Document Type : Scientific-research
Author
Associate Professor of Multimedia Faculty, Tabriz Islamic Art University, Tabriz, Iran
Abstract
One of most important topics in mystical philosophy is the investigation of the role of experiential structures in shaping mystical experiences and their interconnections. This investigation has led to various approaches, including perennial philosophy, essentialism, structuralism, and decontextualism. In this analytical-comparative study, each of these perspectives is presented, followed by an examination of Mulla Sadra's perspective on the subject.
Findings: From Mulla Sadra's perspective, personal structures have a significant impact on mystical experiences. He argues that mystics gain insights into deep truths by reflecting them in their souls. Talents, beliefs, behaviors, expectations, tendencies, and attentiveness all shape these experiences. Although he recognizes the existence of parallel mystical encounters in diverse traditions, aligning with the tenets of the perennial philosophy, Mulla Sadra's approach is not the same for all mystical experiences. He deems certain vertical data as illusionary and adopts a purely structuralist stance. Mulla Sadra's methodology can be described as “Gradational structuralism”, wherein he suggests that as the mystic progresses to higher existential levels and reduces self-centered focus, individual structures play a less significant role, and the convergence of mystics in parallel experiences increases. Consequently, in these cases, his analytical framework for studying mystical texts leans towards contextual analysis.
Keywords
Main Subjects
Almond. Philip (1979) "On the varieties of mystical experience", Sophia 18, pp. 1–9. (In English)
Almond. Philip (1988) "Mysticism and its contexts", Sophia 27(1), pp. 40-49. (In English)
Alston, William P. (1991). Perceiving God: The epistemology of religious experience. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. (In English)
Baqli, Ruzbihan (1995) Sharh_e_shatahiyat, Henry Corbin(Ed.) Tehran: Tahoori. (In Persian)
Baqli, Ruzbihan (2007) Taqsim al-khawatir, Ahmad Farid al-Mazidi (Ed.), Cairo: Dar Al-Afaq Al-Arabiyah. (In Arabic)
Black, Deborah L. (2008) “Avicenna on Self-Awareness and Knowing that One Knows.” In The Unity of Science in the Arabic Tradition , pp.63-87. (In English)
Bucknell, Roderick S. (1989). "Buddhist meditation and mystical experience". In the 14th Annual Conference of the Australian Association for the Study of Religions, Perth. (In English)
Emmons, Robert (2000a) “Is spirituality an intelligence? Motivation, cognition, and the psychology of ultimate concern.” The International Journal for the Psychology of Religion, 10(1):26-3. (In English)
Fallah Rafi, Ali. (2015) "The Language of Mysticism in Viewpoints of Substantivists and Constructivists with a Glance at Allameh Tabatabaei's Opinion", Pajooheshname Erfan, 12, pp. 107-134. (In Persian)
Franklin, R.L. (1990)." Experience and interpretation in mysticism". In R.K.C. Forman (Ed.) The problem of pure consciousness. New York: Oxford University Press. pp.288–304. (In English)
Ferrer, J.N. (2000) "The perennial philosophy revisited", Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, 32(1), pp.7–30. (In English)
Forman, Robert. K.C. (1990). "Introduction: Mysticism, constructivism, and forgetting" In R.K.C. Forman (Ed.) The problem of pure consciousness, New York: Oxford University Press, pp.3–49. (In English)
Forman, Robert. K.C. (1998) "Introduction: Mystical consciousness, the innate capacity, and the perennial psychology." In R.K.C. Forman (Ed.) The innate capacity: Mysticism, psychology, and philosophy Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp.3–41. (In English)
Gardner, Howard (1999) Intelligence Reframed: Multiple Intelligences for the 21st Century. New York: Basic Books. (In English)
Garside, Bruce (1972) "Language and the Interpretation of Mystical Experience" International Journal for Philosophy of Religion, 3, pp.93-102. (In English)
Gimello, Robert M. (1983). "Mysticism in its contexts". In S.T. Katz (Ed.) Mysticism and religious traditions, New York: Oxford University Press, pp.61–88. (In English)
Goli, Hossein; Rezayi haftador, Gholamabbas (2013) "Structuralist critique of the theory and implementation of transition", Journal of Literary criticism and Rhetoric , 1(2) , pp. 107-126. (In Persian) |
Hemmati Moghaddam, Ahmad Reza (2009) "Epistemic Contextualism and Semantics of knowledge attributions", Philosophy of Religion Research, 7(1), pp.35-66. (In Persian)
Hick, John (1993). Disputed questions in theology and the philosophy of religion. New Haven: Yale University Press. (In English)
Ibn Arabi (1946). Fusus al-Hekam, Cairo: Dar Ihya' Al-Kutub Al Arabiyya. (In Arabic)
Ibn Shu'ba al-Harrani, Hasan ibn Ali. (1363). Tuhaf al-'uqul. Aliakbar Ghafari (Ed.) Qom: Jame'ye Modaresin. (In Arabic)
Imam Khomeini (1994). Forty Hadiths (Description of forty hadiths), Tehran: The Institute for Compilation and Publication of Imam Khomeini's Works. (In Persian)
Imam Khomeini (1999). Adab as-Salat (The Disciplines of the Prayer), Tehran: The Institute for Compilation and Publication of Imam Khomeini's Works. (In Persian)
Iversen, Gudmund R. (1991) contextual Analysis, New York: SAGE Publications. (In English)
James, William (2018) The Varieties of Religious Experience, London: Global Grey Ebooks. (In English)
Janmohammadi, Mohammad Taghi. (2011). "The perinalist in Suhrawardi's Thought", Ettealat Hekmat va Marefat, 6, pp. 58-61. (In Persian)
Katz, Steven T. (1978). "Language, epistemology, and mysticism". In S.T. Katz (Ed.) Mysticism and philosophical analysis, London: Sheldon Press, pp.22–74. (In English)
Katz, Steven T. (1982). "Models, modelling, and mystical training". Religion, 12, pp. 247–275. (In English)
Katz, Steven T. (1983). "The ‘conservative’ character of mystical experience". In S.T. Katz (Ed.) Mysticism and religious traditions. New York: Oxford University Press, pp.3–60. (In English)
Kant, Immanuel (1933) Critique of Pure reason, Trans N. Kemp Smith, London Macmillan Press Ltd. (In English)
Körner, Stephan (2002) Kant, Trans Ezzatollah Fouladvand. Tehran: Kharazmi. (In Persian)
Kulayni, Muhammad ibn Yaqub (2009). Al-Uṣūl of Al-Kafi. Tehran: Dar al kotob al islamiah. (In Arabic)
Majlisi, Mohammad Baqir (1983). Bihar Al-Anwar. Beirut: Dar Al-Ihya Al-Tarath Al-Arabi. (In Arabic)
Molavi, Mohammad (1994) Masnavi manavi, Tawfiq Sobhani (Ed.) Tehran: Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance. (In Persian)
Mostafavi , Nafiseh (2022) "Comparative Evaluation of Wisdom Intelligence with Spiritual Intelligence and Its Relationship with Education", Journal of Philosophical Investigations, 40, pp. 111-126. (In Persian)
Marshall, Paul (2014). "Mystical experience and metaphysics. Supplementary material to Mystical experiences as windows on reality". In E.F. Kelly, A. Crabtree & P. Marshall (Eds.) Beyond physicalism: Toward reconciliation of science and spirituality, Lanham, MD, USA: Rowman & Littlefield, pp. 39–78. (In English)
Prigge, Norman & Kessler, Gary E. (1990). "Is mystical experience everywhere the same?". In R.K.C. Forman (Ed.) The problem of pure consciousness. New York: Oxford University Press. pp.269–287. (In English)
Qushiri Abdolkarim ibn Hawazen, (2006), Qushiri's treatise, commentary by Forouzanfar, Trans Abu Ali Hassan ibn Ahmad Osmani, Tehrān: Elmī va Farhangī. (In Persian)
Randolph T. Dible ; Sadafi Mahdi (2015) "Mystical philosophy: essentialism and constructivism", Asra Hekmat, 6(3), pp. 152-168. (In Persian)
Sadr ad-Dīn Shirazi, Mohammad I. (1975). Al-Mabda' wa Al-Ma'ad, Jalaluddin Ashtiani (Ed.) Tehran: Islamic Association of Wisdom and Philosophy. (In Arabic)
Sadr ad-Dīn Shirazi, Mohammad I. (1989). Al-hikmah al-muta’liyah, Qom: Mustafavi. (In Arabic)
Sadr ad-Dīn Shirazi, Mohammad I. (1981b). Al-shawahid al-rububiyyah fil Manahij al-Sulukiyyah, Jalaluddin Ashtiani (Ed.) Tehran: The University Publication Center. (In Arabic)
Sadr ad-Dīn Shirazi, Mohammad I. (1981). Asrar al-Ayyat, Mohammad Khajavi (Ed.) Tehran: Islamic Association of Iranian Wisdom and Philosophy Iranian Philosphical society. (In Arabic)
Sadr ad-Dīn Shirazi, Mohammad I. (2002) Risalah-i se asl (The Three Principles) Seyyed Hossein Nasr (Ed.),Tehran: Sadra Islamic Philosophy Research Institute. (In Arabic)
Steinbock, Anthony J. (1401). Phenomenology and mysticism: The Verticality of Religious Experience, Trans monire taliebakhsh, Tehran: Nashreelmi. (In English)
Schleiermacher, Friedrich (1893) On religion: Speeches to its cultured despisers, transl. John Oman, London: Paternoster House. (In English)
Scholem, Gershom (1965) On the Kabbalah and its symbolism. New York: Schocken Books Inc. (In English)
Stace, Walter Terence (1961) Mysticism and Philosophy, London: Macmillan Press Ltd. (In English)
Smart, Ninian (1965) "Interpretation and Mystical Experience". in Religious Studies 1(1), pp.75-87. (In English)
Scholem, Gershom (1965). On the Kabbalah and its symbolism, Trans Ralph Manheim, New York: Schocken Books Inc. (In English)
Steinbock Anthony J. (2017) "Phenomenology & Mysticism: The Verticality of Religious Experience", Human Studies, 40 (4), pp. 589-598. (In English)
Tabatabai, Mohammad. H. (1997). Al-Mizan fi tafsir al-Qur'ān (interpretation of the Holy Quran) Qom: Jame'e Mudarrsin. (In Arabic)
Talkhabi, Mehri (2015) "Post-Structuralism and the Mysticism of Hāfez", Mytho-Mystic Literature Journal, 14, pp. 27-66. (In Persian)
Woodhouse, Mark (1990) "On the possibility of pure consciousness". In R.K.C. Forman (Ed.) The problem of pure consciousness. New York: Oxford University Press. pp.254–268. (In English)
Wittgenstein, Ludwig (1953) Philosophical Investigations, transl. G. E. M. Anscombe, Oxford Basil Blackwell. (In English)
Yazdanpanah, Sayyid Yadollah; Shirvani, Ali ; Qomi ,Mohsen & Sharif, Zahra (2014) "Explanation and Appraisal of Unifying Finding of Essentialists on the Nature of Mystical Experience with Focus on Stace’s and Forman’s Views", Theosophia Practica, 19, pp. 167-205. (In Persian)
Yousefi, appearance. (2017). "The theory of structuralism with an emphasis on the views of Saussure and Strauss", parto-ve kherad, 15, pp. 101-128. (In Persian)
Zohar, Danah & Marshall Ian (2004) Spiritual capital: Wealth we can live by. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers Inc. (In English)
)