Religions and mystics

What place do mystical forms occupy in different religions? While many comparisons may be made between different mystical experiences, their implications have been more or less welcomed in a time-line which is far from linear. Careful study of the phenomena of rejection/ centrality allows us to construct a gradient. At the heart of Hinduism, while yoga is only one of the six darshana, mystical perspectives are omnipresent and this is also generally true of Buddhism. Within revealed religions, mysticism is more difficult to place. However, in Christianity it has rarely been the subject of direct or fundamental dispute, with a few exceptions: the flowering of mysticism in Catholicism at the end of the 17^th century and the condemnation for example of Quietism in France, or the rejection of mysticism in Protestantism when rationalism was in full flight (end of the 19^th century, beginning of the 20^th century) [See Part 1, Chapter 5]. Within Judaism, mysticism has never been condemned by the rabbinical authorities, except for the gnostic fringe; kabbalah remains part of the study of the Torah. The situation is less clear with the second flourishing of Hasidism in the 18^th century. From a theoretical point of view, the rabbis involved with the study of the sacred texts were worried about propositions which centred the relationship with God on prayer emphasising divine immanence and were equally opposed to the cult of Hasidic saints (tsaddiq), sometimes during their lifetime. However it is within Islam that the crises between juridical theologians on the one side and defenders of Sufism on the other have been and continue to be most serious. The former absolutely reject the notion of ishq Allah (carnal love of God) and remain guarded about the interpretation of the Qu'ranic notion of hubb Allah (spiritual love). Considering that love is a concept presupposing a sharing, an idea incompatible with God, they prefer the idea of adoration. The idea of union with God is unacceptable to them and underlies their rejection of Sufism. A first grave crisis ended in the execution of Hallaj^[1] in the 9^th century. An unashamed supporter of bodily union with God, he pushed the principle of union as far as to make theopathic statements: “My I is God” and recommended the interiorisation of the pilgrimage to Mecca, calling on the faithful to tour the kaaba seven times in their heart. His punishment marginalised Sufism for several centuries and persuaded his defenders to make numerous concessions in order to create a form of mysticism compatible with Muslim orthodoxy. [See Part 1, Chapter 2]. While Sufism gained popularity in much of the Muslim majority world, it is today under considerable pressure from Salafism which considers it heretical.

This course first offers a series of explanations of the ways in which mysticism has been expressed within Christianity, Islam and Judaism. It will then ask you to think about the position of women at the heart of mysticism before showing how the vocabulary of mystical experience spread to literary arenas which were not specifically religious in the 20^th century.