Mission studies
2008
Guy Lancaster
136 Book Reviews / Mission Studies 25 (2008) 115–152 Th e Unity of Mystical Traditions: Th e Transformation of Consciousness in Tibetan and German Mysticism . By Randall Studstill. Leiden, Brill 2005. Pp. xii + 304. $127.00. “Mysticism” is a term bandied about so much in popular discourse that it has almost been stripped of meaning, constituting a veritable Rorschach blot whose definition is in...
Transpersonal Psychology Review
2008
Janice Hartley, Michael Daniels
This study explores negative paranormal and spiritual experiences in the light of William James’s concept of ‘diabolical mysticism ‘. The aim was to investigate the characteristics of these experiences, how they are interpreted by those who experience them, the rea.ciions of others, and their overall influence on people’s lives. The methodology used semi-structured interviews to develop a...
International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis
2008
Peter J Adams
People attempting to communicate religious and mystical experiences tend to use the same language strategies employed in inducing hypnotic trance. Both incorporate vague language that provides receptive listeners the opportunity to insert their own content. This study examines whether people who have had mystical or religious experiences are also more likely to respond to the language of...
Review of General Psychology
September 1, 2007
Harry T. Hunt
47 citations
Phenomenological, clinical, and neurocognitive levels of analysis are combined to understand the cognitive bases of spirituality and spiritual suffering. In particular, the “dark night of the soul” in classical mysticism, with its painful “metapathological” loss of felt meaning is compared with the anhedonias central to the negative symptoms of schizophrenia and schizotypicality. Paul...
The University of Queensland
June 19, 2007
Paul C. Martin
3 citations
One of the defining characteristics of mystical experience posited by the psychologist and pragmatist philosopher William James in 1902 is that of ineffability, or indescribability. In this thesis my aim is to inquire into this notion of ineffability, indeed to problematize its understanding, by relating it to concepts of art and aesthetics. It is a preliminary attempt to apply the terminology...
May 31, 2007
Rachel Elior
Mysticism is one of the central sources of inspiration of religious thought. It is an attempt to decode the mystery of divine existence by penetrating to the depths of consciousness through language, memory, myth, and symbolism. By offering an alternative perspective on the world that gives expression to yearnings for freedom and change, mysticism engenders new modes of authority and...
Psychological Reports
April 1, 2007
Nima Ghorbani, P J Watson, Reza Rostami
This study examined relationships of self-reported Mysticism with dispositional Depression and Anxiety in Iranian Muslims. The sample contained 80 women and 51 men undergraduates who volunteered to participate (M age=20.5 yr., SD= 2.0). Participants responded to the Hood Mysticism Scale and to the Costello and Comrey Depression and Anxiety Scales. Scores on the Religious Interpretation...
Bulletin for the History of Chemistry
2007
William B. Jensen
Review of The Chemical Promise: Experiment and Mysticism in the Chemical Philosophy, 1550-1800, Allen G. Debus.
Project Muse
2007
Diana Lobel
14 citations
Preface Introduction:*Bahya's Work in Its Judeo-Arabic Context Chapter 1. Philosophical Mysticism in Eleventh-Century Spain: Bahya and Ibn Gabirol Chapter 2. On the Lookout: The Exegesis of a Sufi Tale Chapter 3. Creation Chapter 4. The One Chapter 5. Speaking about God: Divine Attributes, Biblical Language, and Biblical Exegesis Chapter 6. The Contemplation of Creation (I'tibar) Chapter 7....
2007
Anthony Steinbock
A phenomenological view of religious experience based on mysticism