Roads of Excess, Palaces of Wisdom

Eroticism and Reflexivity in the Study of Mysticism

By: Jeffrey J. Kripal

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Paperback | 1 December 2001 | Edition Number 1

At a Glance

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272 Pages

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22.71 x 16.57 x 2.36

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William Blake once wrote that "The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom." Inspired by these poetic terms, Jeffrey J. Kripal reveals how the works of scholars of mysticism are often rooted in their own mystical experiences, "roads of excess," which can both lead to important insights into these scholars' works and point us to our own "palaces of wisdom."

In his new book, Kripal addresses the twentieth-century study of mysticism as a kind of mystical tradition in its own right, with its own unique histories, discourses, sociological dynamics, and rhetorics of secrecy. Fluidly combining autobiography and biography with scholarly exploration, Kripal takes us on a tour of comparative mystical thought by examining the lives and works of five major historians of mysticism--Evelyn Underhill, Louis Massignon, R. C. Zaehner, Agehananda Bharati, and Elliot Wolfson--as well as relating his own mystical experiences. The result, Kripal finds, is seven "palaces of wisdom": the religious power of excess, the necessity of distance in the study of mysticism, the relationship between the mystical and art, the dilemmas of male subjectivity and modern heterosexuality, a call for ethical criticism, the paradox of the insider-outsider problem in the study of religion, and the magical power of texts and their interpretation.
An original and penetrating analysis of modern scholarship and scholars of mysticism, Roads of Excess, Palaces of Wisdom is also a persuasive demonstration of the way this scholarly activity is itself a mystical phenomenon.

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You Can Find This Book In

Non-Fiction Religion & Beliefs Aspects of Religion for Non-Christians Religious Life & Practice Religious Aspects of Sexuality Spirituality & Religious Experience Spiritual & Religious Mysticism Society & Culture Social Groups Gender Studies Family & Health Relationships & Families: Advice & Issues

Sex & Sexuality: Advice & Issues Religion Comparative Religion Psychology Sexual Behaviour Miscellaneous Items

Preface: Sex, Secrecy, and the Sacred
Introduction: Roads of Excess
Eyeing the Burning Wings
Analyzing the Mystical Experience of Love in Evelyn Underhill's Mysticism (1911) Secret Talk: The Vajr
Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.

Roads of Excess, Palaces of Wisdom

Eroticism and Reflexivity in the Study of Mysticism

At a Glance

Paperback

Shipping

How to return your order

Defective items

You Can Find This Book In

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