Website review: Mystical Traditions - Center for Sa...
ZimZalabim discovered this in Spirituality
•32 reviews since Jun 18, 2006
spirituality, mysticism, religion
•centerforsacredsciences.org/traditions.html
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ZimZalabim discovered 25 months ago- The Mystical Core of the Great Traditions [ftp] Six great religions have shaped the major civilizations that exist today: the three Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) and the three Eastern religions (Hinduism, Buddhism, and Taoism/Confucianism). These religions seem to be quite at odds with each other when we look at their outer, or exoteric, forms. Not only do they have different rites, rituals, prayers and precepts, but in many cases their most fundamental doctrines about the nature of Reality appear to contradict each other. For example, Judaism's "Thou shalt have no other gods but Me" seems to stand in direct opposition to Hinduism's exuberant worship of three million gods. Christianity's Triune Deity contrasts sharply with Taoism's amorphous Way, while Islam's central tenet, "There are no gods but God," appears completely antithetical to Buddhism's insistence that there is no God at all. If we dig more deeply, however, we find within each of these religious traditions an inner, or esoteric, stream of teachings given by their mystics--those men and women who claim to have had a direct Realization, or Gnosis, of the Ultimate Nature of Reality. Moreover, if we compare the testimonies of these mystics about the Nature of this Reality, we find that, despite vast separations in time, place, language, and culture, they are strikingly similar--so much so that many scholars have come to view their teachings as constituting a single perennial philosophy which, like some irrepressible flower, keeps blooming again and again in the human psyche. For example, all mystics agree that Ultimate Reality--whether It is called Allah, Brahman, Buddha-nature, En-sof, God, or the Tao--cannot be grasped by thought or expressed in words. (In fact, the word mystic is related to the word mute, both of which derive from the Greek root mustes, meaning "close-mouthed.") "The gnostics know, but what they know cannot be communicated. It is not in the power of the possessors of this most delightful station...to coin a word which would denote what they know." - Ibn 'Arabi (muslim) "The Tao which can be named is not the true Tao". - Lao Tzu (Taoist) "Words and sentences are produced by the law of causation and are mutually conditioning--they cannot express highest Reality." - The Lankavatara Sutra (Buddhist) "That One which is beyond all thought is inconceivable by all thought." - Dionysius the Areopagite (Christian) "The Spirit supreme is immeasurable, inapprehensible, beyond conception, never-born, beyond reasoning, beyond thought." -- Upanishads (Hindu) "That Oneness is on the other side of descriptions and states. Nothing but duality enters speech's playing-field." - Rumi (Muslim) The reason Ultimate Reality (Unity) cannot be grasped by thought or communicated in words is that thoughts and words, by definition, create distinctions and, hence, duality. Even the simple act of naming something creates duality because it distinguishes the thing that is named from all other things that are left unnamed. However, the mystics of all the great traditions agree that all distinctions are imaginary and that the Ultimate Nature of Reality is non-dual.
- bhima rated 4 weeks ago
- "All men make mistakes, but a good man yields when he knows his course is wrong, and repairs the evil. The only sin is pride." --Sophocles The Mystical Core of the Great Traditions Here are nine points agreed upon by mystics of all the great traditions 1. All mystics agree that Ultimate Reality--whether It is called Allah, Brahman, Buddha-nature, En-sof, God, or the Tao-- cannot be grasped by thought or expressed in words. 2. The reason Ultimate Reality cannot be grasped by thought or communicated in words is that thoughts and words, by definition, create distinctions and, hence, duality. 3. Although mystics cannot define Ultimate Reality in words, they still use words to point to That which is beyond words. 4. Although mystics say Ultimate Reality is not a thing, they also agree that this emptiness or no-thingness is not a mere vacuum 5. Mystics of all traditions agree that when distinctions created by imagination are taken to be real--especially the distinction between 'subject' and 'object', 'I' and 'other', 'self' and 'world'--we lose sight of the Ultimate Nature of Reality and fall into delusion. 6. The fact that distinctions are not ultimately real means that we are not truly separate selves. 7. Although the Truth of one's identity with Ultimate Reality cannot be grasped by thought, all mystics testify that It can be Realized or Recognized through a Gnostic Awakening (Enlightenment) which by-passes the thinking mind altogether. 8. All mystics agree that Realizing our Identity with this Ultimate Reality brings freedom from suffering and death. 9. Finally, mystics of all traditions agree that their teachings about the Ultimate Nature of Reality should not be taken on faith alone. -follow my teachings, and you are truly my disciple- JC
- ARosemontWay rated 3 months ago
- A Truly Universalist Culture A Rosemont Way "One has to forge oneself into an instrument of service. This involves a radical reorganization of the whole nature, a work that lies less on the outer plane than on the planes of one's inner being. This reorganization amounts to a spiritual rebirth, and Brotherhood is its basis." N. Sri Ram
- A Truly Universalist Culture A Rosemont Way "One has to forge oneself into an instrument of service. This involves a radical reorganization of the whole nature, a work that lies less on the outer plane than on the planes of one's inner being. This reorganization amounts to a spiritual rebirth, and Brotherhood is its basis." N. Sri Ram
- ReddyKilowatt rated 4 months ago
- An interesting site on the mystical core of religions
- wilbau rated 7 months ago
- From the page: "All mystics agree that Ultimate Reality"whether It is called Allah, Brahman, Buddha-nature, En-sof, God, or the Tao" CANNOT be grasped by thought or expressed in words." Hmhm. This 'cannot'. Reminds me on a definition of atheism as a religion to NOT believe in god. I would prefer definitions, when definitions are needed to have one which sais what is something (not, what it not is :-) . Funny comments here. So long. So much words :-)
- Blake4014 rated 7 months ago
- "All men make mistakes, but a good man yields when he knows his course is wrong, and repairs the evil. The only sin is pride." --Sophocles The Mystical Core of the Great Traditions Here are nine points agreed upon by mystics of all the great traditions 1. All mystics agree that Ultimate Reality--whether It is called Allah, Brahman, Buddha-nature, En-sof, God, or the Tao-- cannot be grasped by thought or expressed in words. 2. The reason Ultimate Reality cannot be grasped by thought or communicated in words is that thoughts and words, by definition, create distinctions and, hence, duality. 3. Although mystics cannot define Ultimate Reality in words, they still use words to point to That which is beyond words. 4. Although mystics say Ultimate Reality is not a thing, they also agree that this emptiness or no-thingness is not a mere vacuum 5. Mystics of all traditions agree that when distinctions created by imagination are taken to be real--especially the distinction between 'subject' and 'object', 'I' and 'other', 'self' and 'world'--we lose sight of the Ultimate Nature of Reality and fall into delusion. 6. The fact that distinctions are not ultimately real means that we are not truly separate selves. 7. Although the Truth of one's identity with Ultimate Reality cannot be grasped by thought, all mystics testify that It can be Realized or Recognized through a Gnostic Awakening (Enlightenment) which by-passes the thinking mind altogether. 8. All mystics agree that Realizing our Identity with this Ultimate Reality brings freedom from suffering and death. 9. Finally, mystics of all traditions agree that their teachings about the Ultimate Nature of Reality should not be taken on faith alone. -follow my teachings, and you are truly my disciple- JC
- sarahlee rated 7 months ago
- From the site: "One of the primary goals of the Center for Sacred Sciences is to preserve and promote the teachings of these mystics and to show exactly what it is they have in common. Here, for example, are nine points agreed upon by mystics of all the great traditions, together with a sampling of quotes which demonstrate this agreement."
- FAIRYUSER rated 9 months ago
- From the page: "When a man knows God, he is free: his sorrows have an end, and birth and death are no more. â€"Upanishads (Hindu)"
- enfpkimberly rated 10 months ago
- The Mystical Core of the Six Great Religions...we have more in common than we often think we do.
- utahu rated 10 months ago
- very clear place for spiritual learning The Tao which can be named is not the true Tao. --Lao Tzu (Taoist) The Spirit supreme is immeasurable, inapprehensible, beyond conception, never-born, beyond reasoning, beyond thought. --Upanishads (Hindu) Words and sentences are produced by the law of causation and are mutually conditioning--they cannot express highest Reality. --The Lankavatara Sutra (Buddhist) That One which is beyond all thought is inconceivable by all thought. --Dionysius the Areopagite (Christian) The gnostics know, but what they know cannot be communicated. It is not in the power of the possessors of this most delightful station...to coin a word which would denote what they know. --Ibn 'Arabi (Muslim)
- karmatashi rated 10 months ago
- A good overview of the "perennial philosophy" in different tradition. Recommended background reading for anyone interested in such things.
