Introduction to World Mysticism

Evening at Emory - Humanities and Cultural Studies

Madonna is studying the Kabbalah. The Shack is a runaway bestseller. Centuries after he died, everyone's reading Rumi. Yoga, Buddhism and other eastern practices are more popular than ever. So what gives? Central to these cultural trends is mysticism, a vague word that can be translated as "the spiritual principle at the heart of religion." Many people believe mysticism is the golden thread that unites all the world's religions, while others scoff at the idea. Decide for yourself in this class as we explore major themes and writings from the world's great mystical traditions. Using Andrew Harvey's The Essential Mystics as our textbook, we'll examine the world's great wisdom traditions — Taoism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, as well as pagan and philosophical forms of mysticism — acknowledging both the common ground and the distinctive qualities of each mystical path. Class is taught from an academic/nonsectarian perspective. Textbook is not included. Textbook: The Essential Mystics : Selections from the World's Great Wisdom Traditions

Textbook: The Essential Mystics : Selections from the World's Great Wisdom Traditions

Instructor: Carl McColman, MA in Professional Writing and Editing, Author of The Aspiring Mystic
4 session(s): Wed: Apr 14-May 5 / 7:00-9:00 pm
Registration fee: $150   CEUs: 0.8      

What will be covered

• Session 1: Defining our terms, posing the question: Is there such a thing as a "world
  mysticism"? Pro and con arguments
  
• Session 2: Indigenous, Taoist, and Hindu mysticism
  
• Session 3: Jewish (Kabbalah), Christian, and Islam (Sufi) mysticism
  
• Session 4: Buddhist and pagan/philosophical mysticism; summary/revisiting our
  question

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