mysticism

Religion And Science By Bertrand Russell

Religion And Science By Bertrand Russell

Religion And Science By Bertrand Russell This article covers the full text of the book called: Religion And Science By Bertrand Russell. Chapter I: Grounds of Conflict Religion and Science are two aspects of social life, of which the former has been important as far back as we know anything...

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What Is Eschatology?

What Is Eschatology? Eschatology (from the Greek έσχατος, “last, ultimate, end” and logy, teaching), simply translated as “discourse about the last things,” generally reflects the quest for an ultimate human purpose on the individual and the cosmic levels. The driving force of seeking answers to such a twofold human purpose is confirmed by the two...

According to spiritual and psychedelic circles, ego death is an experience under an altered state of consciousness where the ego dissolves expands into the universe. In Jungian psychology ego death refers to the transformation of the psyche. EGO DEATH VALLEY - Parker Thibault - 7.21.19

Ego Death

Ego Death Ego death is a “complete loss of subjective self-identity”. The term is used in various intertwined contexts, with related meanings. In Jungian psychology, the synonymous term psychic death is used, which refers to a fundamental transformation of the psyche. In death and rebirth mythology, ego death is a phase of self-surrender...

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Contemplation Quotes

Contemplation Quotes We have collected and put the best contemplation quotes. Enjoy reading these insights and feel free to share this page on your social media to inspire others. Whilst in the life of the intellect ‘contemplation‘ refers to thinking profoundly about something, in the religious life contemplation is a kind of...

Spirituality

Outline Of Spirituality

Outline Of Spirituality This main article is about the outline of spirituality. Spirituality may refer to an ultimate or an alleged immaterial reality, an inner path enabling a person to discover the essence of his/her being, or the “deepest values and meanings by which people live.” Spiritual practices, including yoga, fasting, meditation, prayer...

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God Gene

God Gene The God gene hypothesis proposes that human spirituality is influenced by heredity and that a specific gene, called vesicular monoamine transporter 2 (VMAT2), predisposes humans towards spiritual or mystic experiences. The idea has been proposed by geneticist Dean Hamer in the 2004 book called The God Gene: How Faith is Hardwired into our Genes. The God gene hypothesis is based...

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Scholarly Approaches To Mysticism

Scholarly Approaches To Mysticism Scholarly approaches to mysticism include typologies of mysticism and the explanation of mystical states. Since the 19th century, mystical experience has evolved as a distinctive concept. It is closely related to “mysticism” but lays sole emphasis on the experiential aspect, be it spontaneous or induced by human...

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Esoteric Christianity

Esoteric Christianity Esoteric Christianity (linked with the Hermetic Corpus since the Renaissance) is an ensemble of Christian theology which proposes that some spiritual doctrines of Christianity can only be understood by those who have undergone certain rites (such as baptism) within the religion. In mainstream Christianity, there is a similar idea that faith is...

Filippo Lippi, Vision of St. Augustine, c. 1465, tempera, Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg

Apophatic Theology

Apophatic Theology Apophatic theology, also known as negative theology, is a form of theological thinking and religious practice which attempts to approach God, the Divine, by negation, to speak only in terms of what may not be said about the perfect goodness that is God. It forms a pair together with cataphatic theology, which...

Kabbalistic Tree of Life with correspondences, by Shane Red Moon

Hermetic Qabalah

Hermetic Qabalah Hermetic Qabalah (קַבָּלָה (qabalah), meaning ‘reception, accounting’) is a Western esoteric tradition involving mysticism and the occult. It is the underlying philosophy and framework for magical societies such as the Golden Dawn, Thelemic orders, mystical-religious societies such as the Builders of the Adytum and the Fellowship of the Rosy...

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Contemplation

Contemplation Whilst in the life of the intellect ‘contemplation‘ refers to thinking profoundly about something, in the religious life contemplation is a kind of inner vision or seeing, transcendent of the intellect, facilitated by means of practices such as prayer or meditation. Definition The word contemplation basically means ‘to think about an action before you...

Illustration from 1913 showing Pythagoras teaching a class of women.

Pythagoras

Who is Pythagoras? Pythagoras of Samos (c. 570 – c. 495 BC) was an ancient Ionian Greek philosopher and the eponymous founder of Pythagoreanism. His political and religious teachings were well known in Magna Graecia and influenced the philosophies of Plato, Aristotle, and, through them, Western philosophy. Knowledge of his life is...

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Asceticism In Judaism

Asceticism In Judaism This article covers asceticism in Judaism. Asceticism is a term derived from the Greek verb ἀσκέω, meaning “to practise strenuously,” “to exercise.” Athletes were therefore said to go through ascetic training, and to be ascetics. Rigorous abstention from any form of self-indulgence which is based on the belief that renunciation of the...

Reconstruction of a food offering after a Viking Age blót

Old Norse Religion

Old Norse Religion Old Norse religion is the most common name for a branch of Germanic religion which developed during the Proto-Norse period, when the North Germanic peoples separated into a distinct branch of the Germanic peoples. It was displaced by Christianity during the Christianization of Scandinavia. Scholars reconstruct aspects...

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Jewish Mysticism

What Is Jewish Mysticism? Academic study of Jewish mysticism, especially since Gershom Scholem‘s Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism (1941), distinguishes between different forms of mysticism across different eras of Jewish history. Of these, Kabbalah, which emerged in 12th-century Europe, is the most well known, but not the only typologic form, or the...

Books

Poetry And Wisdom

Poetry And Wisdom It has been said that the proper language of wisdom is poetry. We realize this when we read the classic texts of the world’s great sapiential traditions. The literature of antiquity, indeed, when not merely factual or legislative, lives most often within an aura which is at...

Zohar

Zohar

What Is Zohar? The Zohar (זֹהַר, “Splendor” or “Radiance”) is the foundational work in the literature of Jewish mystical thought known as Kabbalah. It is a group of books including commentary on the mystical aspects of The Torah (the five books of Moses) and scriptural interpretations as well as material on...

Mystic Forest

Mysticism

Mysticism Mysticism is the practice of religious ecstasies (religious experiences during alternate states of consciousness), together with whatever ideologies, ethics, rites, myths, legends, and magic may be related to them. It may also refer to the attainment of insight in ultimate or hidden truths, and to human transformation supported by various practices and experiences....

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Jewish Renewal

Jewish Renewal Jewish Renewal (התחדשות יהודית‎, hitḥadeshut yehudit) is a recent movement in Judaism which endeavors to reinvigorate modern Judaism with Kabbalistic, Hasidic, and musical practices. Specifically, it seeks to reintroduce the “ancient Judaic traditions of mysticism and meditation, gender equality and ecstatic prayer” to synagogue services. It is distinct from the baal teshuva...

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Eschatology

Eschatology? Eschatology is a part of theology concerned with the final events of history or the ultimate destiny of humanity. This concept is commonly referred to as the “end of the world” or “end times“. The word arises from the Greek ἔσχατος eschatos meaning “last” and -logy meaning “the study of”, and first appeared in English around 1844. The Oxford...