In recent studies, mysticism is divided into three realms: Mystical Experience, Mystical Practice, and Mystical Theory. There are conflicting opinions with regard to their precedence and antecedence. Some are of the opinion that theoretical principles precede mystical experiences and conduct believing that by the time the individual is not epistemologically informed, he does not approach...
Abstract:As a generally accepted "textbook" definition in Sufism, spiritual realization (taḥqīq) from an epistemological perspective is conceived as the process of obtaining knowledge from the Real (al-ḥaqīqa) through God's guidance in order to apprehend the Truth (al-Ḥaqq) through the self without an intermediary. The "realizer" (muḥaqqiq) is the person who has come to realize the Truth...
This article examines Kazimir Malevich’s Suprematist art in the context of negative (apophatic) theology, as a crucial tool in analyzing both the artist’s theoretical conclusions and his new visual optics. Our analysis rests on the point that the artist intuitively moved towards recognizing the ineffability of the multidimensional universe and perceiving God as the Spiritual Absolute. In his...
Abstract The mystical-apocalyptical literature includes the writings that the mystic shows his/her mystical experiences. Mechthild of Magdeburg and Ruzbihan Baqli are mystics in the Christian and Islam regions who have written the Flowing light of the godhead and Kashf al-Asrar va Mukashefat al-Anwar (the Unveiling of Secrets and Revelations of Lights) in this literary genre. These books in...
This essay reinvigorates the Huxley/Osmond theory that psychedelic drugs can occasion a cross-cultural mystical experience characterized by a sense of “unity with ultimate reality.” It offers a long-overdue rejoinder to the position of Constructivist authors such as Steven T. Katz, Hans Penner, and Stephen Prothero that Aldous Huxley’s Perennial Philosophy is a defunct position. Specifically,...
ABSTRACT Prof. Ralph Hood’s career can be approached from many angles. One such perspective is that his work has consistently engaged in-depth interactions with people to understand the thick, rich, details of their individual stories. The context for these investigations has been predominately one of mystical or ineffable experiences that occur in “thin spaces” involving decisive moments with...
Despite ongoing polemical debates over the supposedly inherent opposition between science and religion, the current consensus in professional historical scholarship is that sweeping conflict narratives do not stand up to scrutiny. Where previous generations of historians of science and medicine often assumed intrinsic conflict, more recent investigations have instead demonstrated vast...
This article is based on the two verses from the 3rd chapter known as “Advaita Prakaranam” (section of nonduality) of text called “Mandukya Karika” written by the author Gaudapada. At the beginning of the text Gaudapada tells, the problems which human beings have in the world (Samsara) are due to the perception of duality (subject-object duality). He says, the duality causes Samsara (problems...
Towards ExcellenceJune 30, 2021Kaustubh Kamalesh Bhandarkar, Charusheela Ramesh Birajdar
Controlled mind is like friend, while uncontrolled a worst enemy. Meditation, a practical tool to get enlightenment; gain insight and develop compassion, empathy and perception, wisdom; well-being. The real purpose of meditation is transforming one’s mental and physical health in to more improved and healthy state. It is not to get stuck as thinking continuously, about one object of thought,...
Psychedelics extracted by plants have been used in religious, spiritual and mystic practices for millennia. In 1957, Dr. Hofmann have identified and synthesized the prodrug psilocybin, a substance present in more than 200 species of psychedelic mushrooms. Although the limitations related to the scientific design of many studies, clinical observations performed during the 1950s and the 1960s...