This book deals with the intellectual aspects of having diverse religious expressions in proximity and the socio-political consequences. It provides a multi-disciplinary perspective on this complex subject, cross-fertilizing work on religious plurality with truth-claims from theologians as well as philosophers from the continental and analytic traditions. The book includes three major parts. Part 1 explores the ideas around religious diversity and truth; Part 2 draws out the epistemic import of religious diversity; and Part 3 concludes the volume by examining the practical and social aspects of religious diversity. Bringing a transdisciplinary perspective to a topic that remains at the forefront of conversation around the religious life of the world, this book will be of great interest to scholars of Religious Studies, Theology and the Philosophy of Religion.

Religious Truth and Identity in an Age of Plurality

This thesis is a psychological analysis of the internal conflicts experienced by many religious mystics at the beginning of their mystical life. I refer to the conflicts, and the response of the mystic to these conflicts, as an experience of mystical struggle. The study begins with an examination of descriptions of mystical struggle found in scholarly accounts, manuals of mystical instruction and in the personal documents of mystics themselves. Subsequently I critique the psychological interpretations of mystical struggle found in William James and Evelyn Underhill. In order to provide what I believe is a more adequate interpretation, I compare the mystical struggle to the relevant stages in the personality development theory of Kazimierz Dabrowski. I also present a model of five factors that appear to be predispositional of a mystical struggle. These factors are: (1) a temperament characterized by emotional sensitivity and a heightened capacity for imaginative involvement; (2) stress or loss; (3) emotional support or encouragement; (4) religious training and modeling; and (5) access to a mystical institution (e.g., convent or ashram).

https://positivedisintegration.com/NixonThesis.pdf

The mystical struggle : a psychological analysis

This article is a continuation of a previously published one and talks about my own research project, with a focus on various meditation techniques, used as un underlying principle of breath to obs...

/pdf/stanislavsky-s-creative-state-on-the-stage-a-spiritual-2s8h7j5p43.pdf

Stanislavsky's creative state on the stage : a spiritual approach to the 'system' through practice as research

In conjunction, meditative practice, clinical practice and scientific research could be a good way to understand the phenomenon of the states that occurs in meditation/mindfulness based on the potential breadth of perception that this conjunction may offer. Based on this triple approach, this paper develops a new way of categorizing the states of consciousness that can occur during the practice of meditation: One Mind (OM), Silent Mind (SM) and Penetrating Consciousness (PC). The authors have been involved for decades in meditation and clinical psychology as well as in nonlinear dynamical systems (NLDS)-based research on the novel way in which these theories partly structure and integrate these new challenges into Western psychology.

https://www.longdom.org/open-access/beyond-frontiers-meditative-practice-clinical-practice-and-scientific-research-2161-0487-1000281.pdf

Beyond Frontiers: Meditative Practice, Clinical Practice and Scientific Research

Taking the theme of learning as central to the responsible practice of interfaith dialogue, Michael Barnes discusses a Christian spirituality which builds on virtues of hospitality and the welcoming of other traditions, whilst maintaining the importance of difference and particularity in the search for meaning. Each chapter explores how faith grows as a person crosses a threshold into another religious world and learns sensitivity to echoes of the known in the unknown. Encounters with the religious other, refracted through texts, conversations, artefacts and places, are used to illustrate the ancient Patristic theme of 'seeds of the Word'. Cumulatively they show that faith which learns how to engage imaginatively with another religious world constantly returns to the 'home' tradition, reinvigorated in its appreciation of the other. This book contributes to current comparative theology studies, using a theological approach to interreligious studies complementary to one based on the experience of interpersonal relations.

Interreligious Learning: Dialogue, Spirituality and the Christian Imagination

Zen--way to enlightenment

Zen meditation for Christians

An internationally renowned master offers a seven-day introduction to the techniques and disciplines involved in Zen meditation.

Hugo M. Enomiya-Lassalle

Papers

Zen--way to enlightenment

Zen meditation for Christians

The Practice of Zen Meditation

Wohin geht der Mensch

Zen, Weg zur Erleuchtung