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The Transformation of Consciousness in Tibetan and German Mysticism The Unity of Mystical Traditions Numen Book Series Studies in the History of Religions Edited by W.J. Hanegraaff and P.P. Kumar Advisory Board p. antes ‒ m. despland ‒ r.i.j. hackett ‒ m. abumalham mas a.w. geertz ‒ g. ter haar ‒ g.l. lease m.n. getui ‒ i.s. gilhus ‒ p. morris ‒ j.k. olupona e. thomassen ‒ a. tsukimoto ‒ a.t. wasim VOLUME 107 The Unity of Mystical Traditions The Transformation of Consciousness in Tibetan and German Mysticism by Randall Studstill BRILL LEIDEN • BOSTON 2005 This book is printed on acid-free paper. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Studstill, Randall. The Unity of mystical traditions : the transformation of consciousness in Tibetan and German mysticism / by Randall Studstill p. cm. — (Numen book series, ISSN 0169-8834 ; 107) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 90-04-14319-X (alk. paper) 1. Mysticism—China—Tibet. 2. Mysticism—Germany. I. Title. II. Series : Studies in the history of religions ; 107. BL1802.S74 2005 204’.22—dc22 2005045715 ISSN 0169-8834 ISBN 90 04 14319 X © Copyright 2005 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands. Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill Academic Publishers, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers and VSP. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by Brill provided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910, Danvers, MA 01923, USA. Fees are subject to change. printed in the netherlands For my wife and parents Krishna Roman Kenneth and Charlotte Studstill Neither the mystic nor the philosopher can remain content with an irreducible heterogeneity of mystical experience, the mystic because the ultimate character of the experience implies a universal claim, the philosopher because a diversity of ultimate claims is a challenge not a resting-place. Thus, it is not an uneducated essentialist desire, but religious integrity or philosophical urgency that leads those who no longer find an exclusive claim by any single tradition convincing to seek an underlying unity and to investigate the equivalence of sym- bols under their diversity. Charles Davis CONTENTS Acknowledgments ...................................................................... xi Chapter One Introduction: A Mystical Pluralist Theory of Mysticism .............................................................................. 1 The Mystical Pluralist Thesis ................................................ 5 The Method: A Systems Approach to Mind ...................... 10 Mystical Pluralism Compared to other Essentialist Approaches to Mysticism .................................................. 19 Mystical Pluralism and Epistemological Essentialist Approaches ...................................................................... 20 Mystical Pluralism and Process-oriented Approaches ...... 21 Mystical Pluralism and John Hick’s Pluralism ................ 24 Robert Forman’s Perennial Psychology ............................ 26 Overview of the Book .......................................................... 33 Chapter Two A Critique Of Constructivism ................................ 35 Constructivism: An Outline .................................................. 35 Constructivism as a priori ...................................................... 36 Constructivism and the Phenomenological Content of Mystical Experience ............................................................ 39 Mystical Experience and Mystical Language ...................... 45 Constructivism and the ‘Object’ of Mystical Experience .... 54 Rationales for Constructivist Epistemology .......................... 60 Philosophical Precedent ...................................................... 61 Mediation as Epistemological Necessity ............................ 63 Empirical Evidence and Constructivism .......................... 65 The Data ............................................................................ 67 Katz’s Manet Example .......................................................... 70 Constructivism is Self-contradictory ...................................... 71 Constructivism is Epistemologically Vague .......................... 72 Mystical Traditions Undermine their own Doctrines ........ 73 Similarities among Traditions and Experiences .................. 74 Conditioning as Cause? Failed Mystics and Spontaneous Mystical Experiences .......................................................... 77 viii contents Mystical Experiences as Novel .............................................. 79 ‘Construction’ and the Mystical Experience of Unity ........ 81 Katz’s Misreading of the Traditions .................................... 81 Final Miscellaneous Problems ................................................ 83 Concluding Remarks on Constructivism .............................. 85 Chapter Three An Alternative Methodology: A Systems Approach To Consciousness ........................................................................ 87 Systems Theory: An Overview .............................................. 87 What is a ‘System’? ............................................................ 92 Maintenance and Evolution of System Structure ............ 93 Justifying the Systems Approach to Mind ............................ 95 Intuitive Appeal: Mind Appears to be a System ............ 101 Mind Functions Like a Dynamical System ...................... 103 Applicability to a Wider Range of Data .......................... 104 A Systems Approach to Mind .............................................. 105 Mind: Definitions and Structure ...................................... 106 Processes of Mind .............................................................. 109 The Homeostatic Processes of Mind ................................ 114 Evolution through Positive Feedback ................................ 121 Summing Up the Model ........................................................ 123 Chapter Four Doctrine and Practice in the Dzogchen Tradition .... 125 Dzogchen’s Historical Origins .............................................. 131 Chinese Influence on Dzogchen? ...................................... 137 Dzogchen Origins and Tantra .......................................... 143 Final Remarks on Dzogchen Origins .............................. 145 Dzogchen Doctrine ................................................................ 146 Ultimate and Conventional Reality .................................. 147 The Four Kàyas ................................................................ 151 The Gzhi as Creator .......................................................... 154 The Dzogchen Path .............................................................. 160 Preliminary Practices .......................................................... 163 Dzogchen Practice .............................................................. 166 Systems Theory and Dzogchen ............................................ 169 Chapter Five Doctrine And Practice In German Mysticism .......... 173 The Historical Emergence of German Mysticism .............. 175 German Mysticism and the Nature of God ........................ 184 God’s Ineffability ................................................................ 191 contents ix God’s Activity, Creativity, and Relation to Creatures .... 194 The Nature of the Soul ........................................................ 204 Mystical Practice in German Mysticism .............................. 206 ‘Releasement’ and Self-annihilation .................................. 211 Rejection of ‘Ways’ ............................................................ 213 ‘Birth’ and ‘Breakthrough’ ................................................ 219 Grace and Effort ................................................................ 222 Chapter Six Mystical Pluralism, Systems Theory, and the Unity of Mystical Traditions ................................................................ 225 Dzogchen and German Mysticism: General Comparative Observations ........................................................................ 226 Cognitive Deconstruction through Dzogchen and German Mysticism .............................................................. 231 Systems Theory and Mystical Evolution .............................. 238 Mystical Pluralism vs. Alternative Theories of Mysticism ............................................................................ 240 Conclusion .............................................................................. 244 Appendix A Defining ‘Mysticism’ and ‘Mystical Experience’ ........ 247 Appendix B Remarks On Essentialist and Typological Approaches to Mysticism .............................................................. 255 Appendix C The Motivational Basis of Cognitive Confirmation .... 271 Bibliography ................................................................................ 275 Index ............................................................................................ 293 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Since this book is a revised version of my doctoral dissertation, my gratitude extends first and foremost to the members of my super- vising committee: Richard Payne, Allan Combs, Hilary Martin, and Luke Buckles. I want to especially
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