In this doctoral thesis, The Spirituality and Mysticism of Nature in the Early Franciscan Tradition, I have begun with an attempt to clarify the notions of spirituality and mysticism. The former, was seen as an approach to God embodied in outlook, practice and lifestyle, and the latter, mysticism, was defined as a felt awareness and knowledge of the presence of God. My hypothesis is that nature played a very important part in both the spirituality and mysticism of Saint Francis of Assisi, and in the spirituality of the movement he founded. In a systematic attempt to investigate my theme, I began with a study of the chief places associated with Francis. They present a kind of mirror of his soul and reveal, I believe, a good deal about his outlook and way of living. They tend to be remote and solitary places, often high in the mountains or near water, often desolate and harsh and usually beautiful, and what was later to become known as `romantic'. I turned then to the world of nature, beginning with the celestial bodies, sun, moon and the stars, and the elements of the sub-lunar world. The world of living things, fruits and flowers, animals, wild beasts and tame, fish and birds was examined. Nearly all the evidence here came from that collection of Franciscan stories and anecdotes which forms one of the great treasuries of stories in world literature. The fourth chapter was devoted to the poetry of Francis, above all to the Praises of God and The Canticle of the Creatures. After examining the circumstances of its composition, I took the stanzas one by one and examined them in the light of what they reveal of Francis spirituality and mysticism. The purpose of chapter five was to gather the fruits of my research and evaluate the hypothesis I proposed. I concluded that Francis, incorporated nature into his spirituality and mysticism in a very original way. I hold that Francis was a great nature mystic, and that his nature spirituality is still full of vigor and potential for the future. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / (D.Th. (Christian Spirituality))

Thesis (MA (Theology))--University of Stellenbosch, 1919. / 48 leaves printed single pages, hand written on exercise book. Includes bibliography. Digitized at 300 dpi grayscale to pdf using an HPScanjet 8250 Scanner. / Please refer to full text for abstract. No Afrikaans abstract available.

In today’s global religious landscape, many beliefs and practices have been dislocated and thrust into unfamiliar cultural environments and have been forced to adapt to these new settings. There has been a significant amount of research on this phenomenon as it appears in various contexts, much of it centred on the concepts of globalisation/localisation and appropriation. In this dissertation, the same process is explored in relation to the traditions of contemplative prayer from within Eastern Orthodox Christianity known as the Jesus Prayer and hesychasm. These prayer practices have traveled from a primarily monastic Orthodox Christian setting, into general Orthodox Christian usage, and finally into wider contemporary Western culture. As a result of this geographic shift from a local to a global setting, due mainly to immigration and dissemination of relevant texts, there has been a parallel shift of interpretation. This shift of interpretation involves the way the practices are understood in relation to general conceptions of authority and tradition. The present work attempts to explain the divergence of interpretations of these practices by reference to the major themes of authority and tradition, and to several secondary themes such as appropriation, cultural transmission, “glocalisation,” memory, and Orientalism. By looking at accounts of the Jesus Prayer and hesychasm from a variety of sources and perspectives, the contentious issues between accounts will be put into a wider perspective that considers fundamental differences in worldviews.

This study examines the life and scholarship of a French Dominican friar, Serge de Beaurecueil (1917 - 2005). His life time investigation of the mystical dimensions of Islam centered around the life and corpus attributed to the 11th century Hanbalī Sūfī shaykh‘Abdullāh Ansārī of Herāt (1006 - 1089). The thrust of our argument is that this erudite and mystical conversation with the work of the Pīr of Herāt is a methodology and a theology of dialogue with the religious other. This mystical and prophetic journey combines the Ashramic spirituality of Jules Monchanin and Henry Le Saux in India, a masterdisciple relations, the ethical demands of interfaith dialogue, and finally testifies to the hidden and abiding presence of God among the downtrodden of Kabul. Also, de Beaurecueil’s life ascertains the rich and varied heritage of Dominican spirituality and lays bare the conundrums of interfaith encounter. The introduction sets the stage for the friar’s mystical and prophetic life among Muslims. The first two chapters are biographical. They scrutinize the formation period and professional life of both de Beaurecueil and AnSārī. The following two chapters describe de Beaurecueil intellectual and spiritual growth. His erudition on the corpus of AnSārī and his praxis mystica fit perfectly the Dominican tradition of search for Truth (Veritas) and contemplata aliis tradere. The last chapter attempts to couch in a philosophical language a mystical encounter. Even though de Beaurecueil’s praxis mystica is both attractive and intimidating, his life is a bold testimony to the demanding complexities and rich opportunities of Christian-Muslim mystical encounter.

The themes of sensual experience, nature, and mysticism in James Dickey's poetry are examined. Dickey's "Poems 1957- 1967" and "The Eye-Beaters, Blood, Victory, Madness, Buckhead and Mercy" are the primary sources for the poems. Selections from a decade of Dickey criticism are also represented. Dickey presents a wide spectrum of attitudes toward acceptance of the physical body, communion with nature, and transcendence of the human condition, but the poems exhibit sufficient uniformity to allow thematic generalizations to be made.

Mystický výstup v textu Ma'ase merkava - anotace Tato práce se zabývá pozdně starověkým židovským mystickým textem Ma'ase merkava. Zaměřuje se na tu část textu, která se zabývá mystickým výstupem sedmi nebeskými paláci. V úvodní kapitole se snažím zasadit text Ma'ase merkava do širšího kontextu hejchalotické literatury. Druhá kapitola shrnuje dosavadní bádání týkající se textu Ma'ase merkava. Popisuji zde různé rukopisné verze a dosavadní vydání textu. Dále uvádím a hodnotím odborné práce, věnující se tomuto textu. Třetí kapitola představuje vlastní překlad části textu zabývající se mystickým výstupem podle hebrejského originálu ve zvolené rukopisné verzi (Oxford 1531). Jádro práce představuje čtvrtá kapitola, kde text analyzuji. První část analýzy je věnována funkci a charakteru textu. Uvádím názory různých badatelů na funkci textu a zdůvodňuji svůj názor, že se původně jednalo o krátké záznamy z mystických cest. Poté, co byly tyto krátké záznamy sestaveny do většího textového celku, nabyl text sekundárně také charakter instruktážní příručky. Ve druhé části analýzy zkoumám jednotlivé prvky textu, jako je popis sedmi paláců a sedmi nebes, popis Božích vlastností, Boží jména nebo tzv. nesmyslná slova v textu. Závěr pak představuje krátké shrnutí a zhodnocení práce. Mystic Ascent in the Ma'ase Merkava text -...

[pt] Wittgenstein introduz, em seu Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, sua célebre distinção entre dizer e mostrar. Segundo ele, o inefável é aquilo que se mostra. Denomina-o de o místico. O lugar na arquitetônica da obra das proposições que o concernem é extremamente enigmático. Como as outras passagens são classicamente mais discutidas e aquelas concernentes ao místico costumam ser consideradas mais obscuras, deter-se-á nelas de forma especial na tentativa de que uma melhor compreensão delas ajude a lançar nova luz sobre a referida distinção. Pretende-se mostrar que talvez essas passagens finais do Tractatus não sejam um elemento tão estranho quanto possa parecer. Para isso, será abordada, primeiramente, a crítica da linguagem que Wittgenstein faz no Tractatus de modo a contextualizar a elaboração da distinção entre dizer e mostrar. A seguir, mas ainda no primeiro capítulo, a operação de negação ajudará a apontar os limites entre o que pode e o que não pode ser pensado. Em um segundo capítulo, serão apresentadas algumas questões a respeito da não conformidade entre seu livro e sua teoria semântica, bem como observações sobre a inserção do místico nesta sua obra. Após delinear a proposta do Tractatus e os conflitos envolvidos em sua interpretação, em um terceiro capítulo, se tentará contribuir para o esclarecimento de alguns aspectos obscuros concernentes à referida distinção. Receberá particular atenção, neste momento, a noção de místico e a ética tractatiana. / [en] Wittgenstein introduces, in his Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, his famous distinction between saying and showing. According to him, the ineffable is what shows itself. He called it the mystical. The place in the architecture of his work of the propositions that concerns it is extremely enigmatic. Since the other passages are classically more discussed and those concerning the mystical used to be considered more obscures, we will focus on them in a special way in the attempt that a better understanding of them help to throw new light upon the mentioned distinction. We intend to show that perhaps these final passages of the Tractatus are not an element as strange as it may seem. In order to accomplish this, we will address first Wittgenstein’s critique of language in the Tractatus, so as to contextualize the development of the distinction between saying and showing. Next, but still in the first chapter, the operation of negation will help to point out the limits between what can and what cannot be thought. In a second chapter, we will present some issues regarding the non-conformity between his book and his semantic theory, as well as comments on the inclusion of the mystical in his work. After outlining the proposal of the Tractatus and the conflicts involved in its interpretation, in a third chapter, we will attempt to contribute to the clarification of some unclear features concerning such distinction. It will receive particular attention in this part the notion of mystical and the ethics of the Tractatus.

Thesis advisor: Nasser Behnegar / Hayy Ibn Yaqzan is a novel whose protagonist seeks intellectual knowledge and spiritual fulfillment over a lifetime of scientific experimentation and solitary rumination. The culmination of his efforts is not to independently verify the Islamic faith, as his final product differs dramatically from their dogma. Instead, he is looking to seek knowledge, not empathy from his Creator by knowing him directly, instead of worshiping him through the process of prayer. This education alienates him from the society on the other island, as they are unable or unwilling to follow his example. By accepting this path, instead of following the dominant creed and code of the populous, Hayy is unable to live comfortably within that setting and must return to his place of solitaire amongst nature. / Thesis (MA) — Boston College, 2010. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Political Science.

Thesis advisor: Stephen F. Brown / Among the varied representations of mystical ascent in the Middle Ages, perhaps none was as original as that of Thomas Gallus (d.1246), an abbot of the Canons Regular at St. Andrea in Vercelli and the so-called "last of the great Victorines." Drawing on the highly-esteemed works of Dionysius the Areopagite, Thomas exegeted the Song of Songs in terms of the soul's ascent to God through both knowledge and love. His differs from earlier Song commentaries because of its Dionysius-inspired contention that the human soul reflects the nine orders of the angelic hierarchy. Through apophatic contemplation and desire for God, the soul ascends through these orders until its intellectual knowledge fails, and it is granted a union of love with through its Seraphic order. However, Thomas, following Gregory the Great and Hugh of St. Victor, argues that love itself is a kind of knowledge, indeed, the highest kind of knowledge, the very "wisdom of Christians." To bridge the gap between the grades of knowledge and of love, and between the intellect and affect, Thomas introduces the notion of the simplification of the soul, an idea that has its roots in the Neoplatonism of Dionysius. Simplification may be defined as the principle by which multiplicity and compositeness are anagogically abandoned in favor of greater unity and simplicity through mystical ascent. It forms the guiding principle of Gallus's mystical thought, and is described in three highly interrelated ways. First, the intellect leaves behind its knowledge of God through sensibilia, sensible knowledge gained through the senses and imagination, in favor of purely invisible contemplative objects or theoriae, which it contemplates first in its own reason and intellect, and then ecstatically and unitively in themselves. Each progressively higher level of contemplation is simpler and contains those below it. Secondly, the affect abandons its lesser desires for temporal and spiritual goods, and instead focuses its desire on the Good, which is the wellspring of all lower goods. Finally, and foundationally, simplification describes the movements of the powers of the soul, which unite as they ascend, increasingly reflecting the divine simplicity. This culminates with the affect's union with God, which undividedly contains within itself all lower forms of knowledge and love. When this fleeting union with God ends, the soul descends, becoming multiplex again, but it carries with it an inflow of graces, both intellectual and affectual, which are distributed to each order of its hierarchy "according to the capacity of each". This refreshment allows for future ascent. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2011. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Theology.

O presente trabalho aborda a vida do artista Amedeo Clemente Modigliani, judeu não ortodoxo, que sempre buscou um saber artístico e filosófico e que se lançou na busca da arte e da mística judaica: a Cabala. Este estudo revela a maneira como questões místicas são expostas em suas obras de modo pouco perceptível. Para atingir os objetivos propostos, foi realizada uma pesquisa bibliográfica e exploratória, em busca de um referencial teórico e prático para a compreensão e elucidação dos fatos e a demonstração de como este artista abriu-se para o mundo sem perder suas raízes fundamentadas na tradição judaica. / The present work deals with the life of the artist Amedeo Clemente Modigliani, an unorthodox Jew, who has always sought artistic and philosophical knowledge and who has launched the quest for Jewish art and mysticism: the Kabbalah. This study reveals how mystical questions are exposed in their works in a barely perceptible way. In order to reach the proposed objectives, a bibliographical and exploratory research was carried out, in search of a theoretical and practical reference for the understanding and elucidation of the facts and the demonstration of how this artist opened up to the world without losing its roots based on the Jewish tradition.