Mysticism: Twenty-First-Century Approaches embarks on an investigation of the concept of mysticism from the standpoint of academic fields, including philosophy, anthropology, religious studies, mysticism studies, literary studies, art criticism, cognitive poetics, cognitive science, psychology, medical research, and even mathematics. Scholars across disciplines observe that, although it has experienced both cyclical approval and disapproval, mysticism seems to be implicated as a key foundation of religion, alon with the highest forms of social, cultural, intellectual, and artistic creations. This book is divided into four sections: The Exposure, The Symbolic, The Cognitive, and The Scientific, covering all fundamental aspects of the phenomenon known as mysticism. Contributors, taking advantage of recent advances in disciplinary approaches to understanding mystical phenomena, address questions of whether progress can be made to systemically enrich, expand, and advance our understanding of mysticism.

This monograph is written for students at the graduate level in biostatistics, statistics or other disciplines that collect longitudinal data. It concentrates on the state space approach that provides a convenient way to compute likelihoods using the Kalman filter.

A firestorm of controversy developed when Michael Newdow challenged the constitutionality of the phrase "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance. In order to understand the legal issues and the public reaction, One Nation Under God? explores the history of the government's references to God in our national motto, on coins, and in other governmental announcements, along with a history of the Pledge of Allegiance. The book discusses the setting of American "civil religion" and other aspects of American culture and then delves into the background of the Constitution and the Supreme Court's Establishment Clause rulings needed to understand the courts' rulings on such governmental uses of "God." State and federal cases on "In God We Trust" and "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance and other references to God are also explored. Finally, a new rationale for accepting these pronouncements as constitutional is presented.

Numerous books have been written by philosophers and scientists about how creationism and intelligent design are not part of science, but scholars have largely ignored two of the main historical and philosophical issues underlying the attack on science. First, conservative Christian scholars commonly claim that Christian theological doctrines are the source of modern science. To them, modern science is the stepchild of medieval Christian theology or early Protestant doctrines. They believe that without those theological beliefs as presuppositions, modern science could never have arisen and that Christianity, or at least theism, is the only possible source of these beliefs. They argue that even today, all scientists, whether they realize it or not, must be committed to these theistic or specifically Christian ideas in order to practice science. This "dependency" thesis has now become widely accepted, even outside conservative circles. For example, renowned scientists such as Edward O. Wilson and Paul Davies accept the historical part of this thesis as a given. Second, some conservative Christians argue that theology has the epistemic right to control the content of all scientific theories and indeed the very nature of science. To them, science unfettered from theological control cannot reveal the true nature of the universe, and so theology must control the content and methods of all science. In the words of the philosopher Alvin Plantinga, "Scripture can correct science." In For the Glory of God, Jones challenges both the Dependency Thesis and Control Beliefs. He presents the historical and philosophical case against the Dependency Thesis and examines why modern science arose in the West and not in another culture. Jones also explores the negative effects of Control Beliefs on science. Throughout this work, Jones systematically studies how past and present religious conservatives have dealt with the complex nature of science.

Curing the Philosopher's Disease is a philosophical examination of the mysteries surrounding the foundations of science, philosophy, and religion. Much of Western philosophy and science is discussed in order to see our epistemological and metaphysical situation. The love/hate relation philosophers have with mystery is explored, as are the contributions of reductionists and antireductionists, postmodern relativists and critical realists, naturalists and the religious, and theologians and mystics. The thrust of the arguments affirms that there are limits to what philosophy, science, religion, and mystical experiences can tell us about reality. By acknowledging that some questions may be unanswerable and understanding the importance of that fact even as the answers remain ambiguous, our true situation in the world is revealed. Mystery should be reinstated as a basic feature when we reflect upon the nature of what we know and who we are. Mystery frames all of our claims to fundamental knowledge, and we must accept that it will remain a permanent fixture. Thus, the importance of mystery needs to be reaffirmed today, during an era when the fullness of reality is often ignored.

In Mysticism and Morality author Richard Jones explores an often neglected question of religious ethics: Is mysticism moral? Through a discussion of several religious traditions including Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, Tantrism, Daoism, and Christianity Jones fills a major void in the scholarly literature by considering all relevant points pertaining to mysticism. Rather than looking at mysticism abstractly, the book focuses on such topics as ritual, practice, and the processes of mystical becoming. This work provides new perspectives for those interested in ethics and will prove essential to anyone interested in comparative philosophy and cross-cultural studies of religion."

This monograph is written for students at the graduate level in biostatistics, statistics or other disciplines that collect longitudinal data. It concentrates on the state space approach that provides a convenient way to compute likelihoods using the Kalman filter.

This volume continues to trace the development of Madhyamaka Buddhist philosophy in India after its initiator, Nagarjuna. It consists of translations of Sanskrit texts into easily readable English for the general educated public interested in Buddhism or philosophy. Notes and separate Essays dealing with the philosophical content are also included. Presented in this volume are the central philosophical writings of the last two prominent Indian Madhyamikas and two Madhyamaka critiques of the idea of a creator God. Parts of two texts by Chandrakirti are presented: Chapter 6 of Entering the Middle Way (Madhyamakavatara), and core chapters of his Clearly-worded Commentary (Prasannapada) on Nagarjuna's Fundamental Verses on the Middle Way. Chapters 8 and 9 of Shantideva's Entering the Bodhisattva's Path (Bodhicaryavatara) on meditation and wisdom (prajna) and verses from his Collection of the Teachings (Shiksa-samucchaya) follow. The translations conclude with the portions of Bhavaviveka's Verses on the Heart of the Middle Way (Madhyamakahridayakarikas) on a creator God, and The Refutation of Vishnu as the One Creator (Vishnorekakartritvanirakaranam) attributed to Nagarjuna * * * Richard H. Jones holds a Ph.D. from Columbia University in the history and philosophy of religion and an A.B. from Brown University in religious studies. He also holds a J.D. from the University of California at Berkeley.

Nagarjuna initiated the Madhyamaka tradition in Mahayana Buddhism that influenced Zen and the Tibetan Buddhist traditions. Over the centuries, this tradition spawned in India two subtraditions and syncretic combinations with another Buddhist tradition. These developments will be traced in two volumes of translations of the basic texts from Sanskrit into easily readable English for the general educated public interested in Buddhism or philosophy. Texts available today in Sanskrit have been translated, and texts no longer extant in Sanskrit but existing in Tibetan or Chinese have been summarized. Notes and separate essays explaining the philosophical content are also included. Presented in this volume are the philosophical writings of Nagarjuna's student Aryadeva (the Four Hundred Verses on Yogic Deeds, the Hand Treatise, and a summary of the One Hundred Verses), a song by Rahulabhadra (Song in Praise of Perfected Wisdom), and selections from the principal works of the two figures who were seen by later Tibetan Buddhists as beginning the division of the Madhyamaka tradition - Buddhapalita (summaries of selections from his commentary on Nagarjuna's Fundamental Verses of the Middle Way) and Bhavaviveka (the Summary of the Meaning of the Middle Way and selections from the Verses on the Heart of the Middle Way).

DescriptionNagarjuna stands second only to the Buddha in his importance in Buddhist thought. The concept of "emptiness (shunyata)" became the central ontological concept in Mahayana Buddhism thanks to his effort. Not only did he found the Madhyamaka tradition in India, understanding his philosophy is needed to understand the Zen tradition and the Dalai Lama's Tibetan tradition. Included here are translations from the Sanskrit of his most important philosophical works into plain English, so that the general educated public interested in Buddhism or philosophy can understand his thought. Also included are separate commentaries and a bibliography of further readings. The works presented here collectively constitute what the Tibetans call Nagarjuna's "analytic corpus." Translated from the original Sanskrit are the Fundamental Verses of the Middle Way (the Mula-madhyamaka-karikas), Overturning the Objections (the Vigraha- vyavartani) with Nagarjuna's own commentary, and the philosophical portions of the Jewel Garland of Advice (the Ratnavali). Three works that are no longer extant in Sanskrit are summarized here: Seventy Verses on Emptiness (Shunyata-saptati-karikas), Sixty Verses on Argument (Yukti-shashtikas), and Pulverizing the Categories (Vaidalya-prakarana).

An explanation of how time-travels works in J. K. Rowling's "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" with an another discussion of theories of time and time-travel.

Is the world nothing but matter pushing matter in a void? Are humans nothing but soulless machines for the survival of genes? Is the mind nothing but the brain? Is all science reducible to physics? Must scientists restrict the substance and structure of reality to physical forces? Does society consist merely of individuals or are holistic forces also at work? Is God really no more than a projection of nature, society, or our psyche? Or in each case do new realities emerge that cannot be reduced? Virtually every scholarly and popular book and magazine article on the mind, science, or religion touches on these issues of reductionism. But for all the interest in the topic, no in-depth introduction of the subject exists. The objective of this philosophical work is to fill that void. This book attempts to provide one common framework for studying how the issue of reduction versus emergence arises in each of the areas in which it comes up - the natural sciences, philosophy of mind, the social sciences, and religion. It tries to resolve some of the disputes by a new analysis: differentiating five types of reductionism and antireductionism - ontological, structural, theoretical, conceptual, and methodological. To help clarify the issues, a brief history of how reductionism and emergentism have developed in Western philosophy is also presented. By distinguishing different types of reductionism and by examining the issues in all the areas of philosophical interest collectively rather than limiting the discussion to just one area, the general issues surrounding reduction versus emergence become clearer. This approach brings together many of the most interesting questions today in philosophy, science, and religious studies. The attempt throughout the work is to present the reductionists' and emergentists' strongest case on each issue and to identify problems with both sides. But it is argued that in the end the reductionists in each area currently have the weaker position. The work concludes with a discussion of the centrality of nonreducible features in reality and asks whether science under a reductionist vision can ever explain the emergence of higher levels of phenomena.

Discussing philosophical issues in relating modern science and Asian mysticism.

For the Glory of God addresses key questions regarding the connection between religion and science. Richard H. Jones investigates whether ideas from the Bible and Christian theology have played a significant role in the development of modern scientific theories. If so, has the role always been positive or negative? In this regard, does religion have the epistemic right to control science or to offer an alternative “Christian” science to mainstream science? Is creationism or intelligent design a “science” on the same footing with neo-Darwinism? Is the integrity of science today in danger of religious control? In this volume, Jones provides an illuminating history of the role of Christian ideas in the physical and biological sciences from the Middle Ages to today. He reveals the failure of the popular “war” and “harmony” models for the relation of religion and science and shows that a “control” model does work to explain the complex history of religion and science.