Advaita Vedanta, 16, 23, 30, 35, 47, 51, 75, 80, 93, 101, 109, 124, 178, 179, 180, 182–83, 190, 191, 193, 197, 227, 275–76, 279, 293, 301–2, 302, 305–6, 339, 350, 351, 358–59, 366, 368, 369–70. See also Shankara
Alston, William, 85–88, 107–9, 200, 373
altered state of consciousness, 4, 10, 12, 45, 74, 129, 134, 264, 360, 379
Angel, Leonard, 142
antinomians, 105, 297, 298, 300, 310, 313, 316–17, 319, 327, 383, 384
Aquinas, Thomas, 196, 229, 354, 372
Aristotle, 234–35, 236, 254, 266, 375
Aryadeva, 100
asceticism, 3, 50, 153, 341, 349
Aurobindo Ghose, 10, 80, 180, 191, 274
Ayer, A. J., 143
Bagger, Matthew, 365
Baha’i, 357
Bahva, 218
Barbour, Ian, 382
Basho, 318
basic beliefs. See properly basic beliefs
Batchelor, Stephen, 351
Beauregard, Mario, 128, 149, 363, 364
beingness, 17, 19, 28, 34, 176–80, 184, 185, 196–98, 242, 263–69, 279–80, 284, 337, 340, 341–43, 363, 367, 380–81
Bergson, Henri, 189
Bernard of Clairvaux, 2, 195, 300
“beyond good and evil,” 315–18
Bhagavad-gita, 65, 294, 307, 311, 316, 318, 382
Bharati, Agehananda, 26, 198, 296, 386
Bhavaviveka, 374
Blake, William, 13
Blumenberg, Hans, 335
Boehme, Jacob, 366
Bohm, David, 278
Bowker, John, 44
Brahma-sutras, 65
Brentano, Franz, 54
Brereton, Joel, 383
Bucke, Richard, 13, 179–80, 319
Buckley, Michael, 335
Buddhaghosa, 41
Buddhism, 9, 10, 13, 15, 18, 19, 28–29, 34–35, 38, 41, 47, 49, 50, 52, 75, 80–81, 92, 100, 102, 123–24, 172, 178–79, 189, 190, 192, 193, 197, 199, 205, 211, 213–14, 218, 219, 226, 234, 236, 237, 240–41, 243–47, 259, 272–73, 275, 280, 281–82, 293, 297–98, 300, 302–3, 304, 310–11, 312, 314, 335, 348, 349, 351, 356, 357, 366–67, 371, 374, 376, 382, 386. See also Zen
Burrell, David, 200
Calvin, John, 112
Camus, Albert, 350
certainty, mystical, 75, 77, 95–96, 117, 199, 332, 380
Chesterton, G. K., 50
Chomsky, Noam, xi
Christianity, xv, 1–2, 4, 8–10, 20, 27–28, 35, 43, 48–49, 50, 75, 90, 104, 173, 180, 181, 192, 195–96, 199, 229, 230, 248, 293, 299–300, 304, 305, 335, 369, 384, 385
comparison of mystical experiences, 34–36, 88–92, 92, 97, 98–99, 99–103, 103–6, 117–19
conceptualizations, 8, 13, 14, 18–19, 46–49, 53, 54, 60, 61, 62, 98, 145–46, 168, 172, 204, 224, 228, 231, 251, 262, 277, 348, 353, 371; degrees of ramification, 46, 94
consciousness, 13, 21, 22, 24, 40–41, 54, 67–68, 74, 125–27, 131–33, 139, 140, 183, 185, 188–91, 274, 279, 330, 333, 368, 369
constructivism, 52–58, 60–61, 65–69, 354
Copernicus, Nicolas, 67, 95, 99
credulity, principle of, 82–85, 107, 355
Creel, Herrlee, 321
Cusa, Nicholas of, 378
Dalai Lama (Tenzin Gyatso), 18, 57, 121, 124, 190, 191, 272, 275, 380, 383
Danto, Arthur, 210, 301, 303–4
Daodejing, 198, 203, 341, 349, 382, 385
Daoism, 13, 23, 29, 180, 192, 197, 237, 276–77, 282, 294, 309, 316, 320–21, 325, 377. See also Laozi and Zhuangzi
d’Aquili, Eugene, 147, 150, 361, 364–65
Dasgupta, S. N., 305
Dass, Ram, 322
Davidson, Donald, xi
Decision-making, mystical, 323–27
Dennett, Daniel, 189, 192, 302
Derrida, Jacques, 42
Descartes, René, 191
Dharmakirti, 246
Diamond-Cutter Sutra, 240–41, 243, 246
Dionysius the Areopagite. See Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite
Dominicans, 9
Dostoyevsky, Fyodor, 136
Dreyfus, Hubert and Stuart, 324–25
drugs, 44, 77, 134–36, 147, 149, 152–53, 157–58, 168, 344, 347, 360–61, 381, 383
Durkheim, Émile, 138
Eckhart, Meister, 8–9, 21–22, 23, 35, 43, 47, 50, 64–65, 94, 172, 174, 180, 181, 195, 196, 203, 207, 218, 221, 224, 226, 228, 242–43, 259, 294, 315–16, 322, 323, 340, 348, 366, 367, 371, 372, 373, 377, 384
Edgerton, Franklin, 306
emanation, 180, 183, 185, 193, 196, 269, 282, 357, 368, 369
Emerson, Ralph Waldo, 376–77, 384
emotions and mystical experiences, ix, xv, xvi, 4, 5, 6, 10, 22, 28, 29, 39, 44, 45, 54, 64, 73, 84, 88, 105, 110, 118, 137, 139, 150, 197, 205, 274, 291, 300, 303–5, 315, 316, 323, 325, 328, 341, 349, 365, 368, 371; sense of joy, 6, 28, 29, 94, 105, 136, 167, 184, 203, 323, 330, 333, 350
enlightenment, mystical, 6, 7, 9, 11–12, 25–31, 42, 56, 105, 124, 125, 182–83, 192, 197, 206, 211, 213–14, 276, 291–93, 296, 298–99, 304, 305, 306–7, 312–14, 315–18, 320, 322, 323–27, 330, 350, 351, 359–60
Eno, Robert, 320
Escher, M. C., 216
ethics, 313. See morality
experience and knowledge, 39–41
Fenwick, Peter, 363
Fishacre, Richard, 369
Forgie, William, 351
Forman, Robert, 25–26, 60, 194
Franks Davis, Caroline, 89
Free Spirits, 319
Gadamer, Hans-Georg, 209
Gandhi, Mohandas, 275, 291, 385
Garner, Richard, 384
Gaudapada, 368
Geertz, Clifford, xvi
al-Ghazali, Abu Hamid Mohammed, 382
Gimello, Robert, 56
Gnosticism, 50
Goodman, Nelson, 352
Greeley, Andrew, 347
Grof, Stanislav, 149
Grosso, Michael, 150
Grünbaum, Adolph, 269
Haldane, John, 249
Hepburn, Ronald, 240
Hick, John, 55, 87, 101, 105, 353, 363–64
Hinduism, ix, 21, 32, 35, 49, 50, 75, 180, 234, 235–36, 282, 306, 311, 257, 357, 367–68, 375, 378, 383
Houston, Jean, 134
Hume, David, 83, 176, 189, 207, 210, 224, 302
Ibn Arabi, Muhyiuddin, 186
illusion, 16, 19, 34, 139, 171–72, 175, 176, 178, 179–80, 182–83, 208, 224, 275–76, 278, 279, 302, 325, 339, 342, 351, 356, 358
ineffability, 93, 203, 204–8, 319, 370
insight, 10, 13, 26, 27, 28–29, 34–36, 37, 39, 42, 60, 63, 70, 72–73, 74, 82, 88, 93–94, 121, 122, 124–25, 131, 142, 150, 153–54, 156–57, 159, 162, 166–67, 169–70, 206, 239, 351, 371
interpretations, 46–47, 62–63, 75, 76, 89–90, 93–95, 97, 340, 363, 364–65
intuitions, 39, 119, 170, 324, 325, 359
Islam, 58, 75, 186, 192, 196, 229, 230, 236, 335, 357, 373, 382. See also Sufism
Jaimimi, 211
Jainism, 105, 193, 293, 309, 313, 375
James, William, xiv, 2, 6, 10, 75, 78, 104, 106, 110, 134, 136, 150, 153, 169, 173, 189, 353
Jinpa, Thupten, 380
John of the Cross, 4, 9, 20, 23, 42 48, 195, 237–38, 240, 294, 376
Johnson, Samuel, 359
Johnston, William, 334
Josephson, Brian, 261
Judaism, 50, 63, 64, 65, 75, 100, 104, 186, 192, 196, 230, 304, 322, 335, 370, 384. See also Kabbala
judgments by nonmystics, 72–74, 110–11
Jung, Carl, 138
Kabbala, 65, 186, 187, 192, 347, 348
Kantian philosophy, 54, 59, 86, 101, 102, 175, 187, 189, 350, 372
Katz, Steven, 53, 55, 65, 69, 294, 353, 371
Kekelé, Friedrich August, 273–74
Kelly, Edward, 150
King, Sallie, 66
koan, 249
Krishnamurti, Jiddu, 18, 62, 172, 326, 336
language, 203–31, 250–52, 370, 372; mirror theory, 208–17
Laozi, 187, 203, 212, 218, 240, 321, 323–24
Letter of Private Counsel, 9, 78
Lewis, I. M., 138
Lilly, John, 136
Locke, John, 250
Lonegran, Bernard, 57
Lotus Sutra, 350
love mysticism, 20, 21, 238, 299
Luther, Martin, 50
Mackie, John, 384
Manson, Charles, 297
Marshall, Paul, 14
Maslow, Abraham, 144
Masters, Robert, 134
McGinn, Bernard, 57
McIntosh, Mark, 43
McKenna, Terrence, 134
McNamara, Patrick, 361
McTaggart, John, 175
meaningfulness of the world, 184
meditation, 4, 5, 10–11, 18, 19, 32, 38, 56, 121, 123–25, 126, 133, 137–38, 142, 148, 151–52, 271, 274, 347, 349, 353, 360, 363, 364, 383; scientific study of, 137
Merton, Thomas, 64, 93, 100, 335
metaphysics, mystical, 33–34, 173–201, 281–83
methodological issues, xii–xvi
mindfulness, 14–19, 155–56, 349
Mohammed, 186
Moists, 374
morality, nature of, 289–91; compatibility of mysticism and morality, 291–94; factual beliefs, 311–12; and mystical actions, 318–23; and mystical selflessness, 327–30; and mysticism, 289–330; presuppositions, 301–3; values, 313–15; and wholeness, 308–11
Moses, 186
Mozi, 296
mystical enlightenment. See enlightenment
mystical experiences, definition, 4–5; depth, 21–25, 46–49, 59, 60–65; extrovertive, 5–6, 10–11, 12–19, 33; genuine, 41–43, 122, 152, 157; introvertive, 5–6, 10–11, 19–25, 33; nature of, 5–7; neutrality of scientific explanations, 169–70; not necessarily religious, 352; origin of religion, 347–48; physiological explanations of, 134–38, 146–59; scientific study of, 131–34, 161–65; sociocultural explanations of, 138, 143–46, 361, 362; types, 5–6, 31–34
mystical knowledge, 37–38, 39–41, 70, 71–120, 206, 223–25, 262
mystical ways of life, 11, 37, 49–52
mysticism, definition of, 4–5; history, 1–3, 347; nature of, 37–38
mysticism, philosophy of, ix–x, xvi–xviii
Nagarjuna, 17, 100, 172, 211, 218, 245, 252–58, 275, 367, 374, 377, 378–79
Nagasena, 237
naturalists, 25, 45, 78, 83, 131, 162, 165–68, 173–74, 358, 266, 366; naturalists’ view of mystical experiences, 139–43, 333–34, 362
near-death experiences, 143, 153, 365
negation, 225–29. See also via negativa.
Neoplatonism, 35, 192, 193, 196, 269, 312. See also Plotinus
Newberg, Andrew, 147, 150, 168, 361, 364–65
Nhat Hanh, Thich, 243
Nichren, 100
Nietzsche, Friedrich, 384
nonconstructivism, 58–60, 61–64, 65–69, 354
Nozick, Robert, 80
Ontological Argument, 373, 386
Oppenheimer, J. Robert, 376
Origen of Alexandria, 9
Owen, Richard, x
pantheism, 50, 181, 193, 197, 242, 357, 369
paradox, 219, 238–52, 257, 260, 262–63, 376–77, 378, 379
Parfit, Derek, 176
perennial philosophy, 32–33, 49, 58, 69, 101–3, 189, 250, 369, 387
Persinger, Michael, 136, 137, 149
Phillips, Stephen, 359
Pike, Nelson, 356
Plato, ix, 77, 175, 182, 218, 316, 334, 337
Plotinus, 174, 180, 191–92, 203, 213, 217–18, 220, 221, 225, 226, 228, 271, 357, 369, 385
postmoderism, x–xii, 56, 98–99, 229, 235, 334, 352, 375, 381–82
Prasad, Rajendra, 301
Preston, David, 354
properly basic beliefs, 111–16
Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite, 2, 41, 42, 94, 222, 227, 228, 373
Pyrrho, 299
Pythagoras, 175
rationality, 233–35, 235–38, 359; and mystical belief, 106–11, 118–20, 233–60; universal reason, 258–60
reconciling mysticism and science, 286–87
Reid, Thomas, 83
religious diversity, 89–92, 113–14
religious experience, argument from, 88–89
religious experiences, 3–4, 35, 44, 348
Rig Veda, 134
Robinson, Richard, 254
Rolle, Richard, 35
Rumi, Jalal al-din, 21, 101, 219, 319, 329
Russell, Bertrand, 45, 139, 210, 240, 256, 280, 370
Ruusbroec, Jan van, 21, 195, 300, 350
Ryle, Gilbert, x
Samkhya, 32, 34, 47, 75, 93, 180, 181, 185, 190, 191, 193, 197, 282, 307, 362, 368
Sangharakshita, Bhiksu, 246
Santayana, George, 49
Schleiermacher, Friedrich, 1
Scholem, Gershom, 65, 186, 314
Schopenhauer, Arthur, 384
science, 263–64, 277–78, 385–86; compatibility of scientific explanations and mystical claims, 155–59, 342; complementarity, 283–85; conciliation, 342–43; indirect aid to mysticism, 274–75; and mystical approaches to reality, 263–68, 269–73, 277–81; and mysticism, 261–87; mysticism’s indirect aid to science, 273–74; today, 333–45
scientific explanations of mystical experiences. See mystical experiences
scientific studies of mystics, 121–70
secularization of mystical experience, 336–37, 352
self, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 176, 191–93, 302–3, 341–42, 369
Sellars, Wilfrid, 54
Sells, Michael, 42
Sengcan, 316
sense-perception analogy, 85–88, 107
Shankara, 23, 30, 42, 43, 47, 64–65, 76, 89, 100, 124, 172, 180, 182, 197, 203, 212, 218, 221, 225, 234, 235, 247, 276, 299, 307, 358, 359–60, 368, 382
Sharf, Robert, 41
silence, 21, 35, 147, 192, 197, 200, 217–19, 268, 339, 347
Smart, Ninian, 20, 32, 46, 108, 118, 352
Smith, Wilfred Cantwell, x
Stace, Walter, x, 6, 20, 52, 53, 128, 228, 239, 249, 295, 298, 308, 354, 358, 378
Strassman, Rick, 381
Sufism, 9, 11, 21, 181, 192, 196, 335
surveys, ix, 128–29, 336, 354, 365–66
Suso, Heinrich, 64
Swinburne, Richard, 83–84, 91, 110, 356
Tantrism, 100, 293, 307, 320, 347, 369, 382
Tauler, Johannes, 64
Teilhard de Chardin, Pierre, 186, 274
Tennyson, Alfred Lord, 176
Teresa of Avila, 7, 20, 62, 105, 137
Tertullian, 248
testing and checking of mystical claims, v, 75–76, 78–79, 81, 86, 95, 97, 104–6, 167, 173, 174, 234, 265–67, 271, 305, 355, 350, 365, 380, 383
Theologia Germanica, 10
theories in neurology, 122–23, 125–31
timelessness, mystical, 6, 91, 133, 139, 178, 200, 276, 323, 361, 363, 366, 369, 372
Toland, John, 193
Tolstoy, Leo, 296
transcendent realities, 3, 4, 6, 12, 19, 23, 173, 186–88, 219–23
triggers, artificial, 3, 84, 135, 136, 148, 149, 151–53, 161, 169
Trungpa, Chogyam, 297
ultimate decisions, 117–20, 170
unknowing, mystical, 8–9, 43, 64, 68, 242, 270, 349–50
Upanishads, 7, 16, 64–65, 180, 189, 197, 205, 206, 226, 264, 276, 282, 286, 305, 306, 340, 349, 350, 368, 376
via negativa, 150, 175, 201, 209, 226–29
visions, 4–5, 10, 55, 57, 62, 145, 147, 154, 170
Vivekananda, 383
Voltaire, 139
Wainwright, William, x, 33, 302, 304
Walsh, Roger, 129
Weber, Max, xiv
Weil, Simone, 64
Whitehead, Alfred North, 175, 384
Wilber, Ken, 33
Wilson, Edward O., 343
Winch, Peter, 375
Wittgenstein, Ludwig, xii, 54, 119, 129, 189, 207, 210, 268, 368, 370, 371, 372, 375
world, mystical sense of the, 177–84, 275–77
Yoga Sutras, 4, 10, 11, 124, 349
Zaehner, Robert, 32, 102, 135, 297, 307
Zen Buddhism, ix, 4, 9, 28, 30, 32, 100, 211–12, 231, 237, 249, 316, 354, 384–85
Zeno, 379