Mysticism in Shaivism and Christianity
Contents: Introduction/Bettina Baumer. I. The approach: 1. The occasion. 2. The notions. 3. Three anthropologies. II. The Utterances: 1. Abba, Pater. 2. I and the father are one. 3. I should go. III. Christ's mysticism: 1. Eva me suttam. 2. Itipasyami. 3. Satpurusa. 1. Divine recognition: Pratyabhijna/H.N. Chakravarty. 2. On letting God be God : Meister Eckhart and the lure of the desert/Sr. Brigitte. 3. The divine way: Sambhavopaya in Kashmir Saivism/B.N. Pandit. 4. Unknowing and personalism in the theological tradition of Christian east/Serge Descy. 5. Saktipata : Grace in Kashmir Saivism/Jankinath Kaul. 6. Hadewijch of Antwerp and Hadewijch II: mysticism of being in the thirteenth century in Belgium/O. Baumer Despeigne. 7. Enclosed in God: the joyful surprise of one-ing. The experience of Julian of Norwich/C. Murray Rogers. 8. The active mysticism of St Ignatius Loyola/G. Gispert Sauch. 9. Aesthetics of mysticism or mysticism of aesthetics? The approach of Kashmir Saivism/Bettina Baumer. Appendices: 1. Bibliography R. Panikkar. 2. Abbreviations and bibliography Kashmir Saivism. 3. About the contributors.
"If mysticism is hard to define, what is it then? Or, why have mystics often spoken about what they have realized--notwithstanding the 'unspeakability' of a spiritual experience? And, yet more significantly, how can a meeting point of different religious traditions be discovered at the mystical level? Focussing on these and other related questions, eminent scholars from varying religious traditions here explore the nature of mystical experience in two of the world's major traditions: Hinduism and Christianity.
Neither a comparative study of religious traditions, nor an attempt to develop an overall mystical theology, the book sets out a spiritual; dialogue between Saiva and Christian mysticism: a dialogue wherein the participants articulate world-views of the mystical traditions of Saiva Siddhanta, Kashmir Saivism, Meister Eckhart, Hadewijch, Julian of Norwich, St. Ignatius Loyola, and of the Eastern Christianity. And, without taking any a priori intellectual position, each author here evolves his/her own tradition-specific perspective on mysticism--letting the comparisons, if any, to surface in the dialogue itself.
A spiritual dialogue, like the one this work embodies, holds a key to an insightful understanding between different people, cultures and faiths--more specially in today's world riven, as it is, by fundamentalist forces and endless religious conflicts.
The book will be a valuable acquisition for scholars and spiritually interested readers alike." (jacket)
