...Mysticism, according to its history, implies a relation to mystery. Mysticism is the spiritual quest in any religion for the most direct experience of God. Mysticism is widely practiced in Eastern religions and concentrates on prayer, meditation, contemplation, and fasting to produce the attitude necessary for what is believed to be a direct encounter with the spiritual realm (Bouyer, 1981). Typically, mystics, theistic or not, see their mystical experience as part of a larger undertaking aimed at human transformation (Teresa of Avila, Life, Chapter 19) and not as the terminus of their efforts. Mysticism has been an intimate part of human society, as a still-unexplainable part of nature, the divine forces over God’s existences, as well as the supernatural, that has allured and guided many to look as far as into the future for answers and as close as deep into themselves and an exploration of the unconscious mind. The many tools of Mysticism, like the Tarot, numerology, astrology, and dreams, are all used to provide insights into a "deeper consciousness" and a "higher plane of existence," which when properly interpreted could very well shed light into the murkiest situation. In today's societies, Mysticism continues to intrigue, appeal to, entertain and aid people across cultures that force us to question the existence of God and Man and develop a sense of understanding for Man’s relationship to God. Mysticism has made significant changes in reshaping the mines of people towards...
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...also among common man and youth. This article is an attempt to throw light on the various dimensions of Kabir Das’s literature and how it is still effectively communicated and in turn is used for effective communication. This paper contemplates on the varied aspects of kabir’s literature. Kabir’s literature is known for elements of mysticism, spirituality, concept of love, his objectivity in imparting moral education, his attack on vices of human behavior, hypocrisy and materialistic attitude. All these aspects are dominantly reflected in his literary works and are still relevant in today’s social scenarios which are well communicated in the form of his well remembered ‘Dohas’ and poetry. Hence, it is concluded that Kabir’s literature, in spite of being so old and classical is timeless and well applicable and connected with today’s era. His ‘Dohas’ makes an integral part of our day to day communication. Hence, it can be said that, Kabir Das has communicated with the society and is still communicating and will continue to do so through his literature which will never loose its relevance in any of the ages Keywords: Kabir’s literature, mysticism, objectivity, value education, attack on vices of society, communicator, timeless....
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...This was a practice essay I wrote a few years ago so naturally isn't perfect as I had only just begun writing essays at this stage. A religious experience is a non-empirical event in which a person can gain knowledge and understanding, they come in a range of forms including, visions, conversion and mystical experiences. They are spontaneous events in which it can be voluntary or not. They are always unique to the individual experiencing it and is always a positive event and they have a religious element to them. A believer can have a vision a vision is an image or event in which there is a message and are always non-empirical, this could mean a number of different things depending on the believer however most are numinous this is what Otto described as a feeling of fear and fascination. A vision could gain understanding, an example of this is Julian of Norwich who determined that God is a mother she had this feeling of sudden understanding this can also be described noetic quality. An effect on the believer could also be that it reinforces faith, for example in Genesis Jacob has an imaginary vision in which he sees a stairway to heaven with angels ascending and descending and at the top sat God, this reinforced his belief and when he awoke he felt God’s presence in the place. A result of a vision could also be a social influence, this could be by discovering a healing spring such as St Bernadette who had 18 corporeal visions in which she saw the Virgin Mary who told her...
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...History Chapter Seven: Sikhism Page 172: Answer the Following Questions 1. Discuss Sikhism as a syncretism between Hinduism and Islam. Which features has it taken from each religion? Scholars account the development from context of a conversation amongst Hinduism and Islamic mysticism. The worldview is taken from Hinduism and the oneness of god impacted the Sikhs and their literature. 2. What factors worked to turn the pacific movement of Nanak into the warrior caste of later Sikhism? The torture and death of Arjan and execution of Singh. 3. List the three major sects of Sikhism. What are the major characteristics of each? Udasis- order of holy men who follow the rules and principles that govern Hindu, Janism, and Buddhism. Sahajdharis- conservative and slowgoing, reject militant characteristics. Singhs- theology of reincarnation, non use of stimulants long hair on heads and faces. Chapter Eight: Chinese Religions Page 203: Answer the Following Questions 1. Are Taoism and Confucianism truly religions? Argue both sides. They are truly religions because they embody the concept of religion. Taoism cannot be classified as a religion with certain doctrines and practices but it has been converted to one with prescence of gods, temples, priests, and sacrifices. Confucianism is more of a philosophy of the Chinese people and has no sacred writings priesthood etc. but it has affected Chinese character and created cultic development. 2. Describe the Chinese...
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...fine examples of philosophical writing. Reproduced here are essay portfolios which have received the Associate Award, as well as dissertations successfully submitted for the Fellowship Award. For shorter essays by students taking the six Pathways to Philosophy programs, follow the links at Pathways to Philosophy: the six programs. All work is copyright of the original authors. No material may be transmitted or reproduced without permission. For further information, e-mail klempner@fastmail.net. Geoffrey Klempner Director of Studies [pic] Associate Award • Paul Meakin • Mary Jennings • Andrew Watson • Kenneth Head • Stuart Hopkins • Tony Bellotti • Oliver Leech • Alan Bradnam • Shirley Hughes • Terence Kuch • Fr. Seamus Mulholland • John Eberts • Gordon Kennedy • Justin Woods • Neil Munro • John Dudley • Samuel Thorpe • Jürgen Lawrenz Fellowship Award • Tony Fahey • Martin Jenkins • Peter Jones • George Brooks • Samuel Michaelides • Mike Finch • Rachel Browne • Jürgen Lawrenz back [pic] Paul Meakin: Associate Award Essay One Heidegger, Dasein and the quest for authentic Being-in-the-world Essay Two 'I am Condemned to be free': Sartre, Freedom and Bad faith Essay Three 'Hell is other people': Sartre and being-for-others Essay Four Generating a meaningful existence: A Nietzschean based...
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...The eighteenth century is best known for the being the birth of the enlightenment movement. Deemed the age of reason due to the scientific revolution that occurred, a shift from the mystic to scientific fact occurred. Despite this shift in beliefs, mysticism was still present due to the methods that were used to spread scientific discovery also allowed for the spread of mystic ideologies. According to Sir Micheal Drummett, a British philosopher, mystics objects such a Tarot cards, thrived during the eighteenth century into the early nineteenth century. Tarot cards were able to be incredibly popular during this time because of the social climate of the long eighteenth century. In order to understand why Tarot was popular during the long eighteenth century, one must look a...
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...Aldous Leonard Huxley (26 July 1894 – 22 November 1963) was an English writer and one of the most prominent members of the famous Huxley family. He spent the later part of his life in the United States, living in Los Angeles from 1937 until his death in 1963. Best known for his novels including Brave New World and wide-ranging output of essays, Huxley also published short stories, poetry, travel writing, and film stories and scripts. Aldous Huxley was a humanist and pacifist, and he was latterly interested in spiritual subjects such as parapsychology and philosophical mysticism. He is also well known for advocating and taking psychedelics. By the end of his life Huxley was considered, in some academic circles, a leader of modern thought and an intellectual of the highest rank, and highly regarded as one of the most prominent explorers of Visual communication and sight-related theories as well Biography Early years Family tree Aldous Huxley was born in Godalming, Surrey, UK in 1894. He was the third son of the writer and school-master Leonard Huxley and first wife, Julia Arnold who founded Prior's Field School. Julia was the niece of Matthew Arnold and the sister of Mrs. Humphrey Ward. Aldous was the grandson of Thomas Henry Huxley, the zoologist, agnostic and controversialist ("Darwin's Bulldog"). His brother Julian Huxley and half-brother Andrew Huxley also became outstanding biologists. Huxley had another brother Noel Trevenen (1891–1914) who committed suicide after a...
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...The Lord was in the still small voice - 1 Kings 19:12. In what other ways might we hear The Lord speaking? This overview considers the question set, possible ways to interpret it and the need to frame it within an Anglican course context that itself reflects rich, diverse practices of praising, listening to and hearing God. The title of this essay refers to Elijah’s two mountain top experiences on Carmel and Horeb that depict how God speaks in contrasting ways; through spectacular events and displays of power and through a whisper which both calms and rouses the heart. Moving quickly through the story in 1 Kings 19, we see Elijah who has stopped rain, challenge the false prophets of Baal and Asherath to reveal the true God in a fiery showdown on Mount Carmel. After he has ordered the death of the false prophets, Queen Jezebel threatens his life. Elijah, discouraged, flees into the wilderness heading for Mount Horeb (Sinai) a significant place of God’s voice and revelation to Moses, at a key moment in the history of Israel. Perhaps in journeying to Sinai, Elijah hoped for a fresh encounter and revelation of God. Unlike Moses’ experience, God does not partially unveil his countenance. Instead, Elijah hears a still small voice in his cave of refuge, with God asking him what he is doing there. We might imagine that after calling out to God and seeing him work through spectacular events that Elijah would be reassured of God’s infinite power and love. However he is human...
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...reflects current developments in politics, socioeconomics, and technology. Colorado State University defines humanities as, “The branches of learning (such as philosophy or languages) that investigate human constructs and concerns, as opposed to natural processes. The humanities, such as classical and modern languages, literature, history, and philosophy, have the overall goal of the exploration and explanation of human experience.” Art has long been a means of expressing social or political ideas. Anselm Kiefer took art and brought it to an entirely new level by using his art to bring attention to national identity and collective memory. In the process his art began evolving to include occult symbolism, theology, and mysticism. All of his work shares a common theme of the trauma experienced by entire societies and the continual rebirth and renewal in life. Music defines periods of history as well as generations. It evolves with societies/cultures and tends to give people their identity. Music has a strong connection through celebration, remembrance, expression of emotions, and ministering to others. It allows the human race to connect to their own humanity not only as individuals, but as a collective society. Music has been a way of human expression since the beginning of time. It is argued that music is not only listened to but felt throughout the soul. It evokes feelings of love, anger, contentment, and happiness. The most important...
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...Jewish Mysticism Essay #1 Reality is an illusion; the world around us is created merely by our reaction to its existence. Without the world, we would have no perception of its being, and without perception, we would have no understanding of the world. Thus, reality exists outside of our human minds, and it is how we construct, through our senses, our surroundings and the roles we play within them that determine our beliefs, behaviors, and teachings. Through this lens, it is beneficial to view a society as a map, and its peoples’ practices, standards, and conduct as their means of direction, allowing them to transport to their designated place in society and perform tasks expected of them. However, a map only represents an abstraction of reality, portraying only the necessary points, lines, and information required to fulfill its purpose, and the directions used to travel this map are products of this abstraction. Similarly, people’s perception of the society they inhabit are abstract, and entirely dependent on the eyes of the perceivers; so, the norms regarding beliefs and behavior are also products of an abstraction, and can be adjusted in response to varying contexts. This assertion has arguably held true for all of time, and can help explain the indisputable relationship between religion, culture, and society that has materialized throughout history. In particular, the development and discourse of medieval Kabbalah is attributable to the cultural context of the medieval...
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...know, I would say is method of observing natural events and conditions so that we can discover facts about them and to formulate laws based on these observations. Another way of defining science is to say that it is the philosophy that the natural world can be known through human reason and that nature is rational, ordered and regular. When things seem irrational in human eyes, the scientific answer is to say that we don’t have enough data to solve the problem. Also, science has several branches under it such as biology, physics, geology, and astronomy, to name a few. Modern science has been evolving since the foundation was laid by the first scientists ways back then. It wasn’t always highly regarded; it emerged from the darkness of mysticism, alchemy, astrology, and better yet, sorcery. Metaphysics was the first attempt to give rational explanations for natural phenomena. Overall any field was used to try to give an explanation to unanswered questions, some people agree with these “answers” and some people don’t. Ancient civilizations practiced what we now refer to as applied science and mathematics. The discoveries made during these times were sought for practical uses. Counting could’ve been the fundamental beginning of recording information. (Isenhour, 2013) Babylonians, Egyptians and other ancient civilizations practiced astronomy and engineering. Astronomy was and is still useful for the prediction of seasons and defining times for planting and harvesting. Geometry...
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...inadequate social roles, association with defective individuals, or social organization and disorganization may also pave the road to criminal activity. Some theorists say that criminal behavior derives from psychobiological factors such as human DNA or hormones; others say inappropriate behavioral conditioning or a diseased mind contributes to criminal activity. Regardless of the reasons behind crime, this is a very real issue faced on a regular basis, all over the world (Criminological Theory, 2009). For most of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, criminology was dominated by a Classical School of crime causation. Before Classical theories, deviance was explained through superstitious beliefs and mysticism. The Classical School (2009), recognized rationality and the ability to...
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...Brave New World by Aldous Huxley Brave New world is a dystopian novel written in England in 1931 and published in 1932 during the Modernism literary period. The setting of the novel is in London and New Mexico ruled under an imagined future one-world government called the World State. The World State of Brave New World is a totalitarian dystopia that uses technology to, deceive its citizens into loving their slavery. Dystopia is a society, in this case the World State, that is an imaginary society organized to create ideal conditions for human beings, eliminating hatred, pain, neglect, and all of the other evils of the world. Huxley wrote Brave New World as a dystopian novel due to the rise of technology and science in the 1930s, focusing on the totalitarianism evils (meaning centralized or dictatorial). Huxley imagined a future of a totalitarian state where there is no such thing as freedom of anything and happiness was forced through manipulation, called conditioning in the novel. When Huxley wrote Brave New World, it was just a little over a decade since World War I. During this time, totalitarian states were popping up in the Soviet Union and Fascist parties were gaining power in Europe. Also, there were advancements in science, technology, and the relationship between the two as the world became more industrialized. Aldous Huxley was born in Surrey, England, on July 26, 1894, to a well-known family of scientists, writers, and teachers deeply rooted in England’s literary...
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...Introduction Meister Eckhart (1260 - 1328) has been known as the father of German mysticism and the greatest of all mystics. Several authors reference him with the honour "the man from whom God hid nothing." He is known as a philosopher and a theologian but it was as a mystic that Meister Eckhart excelled. In his day Meister Eckhart enjoyed success as a popular preacher and churchman of high rank in his order, the Dominicans. However, Meister Eckhart was the only theologian of the medieval period to be formally charged with heresy. The shock of his trial for heresy and the condemnation of some of his work by Pope John XXII in Argo Dominco has cast a shadow over his reputation and a lingering suspicion over his orthodoxy that has lasted to this day. This research paper will focus on the intellectual and social history of Meister Eckhart. The development in thought of any theologian emerges from the life world of the theologian. [4] The life world is formed by the meeting of the cultural, social, and religious history of the day. Theologians are continually searching for new and meaningful ways to interpret religious experience. Meister Eckhart interpreted the religious experience of his day in a way that no others at the time did. I will explore in this paper some of the intellectual forces at work at the time and how he interpreted and connected with these. Secondly, it is important to understand the social history of the time. No theologians' thought is ever formed by simply...
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...criminal activities. As a part of the human development process, failed self-direction, an absence of “normal” opportunities, association with defective individuals, inadequate social roles as well as social organization and disorganization are a variety of factors which have led to individuals engaging in what is considered criminal activities. Some theorists say that criminal behavior derives from psychobiological factors such as hormones and human DNA; while others point to inappropriate behavioral conditioning as a contributing factor to criminal activity. During the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries a classical school of crime causation dominated criminology. Prior to classical theories, superstitious beliefs and mysticism explained the reasoning for deviance. The classical school recognized rationality and the ability to exercise informed choice in human social life. In other words, people make choices and most human behaviors are a result of free will. The majority of the classical theories on crime causation share basic characteristics. Both new and old theories hold that crime is caused by the combination of rational choice and an individual’s free will. Additionally the concepts of...
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