This book is the outgrowth of a seminar in mysticism recently conducted at Yale University. There is an element of mysticism in all religion, and the aim of the seminar was to study its various aspects in the religious experience and teachings of those in whom it was conspicuous. Contents: Mysticism of: Hebrew Prophets, Jesus, Augustine, Dante, Meister Eckhart, St. Theresa, George Fox, Wordsworth; Mysticism in India and in Islam; Mystical Experience of St. Paul.

This book is a psychological study of human nature. It includes, it is true, a philosophical chapter and also one in which are set forth the practical consequences to religion of some of its conclusions. The book is to be judged as primarily a psychological study of the aspects of human nature more conspicuous in mystical religion. Contents: mysticism and religion; mystical ecstasy as produced by physical means; yoga system of mental concentration and religious mysticism; Christian mysticism; methods of Christian mysticism; moral development of the great mystics; great mystics, hysteria and neurasthenia; ecstasy, religious and otherwise; main characteristics of trance consciousness; sense of invisible presence and divine guidance; religion, science and philosophy; disappearance of the belief in a personal Superhuman cause and the welfare of humanity.

This work discusses mystic Americanism in twenty lessons. It helps in unveiling the symbology of the designs of the seal and flag of the United States. The lessons are given in the form of question and answer.

This book examines the extraordinary flowering of the English spirituality in the fourteenth and early fifiteen centuries, and shows its continuing power to nourish contempory life and prayer.Though each the writers discussed in this book each has a unique voice they share a common experience of living in an age of fear, violence and disintegration, and their work has a strange resonance for us.

Here is a critique of religion and a random composite of fanciful tales. (Christian Religion)

Hildegard of Bingen: An Integrated Vision shows that Hildegard's opus was filled with balance, unity, and a stress on the Gospel-a life and work that served as an inspiration and a challenge for the twelfth century and now for us at the beginning of the twenty-first century. Hildegard of Bingen: An Integrated Vision considers Hildegard as a whole person and places her within her own century and context. It accents what makes her such a compelling figure for the modern reader while retaining the integrity of her peerless voice. It also serves as an introduction to Hildegard and a resource for simplistic interpretations of a complex and gifted woman whose legacy is a multitude of works. The first chapter explains Hildegard's mystical polyphony by exploring the forces which shaped Hildegard's development throughout her life, stressing her historical context, personal history, and the setting in which she lived and wrote. Chapter two explores her mystical polyphony in the explicitly visionary theological works: the Scivias, the Liber vitae meritorum, and the De operatione Dei. The third chapter considers Hildegard's musical vision in depth. Chapter four explores her non-visionary works, including the "unknown language," the lingua ignota; her lives of the saints and founders; and her commentaries and theories about the natural world, linked to her cosmology. Chapter five looks at Hildegard's prophetic gifts and voice. It examines her relationships with others: in the communities in which she lived and governed, "in the world" by correspondence or encounter, in her encounters with authority, and in her claim to be an authority in her own right. King-Lenzmeier concludes with such questions as What makes Hildegard unique as a mystic, and what does she share with others? and How is Hildegard's mystical journey a paradigm for other mystical journeys? She draws forth the major elements that integrate Hildegard's life and work and indicates in what way she is an example for other mystics who share her polyphonic character and spiritual path. The final chapter demonstrates Hildegard's uniqueness among the mystics while presenting the universal appeal of her mysticism. By considering all of Hildegard's talents, works, and trials Hildegard of Bingen: An Integrated Vision shows the depth of the challenge she presents to us. She calls us to look beyond the everyday, but to value it at the same time; to challenge our preconceived notions of gender in the divine and human spheres; to see that in times of hardship we cannot give up; and to love life, even when it is hard to bear. She gives us her example and her tools: now it is our turn to figure out, singly and together, how to bring viriditas more fully into the world of today and tomorrow. Chapters are "Shaping Forces," "Mystical Polyphony in the Visionary Works," "Bringing the Strands Together-The Gift of Music," "Earth and Heaven in Dialogue," "From Mystical Vision to Prophetic Witness," and "Concluding Remarks." Includes illustrations.

Exploring the religious impulse known as mysticism - the "silent cry" at the heart of all the world's religions. Mysticism, in the sense of a "longing for God," has been present in all times, cultures, and religions. But Soelle believes it has never been more important than in this age of materialism and fundamentalism. The antiauthoritarian mystical element in each religion leads to community of free spirits and resistance to the death-dealing aspects of our contemporary culture. Religion in the third millennium, Soelle argues, either will be mystical or it will be dead. Therefore, Soelle identifies strongly with the hunger of New Age searchers, but laments the religious fast food they devour. Today, a kind of "democratized mysticism" of those without much religious background flourishes. This mystical experience is not drawn so much of the tradition as out of contemporary experiences. In that sense, each of us is a mystic, and Soelle's work seeks to give theological depth, clarity, and direction. This, her magnum opus, conjoins Soelle's deep religious knowledge and wisdom with her passion for social justice into a work destined to be a classic of religious literature.

Explores the relationship between the mystical and the political dimensions of religious existence, beginning with the thirteenth-century Franciscon movement and ending with a feminist opproach to the norralives of African Americons who serve in the ministry. From the thirteenth-century Franciscan movement of African American mystics, this wide-ranging volume of essays considers exemplars of Christian mysticism (including Teresa of Avila, lgnatius of Loyola, the Quakers, and the Society of Friends) whose practices and influence brought about social change. Linking major conceptual issues and social theory, the essays examine the historical impact of mysticism in contemporary life and argue for a hermeneutical approach to mysticism in its historical context. The contributors look at how mystical empowerment can serve as a catalyst for expressing compassion in acts of justice and long-term social change. We learn how Sojourner Truth and Rebecca Cox Jackson, driven by mystical experiences to take up lives of preaching, faced the same misogynistic religious environments as did women mystics throughout history, which has submerged this key area of women's experience. The final two essays describe the development of socially engaged Buddhism in Asia and America and the mystical roots of deep ecology.

St John of the Cross is the supreme poet of the mystical tradition in Christianity. His poems are the most concise and beautiful expression of the experience of the love of God in Western literature. They are also the inspiration for his great prose works, which are extended commentaries on the poems. Many of these stem from his imprisonment in Toledo in 1577-78, from which he made a dramatic escape, taking refuge in a "discalced" (barefoot) Carmelite convent, where he apparently dictated poems from a notebook he had managed to bring out of prison. John was a man of his time and loved the courtly and popular literature of his age. The poems reflect this in their imagery and metre. Others draw their inspiration from the "Song of Songs" in the Bible. His images of human love and nature make his poems readily accessible on the level of literature. But the "divine" intention is always there, and this is the quality Kathleen Jones has sought to bring out in her translation, "Consideration of rhyme and metre have been treated as secondary to the importance of precise theological expression, and of conveying something of the lyricism and spiritual power of the original".

This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.

The religious and moral condition of Italy before the time of Joachim of Flora; Joachim of Flora; Francis of Assisi; The Emperor Frederic II and the Rationalistic Spirit in Southern Italy; Exaltation of the Franciscan Mysticism; The Eternal Gospel; John of Parma; Fra Salimbene; The Holy See and the Spiritual Franciscans; Popular art and Poetry; The Mysticism, the Moral Philosophy and the Faith of Dante; Notes, List of works by Gebhart; Index.

"Mystics have groped for words in which to account for the supreme reality of this experience... All this is said in classic and unforgettable pages by The Cloud of Unknowing, the work of an anonymous fourteenth-century English writer. . . Johnston [provides] the first extended and coherent theological treatment .... a most welcome and valuable contribution."-Thomas Merton

A treatment of thinking about the "mystical way" in spirituality. Drawing on academic research, Melvyn Matthews looks for a balanced view of the spiritual life which is open to everyone, not just a contemplative elite or those who have had particularly extraordinary experiences or visions of God. The study is based on the Bible, as well as on popular figures such as Thomas Merton and Teresa of Avila.

St. John of the Cross is one of the greatest mystics of the West. He lived in the 16th century in Spain, was monk, reformer, and best known for "Dark Night of the Soul" and his deep friendship with St. Teresa of Avila. St. John is considered one of the most important poets of the Spanish language.

In the history of thought, the truly religious Mystics of all times have been idealists, but of a distinct type. It has been of interest to define this type again, that we may be quite sure of the modern mystic's place in the spiritual development of mankind.

An instruction to Aspirants on How to Enter and How to Pursue the Path that Leadeth unto Life.

Responding to our modern disillusionment with any claims to absolute truth regarding morality or reality, this book offers a conceptual approach for discussing absolutes without denying either the relevance of divergent religious and philosophical teachings or the evidence supporting postmodern and poststructuralist critiques. Case studies of mysticism within Advaita-Vedānta Hinduism, Mādhyamika Buddhism, and Nicene Christianity demonstrate the value of this approach and offer many fresh insights into the metaphysical presuppositions of these religions as well as into the nature and value of mystical experience. Like Douglas Hofstadter's Gōdel, Escher, Bach, this book finds ultimate reality to be rationally graspable only as an eternal fugue of pattern and paradox. Yet it does not so much counter other philosophical views as provide a conceptual tool for understanding and classifying incommensurable views.

A book of contemplations. Edited from the British Museum M.S. Harl. 674 with an introduction by Evelyn Underhill. "The little family of mystical treatises which is known to students as 'the Cloud of Unknowing group, ' deserves more attention that it has hitherto received from English lovers of mysticism: for it represents the first expression in our own tongue of that great mystic tradition of the Christian neo-platonists which gathered up, remade, and 'salted with Christ's salt' all that was best in the spiritual wisdom of the ancient world."

'Nothing is more striking in the literature of contemplation, and of high aesthetic experience, than an experienced reality, a joy and richness, which can never be conveyed save by allusion.' Offering a unique introduction to the wide-ranging thought of one of the foremost writers on mysticism, this innovative collection of essays brings together some of Evelyn Underhill's most enduringly valuable work. The volume exemplifies the variety of issues Underhill considered in depth, from the mystical life to the ordination of women, and from the nature of prayer and the power of contemplation to social reform and education. As relevant and challenging today as it was in Underhill's time, this delightfully clear and accessible book will offer valuable advice and true inspiration to all those seeking insight into spirituality in our complex modern world.

The Spiritual Canticle is one of St John's greatest works. Using the simple metaphor of the spouse and the bride, he sketches a series of dialogues between God and the soul, rihc in natural imagery. The fragrant vineyards, fruitful valleys and green hills, flocks of sheep and clear streams all speak of the Object of mystical love. The imahes of the basic Spiritual Canticle are so beautiful and its music so captivating that many who first heard it begged St John to write a commentary, together with its profound reflections on the relations of the soul to God, has become one of the world's richest sources of meditation. The commentary and the sublime poetry that inspired them form what is presented here as the complete Spiritual Canticle.

A Psychological Study of the Mysticism of George Fox.