Interpretation and Mystical Experience
Religious Studies October 1, 1965 Ninian Smart 64 citations
The article examines R. C. Zaehner's classification of mysticism into panenhenic, monistic, and theistic types. It argues that monistic and theistic mysticism likely involve the same kind of experience, differing only in interpretation. Similarly, the Theravādin experience of nirvana, interpreted neither monistically nor theistically, may be substantially identical to those two types. This raises methodological issues about distinguishing experience from interpretation. The fact that mystical experience is substantially similar across cultures does not imply a shared 'perennial philosophy', because mystics' doctrines are shaped by factors beyond the experience itself.