Theo Monistic Mysticism

In response to some of the current explanations of mystic phenomena, this book proposes an interpretive framework for understanding mysticism. It clarifies various kinds of mystical experiences, suggesting they are not wholly determined by subjective categories of interpretation, and illustrates how they can be synthesised in a theistic, mystic teleology. In reference to Ramanuja, Aurobinodo, Sankara, Eckhart, Ruusbroec, and Boehme, monistic experiences are understood to culminate in higher theistic realizations, to which other kinds of mysticism can also be related.

In response to some of the current explanations of mystic phenomena, this book proposes an interpretive framework for understanding mysticism. It clarifies various kinds of mystical experiences, suggesting they are not wholly determined by subjective categories of interpretation, and illustrates how they can be synthesized in a theistic, mystic teleology. In reference to Ramanuja, Aurobinodo, Sankara, Eckhart, Ruusbroec and Boehme, monistic experiences are understood to culminate in higher theistic realizations, to which other kinds of mysticism can also be related.

Sri Ramakrishna is widely known as a nineteenth-century Indian mystic who affirmed the harmony of all religions on the basis of his richly varied spiritual experiences and eclectic religious practices, both Hindu and non-Hindu. In Infinite Paths to Infinite Reality, Ayon Maharaj argues that Sri Ramakrishna was also a sophisticated philosopher of great contemporary relevance. Through a careful study of Sri Ramakrishna's recorded oral teachings in the original Bengali, Maharaj reconstructs his philosophical positions and analyzes them from a cross-cultural perspective. Sri Ramakrishna's spiritual journey culminated in the exalted state of "vijñana," his term for the "intimate knowledge" of God as the Infinite Reality that is both personal and impersonal, with and without form, immanent in the universe and beyond it. This expansive spiritual standpoint of vijñana, Maharaj contends, opens up a new paradigm for addressing central issues in cross-cultural philosophy of religion, including divine infinitude, religious pluralism, mystical experience, and the problem of evil. Sri Ramakrishna's vijñana-based religious pluralism--when grasped in all its subtlety--proves to have major philosophical advantages over dominant Western models. Moreover, his mystical testimony and teachings not only cut across long-standing debates about the nature of mystical experience but also bolster recent defenses of its epistemic value. Maharaj further demonstrates that Sri Ramakrishna's unique response to the problem of evil resonates strongly with Western "soul-making" theodicies and contemporary theories of skeptical theism. A pioneering interdisciplinary study of one of India's most important philosopher-mystics, Maharaj's book is essential reading for scholars and students in philosophy of religion, theology, religious studies, and Hindu studies.

A model of interreligious theology that seeks to reconcile the ideal of religious tolerance with an acknowledgement of the extent to which religious communities construct identity on the basis of religious differences.

The book supports an ecumenical theory of mysticism through a comparative analysis of Tibetan Dzogchen and German mysticism. Using a systems model of consciousness as an interpretive framework, it shows how the distinct doctrines and practices of these two traditions function in parallal, equally transformative ways.

Significant twentieth-century thinkers offer views of Neoplatonism as having relevance to contemporary life and thought. Specifically discussed is how Neoplatonism relates to contemporary social theory, contemporary aesthetics, and contemporary spirituality, including discussions on ecology, environmental ethics, animal rights, transpersonal psychology, mysticism, and the philosophy of Derrida and Foucault. Contributors include Aphrodite Alexandrakis, John Anton, A. H. Armstrong, Werner Beierwaltes, Robert Berchman, Oleg Bychkov, Roman T. Ciapalo, John N. Findlay, L. E. Goodman, Paulos Mar Gregorios, R. Baine Harris, Robert Meredith Helms, Michael Hornum, Daniel Kealey, Alicia Kuczynska, David R. Lea, John Mayer, Parvis Morewedge, Robert Cummings Neville, Eric D. Perl, Leo Sweeney, S.J., Laura Westra, and Charles G. Woods.

In Reclaiming Theodicy , Michael Stoeber explores various themes of theodicy - theology that defends God in the face of evil - by creatively developing a distinction between transformative and destructive suffering. Emphasising the importance of human compassion and illustrating various spiritual experiences of God that are healing, the book proposes a narrative of life within which one might understand suffering in relation to a personal God of ultimate power and love, and suggests basic principles toward developing a politics of compassion.