Search Results
It is a commonplace in the history of religions to assume that most, if not all, religions have a tradition of mysticism associated with them. Generally speaking, the mystical element is linked to intense and often extreme forms of consciousness that relate one way or another to an encountering of ultimate reality, identified in theisitc religions as God. But can we really speak of a universalist phenomenon called “mysticism”? Or is it better to speak of mysticism relative to the specific context in which it appears? If the former, what are the defining qualities of this cross cultural phenomenon? If the latter, how can we continue to use the word “mysticism” to refer to diverse phenomena from different sociopolitical and ideological settings?