Mysticism Essay

Apophatic Spirituality Uncovered!! I would like to share with you a spiritual tradition that I had not been aware of before, Apophatic Spirituality, also known as Negative Theology. A word of warning, it’s said to be a bit like marmite, you either love it or hate it, I was fascinated by it. I hope you find something new and of interest in this spiritual tradition too. Why chose it? Partly, because it was new to me and partly, because it reminded me of a conversation I recently had with a friend

In 1637, Anne Hutchinson stood trial before the General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. During her examination, she confessed that she had experienced an “immediate revelation” from God. She described hearing “the voice of his own spirit to my soul.” After discussion with authorities, John Winthrop concluded that “…this is the thing that hath been the root of all the mischief.” She was found guilty and banished from the colony. In 1775, Freeborn Garrettson had a similar mystical experience

The world is a place that is ever changing, yet somehow it always stays the same. There is a saying, the more things change, the more they stay the same. Another goes like this: history has a way of repeating itself. So does that mean that people can’t learn from the mistakes of the past? Certainly not. There are brilliant minds in this world that can visualize in what ways events have gone wrong in history. They are able to learn the faults and strengths of other, older civilizations, and build

In this dimension, the mystical state is not easily achieved. Furthermore, when it is achieved, it is through ways which are used purposely, such as drugs. In the story “The Willows,” however, the mystical state is achieved without purpose and without a want. This story provides many moments in which the characters experience the mystical state. In the story, “The Willows,” the narrator experiences a sighting of huge un-human figures which results in awe and worship from the narrator. Also in the

A conversion is a religious experience that changes a persons beliefs from one religion to another, there are three types of conversion with characteristics varying among them. Mystical experience however is a more extreme form of experience, which is not just seeing hearing or feeling someone but a deeper union with god. Non-volitional is a non voluntary conversion which is forced on someone. This usually means that the person is hostile to the belief they later come to hold, as it is forced

The Themes of Siddhartha         There are two themes developed in Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse.  One theme is that people can teach religious doctrine, but it may not lead one to find one's true inner "self".  The other theme is that knowledge can be taught, but wisdom comes from experience.  The main character, Siddhartha, came to these understandings during his glorious journey to find spiritual enlightenment.         In order to find his "self", Siddhartha

In William Butler Yeats poem “Leda and the Swan”, he uses the fourteen lines of the traditional sonnet form in a radical, modernist style. He calls up a series of unforgettable, bizarre images of an immediate physical event using abstract descriptions in brief language. Through structure and language Yeats is able to paint a powerful sexual image to his readers without directly giving the meaning of the poem. “Leda and the Swan” is a violent, sexually explicit poem with its plain diction, rhythmic

The Truth of Love Revealed in Adam’s Curse      “Adam’s Curse” is a poem by William Butler Yeats that was written at a time when his first true love, Maud Gonne, had married Major John MacBride.  This may have caused Yeats much pain and Yeats may have felt as cursed as Adam felt when God had punished man from the Garden of Eden.  This poem, in fact, symbolizes his pain and loss of love that he once had and is a recollection of his memories during happier times with Maud.      In the beginning

“Adam’s Curse”
William Butler Yeats 
 William Yeats’ “Adam’s Curse” is a poem that addresses a profound truth of time. Any human accomplishment such as poetry, music, or physical beauty requires much labor and is appreciated by few. He says this through an emotional recollection of a conversation between himself, his lover and her friend. I believe the meaning of the work lays waiting like a net, waiting to catch the reader at surface level. The poem is simplistic in nature, which is quite atypical

Sevval Aydin Religious Community and American Individualism (from Habits of the Heart: Religion in American Life) Authors Robert N. Bellah, Richard Madsen, William M. Sullivan, Ann Swidler and Steven M. Tipton include in their book Habits of the Heart, a chapter specifically about the American individualism within the context of religious communities. In their book the main issue they are approaching is the radical individualism that is present among the American society. In this particular