Defining Mysticism, a Survey of Main Definitions Saeed Zarrabizadeh
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Transcendent Philosophy 77-92 © London Academy of Iranian Studies Defining Mysticism, A Survey of Main Definitions Saeed Zarrabizadeh University of Erfurt, Germany Abstract: Since the beginning of the modern studies about mysticism in the second half of the nineteenth century, defining the term “mysticism" has remained one of the controversial issues in this field, and different authors has been using the term to refer to different subjects. Studying some major effective sources in the field of mysticism, this article surveys the modern definitions of mysticism and evaluates them according to their comprehensiveness. It also tries to clarify the different classifications of mysticism by using the dimensional definition of the term. “No word in our language – not even ‘Socialism’ – has been employed more loosely than ‘Mysticism.’ Sometimes it is used as an equivalent for symbolism or allegorism, sometimes for theosophy or occult science; and sometimes it merely suggests the mental state of a dreamer, or vague and fantastic opinions about God and the world.”1 (William Ralph Inge, 1899) “There are almost as many definitions of the term [mysticism] as there are writers on the subject.”2 (Gershom G. Scholem, 1941) “Mysticism continues to elude easy definition, and its nature and significance remain the subject of intense debate. The terms ‘mystic’, ‘mystical’ and ‘mysticism’ have been used in an astonishing variety of ways by different authors in different eras.”3 (Steven Payne, 1998) Even if we suppose Scholem’s statement about the quantity of definitions of “mysticism" as an exaggeration, we can’t disagree with the fact that mysticism continues to escape a definition unanimously accepted by at least the majority of scholars. It has almost become a tradition to write about the difficulty of defining the term and mention the reasons and causes of such a hardship at the beginning of writings dealing with this subject.4 In fact, after creating the noun “la mystique” (mysticism) from the adjective “mystique” (mystical) in 17th century French5 and later use of this new category in other languages like German (Mystik) and English6 – partly as a result of the modern love of -ism’s – the problem of defining this phenomenon didn’t dwindle, and besides the alteration in the meaning and connotation of the adjective “mystical” (originally Greek mystikos),7 the problem of ambiguity added to the trouble of definition. Prior to this noun coming into use, there were some phenomena called mystical like “mystical theology”, “mystical experience”, and “mystical union” that their realm and the thing to which they referred were clear. For example, mystical theology referred to a kind of theology, and mystical experience indicated a kind of experience, and nobody used the qualifier “mystical” without a substantive which determined its scope. But, after the appearance of “mysticism” as a substantive, different authors used – and are still using – it to refer to different areas. This article surveys a number of major books written by prominent scholars in the field of mysticism as well as some authoritative encyclopedias in the fields of religion and philosophy8 to figure out how they define the term “mysticism,” and evaluates their definitions according to their comprehensiveness. This survey focuses on the sources written by the scholars who lived – and some are still living - after the second half of the nineteenth century, which is the period of modern studies about mysticism9, and though it concentrates on English sources, the selected texts are 1 undoubtedly among the most effective writings which have shaped the modern understanding of this term. I- Definition of Mysticism in Books To survey the books written in the field of mysticism in chronological order, Christian Mysticism of W. R. Inge (1860-1954) – the British divine and the dean of St. Paul’s Cathedral in London – seems to be an appropriate starting point.10 In this book, which was Defining Mysticism, A Survey of Main Definitions 79 firstly published in 1899, he considers the inmost being of mysticism as the “consciousness of the beyond” which appears as an independent active principle. However, he believes, since every active principle must find its appropriate instrument, mysticism has developed a “speculative and practical system” of its own, which does not belong to its inmost being. In this way, it is possible to consider mysticism as a type of religion.11 He also assumes “the unitive or contemplative life, in which man beholds God face to face, and is joined to him” as the final step or the goal of mystical path.12 Three years after the publication of Inge’s book, the pioneering American psychologist and philosopher, William James (1842-1910) published his classic book, The Varieties of Religious Experience – as a result of his twenty Gifford Lectures at the University of Edinburgh. In chapters 16 and 17 of this book that are related to mysticism, instead of directly defining mysticism, James explains what he means by “mystical states of consciousness.” Here, he proposes four marks which, when an experience has them, may justify us in calling it “mystical:” The first two marks, namely “ineffability” and “noetic quality,” entitle any state to be called mystical, and the other two characteristics, i.e. “transiency” and ”passivity,” are less sharply marked, but are usually found.13 The British Roman Catholic philosopher and author of Austrian descent, Baron Friedrich von Hugel (1852-1925), in his two-volume book firstly published in 1908, The Mystical Element of Religion as Studied in Saint Catherine of Genoa and her Friends, uses Christianity to present the three elements found in all religions, i.e. historical-institutional element, analytic-speculative element, and intuitive-emotional element.14 Identifying mysticism with the third element, he explains that “here religion is rather felt than seen or reasoned about, is loved and lived rather than analyzed, is action and power, rather than either external fact or intellectual verification.”15 He also relates these elements to three great forces and faculties in soul, namely sense and memory, reason, and will and action, and connects the third faculty to mysticism, by which we could have an immediate experience of Objective Reality.16 The English Anglo-Catholic popular writer on mysticism, Evelyn Underhill (1875- 1941), in her famous book, Mysticism. the Nature and Development of Spiritual Consciousness, which firstly published in 1911, criticizes the four characteristics of mystical experience stated by William James, and assigns four other characteristics for mysticism opposing to his characteristics: “1. True mysticism is active and practical, not passive and theoretical. It is an organic life-process ... 2. Its aims are wholly transcendental and spiritual. It is in no way concerned with adding to, exploring, rearranging, or improving anything in the visible universe. The mystic[’s] ... heart is always set upon the changeless One. 3. This One is for the mystic, not merely the Reality of all that is, but also a living and personal Object of Love ... 4. Living union with this One ... is a definite state or form of enhanced life.”17 She also adds, as a corollary to these characteristics, that true mysticism is never self-seeking.18 She stresses that the mystical experience of union with One is a continuous active process, and not merely a sudden admission to overwhelming vision of 2 Truth which takes place occasionally.19 However, her definition of mysticism is not so clear, and she considers mysticism as “the name of that organic process which involves the perfect consummation of the Love of God”,2° “the expression of the innate tendency of the human spirit towards complete harmony with the transcendental order”,21 and “the direct intuition or experience of God.”22 The German theologian, philosopher, and historian of religion, Rudolf Otto (1869- 1937) published his West-Ostliche Mystik, in 1926 which soon translated as Mysticism 23 East and West in English in 1932. In this book, though speaking about many forms of mysticism,24 he concentrates on “two types of mystical experience originally separate,” namely “mysticism of introspection” and “mysticism of unifying vision.” The first type “means sinking down into the self in order to reach intuition, and here in the inmost depth of the self to find the Infinite, or God, or Brahman,” while the second “looks upon the world of things in its multiplicity, and in contrast to this leaps to an ‘intuition’ or a ‘knowledge’ of its own most peculiar kind, which we, according to our scale of values, may consider either a strange fantasy or a glimpse into the eternal relationships of things.” 25 For Otto, there is one general kind of religious experience, i.e. numinous experience, which covers both mystical and theistic experiences.26 In 1957, the British historian of religion and professor of Eastern religions and ethics, Robert Charles Zaehner (1913-1974) published his book, Mysticism Sacred and Profane. Excluding those experiences which are sometimes associated with mysticism like clairvoyance, telepathy, and levitation from his definition of mysticism, he states that under the general heading of mysticism he confines himself to “praeternatural experiences in which sense perception and discursive thought are transcended in an immediate apperception of a unity or union which is apprehended as lying beyond and transcending the multiplicity of the world as we know it.”27 He also speaks about three distinct mystical states, i.e. “the pan-en- henic where all creaturely existence is experienced as one and one as all; the state of pure isolation of what we may now call the uncreated soul or spirit from all that is other than itself; and thirdly the simultaneous loss of the purely human personality, the ‘ego’, and the absorption of the uncreate spirit, the ‘self’, into the essence of God, in Whom both the individual personality and the whole objective world are or seem to be entirely obliterated.”28 The English-born philosopher, Walter Terence Stace (18861967), published his classic Mysticism and Philosophy in 1960.