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Secular Mysticism
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Book Synopsis Path of the Novice Mystic by : Paul Dunion
Download or read book Path of the Novice Mystic written by Paul Dunion and published by Greenleaf Book Group. This book was released on 2013-10-01 with total page 269 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Path of the Novice Mystic provides a unique look into the world of secular mysticism. Dr. Paul Dunion suggests that peace comes when we accept the world's inherent uncertainties and begin to approach life with elevated curiosity and enthusiasm. Dunion guides you toward maintaining a heightened level of mindfulness in everyday life. He shows how the simple act of being fully present and cultivating a soul practice opens the gates to unity-the essence of the novice secular mystic and the key to finding depth and meaning in life. With this unique blend of psychology, philosophy, and spirituality, Path of the Novice Mystic is sure to open the heart and mind to a more enriching way of life.
Book Synopsis The Sacrality of the Secular by : Bradley B. Onishi
Download or read book The Sacrality of the Secular written by Bradley B. Onishi and published by Columbia University Press. This book was released on 2018-04-24 with total page 247 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Through a bold and historically rooted vision for the future of philosophy of religion, The Sacrality of the Secular maps new and compelling possibilities for a nonsecularist secularity. In recent decades, philosophers in the continental tradition have taken a notable interest in the return of religion, a departure from the supposed hegemony of the secular age that began with the Enlightenment. At the same time, anthropologists and sociologists have begun to reject the once-dominant secularization thesis, which both prescribed and described the demise of religion in modern societies. In The Sacrality of the Secular, Bradley B. Onishi reconsiders the role of religion at a time when secularity is more tenuous than it might seem. He demonstrates that philosophy’s entanglement with religion led, perhaps counterintuitively, to vibrant reconceptions of the secular well before the unraveling of the secularization thesis or the turn to religion. Through rich readings of Heidegger, Bataille, Weber, and others, Onishi rethinks what philosophy can contribute to our understanding of religion and the wider social and cultural world.
Download or read book Secular Mysticism written by John Author and published by . This book was released on 2016-10-29 with total page 88 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Secular Buddhist commentary/derivative work of Evelyn Underhill's 1915 piece: "Practical Mysticism."The author has adapted Underhill's book to a Secular Buddhist framework which encourages a balance between the rational and the intuitive, the mundane and the transcendent, the secular and the mystical.Written for Buddhists, but with non-Buddhists also in mind, "Secular Mysticism" avoids excessive Buddhist terminology. The few Buddhist terms used are given straightforward explanations. John Author uses Underhill's practice guidelines to form a Buddhist Path that weaves between Theravada, Mahayana, Vajrayana, Zen, and Taoism. A departure from most Buddhist schools, "Secular Mysticism" encourages readers to strike out on their own and teach themselves. "I'm not a teacher, I'm a writer. Buddha said, 'Be a lamp unto yourselves.'"
Book Synopsis Spiritual Exercises for a Secular Age by : Ryan G. Duns, SJ
Download or read book Spiritual Exercises for a Secular Age written by Ryan G. Duns, SJ and published by University of Notre Dame Pess. This book was released on 2020-09-30 with total page 504 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In A Secular Age, Charles Taylor, faced with contemporary challenges to belief, issues a call for “new and unprecedented itineraries” that might be capable of leading seekers to encounter God. In Spiritual Exercises for a Secular Age, Ryan G. Duns demonstrates that William Desmond’s philosophy has the resources to offer a compelling response to Taylor. To show how, Duns makes use of the work of Pierre Hadot. In Hadot’s view, the point of philosophy is “not to inform but to form”—that is, not to provide abstract answers to abstruse questions but rather to form the human being such that she can approach reality as such in a new way. Drawing on Hadot, Duns frames Desmond’s metaphysical thought as a form of spiritual exercise. So framed, Duns argues, Desmond’s metaphysics attunes its readers to perceive disclosure of the divine in the everyday. Approached in this way, studying Desmond’s metaphysics can transform how readers behold reality itself by attuning them to discern the presence of God, who can be sought, and disclosed through, all things in the world. Spiritual Exercises for a Secular Age offers a readable and engaging introduction to the thought of Charles Taylor and William Desmond, and demonstrates how practicing metaphysics can be understood as a form of spiritual exercise that renews in its practitioners an attentiveness to God in all things. As a unique contribution at the crossroads of theology and philosophy, it will appeal to readers in continental philosophy, theology, and religious studies broadly.
Book Synopsis The Mystical as Political by : Aristotle Papanikolaou
Download or read book The Mystical as Political written by Aristotle Papanikolaou and published by University of Notre Dame Pess. This book was released on 2012-10-30 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Theosis, or the principle of divine-human communion, sparks the theological imagination of Orthodox Christians and has been historically important to questions of political theology. In The Mystical as Political: Democracy and Non-Radical Orthodoxy, Aristotle Papanikolaou argues that a political theology grounded in the principle of divine-human communion must be one that unequivocally endorses a political community that is democratic in a way that structures itself around the modern liberal principles of freedom of religion, the protection of human rights, and church-state separation. Papanikolaou hopes to forge a non-radical Orthodox political theology that extends beyond a reflexive opposition to the West and a nostalgic return to a Byzantine-like unified political-religious culture. His exploration is prompted by two trends: the fall of communism in traditionally Orthodox countries has revealed an unpreparedness on the part of Orthodox Christianity to address the question of political theology in a way that is consistent with its core axiom of theosis; and recent Christian political theology, some of it evoking the notion of “deification,” has been critical of liberal democracy, implying a mutual incompatibility between a Christian worldview and that of modern liberal democracy. The first comprehensive treatment from an Orthodox theological perspective of the issue of the compatibility between Orthodoxy and liberal democracy, Papanikolaou’s is an affirmation that Orthodox support for liberal forms of democracy is justified within the framework of Orthodox understandings of God and the human person. His overtly theological approach shows that the basic principles of liberal democracy are not tied exclusively to the language and categories of Enlightenment philosophy and, so, are not inherently secular.
Book Synopsis A History of Mysticism by : Richard H. Jones
Download or read book A History of Mysticism written by Richard H. Jones and published by State University of New York Press. This book was released on 2024-04-01 with total page 681 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book offers a historical overview of mysticism in the world's major religious traditions. Beginning with a chapter on the nature of mystical experiences, A History of Mysticism then turns to a discussion of mysticism's prehistory in shamanism and the early use of psychedelics. The possible role of mystical experiences among early Greek philosophers (including Socrates and Plato) is subsequently addressed, followed by chapters on mysticism in Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Daoism, and a variety of present-day iterations, including New Age mysticism, secular mysticism, and the scientific study of mystical experiences. An appendix covering popular misunderstandings of mystical experiences and mysticism is also included. Written in a clear, accessible style, this book is suitable for students of religion and philosophy as well as general readers interested in mysticism and the world's variety of mystical traditions.
Download or read book Pagan Mysticism written by Michael York and published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing. This book was released on 2018-12-10 with total page 349 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As a non-dogmatic religion, paganism is a spiritualty that is variously interpreted in terms of nature worship, this-worldliness, the valuing of the physical, and multiple understandings of the sacred. Like most religions, pagan spirituality also entertains the experience of mystical ecstasy as an intense state of psycho-spiritual consciousness that radically diverges from ordinary waking awareness. This volume addresses two fundamental questions, namely: “how do the world’s religions understand the mystical and its pursuit?”, and “how and why does paganism offer something different?” Proverbially, the mystical quest is an ultimate human endeavour. The re-emergence of pagan thought in contemporary times challenges the obsolete and unlocks both innovation and available forms of transpersonal emancipation.
Author :Aubrey L. Glazer Publisher :New Perspectives in Post-Rabbinic Judaism ISBN 13 :9781618115492 Total Pages :0 pages Book Rating :4.1/5 (154 download)
Book Synopsis Tangle of Matter & Ghost by : Aubrey L. Glazer
Download or read book Tangle of Matter & Ghost written by Aubrey L. Glazer and published by New Perspectives in Post-Rabbinic Judaism. This book was released on 2017 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A sophisticated but accessible fusion of theory and critical popular culture of Leonard Cohen's mystical songbook in relation to post-secular thinking and Kabbalah, Hasidism and Rinzai Buddhism. This volume presents a unique inter-disciplinary approach to Jewish philosophy and literary studies that will touch diverse audiences and readership.
Book Synopsis Freedom of Religion and the Secular State by : Russell Blackford
Download or read book Freedom of Religion and the Secular State written by Russell Blackford and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2012-01-17 with total page 219 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Exploring the relationship between religion and the state Focusing on the intersection of religion, law, and politics in contemporary liberal democracies, Blackford considers the concept of the secular state, revising and updating enlightenment views for the present day. Freedom of Religion and the Secular State offers a comprehensive analysis, with a global focus, of the subject of religious freedom from a legal as well as historical and philosophical viewpoint. It makes an original contribution to current debates about freedom of religion, and addresses a whole range of hot-button issues that involve the relationship between religion and the state, including the teaching of evolution in schools, what to do about the burqa, and so on.
Book Synopsis Religion and Its Other by : Heike Bock
Download or read book Religion and Its Other written by Heike Bock and published by Campus Verlag Gmbh. This book was released on 2008 with total page 247 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Modern Western thought has traditionally relegated the religious and the secular to two entirely different spheres. Religion and Its Other takes issue with this oversimplified dichotomy, tracing the borders and grey areas between religion and the secular world as conceived of in Christian, Jewish, and Muslim cultures past and present. A unique collection of theoretically informed historical and anthropological case studies, this comprehensive volume includes discussions of medieval atheism, Egyptian modernization, Jewish mysticism, Lutheran angels, and other such topics. Religion and Its Other will enrich the library of anyone interested in the social construction of religion across the centuries.
Book Synopsis Mysticism in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam by : Ori Z. Soltes
Download or read book Mysticism in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam written by Ori Z. Soltes and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2009 with total page 356 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Mysticism in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam traces the sweep of mysticism--the search for oneness with God--throughout the three Abrahamic traditions. Beginning with a definition of mysticism and a discussion of its place within religion as a whole, Ori Z. Soltes explores the history of mysticism from the Biblical times through the present day.
Book Synopsis Ignatian Humanism by : Ronald Modras
Download or read book Ignatian Humanism written by Ronald Modras and published by Loyola Press. This book was released on 2010-06 with total page 362 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Ignatian Humanism puts into perspective our contemporary search for a spirituality that responds both to our search for meaning and desire for God." -John W. Padberg, S.J., director, Institute of Jesuit Sources "Modras integrates fascinating history, contemporary theology, and inspiring spirituality with consistent focus on central issues for our day." -Joann Wolski Conn, associate professor of religious studies, Neumann College "A stunning book! Modras has profiled a number of Jesuit thinkers and activists as role models for our time-revitalizing humanism as a model for moderns." -Leonard Swidler, professor of Catholic thought and inter-religious dialogue, Temple University Ignatius Loyola, founder of the Jesuit order, is one of a mere handful of individuals who has permanently changed the way we understand God. In this vividly written and meticulously researched book, Ronald Modras shows how Ignatian spirituality retains extraordinary vigor and relevance nearly five centuries after Loyola's death. At its heart, Ignatian spirituality is a humanism that defends human rights, prizes learning from other cultures, seeks common ground between science and religion, struggles for justice, and honors a God who is actively at work in creation. The towering achievements of the Jesuits are made tangible by Modras's vivid portraits of Ignatius and five of his successors: Matteo Ricci, the first Westerner at the court of the Chinese emperor; Friederich Spee, who defended women accused of witchcraft; Karl Rahner, the greatest Catholic theologian of the twentieth century; Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, the scientist-mystic; and Pedro Arrupe, the charismatic leader of the Jesuits in the years following Vatican II.
Book Synopsis The Mysticism of Saint Augustine by : John Peter Kenney
Download or read book The Mysticism of Saint Augustine written by John Peter Kenney and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2005-09-19 with total page 177 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Augustine's vision at Ostia is one of the most influential accounts of mystical experience in the Western tradition, and a subject of persistent interest to Christians, philosophers and historians. This book explores Augustine's account of his experience as set down in the Confessions and considers his mysticism in relation to his classical Platonist philosophy. John Peter Kenney argues that while the Christian contemplative mysticism created by Augustine is in many ways founded on Platonic thought, Platonism ultimately fails Augustine in that it cannot retain the truths that it anticipates. The Confessions offer a response to this impasse by generating two critical ideas in medieval and modern religious thought: firstly, the conception of contemplation as a purely epistemic event, in contrast to classical Platonism; secondly, the tenet that salvation is absolutely distinct from enlightenment.
Download or read book Mysticism in Iran written by Ata Anzali and published by Univ of South Carolina Press. This book was released on 2017-09-28 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An original study of the transformation of Safavid Persia from a majority Sunni country to a Twelver Shi'i realm "Mysticism" in Iran is an in-depth analysis of significant transformations in the religious landscape of Safavid Iran that led to the marginalization of Sufism and the eventual emergence of 'irfan as an alternative Shi'i model of spirituality. Ata Anzali draws on a treasure-trove of manuscripts from Iranian archives to offer an original study of the transformation of Safavid Persia from a majority Sunni country to a Twelver Shi'i realm. The work straddles social and intellectual history, beginning with an examination of late Safavid social and religious contexts in which Twelver religious scholars launched a successful campaign against Sufism with the tacit approval of the court. This led to the social, political, and economic marginalization of Sufism, which was stigmatized as an illegitimate mode of piety rooted in a Sunni past. Anzali directs the reader's attention to creative and successful attempts by other members of the ulama to incorporate the Sufi tradition into the new Twelver milieu. He argues that the category of 'irfan, or "mysticism," was invented at the end of the Safavid period by mystically minded scholars such as Shah Muhammad Darabi and Qutb al-Din Nayrizi in reference to this domesticated form of Sufism. Key aspects of Sufi thought and practice were revisited in the new environment, which Anzali demonstrates by examining the evolving role of the spiritual master. This traditional Sufi function was reimagined by Shi'i intellectuals to incorporate the guidance of the infallible imams and their deputies, the ulama. Anzali goes on to address the institutionalization of 'irfan in Shi'i madrasas and the role played by prominent religious scholars of the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries in this regard. The book closes with a chapter devoted to fascinating changes in the thought and practice of 'irfan in the twentieth century during the transformative processes of modernity. Focusing on the little-studied figure of Kayvan Qazvini and his writings, Anzali explains how 'irfan was embraced as a rational, science-friendly, nonsectarian, and anticlerical concept by secular Iranian intellectuals.
Book Synopsis Secular Monasticism by : Jane Fitz-Gibbon
Download or read book Secular Monasticism written by Jane Fitz-Gibbon and published by Xlibris Corporation. This book was released on 2012-09 with total page 227 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Like an underground river, the monastic tradition keeps on resurging in a host of unexpected times and places. Secular Monasticism, A Journey describes one of its most recent incarnations. The founders and members of the Lindisfarne Community share with us their bold attempt to be a secular monastic religious order open to the exigencies of the contemporary world. Age-old wisdom once again reveals its perennial relevance in helping us learn how to be followers of Christ in God's today. Brother John, Taizé In the first five pages, I thought of ten people I know who should read this book: young people, old people, all people tired of taken-for-granted spirituality. Devour this book. Let it help you dream up a way of joining or creating a micro-community of prayer and action that frees you to experiment in following the ways of Christ. That´s what these folks have done. This story helps us imagine ourselves out of the boxes and buildings Christianity has become. The Rev. Dr. Dori Baker, Scholar-in-Residence, The Fund for Theological Education Lindisfarne Community has graciously accepted God's call to dance with the radical (and sometimes wearying) changes of our time. Like the Celts, they find meaning in their ongoing spiritual evolution through poetry and story, through a willingness to navigate the waters of the soul while remaining fiercely loyal to the good earth that bore us and nurtures us. Like the Celts, this family of secular monastics hungers more for mystical union with the Divine Mystery than for any trappings of earthly renown or success. Carl McColman, author and blogger (from the foreword)
Book Synopsis The Mystic Experience by : Jordan Paper
Download or read book The Mystic Experience written by Jordan Paper and published by State University of New York Press. This book was released on 2012-02-01 with total page 187 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The mystic, zero, or void experience—the ecstatic disappearance of self along with everything else—is considered by those who have had it to be the most beautiful, blissful, positive, profound, and significant experience of their lives. Offering both a descriptive and a comparative perspective, this book explores the mystic experience across cultures as both a human and cultural event. The book begins and ends with descriptions of the author's own mystical experiences, and looks at self-reported experiences by individuals who do not link their experiences to a religious tradition, to determine characteristics of this universal human experience. These characteristics are compared to statements of acknowledged mystics in diverse religious traditions. The mystic experience is also situated within other ecstatic religious experiences to distinguish it from similar, but distinct, experiences such as lucid dreams, shamanism, and mediumism. Jordan Paper goes on to look at how the mystic experience has been considered in various fields, such as sociology, psychology, anthropology, biology, and comparative religious studies.
Book Synopsis Mysticism and Vocation by : James R. Horne
Download or read book Mysticism and Vocation written by James R. Horne and published by Wilfrid Laurier Univ. Press. This book was released on 2006-01-01 with total page 121 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: We tend to think that a person who is both reasonable and moral can have a good life. What constitutes a life that is not only good but superlative, or even “marvellous” or “holy”? Those who have such lives are called sages, heroes or saints, and their lives can display great integrity as well as integration with a transformative “Spiritual Presence.” Does it follow that saints are perfect people? Is there a common vision that impels them to seek holiness? In a controversial interpretation of mysticism Horne suggests that there is no single formula for the meaning of life and no one story that displays it to us. Mysticism, rather than being just a visionary perception, then becomes a problem-solving process that brings about a creative transformation of the personality at a critical stage in life. He suggests also that saints may be imperfect morally and describes true saints as double-minded: they are serious in a playful way. Mysticism and Vocation illuminates our understanding of saintly lives by explicating their mystical characteristics and extending discussions of mysticism to explain its role in active lives. In discussing important decisions that go beyond conventional morality, it adds to recent philosophical arguments by Charles Taylor, Alasdair MacIntyre, Iris Murdoch, Bernard Williams and others to the effect that morality should be defined more broadly to deal with the human condition. This book will be of interest to students of philosophy and religious studies, in both graduate and undergraduate programs.