Thesis--Marburg. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.A.)--Denver Seminary, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 132-138).

Thesis--Rijksuniversiteit te Groningen. / Includes bibliographical references (p. [274]-284).

From introduction: The aim of this thesis is to explore the "queer relationship'" existing between mysticism and madness as it emerges from psychological writings and to examine and re-evaluate the life of Joan of Arc in terms of the conceptual framework that emerges.

AFRIKAANS: Sover ons kennis strek stam die woord mistiek uit die Griekse misteriekultusse en is in die vyftiende eeu deur Jean de Gerson gedefinieer as ervaarbare kennis van God deur die omhelsing van verenigende liefde. Tans word dit aangewend om die volgende aan te dui: (1) In onmiddellike gewaarwording van die Absolute of Goddelike (2) teoretisering aangaande die gewaarwording (3) die vervlakte betekenis as die misterieuse. Wat die geskiedenis van mistiek self aangaan, word blyke daarvan aangetref in die Indiese tradisie (Djainisme en Jogha, Boeddhisme, Hindoelsme), Egipte (Osiris-kultus), Persië (Zoroastrisme), Sjina en Japan (Taolsme, Neoconfucianisme, Boeddhisme, Sjintolsme), Judaïsme (Ou Testament, Philo, Therapeutae, Essene, Kabbalisme, Gassidisme), die Griekse tradisie (Sjamans, Klassieke Filosofie, Stolsyne, Misteriekultusse, Neoplatonisme), Gnostiek, Hermetiek, Christendom (Jesus, Paulus, Kloosterwese, vroeë Kerkvaders, Oostelike Ortodoksie, Rooms-katolisisme, Protestantisme), Islam (Soefisme), Afrikagodsdienste. Ook die peri ode Renaissance tot 1996 word kortliks bespreek. Uiteenlopende studiemetodes word in die mistiek aangewend. Borchert se be-invloedingstudie, die Kantiaanse benadering van Katz, die fenomenologiese benadering van Pike, mistiek as 'n element van religieuse gemeenskappe en tradisies van McGinn, die vergelykende metode van Gilbert en wetenskaplike eksperimentele navorsing word bespreek. Die outeur wil so fenomenologies as moontlik bly en ook vergelykend werk volgens Gilbert. Wat eksperimentele navorsing betref word daar tot die gevolgtrekking gekom dat hallusinogeniese middels alleen nie 'n egte mistiese gewaarwording kan veroorsaak nie. Heelwat navorsing is gedoen oor alfa- en thetagolwe wat tydens meditasie deur die brein geproduseer word. Daar kan nie meer aangevoer word dat Zen en mistiek slegs vorms van selfhipnose is nie. Neurofisiologiese navorsing in verband met mistiek dui daarop dat spesifieke strukture in die brein die mistiese toestand bemiddel. Wat die verband tussen filosofie en mistiek betref, wil filosofie soos mistiek die wese van dinge en hulle verhouding tot die laaste grond verstaan in die lig van rede-idees en deur middel van die wette van die verstand begryp. Spekulatiewe mistiek ag hierdie middele alleen egter as ontoereikend, maar kan net so min daarsonder klaarkom as 'n gees of siel sonder ‘n liggaam. Dit wil die grond van aIle dinge deur vereniging met die Grond verkry, wat ook die ware wese van dinge na vore sal laat kom, en glo dat dit eers dan die wese van alle dinge verstaan, en in die taal van die denke kan vat. Die mistiese gewaarwording lê op 'n synsvlak wat nie net na onder met stelselmatige denke aaneenloop nie, maar dit ook transendeer. Die filosoof Heidegger is vir die spekulatiewe mistiek van besondere belang aangesien sy lewensloop duidelik aantoon dat om 'n antimetafisiese houding in te neem jou nog steeds nie in staat stel om die Syn of Absolute in 'n filosofiese net te vang nie, aangesien net taal al klaar metafisika is. Die outeur steun meer op Hegel wat ook misties geïnspireer was maar aan metafisika bly vashou het. Daar bestaan positiwistiese kritiek dat die mistiek kenteoreties nie houdbaar is nie, maar volgens die outeur is mistiese kenning bo alles intuïtiewe kenning en lê in 'n gebied waar die gespanne subjek-objekverhouding tot 'n mate, maar nie totaal nie, getransendeer is. Die aanname van ‘n ware ooreenkoms tussen mistiese gewaarwordings, religieus sowel as nie-religieus, stel ons in staat om ‘n verskeidenheid in die lig van algemene kategorieë te beskou sonder om hulle te reduseer tot blote identiteit. Die outeur stem saam met ondersoekers wat meen dat dit redeliker is om alle mistiese gewaarwordings as verwant te beskou as om dogmatiese afgronde tussen hulle te stel. Sewe tipes mistiese gewaarwordings word onderskei, naamlik die ongedifferensieerde; die drie introvertief gedifferensieerdes: met intuïtiewe spieëling van denkkategorieë in mekaar, met intuïtiewe insig in rasionele probleme, en met innerlike sintuiglike voorstellings; die twee ekstrovertief passiewes: met of sonder fantasieverskynsels; en die ekstrovertief aktiewe. Die kortste beskrywing van die mistiese gewaarwording waartoe die outeur kon kom is dat dit 'n ongewone, dikwels kortstondige, maar besonder oortuigende, intuïtiewe bewustheid van die Absolute of hoogs sinvolle is wat voorafgegaan word deur 'n sekere aanloop en daarna inspireer tot geestelike kreatiwiteit. Wat die psigoterapeutiese evaluasie van mistiese gewaarwordings betref, kom psigologie tot die gevolgtrekking dat hulle nie die uitsluitlike voorreg van neurosevry indiwidue is nie maar psigiese fenomene in hulle eie reg. Van Jung se vier funksies van die psige oorheers die intuïtiewe by die mistikus. Die ander drie kan egter in enige kombinasie of relatiewe sterkte voorkom. Die religieuse element is altyd aanwesig. Die mistikus is meestal 'n religieuse intuïtiwis met 'n radikaliserende neiging en (volgens Underhill) 'n 'bewussynsdrempel van buitegewone mobiliteit'. Dikwels heg hy of sy nie veel waarde aan ingegrifte konvensies op religieuse, sosiale en ander gebiede nie. Paranormale en psigofisiese fenomene gaan soms met mistiese gewaarwordings gepaard, maar vorm nie 'n essensiële deel daarvan nie en word dikwels deur die mistikus geïgnoreer. Sekere fisici het in die twintigste eeu begin erken dat menslike bewustheid 'n rol speel in die fisiese heelal. Sommige filosofiese denke wat deur die kwantummeganika geïnspireer is, is dus nou in ooreenstemming met ouer idees van die spekulatiewe mistiek. Hierdie fisici se interpretasie van die heelal het nou oorgegaan van meganisties na organies. Die rol van die mistiese gewaarwording in die lewe van die natuurwetenskaplike navorser word na vore gebring. In die hoofstuk oor kuns word geredeneer en aangetoon dat mistiese gewaarwordings deur middel van artistieke vaardigheid uitgebeeld kan word, en wat hiermee saamgaan, tot watter tipe uitsprake en gevolgtrekkings daar aangaande kunswerke met 'n mistiese inslag, of vermeende mistiese inslag, gekom kan word. Kunswerke wat moontlik mistiese gewaarwordings in sommige persone sal opwek word bespreek. Die verhouding tussen die teoloog en die mistikus is nie altyd goed nie, aangesien laasgenoemde bang is dat hy deur statiese vorms van God vervreem gaan word, terwyl eersgenoemde weer vrees dat sy gesagsposisie ondermyn gaan word. Die numineuse of heilige kan baie vryer van die onheilspellende wees as wat Rudolf Otto dink, aangesien dit slegs die begin van opposisie tussen die goeie en bose laag in die νους-vlak is. Dit is egter in hierdie religie, hierdie heilige eenheid in veelheid, waar mistikus, teoloog en lidmate mekaar soms vind. Die mistikus is oor die algemeen geïnteresseerd in gemeenskap met God en nie in kommunikasie nie. Tog moet sy dit kan doen indien sy haar gewaarwordings wil meedeel. Mistiese taal is 'n poging om die onuitspreeklike te verwoord, is kenmerkend paradoksaal, en maak baie gebruik van beelde, vergelykings en simbole. Die mistikus soek gedurig na nuwe beelde en ontken oues. Mistiek is nie hoofsaaklik 'n vorm van doktrinêre denke nie, maar veral 'n getuienis. Elke voorwerp om die mens behoort volgens die mistiek beskou te word as 'n simbool van die wêreld se ewige Grond. Die hele persoon is by mistiek betrokke, ook die hartstogte en begeertes. Nie aIle mistiese weë wil hê dat die mens voor alles eers 'n diepgaande sedelike verandering moet ondergaan nie. Enige voorwaarde om by die Absolute uit te kom, neem die plek van die Absolute in. Die mistiese gewaarwording maak eerder ware goeddoen moontlik. Heidegger sien die moderne nihilistiese toestand as die skokkende afwesigheid van 'n god, maar is volgens die outeur ook positief in die opsig dat dit nogtans geïsoleerde indiwidue dwing om op hulle eie die beste van hulle geestelikheid te probeer maak. Wat sosiale hervorming betref, moet ons, volgens Radhakrisjnan, indien ons wil ontkom aan die chaos wat veroorsaak word deur die ontwikkeling van tegnologie, 'n nuwe orde gebaseer op die mistiese gewaarwording, wat die gemeenskaplike kern van religieë vorm, vind. In Suiwer mistiese kultuur sal egter volgens Borchert ook ‘n arm en beperkte kultuur wees. Volgens Maslow sal ons, indien ons die waardes wat sterk met mistiek saamhang as 'n meerdere onderwysdoel aanvaar, 'n groot florering van 'n nuwe soort beskawing sien. Wat die mens se fisiese omgewing betref, kan wetenskaplike gevolgtrekkings aangaande die onderlinge verbande tussen dinge volgens Zimmerman nie uit sigself na die 'medelye'of na die 'sorg' om 'dinge in vrede te laat' lei nie. Wat nodig is, is direkte insig in die verwantwees van dinge, 'n insig wat die innerlike struktuur van die een 'persoon' wat die gawe van insig ontvang het transformer. 'n Fenomenalistiese ontologie en die leer van anatma verskaf volgens die outeur nie 'n goeie basis vir die kritisering of bekamping van die tegnologiese ontsluiting van entiteite nie. Die hoogste sin kan deur 'n enkele kragtige mistlese gewaarwording aan die gefrustreerdste bestaan verleen word. Dit is die doel van die hele ewolusieproses. Dit beteken ook dat die mistiese gewaarwording sy eie sin en doel is en gekenmerk word deur aseïteit. Die Perenniale of Intuïtiewe Filosofie is 'n ander naam vir filosofiese spekulatiewe mistiek. Ofskoon dit altyd in begripmatige vorm geklee is, binne 'n bepaalde tyd manifesteer, en relatief tot ander uitinge daarvan staan, val die hoofklem altyd op die Absolute wat alle tyd en begrip transendeer. Die leidende filosofiese uitgangspunt waarvan dit in die twintigste eeu gebruik gemaak het, is die van Plotinus se νους, die eerste uitstraling vanuit sy Absolute of 'Een'. ENGLISH: As far as we know, the word mysticism originated in the Greek Mystery Cults and, in the fifteenth century, was defined by Jean de Gerson as experimental knowledge of God by the embrace of unitive love. Today it is used in the following ways: (1) an immediate awareness of the Absolute or Divine (2) theorizing concerning this experience (3) superficially, to mean the mysterious. With regard to the history of mysticism, evidence of it is found in the Indian tradition (Jainism and Yoga, Buddhism, Hinduism), Egypt (Osiris Cult), Persia (Zoroastrianism), China and Japan (Taoism, Neoconfucianism, Buddhism, Shintoism), Judaism (Old Testament, Philo, Therapeutae, Essenes, Cabbalism, Hassidism), the Greek tradition (Shamans, Classical Philosophy, Stoics, Mystery Cults, Neoplatonism), Gnosticism, Hermetics, Christianity (Jesus, Paul, Monasticism, early Church Fathers, Eastern Orthodoxy, Roman Catholicism, Protestantism), Islam (Sufism), and in African religions. The period from the Renaissance to 1996 is also discussed briefly. Various study methods are used in mysticism. Borchert's diffusion study, the Kantian approach of Katz, the phenomenological approach of Pike, mysticism as an element of religious communities and traditions of McGinn, and the comparative method of Gilbert, as well as scientific experimental research are discussed. The author tried to follow, as far as possible, the phenomenological approach, but also used Gilbert's comparative method. As far as experimental research is concerned, the conclusion is drawn that hallocinogenic agents, on their own, can not cause a true mystical experience. Considerable research has been done on alpha and theta waves, which are produced by the brain during meditation. The belief that Zen and mysticism are merely forms of self-hypnosis is no longer valid. Neurophysiological research concerning mysticism suggests that specific structures in the brain mediate the mystical state. Regarding the relation between philosophy and mysticism, both strive to understand the essence of things and their relation to the ultimate ground in the light of the ideas of reason, and to comprehend them by means of the laws of thought. Speculative mysticism, however, considers these means on their own to be inadequate, while not always recognizing that they are in fact as necessary to it as a body is to a spirit or soul. Speculative mysticism wants to attain the ground of all things by uniting with the Ground, a happening which will also let the true essence of things come to the fore. It believes that only then will it understand the essence of all things, and be able to express it in the language of thought. The mystical experience is on a level of being which is not only continuous with the systematic thinking of a lower level, but also transcends it. Heidegger is of particular importance to speculative mysticism because his life story clearly shows that to adopt an antimetaphysical attitude still does not enable you to entrap Being or the Absolute in a philosophical net, as language alone is already metaphysics. The author relies more on Hegel, who was also mystically inspired but never tried to abandon metaphysics. Positivistic criticism accuses mysticism of being epistemologically untenable, but the author maintains that mystic knowing above all is intuitive knowing and reposes in a realm where the tense subject-object relationship is to a certain extent, but not completely, transcended. The supposition of a true resemblance between mystical experiences, religious as well as nonreligious, enables us to see a variety in the light of general categories without reducing them to mere identity. The author agrees with investigators who are of the opinion that it makes more sense to regard all mystical experiences as related than to posit dogmatic chasms between them. Seven types of mystical experiences are distinguished, namely the undifferentiated; three introvertive differentiated - intuitive reflection of thought categories within each other, intuitive insight into rational problems, and inner sensory representations; the two extrovertive passives - with or without fantasy phenomena; and the extrovertive active. The shortest description of the mystical experience which the author can offer is that it is an altered, often brief, but eminently persuasive, intuitive consciousness of the Absolute or the highly meaningful which is preceded by a certain preparation and inspires consequent mental creativity. As regards the psychotherapeutic evaluation of mystical experiences, psychology is coming to the conclusion that they are not the exclusive privilege of individuals free of neuroses, but psychic phenomena in their own right. Of Jung's four functions of the psyche, in the mystic the intuitive predominates. The other three may, however, manifest in any combination or relative prominence. The religious element is always present. The mystic is more often than not a religious intuitivist with a radicalizing tendency and (according to Underhill) a 'threshhold of uncommon mobility'. Often he or she does not identify with ingrained religious, social and other conventions. Paranormal and psychophysical phenomena sometimes accompany mystical experiences, but do not form an essential part of the experience and are often ignored by the mystic. Certain twentieth-century physicists started acknowledging human consciousness as an integral part of the physical universe. Therefore some philosophical thought, stimulated by quantum mechanics, is now in accordance with older ideas of speculative mysticism. These physicists' interpretation of the universe has now changed from mechanistic to organic. The role of mystical experience in the life of the scientist is divulged. In the chapter on art it is argued and shown that mystical experiences can be brought to life by artistic skill and, furthermore, to what kind of utterances and conclusions concerning works of art with a mystical or supposedly mystical impact this sometimes leads. Works of art which could possibly evoke mystical experiences in some persons are discussed. The relation between theologist and mystic is not always of the best, as the latter is wary of static forms which may estrange him from God, whereas the former fears that his authority may be undermined. Otto's numinous can, according to the author, be far freer from the ominous, since the latter only appears with the commencement of opposition between good and bad on the lower level of νους It is, however, in this religion, this holy unity in multiplicity, that mystic, theologist and church members are sometimes reconciled. Generally speaking, the mystic is interested in communion with God and not in linguistic communication. Yet she has to be able to communicate if she wants to share her experiences. Mystic language tries to give word to the ineffable, is characteristically paradoxical, and often makes use of imagery, metaphors and symbols. To counteract petrification, the mystic continually looks for new images and denies old ones. Mysticism is not above all a form of doctrinal thinking, but rather a confession. According to mysticism everything man encounters should be seen as a symbol of the world's eternal Ground. The whole person is involved in the mystical. This includes passions and longings. Not all mystic ways prescribe that man initially undergoes a profound ethical transformation. Any precondition to reach the Absolute takes the place of the Absolute. Rather the mystical experience makes it possible truly to do good. Heidegger sees the modem nihilistic state as the shocking absence of a god. However, according to the author, this is also positive in the sense that it nevertheless forces isolated individuals to try to make the best of their spirituality on their own. Concerning social reform, according to Radhakrishnan, if we want to escape the increasing chaos caused by the development of technology, we must find a new order based on mysticism and the mystical experience which form the common core of all true religions. A purely mystical culture would, however, according to Borchert, also be a poor and limited one. According to Maslow we would, if we accepted as a major educational goal the values which are closely bound up with mysticism, see a great flowering of a new kind of civilization. Concerning the physical environment of humankind, scientific conclusions demonstrating the mutual relationships between things can not, according to Zimmerman, by themselves lead to the 'compassion' or the 'care to let things be'. What is needed, is direct insight into the interrelatedness of things, insight that transforms the very structure of the one 'person' gifted with the insight. A phenomenalist ontology and the doctrine of anatma do not, according to the author, provide a good basis for criticizing or resisting the technological disclosure of entities. By a single powerful mystical experience the greatest meaning can be conferred on the most frustrated existence. This is the meaning and purpose of the entire evolutionary process. It also means that the mystical experience is its own meaning and purpose. Its main characteristic is aseity. Perennial or Intuitive Philosophy is another name for speculative mysticism. Although always clothed in conceptual form, manifested within a certain span of time and standing relative to other expressions of it, the main emphasis is always on the Absolute which transcends all space and time. As a basic philosophic principle the Perennial Philosophy in the twentieth century made use of Plotinus' νους the first emanation of his Absolute or 'One'. / Dissertation (MA (Philosophy))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Philosophy / unrestricted

The principal claim of this thesis is that the mystical experience is a wide-ranging influence upon literature. It is a recurrent thematic concern of poets, novelists and playwrights; but even when mysticism is not an overt element in a text, analysis of its symbols can reveal references to emotions and experiences of a mystical character - as is frequently the case with fantasy. In a more essential way, certain widely-used techniques of poetry effectively reproduce the character of mystical events for the reader. Some theory does indeed imply that the mystical bearing is quite fundamental, at a certain level, to all creative literature. This thesis explores the link between mysticism and literature through widely differing examples, to show how it continues to be found in otherwise divergent texts and contexts. Indeed, no attempt is made to provide an exhaustive overview; rather, certain special areas of interest are represented by selected cases. Mystical elements in Modernism, for example (especially in T.S. Eliot and Virginia Woolf), are contrasted with Romantic attitudes to mysticism, which Wordsworth and Coleridge are taken to represent. A further goal is to analyse the character of literary mysticism, and to account for the connection between mysticism and literary practice. The view is adopted that the circumstances in which the infant first acquires language is of crucial importance in this regard, and that literary language often draws upon submerged recollections of these early circumstances. Literature, it is argued, can employ signs and patterns of symbolisation in ways that actually attempt to 'undo' many of the everyday functions of words. The ultimate ideal of such literary techniques is to 'reverse' the process by which language was acquired and to 'return' the reader to a state resembling pre-linguistic experience, a goal which has much in common with the ambitions of mystics. Jacques Lacan's theoretical writings touch at many points upon the early development of the child and the significance of its acquisition of language. This thesis consequently has recourse to Lacan's work and, where relevant, to related psychoanalytic writings by Sigmund Freud and Julia Kristeva. After an investigation of the main characteristics of mystical experience as such, the Introduction broadly outlines Lacan's theoretical position. Chapter 1 is concerned more specifically with Lacan's discussions of mysticism. Part Two (Chapters 2-4) deals principally with the links between mystical yearnings and the Romantic ideal of the 'sublime'. In Part Three (Chapters 5-7) the relation between mysticism and Modernist developments affecting both theme and artistic technique is examined in works by three writers: T.S. Eliot, Virginia Woolf, and Fernando Pessoa. Part Four discusses particular literary presentations of 'evil' and of 'good' as embodiments of mystical perceptions. Late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century 'supernatural' fiction is selected to represent the first case, and certain New Testament and early Christian texts the second.

134 pages

Thesis (M.A. in Religion)--Vanderbilt University, May 2007. / Title from title screen. Includes bibliographical references.

Ibn Sina has been the object of many contemporary studies, all of which have attempted to examine various angles of the possible connection between Ibn Sina and mysticism. These studies, however, have not fully explored Ibn Sina's understanding of mysticism; he is generally seen as the most rational philosopher who ever lived and, therefore, unlikely to have been a mystic in any sense. In response to this claim, the present study aims to reconsider Ibn Sina's connection with mysticism and to examine his own perception of this tradition. / This thesis first looks at the various factors which may possibly have contributed to Ibn Sina's mystical thought. Two of these were his spiritual consciousness and the Shi'ite milieu of his times. The intellectual tradition in which Ibn Sina lived, and his exposure to different aspects of Islamic intellectual tradition, were another factor that shaped his mystical thought. This thesis also attempts to reread Ibn Sina's mystical works in order to reveal his methodological perspective on mysticism. Ibn Sina incorporates mystical experience in a symbolic narrative into his work. He also theorized about mystical experience, using S&dotbelow;ufi terms like mystical knowledge ('irfan) and love ('ihsq), and tried to explain these experiences in a systematic fashion. / Ibn Sina's main contribution to the field of mysticism is his attempt to reconcile and to connect the different traditions of Neoplatonism, gnosticism, and S&dotbelow;ufism. It is remarkable how these ideas fit into a common framework---that of mysticism. These ideas may possibly stem from his close understanding of and sympathy with S&dotbelow;ufi discourse. Ibn Sina also contributed to a new literary genre in S&dotbelow;ufi literature, most notably in his visionary recitals, which express a sort of mystical experience.

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