Madonna has Kabbalah, a book called the Zen of Motorcycle Maintenance becomes a best-seller. Either really obviously or quite subtly mysticism is growing in popularity.
What’s the big deal?
What is mysticism? What does it involve?
The answer to these questions are contained in the video with some very hilarious bunny-related images.
Keep reading this article to see the video, the transcript and further sources.
Transcript
Hello CultureCats, this is Joshua Hwang connecting you to the divine with another 90 Seconds to Culture videocast.
Mysticism: Touching God
Many have a desire to connect with God or higher knowledge, but away from the rigid formality of texts and “old-fashioned” rituals.
Mysticism aims to help people experience God or spiritual truth directly, rather than in an academic way. This is accomplished by certain practices like deep meditation, prayer, ascetic living, and more.
This is a little clearer with more specific examples.
To attain awakening, which is being freed from greed, hate and delusion, Zen Buddism de-emphasizes both theoretical knowledge and the study of religious texts in favor of direct, experienced realization through meditation and practicing the teachings of Buddha.
Famous riddles like “what is the sound of one hand clapping?” come from Zen Buddhism and are called koans.
In Judiaism there is the infinite, unknowable creator and the finite, tangible universe of his creation. Kabbalah sets out to explain this relationship thereby realizing the the nature of God and the universe, and why and how we shoud live.
One example of the practice of the Kabbalah comes from Hasdic Judaism. It moves away from the “academic” and re-emphasizes spirituality and joy, for example through song and dance. Also of note is the distinctive attire of the men.
While mystical religions may often be off-branches of larger religions, mystical practices don’t have to branch from another religion and these aren’t the only type of mystical branches.
BOOM, that’s mysticism!
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Sources / Further Reading:
Wikipedia: Mysticism
Wikipedia: Mystical experience
Wikipedia: Zen
Wikipedia: Kabbalah
(image by shioshvili)
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