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An Empirical Study of Religious Mysticism

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

Basil Douglas-Smith
Basil Douglas-Smith*
Affiliation:
Halifax House, Oxford
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Extract

Religions mysticism (hereinafter referred to as R.M.) is defined as (alleged) direct experience of ultimate reality seen as personal or hyper-personal. It may take any one of three forms: nature mysticism, theistic mysticism, and monist mysticism. In nature mysticism, the percipient feels the whole of Nature, including man, to be pervaded and directed by Mind (the capital letters are used deliberately). Wordsworth's Prelude and Tintern Abbey provide classical examples. In theistic mysticism, the percipient feels himself to be aware of the God of religion in a purely spiritual manner, which in respect of its immediacy is felt to be analogous to sensory perception. Thomas Aquinas, in fact, defines this kind of experience as ‘direct awareness of God, analogous to sensory perception.’ In monist mysticism, the percipient feels himself to be the One-and-Only Mind. The Yogi mystic, Swami Vivekananda, provides the classical example of this latter type of experience, proclaiming ‘I am the Blissful One’.

Type
Research Article
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 118 , Issue 546 , May 1971 , pp. 549 - 554
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1971 

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