Mysticism - REVISION

By the end of this lesson you will have:•Revised the section

‘what is meant by mysticism’

• Have studied some extra reading to

discover more about mysticism

What is Mysticism?• A mystical experience is one in which someone is brought closer to the

Divine.• If they experience knowledge of the Divine this is known as numinous

theistic experiences• If the person experiences a unitive ‘at one-ness’ with the Divine it is

regarded as mystical theism• If someone has an experience which is difficult to explain but no

knowledge of ‘God’ was experienced this is known as non-theistic.• Ninian Smart distinguished between these different types of theistic

and non-theistic experiences.• Saints such as St Teresa of Avila had mystical theistic experiences and

Rumi had a numinous mystical experience as his journey was always to seek a closer relationship with the Divine.

Ed Miller’s definitions

• As it is very difficult to explain what mystical experiences are, many scholars categorise them in order to discern whether or not someone has had a religious experience.

• Ed miller discovered 5 running themes in mystical experience:

• 1. Transcendent• 2. Ineffable• 3. Noetic• 4. Ecstatic• 5. Unitive• He wrote these in his book entitled ‘Questions that matter’

to try and discern what the nature of mystical experience is

William James

• Similarly to Miller, William James believed there were common features to mystical experiences. He had a psychological interest in what they religious mystic was experiencing. These were:

• 1. Passivity• 2. Ineffability• 3. Noetic Quality• 4. Transiency • He was writing in ‘varieties of mystical experience’• NOTE: You need to know much more about William James than

this as you might get a question directly on William James’ work. For more detail on this, please see your booklets.

St Teresa of Avila

• Other scholars have likened mysticism to a journey to the Divine. Whilst scholars such as Plato had used the ladder analogy, St Teresa preferred to use the concept off a road.

• For St Teresa, everyone is on a path t the Divine, and mystical experiences help you move further down this road.

• Either way, God is the concluding factor to all these journeys.

Examples

• To give examples about what mysticism is, we can turn to the works of ST Teresa of Avila who displayed many characteristic as ide

W.T Stace

• Stace who wrote in ‘The teachings of the mystics’ had another idea about the nature of mystical experience

• ‘They involve the apprehension of an ultimate non-sensuous unity in all things, a oneness or a One to which neither the sense nor the reason can penetrate’

• However, like James and Miller, he agreed that there were general characteristics.

What is mysticism

• Mysticism is important for religious belief as it strengthens both individual and communal experiences.

• These closer relationships with the Divine are celebrated at an individual and communal level

• Many religions base part or much of their belief in mystic practise – Sufism has mystical experiences at it’s core, and the Catholic Church believes that St Teresa’s mystical experiences have strengthened the Church’s credibility

Extra Reading

• Read the extract in your module booklet or a chapter from another book to try and further your understanding of mysticism.

Essay Practise

• Plan an essay for the question ‘What is meant by mysticism’

• What sort of scholars would you mention and where?

• What sort of examples would you give?

• HOMEWORK: Complete this essay as a homework task. You have the tools to make it good, so please try your best.