Showing posts with label sacred. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sacred. Show all posts

Wednesday, 3 October 2012

Religion, and Mythology.

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Religion and mythology differ, but have overlapping aspects. Both terms refer to systems of concepts that are of high importance to a certain community, making statements concerning the supernatural or sacred. Generally, mythology is considered one component or aspect of religion. Religion is the broader term: besides mythological aspects, it includes aspects of ritual, morality, theology, and mystical experience. A given mythology is almost always associated with a certain religion, such as Greek mythology with Ancient Greek religion. Disconnected from its religious system, a myth may lose its immediate relevance to the community and evolve—away from sacred importance—into a legend or folktale.

Contents

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[edit] Religion and mythology

[edit] Definitions

Religion is commonly defined as belief concerning the supernatural, sacred, or divine, and the moral codes, practices, values, and institutions associated with such belief.[1] Religious beliefs and practices may include the following:
Some religions do not include all these features. For instance, belief in a deity is not essential to Buddhism.
The term mythology usually refers either to a system of myths or to the study of myths.[2] However, the word "myth" itself has multiple (and some contradictory) definitions:
  • 2007: According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, "Myth: "1 a: a usually traditional story of ostensibly historical events that serves to unfold part of the world view of a people or explain a practice, belief, or natural phenomenon. b: Parable, Allegory. 2 a: a popular belief or tradition that has grown up around something or someone; especially: one embodying the ideals and institutions of a society or segment of society. 2b: an unfounded or false notion. 3: a person or thing having only an imaginary or unverifiable existence. 4: the whole body of myths.[3]
In regards to the study of culture and religion, these are some of the definitions scholars have used:
  • 1968: The classicist Robert Graves defines myths as "whatever religious or heroic legends are so foreign to a student's experience that he cannot believe them to be true."[4]
  • 1973: Another classicist, G. S. Kirk, rejects the notion that all myths are religious or sacred. In the category of "myth", he includes many legendary accounts that are "secular" for all practical purposes.[5]
  • 1997: Folklorists define a myth as "a sacred narrative explaining how the world and humankind came to be in their present form".[6]
  • 2004: In religious studies, the word "myth" is usually reserved for stories whose main characters are gods or demigods.[7]
  • 2004: The classicist Richard Buxton defines a myth as "a socially powerful traditional story".[8]
  • 2004: Robert A. Segal, professor of theories of religion at the University of Lancaster, defines "myth" broadly as any story whose "main figures [are] personalities -- divine, human, or even animal. Excluded would be impersonal forces such as Plato's Good."[7]
See also: Mythology

[edit] The relationship between religion and myth

The relationship between religion and myth depends on what definition of "myth" one uses. By Robert Graves's definition, a religion's traditional stories are "myths" if and only if one does not belong to the religion in question. By Segal's definition, all religious stories are myths—but simply because nearly all stories are myths. By the folklorists' definition, all myths are religious (or "sacred") stories, but not all religious stories are myths: religious stories that involve the creation of the world (e.g., the stories in Genesis) are myths; however, religious stories that don't explain how things came to be in their present form (e.g., hagiographies of famous saints) are not myths.
It should be noted that most definitions of "myth" limit myths to stories.[9] Thus, non-narrative elements of religion, such as ritual, are not myths.

[edit] Similarities between different religious mythologies

Given any of the above definitions of "myth", the myths of many religions, both ancient and modern, share common elements. Widespread similarities between religious mythologies include the following:
  • Many religions involve an initial Paradise preceding ordinary historical time.[10]
  • Many religions involve the story of a god who undergoes death and resurrection (see life-death-rebirth deity).[1][2]
  • The mythical geography of many religions involves an axis mundi, or Cosmic Center.[11]
  • Many myths feature a global flood.[12]
The similarities between cultures and time periods can be useful, but it is usually not easy to combine beliefs and histories from different groups. Simplification of cultures and time periods by eliminating detailed data remain vulnerable or flimsy in this area of research.

[edit] Contrasts between different religious mythologies

Though there are similarities among most religious mythologies, there are also contrasts. Many mythologies focus on explanations of the universe, natural phenomena, or other themes of human existence, often ascribing agency to one or more deities or other supernatural forces. However, some religions have very few of this kind of story of cosmic explanation. For instance, the Buddhist parable of the arrow warns against such speculations as "[Is] the world eternal or not eternal? [Is] the soul different from the body? [Does] the enlightened exist after death or not?", viewing them as irrelevant to the goal of escaping suffering.[13]

[edit] Academic views

In academia, the term "myth" often refers to stories whose culture regards them as true (as opposed to fictitious).[14] Thus, many scholars will call a body of stories "mythology", leaving open the question of whether the stories are true or false. For example, in Tree of Souls: The Mythology of Judaism, English professor Howard Schwartz writes, "the definition of 'mythology' offered here does not attempt to determine if biblical or subsequent narratives are true or false, i.e., historically accurate or not".[15]
Since the beginning of modern philosophy and science in the 16th century, many Western intellectuals have seen myth as outdated.[16] In fact, some argued that the Christian religion would be better off without mythology, or even that Christianity would be better off without religion:
"[J. A. T.] Robinson argued in favor of 'the detaching of the Christian doctrine of God from any necessary dependence on a "supernaturalistic" worldview'. He understood this as a prophetic aspect of the Church's ministry to the world. [...] At this time atheism was regarded as the Christian Gospel that should be preached to the world. J. J. Altizer, for example, maintained [this] boldly by stating, 'Throughout its history Christian theology has been thwarted from reaching its intrinsic goal by its bondage to a transcendent, a sovereign, and an impassive God'. [...] [Dietrich] Bonhoffer called persistently for 'Religionless Christianity'."[17]
In the 20th century, many scholars have resisted this trend, defending myth from modern criticism.[18] Mircea Eliade, a professor of the history of religions, declared that myth did not hold religion back, that myth was an essential foundation of religion, and that eliminating myth would eliminate a piece of the human psyche.[19] Eliade approached myth sympathetically at a time when religious thinkers were trying to purge religion of its mythological elements:
"Eliade wrote about 'sky and sky gods' when Christian theology was shaken at its very foundations by the 'death of God' theology. He spoke of 'God up there' when theologians such as J. A. T. Robinson were busy with erasing the mythical language of [a] three-storied universe that underlies the early Christian thought and experience."[17]
Similarly, Joseph Campbell believed that people could not understand their individual lives without mythology to aid them. By recalling the significance of old myths, he encouraged awareness of them and the creation of myths for the contemporary age.[20]

[edit] Religious views

Most religions contain a body of traditional sacred stories that are believed to express profound truth. Some religious organizations and practitioners believe that some or all of their traditional stories are not only sacred and "true", but also historically accurate and divinely revealed, and that calling such stories "myths" disrespects their special status. Other religious organizations and practitioners have no problem with categorizing their sacred stories as myths.

[edit] Opposition to categorizing all sacred stories as myths

[edit] Modern-day opposition

Some religious believers take offense when what they consider to be historical aspects of their faith are labeled as "myth". Such believers distinguish between religious fables or myths, on one hand, and those sacred narratives which are described by their tradition as being history or revelation, on the other. For instance, the Catholic priest Father John A. Hardon insists that "Christianity is not mythology. What we believe in is not religious fantasies, no matter how pious."[21] The evangelical Christian theologian Carl F. H. Henry insisted that "Judeo-Christian revelation has nothing in common with the category of myth".[22]

[edit] The roots of the popular meaning of "myth"

Especially within Christianity, objection to the word "myth" rests on a historical basis. By the time of Christ, the Greco-Roman world had started to use the term "myth" (Greek muthos) to mean "fable, fiction, lie"; as a result, the early Christian theologians used "myth" in this sense.[23] Thus, the derogatory meaning of the word "myth" is the traditional Christian meaning, and the expression "Christian mythology", as used in academic discourse,[24] may offend Christians for this reason.
In addition, this early Christian use of the term "myth" passed into popular usage.[25] Thus, when essential sacred mysteries and teachings are described as myth, in modern English, the word often still implies that it is "idle fancy, fiction, or falsehood".[24] This description could be taken as a direct attack on religious belief, quite contrary to the meaning ostensibly intended by the academic use of the term. Further, in academic writing, though "myth" usually means a fundamental worldview story, even there it is occasionally ambiguous or clearly denotes "falsehood", as in the "Christ myth theory". The original term "mythos" (which has no pejorative connotation in English) may be a better word to distinguish the positive definition from the negative.[24]

[edit] Non-opposition to categorizing sacred stories as myths

Modern day clergy and practitioners within some religious movements have no problem classifying the religion's sacred stories as "myths". They see the sacred texts as indeed containing religious truths, divinely inspired but delivered in the language of mankind. Some examples follow.

[edit] Christianity

J.R.R. Tolkien's love of myths and devout Catholic faith came together in his assertion that mythology is the divine echo of "the Truth".[26] Tolkien wrote that myths held "fundamental things".[27] He expressed these beliefs in his poem Mythopoeia circa 1931, which describes myth-making as an act of "sub-creation" within God's primary creation.[28] The poem in part says creation is "myth-woven and elf-patterned":
"...There is no firmament,
only a void, unless a jewelled tent
myth-woven and elf-patterned; and no earth,
unless the mother's womb whence all have birth." - J.R.R. Tolkien
Tolkien's opinion was adopted by another Christian writer, C. S. Lewis, in their conversations: "Tolkien explained to Lewis that the story of Christ was the true myth at the very heart of history and at the very root of reality."[29] C. S. Lewis freely called the Christ story a "true myth", and he believed that even pagan myths express spiritual truths. In his opinion, the difference between the Christ story and pagan myths is that the Christ story is historically as well as spiritually true. "The story of Christ," writes Lewis,
"is simply a true myth: a myth working on us in the same way as the others, but with this tremendous difference that it really happened: and one must be content to accept it in the same way, remembering that it is God's myth where the others are men's myths: i. e. the Pagan stories are God expressing Himself through the minds of poets, using such images as He found there, while Christianity is God expressing Himself through what we call real things."[30]
Another Christian writer, the Catholic priest Father Andrew Greeley, freely applies the term "myth" to Christianity. In his book Myths of Religion, he defends this terminology:
"Many Christians have objected to my use of this word [myth] even when I define it specifically. They are terrified by a word which may even have a slight suggestion of fantasy. However, my usage is the one that is common among historians of religion, literary critics, and social scientists. It is a valuable and helpful usage; there is no other word which conveys what these scholarly traditions mean when they refer to myth. The Christian would be well advised to get over his fear of the word and appreciate how important a tool it can be for understanding the content of his faith."[31]
At a "Consultation on the Relationship Between the Wesleyan Tradition and the Natural Sciences" in Kansas City, Missouri, on October 19, 1991, Dennis Bratcher presented a discussion of the adaptation of Near Eastern mythical thought by the Israelites.[32] Bratcher argued that the Old Testament absorbed Near Eastern pagan mythology (although he drew a sharp distinction between the literally-interpreted myths of the Near Eastern pagans and the "mythopoetic" use of imagery from pagan myths by the Hebrews). During this presentation, he gave the following disclaimer:
"the term 'myth' as used here does not mean 'false' or 'fiction.' Even in my old and yellowed Webster's, 'fiction' is the third meaning of the word. In its primary and more technical meaning 'myth' refers to a story or group of stories that serve to explain how a particular society views their world."[32]

[edit] Judaism

Some Jewish scholars, including Dov Noy, a professor of folklore at Hebrew University and founder of the Israel Folktale Archives, and Howard Schwartz, Jewish anthologist and English professor at the University of Missouri – St. Louis, have discussed traditional Jewish stories as "mythology".[33]
Schwarz authored the book Tree of Souls: The Mythology of Judaism. It consists of myths and belief statements excerpted from—and, in some cases, synthesized from a number of excerpts from—both Biblical and non-Biblical Jewish texts. According to Schwartz, the Jewish people continue to elaborate on, and compose additions to, their traditional mythology.[34] In the book's introduction, Schwartz states that the word "myth", as used in the book, "is not offered to mean something that is not true, as in the current popular usage".[15]

[edit] Neopaganism

Neopagans frequently refer to their sacred stories as "myths". Asatru, a modern-day revival of Germanic Paganism, holds "that the Eddas, Myths and Norse Sagas are the divinely inspired wisdom of [its] religion".[35] Wicca, another Neopagan movement, also applies the term "mythology" to its stories.[36]

[edit] Miscellaneous

The Dewey decimal system covers religion in the 200 range, with books on "Religious mythology & social theology" a subset listed under 201.[37]

[edit] See also

General


Mythology of world religions

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Religion", Encyclopædia Britannica 2007.
  2. ^ "Mythology", OED, 2007.
  3. ^ "Myth", Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, 2007.
  4. ^ Graves 1968, p. v.
  5. ^ Kirk 1973, p. 11.
  6. ^ Dundes 1997, p. 45.
  7. ^ a b Segal 2004, p. 5.
  8. ^ Buxton, p. 18
  9. ^ Segal 2004, p. 5. See Buxton, p. 18: "There are three elements in [my] definition [of mythology]. The least problematic is the notion of story: a 'myth' is a narrative, a set of events structured into a sequence". (Bolding added)
  10. ^ Eliade, Myths, Dreams and Mysteries, 1967 p. 59.
  11. ^ Eliade, Myths, Rites, Symbols: A Mircea Eliade Reader, 1976, pp. 372-75.
  12. ^ For some examples, see Bierlein 2004, pp. 121-27.
  13. ^ "The Parable of the Arrow"
  14. ^ Eliade, Myth and Reality, p. 1, 8-10; The Sacred and the Profane, p. 95
  15. ^ a b Schwartz, p. lxxviii
  16. ^ See Armstrong, pp. 122-27. For example, an 18th century intellectual movement called deism rejected myths about divine intervention, limiting God's role to that of a first cause (Robinson), and a 20th century movement led by the theologian Rudolf Bultmann sought to "demythologize" Christianity, reinterpreting its myths as psychological allegory (Segal, pp. 47-51; Muthuraj). Some 19th and early 20th century secular scholars predicted that science would replace myth, even in religion. The anthropologist Edward Burnett Tylor argued that science was pushing traditional mythology out of religion, which would henceforth consist only of metaphysics and ethics (Segal, p. 14). And the anthropologist Sir James George Frazer even wrote, "In the last analysis, magic, religion, and science are nothing but theories of thought; and as science has supplanted its predecessors, so it may hereafter be itself superseded by some more perfect hypothesis" (Frazer, p. 712).
  17. ^ a b Muthuraj
  18. ^ Segal, p. 3
  19. ^ According to religious thought, said Eliade, myths establish models for human behavior, and "the more religious man is, the more paradigmatic models does he possess as a guide to his attitudes and actions" (Eliade, The Sacred and the Profane, p. 100). Eliade believed that modern novels, ideologies, customs, and pastimes contain "mythological elements" (Eliade, Myth and Reality, pp. 181-93), and that some mythological elements fall within the "transconscious", which Eliade defined as a set of universal human images, symbols, and sentiments (Eliade, Images and Symbols, pp. 16-17).
  20. ^ For example, Campbell claimed that mythology's primary function is "that of eliciting and supporting a sense of awe before the mystery of being" (Campbell, p. 519), and that mythology also serves "to initiate the individual into the order of realities of his own psyche" (Campbell, p. 521).
  21. ^ Hardon
  22. ^ Carl F. H. Henry, quoted by Mohler
  23. ^ Eliade, Myth and Reality, 1968, p. 162.
  24. ^ a b c Grassie, William (March 1998). "Science as Epic? Can the modern evolutionary cosmology be a mythic story for our time?". Science & Spirit 9 (1). "The word 'myth' is popularly understood to mean idle fancy, fiction, or falsehood; but there is another meaning of the word in academic discourse. A myth, in this latter sense of the word, is a story that serves to define the fundamental worldview of a culture .... Using the original Greek term mythos is perhaps a better way to distinguish this more positive and all-encompassing definition of the word."
  25. ^ Eliade, Myths, Dreams and Mysteries, 1967, p. 23.
  26. ^ Wood
  27. ^ Menion, 2003/2004 citing essays by Tolkien using the words "fundamental things".
  28. ^ Tolkien, Mythopoeia, circa 1931.
  29. ^ Pearce
  30. ^ letter to Arthur Greeves, quoted by Brown
  31. ^ Greeley, Myths of Religion; quoted in Bierlein 1994, pp. 304-5.
  32. ^ a b Bratcher
  33. ^ Schram
  34. ^ Schwartz, p. lxxv
  35. ^ "About Us"
  36. ^ "The Wheel of the Year / the Sabbats"; "What is Wicca?"; "Workshops and Talks"
  37. ^ "Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) system". Online Computer Library Center, 2005. (PDF)

[edit] Sources

[edit] Further reading

[edit] External links

Look up religion or mythology in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
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Friday, 28 September 2012

Religious Experience


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For the Wayne Proudfoot book, see Religious Experience (book).
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (July 2009)
A religious experience (sometimes known as a spiritual experience, sacred experience, or mystical experience) is a subjective experience in which an individual reports contact with a transcendent reality, an encounter or union with the divine. Such an experience often involves arriving at some knowledge or insight previously unavailable to the subject yet unaccountable or unforeseeable according to the usual conceptual or psychological framework within which the subject has been used to operating. Religious experience generally brings understanding, partial or complete, of issues of a fundamental character that may have been a cause (whether consciously acknowledged or not) of anguish or alienation to the subject for an extended period of time. This may be experienced as a form of healing, enlightenment or conversion. The commonalities and differences between religious experiences across different cultures have enabled scholars to categorize them for academic study.[1]
Many religious and mystical traditions see religious experiences (particularly that knowledge that comes with them) as revelations caused by divine agency rather than ordinary natural processes. They are considered real encounters with God or gods, or real contact with higher-order realities of which humans are not ordinarily aware.[2] Sceptics or scientists may hold that religious experience is an evolved feature of the human brain amenable to normal scientific study. Such study may be said to have begun with the American psychologist and philosopher William James in his 1901/02 Gifford Lectures later published as The Varieties of Religious Experience.

Contents

[hide]

[edit] Definitions

[edit] William James' definition

Psychologist and Philosopher William James described four characteristics of religious / mystical experience in The Varieties of Religious Experience. According to James, such an experience is:
  • Transient — the experience is temporary; the individual soon returns to a "normal" frame of mind. It is outside our normal perception of space and time.
  • Ineffable — the experience cannot be adequately put into words.
  • Noetic — the individual feels that he or she has learned something valuable from the experience. Gives us knowledge that is normally hidden from human understanding.
  • Passive — the experience happens to the individual, largely without conscious control. Although there are activities, such as meditation (see below), that can make religious experience more likely, it is not something that can be turned on and off at will.

[edit] Norman Habel's definition

Habel defines religious experiences as the structured way in which a believer enters into a relationship with, or gains an awareness of, the sacred within the context of a particular religious tradition (Habel, O'Donoghue and Maddox: 1993).Religious experiences are by their very nature preternatural; that is, out of the ordinary or beyond the natural order of things. They may be difficult to distinguish observationally from psychopathological states such as psychoses or other forms of altered awareness (Charlesworth: 1988). Not all preternatural experiences are considered to be religious experiences. Following Habel's definition, psychopathological states or drug-induced states of awareness are not considered to be religious experiences because they are mostly not performed within the context of a particular religious tradition.
Moore and Habel identify two classes of religious experiences: the immediate and the mediated religious experience (Moore and Habel: 1982).
  • Mediated — In the mediated experience, the believer experiences the sacred through mediators such as rituals, special persons, religious groups, totemic objects or the natural world (Habel et al.: 1993).
  • Immediate — The immediate experience comes to the believer without any intervening agency or mediator. The deity or divine is experienced directly

[edit] Richard Swinburne's definition

In his book Faith and Reason, the philosopher Richard Swinburne formulated five categories into which all religious experiences fall:
  • Public — a believer 'sees God's hand at work', whereas other explanations are possible e.g. looking at a beautiful sunset
  • Public — an unusual event that breaches natural law e.g. walking on water
  • Private — describable using normal language e.g. Jacob's vision of a ladder
  • Private — indescribable using normal language, usually a mystical experience e.g. "white did not cease to be white, nor black cease to be black, but black became white and white became black."
  • Private — a non-specific, general feeling of God working in one's life.
Swinburne also suggested two principles for the assessment of religious experiences:
  • Principle of Credulity — with the absence of any reason to disbelieve it, one should accept what appears to be true e.g. if one sees someone walking on water, one should believe that it is occurring.
  • Principle of Testimony — with the absence of any reason to disbelieve them, one should accept that eye-witnesses or believers are telling the truth when they testify about religious experiences.

[edit] Classical definitions

Numinous — The German thinker Rudolf Otto (1869–1937) argues that there is one common factor to all religious experience, independent of the cultural background. In his book The Idea of the Holy (1923) he identifies this factor as the numinous. The “numinous” experience has two aspects: mysterium tremendum, which is the tendency to invoke fear and trembling; and mysterium fascinans, the tendency to attract, fascinate and compel. The numinous experience also has a personal quality to it, in that the person feels to be in communion with a holy other. Otto sees the numinous as the only possible religious experience. He states: "There is no religion in which it [the numinous] does not live as the real innermost core and without it no religion would be worthy of the name" (Otto: 1972). Otto does not take any other kind of religious experience such as ecstasy and enthusiasm seriously and is of the opinion that they belong to the 'vestibule of religion'.
Ecstasy — In ecstasy the believer is understood to have a soul or spirit which can leave the body. In ecstasy the focus is on the soul leaving the body and to experience transcendental realities. This type of religious experience is characteristic for the shaman.
Enthusiasm — In enthusiasm — or possession — God is understood to be outside, other than or beyond the believer. A sacred power, being or will enters the body or mind of an individual and possesses it. A person capable of being possessed is sometimes called a medium. The deity, spirit or power uses such a person to communicate to the immanent world. Lewis argues that ecstasy and possession are basically one and the same experience, ecstasy being merely one form which possession may take. The outward manifestation of the phenomenon is the same in that shamans appear to be possessed by spirits, act as their mediums, and even though they claim to have mastery over them, can lose that mastery (Lewis: 1986).
Mystical — Mystical experiences are in many ways the opposite of numinous experiences. In the mystical experience, all 'otherness' disappear and the believer becomes one with the transcendent. The believer discovers that he or she is not distinct from the cosmos, the deity or the other reality, but one with it. Zaehner has identified two distinctively different mystical experiences: natural and religious mystical experiences (Charlesworth: 1988). Natural mystical experiences are, for example, experiences of the 'deeper self' or experiences of oneness with nature. Zaehner argues that the experiences typical of 'natural mysticism' are quite different from the experiences typical of religious mysticism (Charlesworth: 1988). Natural mystical experiences are not considered to be religious experiences because they are not linked to a particular tradition, but natural mystical experiences are spiritual experiences that can have a profound effect on the individual.
Spiritual awakening — A spiritual awakening usually involves a realization or opening to a sacred dimension of reality and may or may not be a religious experience. Often a spiritual awakening has lasting effects upon one's life. The term "spiritual awakening" may be used to refer to any of a wide range of experiences including being born again, near-death experiences, and mystical experiences such as liberation and enlightenment.

[edit] Explanations of religious experience

[edit] Religious and mystical points of view

[edit] Sufism

While all Muslims believe that they are on the pathway to God and will become close to God in Paradise — after death and after the "Final Judgment" — Sufis believe that it is possible to become close to God and to experience this closeness while one is alive.[3] Sufis believe in a tripartite way to God as explained by a tradition attributed to the Prophet,"The Shariah are my words (aqwal), the tariqa are my actions (amal), and the haqiqa is my interior states (ahwal)". Shariah, tariqa and haqiqa are mutually interdependent.
The tariqa, the ‘path’ on which the mystics walk, has been defined as ‘the path which comes out of the Shariah, for the main road is called shar, the path, tariq.’ No mystical experience can be realized if the binding injunctions of the Shariah are not followed faithfully first. The path, tariqa, however, is narrower and more difficult to walk. It leads the adept, called salik (wayfarer), in his suluk (wandering), through different stations (maqam) until he reaches his goal, the perfect tauhid, the existential confession that God is One.[4]

[edit] Christian mysticism

Main article: Christian mysticism

Three early Methodist leaders, Charles Wesley, John Wesley, and Francis Asbury, portrayed in stained glass at the Memorial Chapel, Lake Junaluska, North Carolina
Christian doctrine generally maintains that God dwells in all Christians and that they can experience God directly through belief in Jesus,[5] Christian mysticism aspires to apprehend spiritual truths inaccessible through intellectual means, typically by emulation of Christ. William Inge divides this scala perfectionis into three stages: the "purgative" or ascetic stage, the "illuminative" or contemplative stage, and the third, "unitive" stage, in which God may be beheld "face to face."[6]
The third stage, usually called contemplation in the Western tradition, refers to the experience of oneself as united with God in some way. The experience of union varies, but it is first and foremost always associated with a reuniting with Divine love. The underlying theme here is that God, the perfect goodness,[7] is known or experienced at least as much by the heart as by the intellect since, in the words of 1 John 4:16: "God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God and God in him." Some approaches to classical mysticism would consider the first two phases as preparatory to the third, explicitly mystical experience; but others state that these three phases overlap and intertwine.

[edit] Hesychasm

Based on Christ's injunction in the Gospel of Matthew to "go into your closet to pray",[8] hesychasm in tradition has been the process of retiring inward by ceasing to register the senses, in order to achieve an experiential knowledge of God (see theoria).
The highest goal of the hesychast is the experiential knowledge of God. In the 14th Century, the possibility of this experiential knowledge of God was challenged by a Calabrian monk, Barlaam, who, although he was formally a member of the Orthodox Church, had been trained in Western Scholastic theology. Barlaam asserted that our knowledge of God can only be propositional. The practice of the hesychasts was defended by St. Gregory Palamas.
In solitude and retirement the hesychast repeats the Jesus Prayer, "Lord Jesus Christ, son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner." He considers bare repetition of the Jesus Prayer as a mere string of syllables, perhaps with a 'mystical' inner meaning beyond the overt verbal meaning, to be worthless or even dangerous.

[edit] Neoplatonism

Neoplatonism is the modern term for a school of religious and mystical philosophy that took shape in the 3rd century AD, founded by Plotinus and based on the teachings of Plato and earlier Platonists.
Neoplatonism teaches that along the same road by which it descended the soul must retrace its steps back to the supreme Good. It must first of all return to itself. This is accomplished by the practice of virtue, which aims at likeness to God, and leads up to God. By means of ascetic observances the human becomes once more a spiritual and enduring being, free from all sin. But there is still a higher attainment; it is not enough to be sinless, one must become "God", (henosis). This is reached through contemplation of the primeval Being, the One — in other words, through an ecstatic approach to it. It is only in a state of perfect passivity and repose that the soul can recognize and touch the primeval Being. Hence the soul must first pass through a spiritual curriculum. Beginning with the contemplation of corporeal things in their multiplicity and harmony, it then retires upon itself and withdraws into the depths of its own being, rising thence to the nous, the world of ideas. But even there it does not find the Highest, the One; it still hears a voice saying, "not we have made ourselves." The last stage is reached when, in the highest tension and concentration, beholding in silence and utter forgetfulness of all things, it is able as it were to lose itself. Then it may see God, the foundation of life, the source of being, the origin of all good, the root of the soul. In that moment it enjoys the highest indescribable bliss; it is as it were swallowed up of divinity, bathed in the light of eternity. Porphyry tells us that on four occasions during the six years of their intercourse Plotinus attained to this ecstatic union with God.

[edit] Buddhism

Buddhism is a 2500-year-old Asian religion. The religious experience is described in the earliest of Buddhist literature, which is found in the Pali Canon. In the Pali Canon the religious experience is described in eight stages of samadhi. The first four stages are known as jhana, the remaining four stages are known as ayatana.[9]

[edit] Hinduism

Hinduism is arguably the oldest religious system in the world and gave birth to Buddhism. The religious experience is described in the vedas and the yoga sutras as two stages of samadhi, they are Savikalpa samadhi and nirvikalpa samadhi.[10]

[edit] Meher Baba

According to the syncretistic Indian spiritual teacher Meher Baba, "Spiritual experience involves more than can be grasped by mere intellect. This is often emphasised by calling it a mystical experience. Mysticism is often regarded as something anti-intellectual, obscure and confused, or impractical and unconnected with experience. In fact, true mysticism is none of these. There is nothing irrational in true mysticism when it is, as it should be, a vision of Reality. It is a form of perception which is absolutely unclouded, and so practical that it can be lived every moment of life and expressed in every-day duties. Its connection with experience is so deep that, in one sense, it is the final understanding of all experience."[11]

[edit] History of modern science and religion view

In the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries, several historical figures put forth very influential views that religion and its beliefs can be grounded in experience itself. While Kant held that moral experience justified religious beliefs, John Wesley in addition to stressing individual moral exertion thought that the religious experiences in the Methodist movement (paralleling the Romantic Movement) were foundational to religious commitment as a way of life.[12] In the 19th century, Friedrich Schleiermacher and Albert Ritschl continued and extended this view that human (moral and religious) experience justifies religious beliefs.
Such religious empiricism would be later seen as highly problematic and was — during the period in-between world wars — famously rejected by Karl Barth.[13] In the 20th century, religious as well as moral experience as justification for religious beliefs still holds sway. Some influential modern scholars holding this liberal theological view are Charles Raven and the Oxford physicist/theologian Charles Coulson.[14]

[edit] Scientific studies on religious experience

There are many areas of science that explore the religious experience like Neurotheology, Transpersonal psychology, Psychology of religion, and Parapsychology

[edit] Psychology

[edit] Transpersonal psychology

Transpersonal psychology is a school of psychology that studies the transpersonal, self-transcendent or spiritual aspects of the human experience. The Journal of Transpersonal Psychology describes transpersonal psychology as "the study of humanity’s highest potential, and with the recognition, understanding, and realization of unitive, spiritual, and transcendent states of consciousness" (Lajoie and Shapiro, 1992:91). Issues considered in transpersonal psychology include spiritual self-development, peak experiences, mystical experiences, systemic trance and other metaphysical experiences of living.
U.S. psychologist and philosopher William James (1842–1910) is regarded by most psychologists of religion as the founder of the field. His Varieties of Religious Experience is considered to be the classic work in the field, and references to James' ideas are common at professional conferences.
James distinguished between institutional religion and personal religion. Institutional religion refers to the religious group or organization, and plays an important part in a society's culture. Personal religion, in which the individual has mystical experience, can be experienced regardless of the culture.

[edit] Psychology of religion

Psychology of religion is the psychological study of religious experiences, beliefs, and activities.
[edit] Carl Jung
Carl Jung's work on himself and his patients convinced him that life has a spiritual purpose beyond material goals. Our main task, he believed, is to discover and fulfil our deep innate potential, much as the acorn contains the potential to become the oak, or the caterpillar to become the butterfly. Based on his study of Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, Gnosticism, Taoism, and other traditions, Jung perceived that this journey of transformation is at the mystical heart of all religions. It is a journey to meet the self and at the same time to meet the Divine. Unlike Sigmund Freud, Jung thought spiritual experience was essential to our well-being.[15]
The notion of the numinous was an important concept in the writings of Carl Jung. Jung regarded numinous experiences as fundamental to an understanding of the individuation process because of their association with experiences of synchronicity in which the presence of archetypes is felt.[16][17]

[edit] Neuroscience

[edit] Neurotheology

Neurotheology, also known as biotheology or spiritual neuroscience,[18] is the study of correlations of neural phenomena with subjective experiences of spirituality and hypotheses to explain these phenomena. Proponents of neurotheology claim that there is a neurological and evolutionary basis for subjective experiences traditionally categorized as spiritual or religious.[19]
According to the neurotheologist Andrew B. Newberg, neurological processes which are driven by the repetitive, rhythmic stimulation which is typical of human ritual, and which contribute to the delivery of transcendental feelings of connection to a universal unity.[clarification needed] They posit, however, that physical stimulation alone is not sufficient to generate transcendental unitive experiences. For this to occur they say there must be a blending of the rhythmic stimulation with ideas. Once this occurs "…ritual turns a meaningful idea into a visceral experience."[20] Moreover they say that humans are compelled to act out myths by the biological operations of the brain due to what they call the "inbuilt tendency of the brain to turn thoughts into actions".

[edit] Studies of the brain and religious experience

Early studies in the 1950s and 1960s attempted to use EEGs to study brain wave patterns correlated with "spiritual" states. During the 1980s Dr. Michael Persinger stimulated the temporal lobes of human subjects[21] with a weak magnetic field. His subjects claimed to have a sensation of "an ethereal presence in the room."[22] Some current studies use neuroimaging to localize brain regions active, or differentially active, during religious experiences.[23][24][25] These neuroimaging studies have implicated a number of brain regions, including the limbic system, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, superior parietal lobe, and caudate nucleus.[26][27][28] Based on the complex nature of religious experience, it is likely that they are mediated by an interaction of neural mechanisms that all add a small piece to the overall experience.[27]

[edit] Causes of religious experiences


Meditation

Sufi whirling
Various religious texts prescribe meditative practices in order to achieve the state of consciousness which is typical of religious experience. Texts of Yoga and Tantra mention specific physical, nutritive, ethical, and meditative methods in order to achieve specific kinds of experiences. The traditions of Mantra Marga (literally, "the way of formulae") in particular stress the importance of saying, either aloud or to oneself internally, particular Mantras (phrases to be repeated) given by their teacher.[29] Combined with this is the set of practices related to Yantras (symbols to be meditated on). Various other ways not specific of any religion include:

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Batson, C. D., Schoenrade, P., & Ventis, W. L. (1993). Religion and the individual: A social psychological perspective.. Oxford University Press.
  2. ^ The Argument from Religious Experience http://www.philosophyofreligion.info/?page_id=41
  3. ^ Sufism, Sufis, and Sufi Orders: Sufism's Many Paths
  4. ^ Annemarie Schimmel, Mystical Dimensions of Islam (1975) pg.99
  5. ^ John 7:16–39
  6. ^ Christian Mysticism (1899 Bampton Lectures)
  7. ^ Theologia Germanica, public domain
  8. ^ Matthew 6:5–6 (King James Version)
  9. ^ [http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/pali/tipitaka/sutta/majjhima/mn026-tb0.htmlAriyapariyesana Sutta, Majjhimá Nikàya-26
  10. ^ [1] Patanjali, Yoga Sutras
  11. ^ Baba, Meher: Discourses, Sufism Reoriented, 1967, p. 20
  12. ^ Issues in Science and Religion, Ian Barbour, Prentice-Hall, 1966, page 68, 79
  13. ^ Issues in Science and Religion, Ian Barbour, Prentice-Hall, 1966, page 114, 116-119
  14. ^ Issues in Science and Religion, Ian Barbour, Prentice-Hall, 1966, p. 126-127
  15. ^ Crowley, Vivianne (2000). Jung: A Journey of Transformation:Exploring His Life and Experiencing His Ideas. Wheaton Illinois: Quest Books. ISBN 978-0-8356-0782-7.
  16. ^ Jung, C. G. (1980). C. G. Jung speaking: Interviews and encounters(W. McGuire & R. F. C. Hull Eds.). London: Pan Books.
  17. ^ Main, R. (2004). The rupture of time: Synchronicity and Jung’s critique of modern western culture. Hove and New York: Brunner-Routledge.
  18. ^ Biello, David (2007-10-03). "Searching for God in the Brain". Scientific American. Archived from the original on 2007-10-11. http://web.archive.org/web/20071011195305/http://www.sciam.com/print_version.cfm?articleID=434D7C62-E7F2-99DF-37CC9814533B90D7. Retrieved 2007-10-07.
  19. ^ Gajilan, A. Chris (2007-04-05). "Are humans hard-wired for faith?". Cable News Network. http://cnn.health.printthis.clickability.com/pt/cpt?action=cpt&title=Are+humans+hard-wired+for+faith%3F+-+CNN.com&expire=&urlID=21822630&fb=Y&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com%2F2007%2FHEALTH%2F04%2F04%2Fneurotheology%2Findex.html&partnerID=2012. Retrieved 2007-04-09.
  20. ^ Newberg, Andrew B.; D'Aquili, Eugene G.; Rause, Vince (2002). Why God Won't Go Away: Brain Science and the Biology of Belief. New York: Ballantine Books. p. 90. ISBN 0-345-44034-X. http://www.andrewnewberg.com/why.asp.
  21. ^ "'God on the Brain?" BBC
  22. ^ "'This Is Your Brain on God" Wired
  23. ^ "'Neural correlates of religious experience." NCBI
  24. ^ "' From Brain Imaging Religious Experience to Explaining Religion: A Critique." Ingenta Connect
  25. ^ "' The new science of neurotheology." Wordpress
  26. ^ Newberg, A., Alavi, A., Baime, M., Pourdehnad, M., Santanna, J. & d’Aquili, E. (2001). The measurement of regional cerebral blood flow during the complex cognitive task of meditation: A preliminary SPECT study. Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging, 106, 113-122.
  27. ^ a b Azari, N.P., Missimer, J. & Seitz, R.J. (2005). Religious experience and emotion: Evidence for distinctive cognitive neural patterns. International Journal for the Psychology of Religion, 15, 263-281.
  28. ^ Beauregard, M. & Paquette, V. (2006). Neural correlates of a mystical experience in Carmelite nuns. Neuroscience Letters, 405, 186-190.
  29. ^ Daniélou, Alain: Yoga, methods of re-integration
  30. ^ "'Divining the brain" Salon.com (URL accessed on September 20, 2006)
  31. ^ "'Exploring the biology of religious experience" NRC online
  32. ^ "'The Emotional Effects of Music on Religious Experience: A Study of the Pentecostal-Charismatic Style of Music and Worship " Sage Journals
  33. ^ "'ufis seek ultimate religious experience through mystic trances or altered states of consciousness, often induced through twirling dances " Sufism: New Age Spirituality Dictionary
  34. ^ "'Self-inflicted Pain in Religious Experience " www.faithfaq.com (URL accessed on July 11, 2006)
  35. ^ *Deida, David. Finding God Through Sex ISBN 1-59179-273-8
  36. ^ "'Psychedelics and Religious Experience " Alan Watts http://deoxy.org/ (URL accessed on July 11, 2006)
  37. ^ "'Those who think of the salvia experience in religious, spiritual, or mystical terms may speak of such things as enlightenment, satori, and "cleansing the doors of perception." " sagewisdom.org (URL accessed on August 26, 2007)
  38. ^ "'A Note on the Safety of Peyote when Used Religiously. " www.csp.org Council on Spiritual Practices (URL accessed on July 11, 2006)
  39. ^ "'Drug's Mystical Properties Confirmed " www.washingtonpost.com (URL accessed on July 11, 2006)
  40. ^ "'The Psychology of Religion: An Empirical Approach. " Conuncil on Spiritual Practices (URL accessed on July 11, 2006)
  41. ^ Katie, Byron. Loving What Is page xi ISBN 1-4000-4537-1
  42. ^ "'God on the Brain " http://news.bbc.co.uk (URL accessed on March 20, 2003)
  43. ^ "My Stroke of Insight" http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/jill_bolte_taylor_s_powerful_stroke_of_insight.html (URL accessed on July 2, 2008)
  44. ^ Moody, Raymond. Life After Life ISBN 0-06-251739-2

[edit] References

  • Charlesworth, Max (1988). Religious experience. Unit A. Study guide 2 (Deakin University).
  • Habel, Norman, O'Donoghue, Michael and Maddox, Marion (1993). 'Religious experience'. In: Myth, ritual and the sacred. Introducing the phenomena of religion (Underdale: University of South Australia).
  • Lewis, Ioan M (1986). Religion in context: cults and charisma (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).
  • Moore, B and Habel N (1982). Appendix 1. In: When religion goes to school (Adelaide: SACAE), pages 184-218.
  • Otto, Rudolf (1972). Chapters 2-5. In: The idea of the holy (London: Oxford University Press), pages 5–30. [Originally published in 1923].
  • Prevos, Peter (1998). Omgaan met het transcendente (Dealing with the transcendent). Open University of the Netherlands.
  • Moody, Raymond. Life After Life ISBN 0-06-251739-2
  • Vardy, Peter (1990). The Puzzle of God. Collins Sons and Co.. pp. 99–106.
  • Deida, David. Finding God Through Sex ISBN 1-59179-273-8
  • Katie, Byron. Loving What Is page xi ISBN 1-4000-4537-1
  • Roberts, T. B. (editor) (2001). Psychoactive Sacramentals: Essays on Entheogens and Religion. San Francosco: Council on Spiritual Practices.
  • Roberts, T. B., and Hruby, P. J. (1995–2002). Religion and Psychoactive Sacraments An Entheogen Chrestomathy. Online archive. [2]
  • Roberts, T. B. "Chemical Input — Religious Output: Entheogens." Chapter 10 in Where God and Science Meet: Vol. 3: The Psychology of Religious Experience Robert McNamara (editor)(2006). Westport, CT: Praeger/Greenwood.

[edit] Further reading

[edit] External links

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