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Mysticism as a path of knowledge in philosophy and the attitude of the church to Christian mysticism. Mysticism as a spiritual and religious phenomenon

The concepts of mysticism and mysticism are usually identified, while with a structural-analytical approach their differences are revealed quite clearly, which, of course, helps to clarify and deepen the understanding of these closely related phenomena.

To define these concepts, one should point out the structural-functional ones, i.e. morphological differences between the corresponding phenomena. Mysticism is ideas, sometimes systematically built in the form of rationalistic teachings of a theological and ideological nature about the direct connection of things and phenomena with sacred principles. Mysticism is a spiritual and practical activity of an adherent of faith based on these ideas, the purpose of which is to establish a direct connection with the sacred principle. In the concepts of transcendental mysticism, decisive importance is given to the activity of the divine (or satanic) principle for the effectiveness of mystical actions. Let's consider this problem using specific material.

In his analysis of Shinto material associated with mysticism and mysticism, A.A. Nakorchesky distinguishes between the meaning of an action and the specific technique of its execution23, which allows us to correlate the meaning of an action with mysticism, which gives it a paradigmatic interpretation, and mysticism with the methodological and technical implementation of this action, those. with the morphological embodiment of the meanings that define it.

However, in this system there is another very important component - doctrinal discourse, which makes it possible, in semantic and functional terms, to identify the activity of the mystic with a certain doctrinal tradition - Buddhist, Taoist or Shinto itself, which turns out, according to A.A. Nakorchevsky, shamanistic .

The fact is that in medieval Japan “mystical techniques were borrowed from Buddhism, Taoism and other foreign teachings. For Honda and others like him, it was important to discover the original Japanese methods, which he devoted his life to recreating. The “science of spirits” he created can be called systematized shamanism”24.

So, in a mystical action we distinguish three aspects: the meaning given by a special paradigm (mysticism), morphology (structural and functional features of this action), i.e. actually mysticism and doctrinal discourse - the understanding and description of a given action within the framework of a certain religious teaching. Thus, the difference between mysticism and mysticism is determined by their role as special components of a general system of specific sacred activities.

Our conclusion essentially coincides with the categorical statement of Vladimir Solovyov on this issue, who wrote: “Mysticism should be strictly distinguished from mysticism: the first is a direct, immediate relationship of our spirit to the transcendental world, while the second is a reflection of our mind on that relationship and forms a special direction in philosophy. Mysticism and mysticism also relate to each other, as, for example, empyreanism and empiricism”25.

Mysticism in Western Christianity

Moving on to an overview of the mysticism of Western Christianity, we note a number of its stylistic differences from the East. First, Catholic doctrine, which emphasized the exclusive role of the church in the salvation of believers, greatly narrowed the scope of individual religious experience. Therefore, the church was not particularly friendly towards mystics, suspecting them of being outside the church and of trying to replace salvation in the bosom of the church with salvation through personal experience. The Catholic Church viewed mystical work not as the pinnacle of Christian praxis, but as something redundant for the cause of salvation (the doctrine of the supersufficient merits of the saints was one of the foundations for the practice of selling indulgences: the church took upon itself the mission of redistributing these “excess” merits for salvation). The “pan-churchism” of Catholicism also explains the extremely strict testing of descriptions of mystical experience for orthodoxy, that is, for their compliance with the dogmatic system.

Secondly, the West has not developed such a harmonious and systematized method of psychotechnics as Eastern hesychasm (categorically rejected by the Catholic Church for “naturalism”). The first attempts to systematize psychotechnical techniques date back only to the 16th century. (“Spiritual Exercises” by the founder of the Jesuit Order, St. Ignatius of Loyola). If the Eastern Christian theory of mysticism is Christocentric (union with God is realized in Christ), then the Western one is predominantly theocentric (divine unity is emphasized, not the distinction of hypostases). The idea of ​​deification (with the exception of John Scotus - John Eriugena, who knew Greek and was well acquainted with Eastern patristics) also did not play a significant role in mysticism, which remained within the framework of orthodoxy, which denied, especially after Thomas Aquinas, the possibility of uniting created and uncreated. If in the East, in addition to communal monasticism, there was a developed tradition of individual hermit-dwelling, then in the West large monasteries and monastic orders dominated, differing from each other in their charters, which was completely alien to the East.

Thirdly, in connection with the rapid and intensive development of rational philosophy in the West - scholasticism (since the 11th century), a unique opposition arose here, unknown either to Byzantium or to the non-Christian East (with the exception, and even then relative, of the Islamic world) opposition “rational ( philosophical) – mystical (irrational)”, which, however, did not cancel the historical interaction of these two forms of spiritual life (it is enough to point out the influence exerted by Meister Eckhart on the development of German philosophy). But in general, the gap between mysticism (especially psychotechnics itself) and philosophy was unconditional.

In Catholic mysticism we can also distinguish two directions - contemplative-gnostic, aimed at experiencing the presence of the divine and direct communication or even unity with it, and emotional, in which unity with God is experienced as an act of mutual love between God and the soul. In the first direction, we can distinguish mystics who focus on the use of sensual images for mystical ascent (visualizations of Ignatius of Loyola, suggesting evoked visions of scenes of the life of saints or the figure of Christ, which gradually fill the entire consciousness of the practitioner), and mystics who affirm the need for imageless contemplation (St. . John or Juan of the Cross, usually incorrectly called St. Juan de la Cruz in Russian-language literature). The largest and brightest representative of emotional-love mysticism (with erotic overtones) is St. Teresa of Avila.

Standing somewhat apart is the majestic and admirable figure of St. for its spiritual purity and sublime simplicity. Francis of Assisi, whose preaching of the love of God is devoid of extremes of emotional exaltation. With the name of St. Francis is also associated with a peculiar practice of stigmatization, in which, as a result of the intense concentration of a believer on the Passion of the Lord, he develops bleeding but painless ulcers, similar to the wounds of Christ on the cross. This phenomenon is very interesting for studying the problem of psychosomatic mutual influence.

Of the unorthodox (recognized as heretics) Western mystics, the most striking and profound representative of the contemplative-Gnostic trend is, undoubtedly, the German mystic of the 14th century. Meister Eckhart.

St. John of the Cross speaks first of all about the fundamental indescribability of mystical experience, which he calls “dark contemplation.” He notes that it is difficult to describe even a sensory object seen for the first time, not to mention the experience of the supersensible:

The soul then feels as if immersed in a boundless, bottomless solitude, which no living creature can disturb, feels itself in a boundless desert, which seems to it the more delightful the more deserted it is. There, in this abyss of wisdom, the soul grows, drawing its strength from the primary source of the knowledge of love... And there it learns that no matter how sublime and refined our language is, it becomes pale, flat, meaningless as soon as we begin to use it to describe divine things. (James W. The variety of religious experience. M., 1993. pp. 317–318.)

St. Teresa of Avila, despite her slightly different type of mysticism compared to St. John of the Cross, I fully agree with him on the issue of the indescribability and inexpressibility of mystical experience. Unity with God leads the soul to a state of insensibility and unconsciousness. And yet, the mystical experience has the highest and utmost reliability for the person who experiences it, being, as it were, a criterion for oneself. St. Teresa claims that for someone who has experienced the experience of union with God, it is impossible to doubt it. Any doubts indicate the inauthenticity of unity or its absence. Moreover, after experiencing unio mystica, according to St. Teresa, even an uneducated person begins to understand deep theological truths, more deeply than many ordinary theologians; she gives the example of a woman who experienced the divine omnipresence so deeply that her conviction could not be shaken by poorly educated theologians who spoke of the presence of God in people only through “grace.” The most educated theologians have confirmed the truth (compliance with Catholic orthodoxy) of the experience and understanding of this woman.

This is a very interesting example, confirmed by the experience of J. Boehme, a simple shoemaker, who, thanks to a transpersonal (mystical) experience, became a deep philosopher (unfortunately, understanding the meaning of Boehme’s teachings is very difficult due to inadequate forms of expression and language of description), whose influence can be traced back to Schelling, Schopenhauer and Berdyaev.

Ignatius of Loyola also speaks about this, claiming that in the course of prayerful contemplation he comprehended more divine mysteries than in all the time he studied theological books and philosophical treatises.

Let us quote another saying of St. Teresa, developing the theme of mystical gnosis and at the same time touching on the experience of divine unity, so characteristic of transpersonal experience:

“One day during prayer I was able to immediately comprehend how all things can be contemplated in God and contained in Him. I saw them not in their usual form, but with amazing clarity, and their appearance remained vividly imprinted on my soul. This is one of the most outstanding graces given to me by God... This view was so refined and tender that it is impossible to describe it.” (James W. Op. op. p. 320.)

But if St. Teresa, like St. John of the Cross, and speaks of gnosis, yet the main thing for her is emotional uplift, almost sensual exaltation and all-encompassing, even eroticism, love for God - a phenomenon well known to us from Indian bhakti.

Speaking about Western mysticism, we should especially dwell on Meister Eckhart and his tradition - Suso, Ruisbroeck the Amazing, Angelus (Angel) of Silesia (Silesius, Silesius) - about which we will specifically say a few words.

The whole philosophy of Meister Eckhart (1260–1327) is not so much the fruit of his intellectual developments, although he was well educated scholastically, as a rationalization of his transpersonal experience, as Eckhart himself constantly points out; and the purpose of this philosophy, clothed in the form of sermons, is to encourage people to contemplation leading to the experience of divine unity.

Eckhart makes a distinction between the essence of God (Divinity) and his nature - the self-contemplating God and the contemplated creation. The relationship between the Divine and God for him is approximately the same as between Brahman and Ishvara in Advaita Vedanta or between the essence of God and its manifestation to oneself in the teachings of the Sufi Ibn al-Arabi:

Meanwhile, it was she who, in her being as a creature, created God - He did not exist before the soul became a creation. Previously I said: I am the reason that God is “God”, God exists thanks to the soul, but the Divinity is He through Himself. Until there were creatures, and God was not God; but undoubtedly he was Divinity, since He does not have this through the soul. When God finds a soul that has been destroyed, one that has become (by the power of grace) nothing, since it is selfishness and self-will, then God creates in it (without any grace) His eternal work, and thereby, exalting it, removes it from its created existence. But by this God destroys Himself in the soul and thus there remains neither “God” nor “Soul”. Rest assured, this is the most essential attribute of God! (Meister Eckhart. Spiritual sermons and reasoning. M., 1991. pp. 138–139.)

Meister Eckhart here claims that the Divinity (Absolute), which he also calls Nothing, Darkness, Abyss, becomes a personal and triune God only in relation to something else, his other - creation, or rather, the soul. But the soul must, in contemplation, remove this duality, surpass itself, its individual limitations (the nature of the soul is “selfishness and self-will”) and return to the divine essence (more precisely, the super-essence), in which duality will disappear, and God will cease to be God, and the soul - soul. But at the same time, this unity is higher than the original one - “my mouth is more beautiful than the source,” says Eckhart. He affirms, in essence, the complete deification of the soul, although he does not use this word: “Renounce completely from yours, pour out into the silence of His Essence; as it was before. He is there, you are here, then they will close into a single WE, where you are from now on - He. With your eternal mind you recognize Him, the ineffable nothing, as the eternal “I Am.” I would like to draw the reader’s attention to the fact that Eckhart’s “you are now He” sounds almost like the “great saying” of the Upanishads: “tat tvam asi” (“you are that”).

This is how Eckhart describes the stages of the contemplative ascent of the soul to the Divine. First, man must “turn away from himself and all created things.” After which a person finds unity and bliss in the transcendental foundation of his soul - that part of it “which neither time nor space has ever touched.” Light symbolism appears here: Eckhart compares this basis of the soul with a spark that strives only for God, turning away from all creation. She is attracted only to the Divine, and she will not be satisfied with any of the hypostases of the Trinity. Even the birth of the divine nature in it is not enough for this light of the soul. But this light is not satisfied with a simple divine essence:

“He wants to know where this essence comes from, he wants into the very depths, the one, the quiet desert, where nothing separate has ever penetrated, neither the Father, nor the Son, nor the Holy Spirit; in the depths of the depths, where everyone is a stranger, only there is this light content, and there it is more with itself than in itself. For this depth is one undivided silence, which rests motionless in itself. And all things are moved by this immovable.” (Ibid. pp. 38–39.)

To substantiate his teaching, Meister Eckhart often refers to Dionysius the Areopagite, but the apophaticism of the German mystic is even more radical than his Byzantine source.

As mentioned above, the ideas of Meister Eckhart had a very significant influence on the development of German thought and the philosophical tradition of Germany. Gradually, a special style of theology was formed, based on apophatics and the doctrine of the complete unity of the soul and God, more precisely, the coincidence at some starting point of the existence of the soul, the world and God (the idea that formed the basis of Schelling’s philosophy of identity); this style was called “theologia teutonica” - “German theology”; it differed radically from the orthodox Peripatetic-Thomist Catholic theology of both the pre-Tridentine and post-Tridentine periods.

The idea of ​​pure unity with God was defended by the followers and successors of Eckhart, who lived between the 14th and 17th centuries: John Tauler, Ruisbroeck the Amazing, Suso, Angel Silesius. Here are some quotes from their works:

1. Here the spirit dies, and the deceased still continues to live in the splendor of the deity... He is lost in the silence of darkness, which has become dazzlingly beautiful, lost in pure unity. In this formless “where” lies the highest bliss. (Suso, quoted from: James W. Op. cit. p. 327.)

2. I am as great as God

He is as small as I am.

I can't be lower than Him

He can't be taller than me.

(Angel Silesius, real name - Johann Scheffler, XVI-XVII centuries - See ibid. P. 327.)

With these quotations we will conclude our necessarily highly incomplete and fragmentary survey of Western European Catholic mysticism. As for mysticism in Protestantism, there is practically no developed system of any psychotechnics and transpersonal experiences are usually sporadic (W. James sees an exception in the methods of supporters of “spiritual treatment” that appeared at the turn of the 19th–20th centuries).

Typically, mystical experiences in Protestantism are associated with the idea of ​​being chosen, called, and receiving grace. Even Oliver Cromwell had the experience of receiving grace, who on his deathbed begged the elders to answer him whether grace could be taken away from him because of his bloody deeds (to reassure the Lord Protector, the elders answered that grace could not be taken away). In addition, Protestantism knew various forms of quietism (large material on the religious experience of Protestantism, especially on Anglo-American material, is contained in the book of W. James) and elements of ecstatic experiences - among Quakers, Pentecostals (believing in the possibility of acquiring the Holy Spirit by every person in his personal experience), Pentecostal Catholics and some other sects. However, we will talk about sectarian mysticism using the example of traditional Russian sects.

3. Philosophical mysticism

In religious and religious-philosophical teachings, in addition to the side that explains the world, there is always a second side, expressing the grounds and methods of saving a person from evil. The classic Christian version of salvation is a transcendental movement of God to man that cannot be rationally explained. However, in all world religions there is another, spiritual and mystical version of salvation: the movement of man towards God. This option dominates in some movements and sects of Christianity: from Gnosticism to some types of monasticism. In Islam this is Sufism. In Buddhism there are numerous areas of individual salvation. But mysticism in church life is one, and not its dominant, side. In practice, the behavior of believers is determined by the revelations of Scripture and the canonical norms of the church.

However, since the 19th century, the role of so-called extra-church or philosophical mysticism has become increasingly noticeable in the cultural life of Europe. In the 20th century, it turns into a global phenomenon and begins to compete with traditional religious and religious-philosophical teachings.

What is mysticism and mysticism?

Mysticism in a broad sense is understood as the unity of unusual (“mystical”) states of the human psyche and “mysticism,” that is, “theories” that explain and justify these states. Probably all people experienced special mental states that were clearly discordant with the normal course of life. This is confirmed by psychologists, ethnographers, and doctors. Almost every person has been in a state of loss of the sense of reality of the world, or loss of one’s self, or ecstasy, or a vivid dream, etc. Nevertheless, these states can be called mystical only if they move from the periphery of consciousness to its center, becoming more meaningful, significant and desirable than under normal conditions. Mysticism, using metaphors, symbols, philosophical concepts, some natural scientific data, mythological images and analogies, personal revelations and other expressive means, systematizes the structure and dynamics of these states, gives them an ontological (existential) status, affirms their fateful value for man and for the existence of the Universe. Ultimately, mysticism claims that a purposeful change in consciousness is the path of salvation, the path of liberation from the evil of “untrue existence.”

The natural world, according to most mystics, is radically evil or an illusion of consciousness. Salvation in the world and with the world is impossible. But every person (or only a select few) can free themselves from the evil of inauthentic existence by radically changing their inner world, by personal effort going beyond the dominance of sensory given nature, as well as the dominance of any cultural world in general. As the Indian mystic philosopher Sri Aurobindo Ghose says, “When the inner consciousness is fully awakened, it will absorb the outer consciousness. What can be absorbed will be discarded... I saw, I heard, but nothing in me responded to it. And then absolute silence descended on me. I saw everything that happened outside like in a movie.” Such distancing from the world of objects of sensory experience is felt as the destruction of their value meanings and emotional experiences. And then (and this is considered the most significant psychological effect of mysticism) a person is freed from fears, suffering and the evil of the outside world. From now on, the new homeland of man is a reality experienced as truly existing, inexpressible to others and similar to ecstasy.

The path to this reality, as many mystics believe, runs through a series of stages of constructing special states of human consciousness, usually under the guidance of a Teacher and using psychotechnics: meditation, relaxation, asceticism, breathing, trance, special dreams, sometimes narcotic substances, etc. n. According to mystics, such psychopractice is occasionally accompanied by bursts of horror associated with the feeling of being cut off from the solid ground of ordinary existence. In most mystical directions, unique “topographies” of the other world have been developed, according to which each stage of change in the psyche is symbolized by the arrival of the soul in the corresponding zone (level, world, sphere, etc.), where its psychological “arrangement” and preparation for its further change take place .

On the social side, mysticism is a way of solving life problems, including finding the moral meaning of life, problems of psychological adaptation and gathering oneself into personal integrity, problems associated with mental trauma and fears, when there are no generally accepted means of solving them. However, the question is not how radically the human psyche can be changed, but how much a person with an altered consciousness can be “embedded” in the existing type of culture, production, and science. With a high degree of probability, it can be assumed that a society dominated by mystical sentiments is incompatible with the principle of activity in the economic sphere, with scientific asceticism, with risk in establishing personal relationships. The validity of such a conclusion is evidenced by the fact that, as a rule, for a modern person mysticism does not seem practically useful, and therefore acquaintance with mystical literature takes place at the level of ordinary fiction.

From the philosophical side, mysticism is an extra-scientific spiritual practice that consciously removes the opposition between subject and object of cognition and activity. Strictly speaking, this is not a type of knowledge, but the creation of a unique spiritual reality, unique in the sense that it is created by each mystic personally, that along with the natural reality and the reality of the cultural world, the existence of a specifically different, third reality is affirmed here, which clearly does not have the characteristics of the traditional transcendental God religions. The mystic follows the path opposite to the scientific one. If a scientist in the process of cognition tries to consciously exclude or take into account subjective factors as much as possible, then the mystic, on the contrary, clears his consciousness of objective scientific and other cultural prerequisites of thinking, finding “beyond the soul” the sought-after super-empirical reality.

Main schools of philosophy

From the beginning of the 20th century and later, the most notable among the philosophical and mystical movements were: the theosophy of H. P. Blavatsky, the teaching of “Living Ethics” of N. K. and E. I. Roerichs, the “fourth way” of G. I. Gurdjieff, the anthroposophy of R. Steiner, Eastern schools of mysticism, etc.

Helena Petrovna Blavatsky (1831–1891) is one of the forerunners of philosophical mysticism of the 20th century. In 1875, she, together with her followers, founded the “World Theosophical Society”, whose tasks included: the study of ancient “secret” knowledge; studying the hidden abilities of a person; the foundation of a new brotherhood of people, regardless of their race, nationality and religion.

Her teaching absorbed predominantly Buddhist and other Eastern ideas, elements of the occult sciences, Christian motives, and ideas drawn from European science of the mid-19th century. It includes a detailed hierarchy and history of sensory and supersensible reality, the doctrine of the mystical evolution of the cosmos, earth, and man. The true nature of a person includes three bodies: physical, astral (soul), mental (spiritual). Under the guidance of “dedicated” Teachers, a person is able to control the forces of his nature, achieving a state of clairvoyance and penetration into the highest occult spheres. However, the Russian philosopher N.A. Berdyaev noted: “Theosophy is forced to deny the infinite significance of the individual soul... Theosophy and anthroposophy are anti-personalistic... For theosophy, everything is repeatable and multiple... Theosophy does not know personality and does not understand the meaning of history. She is in the grip of evil infinity and repetition."

Nicholas Konstantinovich Roerich (1874–1947) and Elena Ivanovna Roerich (1879–1955) developed mysticism in line with the insights of H. P. Blavatsky, and H. I. Roerich had visions and insights from childhood. They attempted to organize a worldwide movement for a new culture.

The Universe, in their opinion, consists of three worlds - physical, subtle (astral) and “fiery”. “The subtle world is around us, and its dimensions are much more extensive... It has many spheres, or layers, and there is no other division between them than according to the quality of consciousness, because there are so many consciousnesses, so many levels... The Fiery World is a particularly high level of perfection consciousness, and therefore the inhabitants of this sphere can only rarely, in exceptional circumstances, approach our earthly sphere. Their approach can cause great disturbances both in the Subtle World and on Earth.” In terms of content, the Universe is a collection of heterogeneous energy structures, including psychoenergetic ones. Controlled by a Higher Power according to rigid, “natural” laws. The Universe and its inhabitants are on an evolutionary path to higher energetic and spiritual states. Having realized the evolutionary plans, people, under the guidance of the Teachers, follow them, and thereby they fulfill a necessary role in cosmic development. In the 20th century, a grandiose evolutionary leap is made: man moves from the exhausted fifth race to the new sixth - the race of the Fiery Spirit. According to E.I. Roerich, in 1949 the first invisible battle took place between the world of Light and the world of Darkness and Evil, with the victory of the former. The core of a new, sixth race of people is taking shape in Russia, and the role of the feminine principle will be much more significant. “The coming era will also lift the curtain over the Supermundane World... The boundaries between the spiritual and the material, between the earthly and the supermundane will begin to gradually disappear, and people, even during their earthly life, will consciously prepare for themselves an application in the Supermundane World.”

In the cosmological teaching of George Ivanovich Gurdjieff (1877–1949), the central place is occupied by the idea of ​​a really existing Absolute, which, with the help of the “ray of creation,” creates an infinite number of worlds, degrading as they move away from it. Humanity lives in the most distant and, accordingly, least favorable corner of the Universe. The task of man (however, now this is a task for only a few people) is to make the reverse heroic ascent along this ray in the direction of the Absolute. Initially, any person is nothing more than a “machine”, torn by contradictions, with a predominance of half-asleep natural reactions. Only through hard work can a person consistently acquire, on the basis of the original “physical” body, a more subtle “astral” body, and then a “mental” and “causal” one. The immortality of his higher bodies is created by the efforts of the person himself, although in different ways: ascetic asceticism, religious fervor, intellectual ascent of the spirit or the “fourth way” - a conscious, purposeful and radical change in the foundations of one’s inner life. The visible world is nothing more than the habitat of the “physical” body, which must be overcome in the course of psychotechnical work on oneself under the guidance of teachers (specialists). According to the theorist and commentator on the teachings of G.I. Gurdjieff, Peter Demyanovich Ouspensky (1878–1947), the one who has achieved everything possible for a person has “a constant Self and free will. He is able to control all states of his consciousness and can no longer lose anything he has acquired... He is immortal within the solar system.”

The founder of anthroposophical teaching and the corresponding educational system, the German mystical philosopher Rudolf Steiner (1861–1925) made his own attempt to synthesize Eastern and Western “secret” teachings with the tradition of European science. In his opinion, in contrast to the accepted division of life into external and internal, it is necessary to isolate several levels of human nature and, accordingly, several levels of his life: physical, etheric (vital, energetic), astral, mental. Using special techniques - meditation, dancing, music - a person activates all of his levels, including those not recognized in culture. Everyone has, on the one hand, experience, experiences of special mental states, and on the other, the experience of the state of sleep. This, according to Steiner, testifies to the reality of the level structure of man and the possibility of their independent existence. Every night in sleep, the astral body leaves the physical body and goes into the astral space. A person “must ensure that the state that he first created for himself during sleep can be transferred into his waking consciousness. Then the sensory world will be enriched for him with completely new content.” At the final point of the soul’s self-development, it immortally immerses itself in the supersensible worlds, is morally transformed and enters into communication with the beings there, observing its previous life both in its spiritual and earthly existence. Similar ideas about the essence of human life underlie the pedagogical practice of the so-called “Waldorf schools”, widespread throughout Europe and which appeared in modern Russia.

The original version of mysticism was developed by the poet and thinker Daniil Leonidovich Andreev (1906–1959). The son of the writer Leonid Nikolaevich Andreev, he was imprisoned from 1947 to 1957. There he thought out the content of the treatise - “The Rose of the World” (first published in 1991). This work is multi-layered in its structure and describes the complex spiritual Cosmos as it appeared in the author’s mystical visions. The main idea of ​​the treatise: the “real” world is in a state of a cosmic battle of Good and Evil Forces, invisible to the average person, reflections of which are in earthly history and in the spiritual life of people. Humanity must and can unite and take the side of Good.

In the 20th century, after realizing the crisis of the type of personality that played a fundamental role in the organization of individual and social life in Europe, and the crisis of the idea of ​​​​the progressive development of humanity in the regions of Christian culture, the expansion of Eastern values ​​began. Countless “gurus”, teachers and preachers began to spread the teachings of former and living “great teachers of the East”, adapting them to the peculiarities of the European mentality. In the name of merging a person with his true nature - Nirvana, Supermind, Purusha, Atman, Eternal, etc. - various ways of changing the human psyche are being worked out and proposed: from the shortest and, accordingly, complex to the longest and most understandable.

The teachings of Ramana Maharishi (1879–1951) are an example of the first path. According to him, a person in any situation must ask himself: “Who is the me who is now thinking (or suffering, or desiring, etc.)”? Immersing himself completely in the meaning of such questioning, a person gradually moves away from his false selves, subjects of thought, passions, etc. identified with him. Purifying himself spiritually, a person comes to the emotionally experienced truth: “I am Being,” psychologically feeling self-existence as the only reality , and the rest of the world is like pictures on the screen. Elements of this teaching and practice underlie one of the systems of “transcendental meditation”, which exists in the USA and Europe as a type of psychotherapy. In general terms, this is the same path proposed by Jiddu Krishnamurti (1895–1986). An example of the second path is “Integral Yoga” by Sri Aurobindo Ghosh (1872–1950). In his teaching, he tried to combine the ideas of ancient Indian philosophy and some ideas of Western thought, seeing in them a means of liberating all humanity from selfish aspirations. Ghosh was also involved in occult psychology.

Paradoxically, even within the holy of holies of European culture - science - there is a counter impulse towards mysticism and mysticism. Against the background of the derogation of the ideals of the Enlightenment and Reason, shadow, “irrational” sides of philosophizing and the foundations of the classical sciences are revealed, which is perceived as a direct call to reconsider the significance of the sciences. Representatives of various branches of knowledge and culture, for example, physician J. Lilly, historian T. Rozzak, psychiatrist S. Grof, writer A. Koestler, religious scholar R. Guenon, physicist J. Bennett (follower of Gurdjieff), ethnographer C. Castaneda, denying their involvement philosophy, create original hypotheses and teachings about the substantial or dynamic unity of the spiritual world of man and the “true” Cosmos. What, in their opinion, really exists or is leading in the world - be it vacuum, leptonic structures, information fields, cosmic Consciousness and similar ideas, sometimes taken from the field of modern physics, are endowed with anthropomorphic features (memory, creativity , programming), and often with divine properties (creation from nothing, omniscience, etc.). This kind of construction can be assessed as a return to pre-Socratic natural philosophy. In general, all kinds of mystical manifestations are characteristic of periods of social unrest, troubles, and cultural fractures, which are accompanied by apocalyptic sentiments.

From the book Notes on Initiation by Guenon Rene

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From the book Book of Jewish Aphorisms by Jean Nodar

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From the book History of Medieval Philosophy author Copleston Frederick

Speculative mysticism There were mystics, of course, throughout the entire Middle Ages. As for mystical theology, one can only recall the writings of St. Bernard and Richard of Saint-Victor (XII century) and St. Bonaventure (XIII century). In the 14th century, however, there was a movement

From the book History of Philosophy. Ancient and medieval philosophy author Tatarkevich Vladislav

From the book Ancient and Medieval Philosophy author Tatarkevich Vladislav

Eckhart and mysticism of the 14th century. Another important direction of the 14th century. - mysticism - was not such a novelty as criticism. All varieties of mysticism had their predecessors in different periods of the Middle Ages. In the XIV century. it became significant again because it was an expression of more

From the book Philosophers of Ancient Greece author Brumbaugh Robert

Chapter II. Magic and mysticism Confusing initiation with mysticism is especially characteristic of those who would like, for one reason or another, to more or less clearly deny the reality of initiation itself, reducing it to something else; on the other hand, in circles that, on the contrary, have unfounded

From the book The Atman Project [A Transpersonal View of Human Development] by Wilbur Ken

17. SCHIZOPHRENIA AND MYSTICISM Schizophrenia and mysticism have always been looked at in the same way as madness and genius - in both cases the categories seem closely related, but in some ways sharply different. However, the similarities between schizophrenia and mysticism have led to two general types of beliefs

From the book Shadows of the Mind [In Search of the Science of Consciousness] by Penrose Roger

1.17. Platonism or mysticism? Critics might argue, however, that certain conclusions in this Gödel proof should be considered nothing less than “mystical,” since the proof in question seems to force us to accept either view C or

From the book Degeneration. Modern French. by Nordau Max

II. Mysticism

From the book The Process Mind. A Guide to Connecting with the Mind of God author Mindell Arnold

Mysticism, Enlightenment, and Unified Fields Mystics are very different from scientists. According to the explanatory dictionary, the mystic feels things that are “not visible to the senses, not obvious to the intellect,” that is, the rational mind. The mystic has a "subjective union with

From the book Spiritual Treasures. Philosophical Essays author Roerich Nikolai Konstantinovich

Mysticism In different countries they write about my mysticism. They interpret it at random, but I don’t really know what these people are trying so hard to talk about. Many times I have had to say that I am generally afraid of this vague word - mysticism. It really reminds me of English

From the book New Ideas in Philosophy. Collection number 5 author Team of authors

In European culture, mysticism appeared in the 19th century at a time of crisis and loss of potential for further development. Interest in him has not waned to this day. There is an opinion that the origins of mysticism are eastern religious and philosophical movements. However, this is not entirely true. Of course, the East is filled with mysticism and influenced the religious minds of Europeans at the time when it began to seep into European culture. The influence of the East is strong to this day; it attracts people precisely with the mystical side of their worldview. But classical religions, including the world religion - Christianity, are not without mysticism.

Mysticism concept

Judaism, Islam, various religious movements, such as Manichaeism, Sufism and others, have their own mystical school. For example, Sufis of the Shazalia and Naqshbandiya schools believe that their way of teaching is the fastest way to understand the Islamic faith. By general definition, mysticism is the emergence in a person of supersenses, which give him the opportunity to contemplate higher powers. Western mysticism differs from Eastern mysticism. The first speaks of a meeting with God, of his knowledge, of the presence of God in the heart and soul of a person. At the same time, he assigns Him the highest place above the world and above man as the source of all living and existing things, as the giver of all goods. Eastern mysticism is complete dissolution in the Absolute: God is me, I am God. The very word “mysticism” (“mysticism”) is of Greek origin and means “mysterious, hidden.” That is, mysticism is a person’s belief in an invisible connection and direct communication with metaphysical higher powers. The definition of mysticism can represent the practical experience of communication between a mystic and an object of higher powers or a philosophical (religious) teaching about ways to achieve such communication.

Real and educational mysticism

Real - achieved experimentally, when a person’s actions lead to a special connection with secret higher powers, independent of circumstances, time and space. She can be prophetic and active. Real mysticism is the desire to directly consider phenomena and objects located outside a given space and time; this is the realm of soothsayers, fortune-tellers, clairvoyants, etc. The second one also strives to act: to influence various processes at a distance with one’s own suggestion, to materialize and dematerialize spirits . Active mysticism is a practice inherent in hypnotists, magicians, practitioners of theurgy, sorcerers, mediums, etc. Among mystics there are many charlatans and deceivers. However, there are cases when scientists record the presence of a real mystical component in the practice of mystics. Yet it is extremely rare to find such mystics who never make mistakes. And this suggests that the majority of such people are not on the true mystical path, their minds are under the power of fallen spirits who want to and play with them.

Alchemists and mysticism

Most philosophers and scientists in the field of mysticism believe that there is not enough evidence to classify alchemists as mystics. It's all about practical material experience with natural nature and its components, based on the principle of the unity of matter. Alchemy does not fit into generally accepted ideas: mysticism, the definition of which comes from the knowledge of the laws of the spiritual world, subordinate to other immaterial laws, has nothing to do with the goal of transforming nature into a more perfect state. Mysticism always presupposes communication between the knower and the object of knowledge of higher extraterrestrial forces. No matter how mysterious and enigmatic the alchemist may be, he always remains that goldsmith, the recipient of the “imperfect” metal of the “perfect”. And all his activities are aimed not at understanding the Higher Mind, but at creating benefits for earthly life, which is excluded in mysticism, which pursues the goal of connecting with the world where spirits live.

Christian mysticism

In Christianity, mysticism occupies a special place, but is fundamentally different from various types of magic and the like. First of all, she is real. This is experienced mysticism, without any speculation. Where human speculation is present is called a state of delusion. For people who have not studied Christianity, mysticism in philosophy often seems non-verbal. It should be noted that mysticism in Orthodoxy and Catholicism, not to mention various sectarian movements, is significantly different. Catholic mysticism is more focused on the sensory experience of the Divine, as a result of which it is easy for a person, as orthodox theologians believe, to fall into a state of delusion (false knowledge). In such a state, when a person shows a tendency towards mysticism, relying on his feelings, he easily falls under the influence of demonic forces without realizing it. Charm easily appears on the basis of pride, selfishness and love of fame. Orthodox mystical experience is unity with God through the humility of one’s passions, awareness of the sinfulness and morbidity of the soul, the healer of which only God can become. The experience of Orthodox asceticism is widely disclosed in patristic literature.

Philosophy and mysticism

The psyche of a person following the path of mysticism, his attitude and understanding of the world are in a special, mysterious state of communication with the spiritual world. Mysticism itself is aimed precisely at the path of cognition of the object of the spiritual world. By definition, philosophical mysticism places emphasis on solving universally significant problems of the worldview: the meaning of life, the process of modeling the correct way of being, achieving happiness, and knowledge of the Absolute. The mystic philosopher, with the help of his constructions, gives the spiritual world existentiality. As a rule, the philosophical understanding of mysticism is contradictory: it implies the unity of mythology, religion, science, rational, visual and conceptual.

Wisdom and Philosophy

The concept of philosophy is the search for wisdom, that is, the philosopher is always on the move, he is a seeking person. A wise man who has acquired the truth, the knowledge of existence, will no longer be a philosopher. After all, he is no longer searching, for he has found the source of wisdom - God, and now he only strives to know Him, and through God - himself and the world around him. This path is correct, but the road of philosophical search can easily lead to error. Therefore, scientists and philosophers often came to a deep state of religiosity, an understanding of the harmony of the world, on which the hand of the Creator worked.

Philosophical mystical movements

Among the common ones there are representatives of mysticism, quite well known in Russia:

  • "Theosophy of Blavatsky."
  • "Living Ethics (Agni Yoga) of the Roerichs."
  • "Russian mysticism of Gurdjieff", based on the Sufi teachings of "Chishti" and "Zen Buddhism".
  • “Andreev’s Historiosophy” is a synthesis of Christianity and the Vedic worldview.
  • "Integral Yoga Ghosha."
  • "Vivekananda's Neovedanta".
  • "The Anthropology of Castaneda".
  • Kabbalah.
  • Hasidism.

Manifestation of mystical states

In Christianity, mysticism is (briefly) the descent of God's grace onto a person with the permission of God himself, and not by the will of man. When a person tries to attract grace through volitional efforts, he risks being deceived either by his own imagination or by demonic forces that can take on any form that can mislead a person. That is why in Scripture it is forbidden to talk with demons even about holy things. “Get behind me, Satan,” this is what you need to say to unclean spirits. Since fallen angels are very skilled and excellent psychologists, they subtly intertwine lies with truth and can easily deceive a person inexperienced in asceticism.

Often, a mystical state of a person’s psyche is discovered after a brain injury or is associated with its pathology when there is a threat to life. For example, northern shamanism practices introducing its successor to a state of clinical death through hypothermia. In their opinion, during such a state the soul passes into the world of spirits and gains the ability to communicate with them upon returning to its earthly body.

There are special psychedelic techniques for changing consciousness, psychological state through breathing and other means. With their help, a person is introduced into a mystical state. For example: LSD, Sufi dhikrs, holotropic method, the use of certain types of mushrooms, etc. To many they seem harmless, but in fact they are dangerous techniques, after the use of which a person may not return to the original state of his own psyche, since it is serious is damaged.