Rational Mysticism
Author: John Horgan
Publisher:
Published: 2003
Total Pages: 312
ISBN-13:
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Science, Mysticism and Psychical Research
Author: John Poynton
Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
Published: 2015-09-04
Total Pages: 205
ISBN-13: 1443881821
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →Science, mysticism, and psychical research are generally thought to be irreconcilable; this book centres on a towering synthesis achieved by the late Michael Whiteman, an Associate Professor of Applied Mathematics at the University of Cape Town. It is revolutionary; Whiteman was able to meld mathematical physics and general science with psychical research and Indian and Western mystical texts, clarified by a life-time of psychical and mystical experience, and coupled with an extensive knowledge of philosophy and psychology. Part One is about the experience of states, spaces, and worlds other than physical. It provides essential groundwork for understanding the psychical and mystical. Whiteman’s own experience is combined with evidence ranging from quantum mechanics to the Upanishads. Part Two centres on two murder cases that Whiteman studied, as an entry to the concept of the corporate structure of personality, and the workings of the mind in personal development. Part Three covers his analysis of ancient texts based on his understanding as a mystic. His interpretations differ radically from standard treatments. Part Four investigates his exploration of non-physical existence. Part Five considers the mystical life, including Whiteman’s own, and how it relates to physical laws. The book concludes with a brief biography.
Practical Mystic
Author: Matthew Stanley
Publisher:
Published: 2007
Total Pages: 342
ISBN-13:
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →Science and religion have long been thought incompatible. But nowhere has this apparent contradiction been more fully resolved than in the figure of A. S. Eddington (1882-1944), a pioneer in astrophysics, relativity, and the popularization of science, and a devout Quaker. Practical Mystic uses the figure of Eddington to shows how religious and scientific values can interact and overlap without compromising the integrity of either. Eddington was a world-class scientist who not only maintained his religious belief throughout his scientific career but also defended the interrelation of science and religion while drawing inspiration from both for his practices. For instance, at a time when a strict adherence to deductive principles of physics had proved fruitless for understanding the nature of stars, insights from Quaker mysticism led Eddington to argue that an outlook less concerned with certainty and more concerned with further exploration was necessary to overcome the obstacles of incomplete and uncertain knowledge. By examining this intersection between liberal religion and astrophysics, Practical Mystic questions many common assumptions about the relationship between science and spirituality. Matthew Stanley's analysis of Eddington's personal convictions also reveals much about the practice, production, and dissemination of scientific knowledge at the beginning of the twentieth century.
Scientific Mysticism
Ways of Knowing
Author: Chris Clarke
Publisher: Andrews UK Limited
Published: 2013-09-18
Total Pages: 335
ISBN-13: 1845406842
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →The world faces a crisis of meaning. The old stories - whether the exclusive claims of rival religions or the grand schemes of perennial philosophy - seem bankrupt to many. The editorial stance of this book is that mysticism and science offer a way forward here, but only if they abandon the idol of a single logical synthesis and acknowledge the diversity of different ways of knowing. The contributors, from disciplines as diverse as music, psychology, mathematics and religion, build a vision that honours diversity while pointing to an implicit unity.
Mutants and Mystics
Author: Jeffrey J. Kripal
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Published: 2011-11-15
Total Pages: 392
ISBN-13: 0226453839
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →"Account of how comic book heroes have helped their creators and fans alike explore and express a wealth of paranormal experiences ignored by mainstream science. Delving deeply into the work of major figures in the field - from Jack Kirby's cosmic superhero sagas and Philip K. Dick's futuristic head-trips to Alan Moore's sex magic and Whitley Strieber's communion with visitors - Kripal shows how creators turned to science fiction to convey the reality of the inexplicable and the paranormal they experienced in their lives. Expanded consciousness found its language in the metaphors of sci-fi - incredible powers, unprecedented mutations, time-loops and vast intergalactic intelligences - and the deeper influences of mythology and religion that these in turn drew from ; the wildly creative work that followed caught the imaginations of millions. Moving deftly from Cold War science and Fredric Wertham's anticomics crusade to gnostic revelation and alien abduction, Kripal spins out a hidden history of American culture, rich with mythical themes and shot through with an awareness that there are other realities far beyond our everyday understanding."--Jacket.
Science, Sense and Soul
Author: Casey Blood
Publisher: Renaissance Books
Published: 2002-01-12
Total Pages: 288
ISBN-13: 9781580632195
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →In a world of political and social turmoil, can science tell us anything helpful? Can we make practical use of mysticism-the essence of religion-with its promise of a higher spiritual truth? Is it true that physics and biological science are incompatible with religion? Or can they be fruitfully reconciled? In this groundbreaking work, Dr. Casey Blood shows how quantum physics does indeed explain the true nature of the physical universe. He tells us how neuroscientists can provide an understanding of the way the brain makes sense of our inner and outer worlds. He also shows that neuroscience, in conjunction with a basic knowledge of mysticism, can clarify how and why meditation techniques and other mystical practices work. Most satisfying of all, he paints a world picture in which quantum physics is no only compatible with mysticism but also gives us a deeper understanding of spiritual matters. For Dr. Blood, three diverse disciplines-quantum physics, neuroscience, and mysticism-rather than being in conflict, give a unified picture of human existence. Together they show that the spiritual world has an immense effect on what happens here and now. And they suggest that spiritual practices can enable society to match human aspirations. Though the subjects are profound, Science, Sense & Soul is written in a clear, uncomplicated, readable style. The three sections on physics, neuroscience, and mysticism are mini-courses in the basics of those fields of inquiry. These three strands are then interwoven into an intricate design that illuminates the structure of and reason for human existence.
An Introduction to the Study of Mysticism
Author: Richard H. Jones
Publisher: State University of New York Press
Published: 2021-12-01
Total Pages: 398
ISBN-13: 1438486340
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →2022 CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title The purpose of this book is to fill a gap in contemporary mystical studies: an overview of the basic ways to approach mystical experiences and mysticism. It discusses the problem of definitions of “mystical experiences” and “mysticism” and advances characterizations of “mystical experiences” in terms of certain altered states of consciousness and “mysticism” in terms of encompassing ways of life centered on such experiences and states. Types of mystical experiences, enlightened states, paths, and doctrines are discussed, as is the relation of mystical experiences and mysticism to religions and cultures. The approaches of constructivism, contextualism, essentialism, and perennialism are presented. Themes in the history of the world’s major mystical traditions are set forth. Approaches to mystical phenomena in sociology, psychology, gender studies, and neuroscience are introduced. Basic philosophical issues related to whether mystical experiences are veridical and mystical claims valid, mystics’ problems of language, art, and morality are laid out. Older and newer comparative approaches in religious studies and in Christian theology are discussed, along with postmodernist objections. The intended audience is undergraduates and the general public interested in the general issues related to mysticism.
Platonic Mysticism
Author: Arthur Versluis
Publisher: SUNY Press
Published: 2017-08-16
Total Pages: 174
ISBN-13: 1438466331
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →Restores the Platonic history and context of mysticism and shows how it helps us understand more deeply the humanities as a whole, from philosophy and literature to art. In Platonic Mysticism, Arthur Versluisclearly and tautly argues that mysticism must be properly understood as belonging to the great tradition of Platonism. He demonstrates how mysticism was historically understood in Western philosophical and religious traditions and emphatically rejects externalist approaches to esoteric religion. Instead he develops a new theoretical-critical model for understanding mystical literature and the humanities as a whole, from philosophy and literature to art. A sequel to his Restoring Paradise, this is an audacious book that places Platonic mysticism in the context of contemporary cognitive and other approaches to the study of religion, and presents an emerging model for the new field of contemplative science. An important work on the mystical experience delving deep into its history, particularly from the Platonic perspective. An essential text for anyone interested in mysticism and its relationship to philosophy and creative expression. Andrew Newberg, author of How Enlightenment Changes Your Brain: The New Science of Transformation The present work, the latest from the pen of Arthur Versluis, provides a trenchant, learned, and illuminating analysis of the origins of Western mysticism in the Platonist tradition, relayed through such figures as Plotinus and Dionysius the Areopagite, down through Meister Eckhart and others, while suitably excoriating the attempts of certain modern philosophers and sociologists of religion to deconstruct it from a materialist perspective. I found it a rattling good read! John Dillon, author of The Heirs of Plato: A Study of the Old Academy (347274 BC)
Time and Memory
Author: Stephen Earle Robbins
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
Published: 2012-04-09
Total Pages: 0
ISBN-13: 9781468137491
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →A dark cloud hanging over all spiritual thought today is the view that findings in modern science prove that all spiritual experience is simply "generated" by the brain. This view is only a natural reflection of the concept that all consciousness, to include our visual experience of the external world, is equally simply so "brain-generated." This book challenges the roots of this view in current conceptions in cognitive science, neuroscience, neural network theory and artificial intelligence, robotics, consciousness theory, evolutionary theory and physics. In consciousness theory, this is the yet unresolved "hard problem" and basic misconceptions inherent in the classical model of space and time in which this problem rests. In cognitive science and artificial intelligence, this is the problem of accounting for the fundamental cognitive operation of analogy and the highly related, yet nearly abandoned problem of "commonsense knowledge" with its hitherto unrealized impact on the theory of evolution. In physics, this is a deeply flawed interpretation of relativity and its concepts of time. An alternative model of mind is described here based in the prescient theory - already holographic, but never penetrated or understood by past or current philosophy - developed by the great French philosopher, Henri Bergson in 1896. Far from being a computer, the brain is seen as a radically different "device" residing in a non-classical, non-relativistic model of time. Within this framework is a profound model of the origin of the image of the external world, and required for this, the relation of subject and object is seen not in terms of space, but of time. Inherent too is an entirely new model of the operations of memory retrieval based in this holographic model and rooted in the findings of ecological psychology, but where experience is not (and cannot be) stored in the brain. The discussion is intended as a concrete, useable theoretical point of entry for the hitherto missing role of consciousness in (computer) models of cognition, and for fundamental questions in perception, the operation of memory and the nature of analogical thought discussed and researched by the academic world today. Simultaneously, this view contains a natural, scientific mysticism which supports the deep insights of the mystics.
