06-02-2005 05:30									#1
	Doing a research paper on mysticism, looking for resources Suffering from ads?

I'm doing a research paper on mysticism. I need internet access the writings of mystics of all religions. I type in mysticism or mystic writings on the search engine and I don't get much. Does anyone have any suggestions?

And, I want to quote the Upanishads and the Bhagavad-Gita for descriptions of mystical experiences (what the Hindus would call finding the Brahman within oneself), but they are kind long to read all the way through, and I'm lazy. Are there any places that I should look for in those works in particular?

	06-02-2005 05:31									#2
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Julian of Norwich, Thomas Traherne, The Cloud of Unknowing, Plotinus, etc.

	06-02-2005 07:21									#3
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Check out stuff on Sufism. That's pretty intense. Good luck if you do Kabbalah, though - it's hard to seperate the genuine from the new-age baloney.

	06-02-2005 07:36									#4
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The Zohar.

I read a bit of that as an undergrad. It is heavy going though.

	06-02-2005 08:06									#5
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quote: Check out stuff on Sufism. That's pretty intense. Good luck if you do Kabbalah, though - it's hard to seperate the genuine from the new-age baloney.

Yeah, I find the Sufis fascinating. My paper will be a little more broad though. It is the junior thesis-at my school they require juniors to write a collegiate level research paper. It is only is required to be 5-7 pages though, but I'm shooting for over 10. I have it narrowed down to two topics. The first is I could do is compare the descriptions and interpretations of spiritual experiences of mystics of all the different religions.

But now I am thinking I should compare the mystics themselves. There are striking parallels between the mystics of different religions. They all tend to find beauty in all things and are almost quasi-pantheistic. The Sufis, for example, see all things as God behind a veil of some sort. Their image of God also isn't the personal one either, so they tend to have a greater understanding of religion and spirituality, and they aren't affected by cultural biases. They tend to be more tolerant of other religions, even embracing them. They tend to be very peaceful, too. The experience always involves transcending the self which leads them to understand that there is something greater than the self. They tend to identify with the world rather than the self, so they tend to be selfless and learn to be very accepting of what comes in life.

The first seems a little too narrow, the second a little too broad, and this is the first time I've written a research paper like this. So it is very important that I chose a good topic.

I don't want to have to sift through hundreds of pages of reading, either. If I can get a few simple descriptions of spiritual experiences than I'll be in business.

	06-02-2005 08:11									#6
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JSTOR.org

You need a subscription, but if you find some articles you like, maybe someone here (like me) with a subscription can download them for you.

	06-02-2005 08:22									#7
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Thich Nhat Hanh:

http://www.plumvillage.org/teaching...fSelectedDT.htm

A Buddhist Monk from Vietnam who also understands Christian Mysticism and the parallels and crossovers between Chritisianity and Buddism.

GOLDEN



Living Buddha, Living Christ is an excellent book

	06-02-2005 08:26									#8
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quote: Originally posted by Ted Striker Thich Nhat Hanh: http://www.plumvillage.org/teaching...fSelectedDT.htm A Buddhist Monk from Vietnam who also understands Christian Mysticism and the parallels and crossovers between Chritisianity and Buddism. GOLDEN Living Buddha, Living Christ is an excellent book

One of my Professors studied under him...

	06-02-2005 08:27									#9
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whoah!

	06-02-2005 08:29									#10
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[philosophy redneck]That's all woofter mysticism. [/philosophy redneck]

Plotinus!!!

	06-02-2005 09:36									#11
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I worked with a fair number of sufis while over seas. Those guys would intentionally stab themselves in order to show how brave and disaplined they were.

	06-02-2005 12:20									#12
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johncmcleod - always remember. Take control of the input, and you will master the output.

/yang

	06-02-2005 13:54									#13
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For christian Mysticism google for Meister Eckhart,
a medieval Theologist who published some great works in this field
(and was afterwards condemned by the catholic church for doing so, as he saw faith as something personal which didn´t need a clerical hierarchy, something which was, of course, seen as dangerous for a hierarchical structured organization like the church )

Here´s a good resource on him (with his works in german, though [only natural as it was his mother language])

http://www.ellopos.net/theology/eckhart_resources.htm

	06-02-2005 13:57									#14
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John Mcleod:

This is not really something I've spent much time studying. I'd look up, for Christian mysticism, things about the Charismatics, since that should cover plenty of things you will be looking for.

	06-02-2005 19:38									#15
	Re: Doing a research paper on mysticism, looking for resources Support Apolyton, buy Civilization III: Complete

quote: Originally posted by johncmcleod I'm doing a research paper on mysticism. I need internet access the writings of mystics of all religions. I type in mysticism or mystic writings on the search engine and I don't get much. Does anyone have any suggestions? And, I want to quote the Upanishads and the Bhagavad-Gita for descriptions of mystical experiences (what the Hindus would call finding the Brahman within oneself), but they are kind long to read all the way through, and I'm lazy. Are there any places that I should look for in those works in particular?

I'd suggest that you go to the library and see if they have anything by the Qawwali musicians of Iran, Pakistan or India. Or the Gnaoua musicians of Morocco.

If you listen to their music (even though you may not read or understand Farsi, Urdu or Arabic) I think you'll get an intuition for what mysticism is partly about- the altered states of consciousness part, anyway.

I prefer the feeling induced by the music to fasting, mortification of the body or non-stop dancing anyway.

You might find Dame Julian of Norwich and Abbess Hildegard of Bingen helpful too- especially as Hildegard combines ecstatic visions in painting with stunning music.

	06-02-2005 20:55									#16
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If your interest is more than casual or scholastic, you might start by reading Meditation by Eknath Easwaran.

	06-02-2005 23:33									#17
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Thank you all for suggestions.

As for the Thich Nhat Hanh page, it looks like a great resource, but there are well over 50 lectures in there, and each of them seems pretty long. That would be hours and hours of reading to go through. Do you have any suggestions for particular ones to look at?

And as for jstor.org, I went there and I couldn't even browse or search for articles there, everything said I wasn't able to access it from my location. What can I do to just see what they have there?

And does anyone have a suggestion for which topic I should do? I think I am kind of leaning towards the second. I'm just afraid that I might be biting off more than I can chew, especially because this month is the busiest of the year for me.

	06-02-2005 23:40									#18
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quote: Originally posted by johncmcleod Thank you all for suggestions. As for the Thich Nhat Hanh page, it looks like a great resource, but there are well over 50 lectures in there, and each of them seems pretty long. That would be hours and hours of reading to go through. Do you have any suggestions for particular ones to look at?

Just download some and search them for what you're looking for. No one actually reads whole articles

quote: And as for jstor.org, I went there and I couldn't even browse or search for articles there, everything said I wasn't able to access it from my location. What can I do to just see what they have there?

Hmmm... didn't realize that. That blows. Maybe if you tell us pricisely what your thesis is we can find some relavent articles... Sorry about that.

	07-02-2005 00:08									#19
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Possible thesis 1: Mystics of all religions explain and describe their spiritual experiences with remarkable similarities, the differences mainly occurring when putting the experience in context of their religious philosophy and theology.

Possible thesis 2: Spiritual experiences experienced by mystics of all religions lead them to have similar beliefs despite entirely different religious and philosophical backgrounds.

	07-02-2005 15:59									#20
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quote: Originally posted by johncmcleod Possible thesis 1: Mystics of all religions explain and describe their spiritual experiences with remarkable similarities, the differences mainly occurring when putting the experience in context of their religious philosophy and theology. Possible thesis 2: Spiritual experiences experienced by mystics of all religions lead them to have similar beliefs despite entirely different religious and philosophical backgrounds.

If you choose number one, then you might find these sites helpful:

http://www.impulse-music.co.uk/hildegard.htm

http://shop.castleclassics.co.uk/ac...1098_1179_.html

http://www.oxfordgirlschoir.co.uk/h...chronology.html

http://www.medievalchurch.org.uk/p_hildegard.html


There is an excellent essay by Oliver Sacks in his collection 'The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat' which deals with the physiological and mental aspects of Hildegard's ecstatic visions- she transmuted, or transcended the severe migrainous attacks she sufferred from, into glorious works of art and music.

I know several migraine sufferers who when I introduced them to reproductions of the illuminated manuscripts of Abbess Hildegard and when they heard her music, said it was as if someone were communicating directly with them. Her visions are very similar to some Buddhist and Hindu visions, and her music has simlarities to the music accompanying Islamic mysticism.

	07-02-2005 21:11									#21
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gershom scholem on the Jewish mysticism generally - hes not a mystic, but an academic historian of mystics, but hes VERY good. I would read SOMETHING by him before I took on the Zohar, or other Jewish mystical primary sources.

	07-02-2005 21:30									#22
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Careful johnmcleod, beware of the Tres!