative experiences” of faith. Denys Turner, Bernard McGinn, and others have outlined the mistaken “spiritual positivism” of such readings and their contrast with the negative dialectics of the classical apophatic tradition. Indeed, the philosophical...
Sufism is a mystic body of religious practice found in Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic purification, spirituality, ritualism, asceticism and esotericism. Sufism is a path of spiritual advancements cum expansion of consciousness leading to awareness of self in the universe. The practice of Sufism leads to the development of innate spiritual and initiative abilities. Ancient...
This chapter proposes an archeology of the category mysticism, showing its different meanings in the Christian religious context, and then in human and social sciences. It argues that despite its essentialist uses in the 20th and 21st centuries, this category can still be relevant and effective. Instead of considering mysticism as a phenomenon separated from religion, limited to the private...
Ashraf Jahangir Semnani (d. 798 A.H.), is one of the mystics of Iranian descent of the Chishtiyya sect and one of the Sufi sheikhs living in India. One of his most important works is "Lataif Ashrafi Fi Bayan Tawaif Sufi". This work is in the form of a manuscript and is one of the comprehensive mystical encyclopedias and contains practical and theoretical mysticism topics as well as theological,...
This article proposes a model of comparative mysticism that bases its rationale for comparison in the dynamic interaction between three components: neurocognitive mechanisms and substrates, phenomenal experiences, and noetic accounts. In examining the phenomenon of ego - dissolution ( EDn ), using this model, a scholar can identify universal and contextual components of a mystic’s experiences....
This article discusses Ibn Sina’s concept of love. Through this concept, the researcher wants to show that Ibn Sina's thought is not only identical to empirical, logical, and rational peripatetic philosophy, but also Sufistic. This study employed a qualitative method using a philosophical tasawwuf approach. The results show that everything that exists – whether animate or not – contains the...
This article explores the practice of symbolization, investigating how flags acquire specific characteristics that enable their use as symbols. The main objective of this study is to describe the Macan Ali flag, with a particular focus on its connection to mysticism and Islam within the context of Javanese culture, specifically in Cirebon. This study reveals that the Macan Ali, when viewed as a...
The article examines the challenges of spiritual life in the late Middle Ages when people, unsatisfied with external ritualized expression, began searching for an individual «religious experience» that had an immediate, internal, and personal impact, the subject of which is God. This massive change in lifestyle to attain these «religious experiences» appears as a reflection of the gradual decay...
This study explores the notion of spatiotemporal phenomena, particularly bilocation within the religious and mystical traditions of Islam and Sufism to understand deeper spiritual truths and their implications for the interconnectedness of material and metaphysical realms. Hermeneutical and phenomenological analyses have been employed to discern the complexities of bilocation (Time and Space)...
Javanese-Islamic mysticism believes that humans can find God (in union with Him) through wisdom. The concepts are similar to Sufism, such as Ittiḥād, ḥulūl, and Waḥdat al-wujūd. This study aims to discover the formulation of Javanese-Islamic mysticism teachings in Serat Nitisruti by Prince Karanggayam. The primary data were obtained from Javanese manuscripts, namely Serat Nitisruti, compiled by...