Mysticism and Its Cultural Expression: An Inquiry into the Description of Mystical Experience and Its Ontological and Epistemological Nature

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to critically explore the nature and ontological and epistemological significance of differences observed in how various cultural traditions describe and explain such experiences. After an initial consideration of definitional issues, the article focuses on the argu- ments supporting and challenging the idea of mystical experience being a universal phenomenon and a vehicle for true knowledge. The article also examines the problem of the unity of the mys- tical experience as a definite state of consciousness and the multiplicity of its sociocultural and civilizational expressions and descriptions conditioned by different cultural and historical factors.