نشریه کتاب نقد
پیاپی 35 (تابستان 1384)

The current paper has tried to describe and categorize mystical experiences according to special criteria to find solid norms for redefining semi-mystical experiences to differentiate them from original mystical experiences.A study of norms considered by ancient and new mystical schools of thought both religious and irreligious, will show that there are two final norms for spiritual experiences to be mystical: First, unity; and second, inexpressibility. According to these criteria, there are two basic conditions, which are necessary but not sufficient, for a spiritual experience to be mystical.The current paper will first study the aforesaid criteria before focusing on a modern concept born as a result of studies carried out by Professor Lotfizadeh (the renowned Iranian scientists and mathematician), which is know ‘fuzzy logic’, introducing mystical experiences as being fuzzy. According to this viewpoint, being mystical includes a wide range of spiritual experiences from the most original religious experiences to those resulting from psychosomatic practices and even the effects of certain kinds of drugs. Therefore, to differentiate such experiences (which have been described semi-mystical here) from original mystical experiences we would need additional criteria in addition to two major criteria used for describing mystical experiences. This sufficient criterion is conforming to sharia or a special religion; that is rationality and custom.The article will conclude by proposing solutions for pathologies of mystical experiences so that we can differentiate between mystical and semi-mystical experiences. In this way, a wide range of spiritual human experiences will turn out to be unreal and non-original on the basis of criteria used to identify mystical experiences. However, since the nature of mysticism and mystical experiences is fuzzy, they can be described as semi-mystical experiences as opposed to original mystical ones.

Mysticism is a path, which takes man to another level of cognition which is in contrast to sensory perception. For this reason, it must provide the mystic with a different set of tools or discover them within him to pave the way for another type of cognition.Different mystic schools of thought have always referred to some kind of illumination and try to use it. That effort requires a special practical program, which is sent by God through prophets, is called sharia.Undoubtedly, after accepting that Man has been created by an all-knowing God which knows all the Man’s secrets, we must admit that divine religion is the best way for activating human potentials and religiosity can lead to true mysticism. Therefore, sharia has been given to all prophets. Almighty God tells Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) in Quran that “He has enforced the same Sharia for you, as was given to Noah, and the same that was revealed to Abraham, Moses and Jesus.”Seyed Heidar Ameli has compared relationship between sharia and truth of mysticism to almond skin and its kernel: “The kernel will perish in the absence of the skin while the skin will be useless without the kernel.”Pundits have always stressed that attaining truth of mysticism would be impossible without sharia because if a divine path is not taken; the mystic will be vulnerable to satanic hallucinations, mistaking them for true mysticism. This paper aims to explain that if mysticism distances from sharia and faith in a single God and the Afterworld, it will become a tool for domination of foreign hegemonic powers over people.

This article will take an analytical approach to Zen Buddhism from a monotheistic angle and enumerates common weaknesses in Zen Buddhism and other human mystical schools. Also, this paper will try to prove inefficiency of such schools.This study shows that such schools of thought lack a coherent ideological structure and since they are not based on divine revelations, they have erred on many points. Due to lack of comprehensive knowledge of Man, such schools lack a regular trend for treating and elevating human soul. Elevation of Man depends on growth of all his human aspects because Man enjoys two different aspects none of which are futile; neither his thinking, nor his social activities.

William James’ discussions about mystical experiences are among the most important discourses about mystical experiences in the modern world. He has discussed the issue in his book “Diversity of Religious Experiences”. His discussions elicited many positive and negative viewpoints and to some extent reflect general outlook of discussions about mystical experiences.The main topics to be discussed in this paper include:1)Differences in mystical and religious experiences (from viewpoint of William James);2)Description of mystical experience;3)Specifications of mystical experiences;4)Cascade of mystical experiences;5)Relationship between William James’ viewpoint about mystical experiences and psychological viewpoint.In some place, the paper has criticized James’ viewpoints too.

Excessive tendency toward internal affairs and abilities of human beings in the West and emergence of hundreds of small and big cults in this regard, has faced Western thinkers with a very important and new phenomenon.After centuries of attention to pure instrumental rationality as well as material needs, now the Western world is experiencing a new wave of introspection which should be known before being controlled. Movement of that wave toward the Islamic East and among Muslims has caused a much more different repercussion that it caused in the West. Old introspective teachings related to Zen, Yuga and Meditation were not welcome and though a small group was infatuated with them, they were generally ignored by the majority and some even opposed them. The reason was that the Islamic East contained strong fundaments of Islamic mysticism and teachings and never turned its back on it. If a small group of Muslims were infatuated with imported thoughts it was because they were not aware of treasure trove of their own mystical teachings.Now to solve this problem, a group has tried to bring Islamic mysticism and modern Western introspection to reconciliation and prepare a mixture of the two that would be accepted by most people.This paper tries to explain the most important fundaments of the Islamic mysticism and Western introspection without negating the possibility of mixing the two entities.

The goal of this paper is to resort to creditable sources of Islamic mysticism to dispel a delusion plaguing some people who think that mystics did not attach much importance to sharia and a mystic is not careful about religious obligations! Though such a delusion has a long history, it has been brought up more seriously during recent years and some intellectual figures who are inspired by the contemporary western culture have tried to separate mystical aspects of religion from its jurisprudential aspect to claim that sharia and jurisprudence may be easily passed over with people being able to be merely religious mystics and nothing more!Here, we want to know is that really true? Have mystics been really ignorant about sharia and jurisprudence? Or is this merely a delusion? If so, wherefrom that delusion has originated?Three issues should be explained here:-First, status of sharia in mysticism;-Second, forgetting religious obligations in some stages of mystical practice;-Third, the basis of continued worship of God after becoming united with ultimate Truth.

In this book, which is a result of his own mystical and emotional explorations, the author has tried to enumerate features of the Islamic mysticism and their existence in early Islamic sources as well as among early Islamic generations who were Prophet Mohammad’s (PBUH) disciples or their followers to express the fact that mysticism is not a new manifestation of Islam or something additional to it, but its pure type is in fact an indispensable part of religion. He continues by saying that if in the modern technocrat world, divine facts were expressed through a mystical expression which would also be in harmony with logical affairs; many new scientists may turn religious men too.However, we must differentiate between the original type of it and mixed, superstitious or supernatural ones, which are more negative and destructive than being positive and elevating and are more a result of mental disturbances and failure in this field than the outcome of attaining the ultimate truth. Correct propagation of this branch will help us achieve one of the loftiest goals of Islam, which is attention to emotional aspect of people.