What The Religious Term “Mystical” Means?

Mysticism, derived from the Greek word mystes, refers to the pursuit or achievement of personal communion with God or other forms of divine or ultimate truth. A person who successfully pursues and gains such communion can be called a mystic. Mysticism is the belief that extrasensory dimensions of reality can be directly perceived through mystical experience. This concept can vary across religious traditions and cultures and is the pursuit of direct or immediate knowledge of ultimate reality through contemplation, meditation, or other practices.

Mysticism is popularly known as becoming one with God or the Absolute, but may also refer to any kind of ecstasy or altered state of consciousness. A mystic is someone who tries to establish a direct, unmediated connection with a divine force, usually through spiritual practices or beliefs. Mysticism signifies a mystery regarding religious or spiritual practices and is a religious ideology studied by academics rather than a religious practice itself.

Mysticism is best thought of as a constellation of distinctive practices, discourses, texts, institutions, traditions, and experiences aimed at human beings. The mystic was one who was initiated into the privileged knowledge of divine things and in an oath of secrecy swore to be silent. Mysticism is a religion or religious belief based on union or communion with a deity or divine being, and the concept of mysticism is the belief that one can know the spiritual truths of life and the universe that are beyond the intellect through various practices, discourses, texts, institutions, traditions, and experiences.

What does mystical of God mean?

Mysticism is the belief that direct knowledge of God or ultimate reality is achieved through personal, subjective intuition or experience, independent of historical facts or objective divine revelation. A mystical experience is primarily an emotive event, characterized by emotional intensity rather than rational understanding of facts. The force of the experience can be so overwhelming that the person experiencing it finds their entire life changed by it. Mere emotions cannot effect such transformations.

The emotional quality of a mystical experience results in its “self-authenticating” nature, as the mystic rarely questions the goodness and value of their experience. This self-authentication is crucial to understanding many religious movements today, as mystical experiences are often seen as “ways of knowing” truth. The mystic rarely questions the truth of their newly gained knowledge, making it essential to understand the importance of mystical experiences in understanding religious movements.

What is a mystical person?

An individual who adheres to the pursuit of insight into phenomena that transcend human understanding, frequently through direct communication with the divine or immediate intuition, is distinguished by their engagement with esoteric practices, including religious ceremonies and artistic expression. These individuals are regarded as spiritually significant and ethereal. These mysteries are known only to those who have been initiated and possess a certain degree of esoteric knowledge. They are often characterized by an obscure or mysterious nature.

What are examples of mystical religions?

Mysticism is a pervasive phenomenon across all Abrahamic religions, including Christianity, Islam, and Judaism, as well as Hinduism and Buddhism. In Hinduism, mysticism is often associated with the sacred figure Vajrayogini.

What is a mystical experience in religion?

Themystical experience is a type of religious experience where the subject is transformed, experiencing a loss of individuality, oneness with all reality, and unity with the deity. This experience is central to all religious traditions, as it involves encountering the supernatural and experiencing a total loss of self and individuality. It is a numinal experience, individual and esoteric, and is a manifestation of the divine, absolute, deity, and supernatural. The essence of religion lies in the religious experience, and it is a unique and transformative experience that is deeply rooted in religious traditions.

What is called mystical?

Mystical is a term that refers to having a spiritual meaning or reality that is not immediately apparent to the senses or the mind. It is often associated with communication directly with God and can be seen in various examples on the web. Examples include a mystical union with God, a symbol with mystical powers, and a deep, almost mystical quality of poetry. Despite their differences, animals work together to navigate mystical landscapes, navigating challenges and dangers of adapting to a new world.

Love, whether mystical or human, can be described as a lotus blooming in the day, responding to the warmth and brightness of the sun. These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word’mystical’. Any opinions expressed in these examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.

What is a mystical belief?

Mysticism is a religious belief based on union with a deity or divine being, allowing individuals to transcend the physical to experience enlightenment. It is often associated with crystals, New Age theories, or the supernatural. However, many faiths, including Hinduism, Judaism, and Christianity, have their own forms of mysticism, emphasizing spiritual connection and the mysteries of religion over dogma or rigid rules.

Mysticism is often applied to cryptic, obscure, or irrational thought, leaning toward mystery and wonder rather than logic. Overall, mysticism is a religion based on mystical communion with an ultimate reality.

What is the meaning of mystical in religion?

Mysticism is a religious belief that emphasizes union with a deity or divine being, allowing individuals to transcend the physical to experience enlightenment. It is often associated with crystals, New Age theories, or the supernatural. Many faiths, including Hinduism, Judaism, and Christianity, have their own forms of mysticism, emphasizing spiritual connection and the mysteries of religion over dogma or rigid rules. Outside of religion, mysticism is applied to cryptic, obscure, or irrational thought, leaning towards mystery and wonder.

What does mystical mean in the Bible?

Mysticism is a concept that involves contact with the divine or transcendent, often involving union with God. It has played a significant role in the history of Christian religion and has gained influence in modern times. Mysticism has been studied from various perspectives, including psychological, comparativist, philosophical, and theological. Hermeneutical and deconstructionist philosophies in the 20th century have brought attention to the mystical text.

Theoretical questions have been debated, such as whether mysticism constitutes the core or essence of personal religion or whether it is better viewed as one element interacting with others in the formation of concrete religions. Some argue that experience and interpretation cannot be easily sundered, and that mysticism is typically tied to a specific religion and contingent upon its teachings. Philosophers like Walter T. Stace and Robert C.

Zaehner have employed typologies of mysticism, often based on the contrast between introvertive and extrovertive mysticism developed by Rudolf Otto. The cognitive status of mystical knowing and its clash with mystics’ claims about the ineffability of their experiences have also been important topics for modern mysticism students.

Is Buddhism a mystic?

Buddhism, a religion originating from Indian religion, has a mystical tendency that has evolved over time. Theravada canon, written by the late 1st century BCE, and Mahayana, a school of thought in the 1st century CE, codified this mystical element into distinct schools of thought. Buddhist mysticism emphasizes the ineffability of the mystical experience, which is not intelligible to anyone who has not had a similar experience. Mystical knowledge is not intellectual but “felt knowledge” that views things in a different perspective and gives them new significance.

Early Buddhist mysticism focused on the emptying of subjective being, considered the greatest obstacle to spiritual growth. This process involves transcending the limits of an individual’s being and experiencing a new dimension of reality.

Mahayana Buddhism extended the analytic process to objective reality, rejecting subjectivism and objectivism. It emphasized the nature of reality-as-such, experienced in enlightenment (bodhi). The tantras, the distinctive literature of Vajrayana Buddhism, deal with the existential problem of what it is like or how it feels to attain the highest goal.

What religion believes in mystic?

God-mysticism represents a form of Eastern mysticism that posits the return of the spirit to its infinite base, the Ultimate Divine. This aspect is more characteristic of Western mysticism and is found in religions such as Christianity, Islam, Judaism, and Hinduism.

Can a Catholic be a mystic?

In Catholic theology, mystics are individuals who have attained Christian perfection and are no longer considered beginners or proficients. They continue to grow in virtue and are regarded as holy individuals.