Mysticism: Holiness East and West
Admittedly, the scholarly Carmodys (In the Path of the Masters, etc.) have primarily an academic audience in mind for their masterly introduction to mysticism in Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Chinese and Japanese religious traditions, and cultures (including Native American) in which spiritual legacies are conveyed orally. Nevertheless, general readers drawn to such classics of comparative religion as Armstrong's A History of God or titles by Huston Smith will find this a complementary, analogous and accessible guide to understanding the diverse paths mystics have timelessly trod. The authors begin with a sympathetic exploration of the mystical impulse and its divisions into "essential" (individually derived) and "empiricist" (culturally derived) strands before tracing the ways in which mystics have influenced their various religions or folk-belief systems. And it is in these riveting components of their synthesis of cultural history and faith experience that the Carmodys achieve brilliance. Generously excerpting texts from the Hindu Vedas to Martin Buber's Judaic Tales From the Hasidim and Ibn al-Arabi's Islamic Bezels of Wisdom, they place mysticism on the cutting edge of religions worldwide. (John Carmody lost his long battle with cancer on September 23.)Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.