Religions and mystics

Despite the differences observed in the definition of mystical union, three pathways may be discerned in order to progress towards union in the different religions discussed here, in part contradictory and not always equally represented. The first is concerned with the physical experience of discarding the body, the second is concerned with knowledge or gnosis, the third is about devotion.

While Hinduism is generally linked to the first path through hatha yoga – a practical and primarily physical technique for transcending space and time – Indian mysticism is not confined to this. There exists in parallel a gnostic mysticism (jnana yoga) and a mysticism of devotion (bhakti yoga). While the first path links yoga and sankhya^[1] around the idea of a multitude of being between the individual and what is the macrocosm (purusha),the second relies on the vedanta^[2] darshana .It is less concerned with freeing oneself from the physical world than with gnosis which permits understanding and unity. Furthermore, the yoga of knowledge represents a dual relationship to the world of oneself (atman) and the undifferentiated absolute (brahman). Finally, the third path, that of devotion, relies on a major text of Hinduism, the Song of God^[3] , where the thought and the love of Krishna^[4] allows the union to oneself and to the supreme lord at the same time.

Buddhism, in particular in its Japanese forms of zen^[5] (chan in Chinese) and nembutsu^[6] (nien fo in Chinese) also suggests three mystical pathways though experience, knowledge or devotion though the grace of the compassionate bodhisattvas. Zen advocates the search for enlightenment (satori in Japanese, kien-sing in Chinese) as one goes through life. Two paths are favoured in this, the za-zen or meditation, for one, and the kôan, a form of dialectical exercise consisting of resolving aporia (doubts/puzzles), sometimes absurd ones, in order to achieve enlightenment. The final route, that of devotion, is to be found in a school which at ones completes and is in opposition to zen, the nembutsu (nien fo). The nembutsu advocates tireless repetition of the formula “Adoration for Amida Buddha”, an easy route to the pure land, a technique which can also be found in the japa yoga^[7] through the incessant repetition of the syllable “Om^[8]” . This portal to mystical union sought by the 'ignorant' is a characteristic aspect of a certain form of mysticism found in many religions and allows mysticism to constitute both a mode of opposition to the traditional religious authorities and the expression of feminine religiosity. On this subject see Part 2, Chapter 1.

Within Christianity, mysticism was at first influenced by Greek philosophy (Plato, then Plotinus) and through this, was affected by oriental influences. Thus the first route – physical experience- was favoured by the first 'desert' mystics, who advocated withdrawing into solitude (hesychasm) in order to bring themselves into contact with the absolute [on this subject see Part 1, Chapter 1]. Gnosis was also central to Christianity in its early centuries. Influenced by Greek thinking, Origen^[9] saw in the union with God an act of intelligence (theoria) which led to an understanding of God. However, the retreat from the world and ascesis which should be more of a moral preconception than a physical test was increasingly criticised. Furthermore, notably by way of Gregory of Nyssa^[10] , love and no longer gnosis became the ultimate stage. Thus the route of devotion through constant prayer became of greater significance in Christianity even while the Greek traditions remained alive in the East and in Russia and were even revived by the publication in 1782 of the Philokalia, a collection of 'desert' texts by Nicodemus^[11] , a monk of Mount Athos. In the West during the middle ages there were important waves of mysticism, especially in Flanders, then in the Rhine area of Meister Eckhart, but above all it was in the modern era and in particular the 17^th century that there was a surge in mysticism led by those recognised by the Church, such as Teresa of Avila^[12] or John of the Cross, and more controversial figures such as Miguel de Molinos and Madame Guyon, and by the arguments over dogma surrounding the idea beloved of the Capuchins of the annihilation of the self and the idea of love defended by the Quietists [on this subject see Part 2, Chapter 2].

As for Jewish mysticism, it is mostly divided between esoteric and gnostic mysticism on the one hand and devotional mysticism on the other. Esotericism very early on affected Judaism through the idea of the vehicle (merkavah) which allowed access to hidden mysteries. However it was not until the 13^th century that classical kabbalah was formalised through the publication of The Book of Splendour (Sefer ha-Zohar^[13]) , later attributed to Moshe de Leon^[14] and his disciples, themselves largely influenced by the Jewish circle of Provence. Speculating on the hidden meaning of words and verses, using numerology to solve the mysteries of biblical texts, the kabbalah however remains at the heart of Judaism in its attachment to the love of the texts of the Torah. [See Part 1, Chapter 3]. Another characteristic is that of individual development marked by the transmission of knowledge. The kabbalah was largely revised in the 16^th century by Isaac Luria^[15] of Safed in Palestine, influenced by the context of the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492. Luria and his disciples conceptualised the development of the kabbalist and his relationship with the world. They evolved the notion of the retreat (shimsoum) of God from the world by diminution and emphasised the necessity for the kabbalist to restore the microcosm (self) in rediscovering the soul of Adam (adam qadmon) in order to restore the macrocosm (tikkoun olam).

The second tendency, that of mystical piety (hesed), is not addressed in the kabbalah except in that it does not claim to to be complementary. Historians see Saadia Gaon^[16] and his Book of Creation as an important theoretical influence, but it was above all in the West during the course of the massacres of Jewish communities at the time of the First Crusade in the 12^th century that this mystical form of Judaism developed, emphasising proximity to God over the desire to penetrate the mysteries. Its tenets encourage believers to place their souls in ataraxy, thereby to free themselves from humiliation as much as to give praise. This initial emergence of Hasidism was followed by a second period in the 17^th century in a context which was just as troubled, at once by massacres by the Cossacks and by the storm caused by waves of messianic Judaism, Sabbataism^[17] , then Frankism^[18] . Israel Ben Eliezer^[19] , named Master of the Good Name (Baal Shem Tov – Besht) began this revival of Hasidism. Deferring to the authority of the great Hasidic masters (tsaddiqim) to the point of making a cult of them, insisting on psalmody, sometimes accompanied by dance and meditation, Hasidism became a mass movement in the Jewish communities in Poland and Galicia, which they took with them in the Jewish migrations of the 19^th and 20^th centuries.

In Islam, mysticism takes the name of Sufism, from the Arab Tasawwuf (literally, those who wear wool). Influenced by Christian and Eastern mysticism, Sufism places greatest emphasis on meditation on the one hand and devotion on the other. Relying especially on the repute of the first companions of Muhammed, Sufis place great value on asceticism. However, as with Christianity, this practice is not an end in itself, but preparation for meditation (fikhr). Sufism places an equal emphasis on devotion, in particular in the way already observed in nembutsu Buddhism, in the japa yoga as well as in the psalmody of Hasidism (dikr) through the names of God. The specific characteristic of Sufism rests in the increasing role given, with the development of brotherhoods, to collective recitation, sometimes accompanied by dance. [See Part 1, Chapter 2].