A Critical Review on the Book Mysticism, East and West by Rudolf Otto
پژوهشنامۀ انتقادی متون و برنامههای علوم انسانی January 8, 2025 Hadi Vakili
Rudolf Otto's book Mysticism, East and West is a landmark in comparative mysticism, arguing that mysticism is fundamentally a kinship between Eastern and Western traditions. Otto uses the concept of the "Numinous" or Sacred to bridge historical and geographical divides between religions. First published in 1926, the work compares the Hindu mystic Shankara, representing Eastern mysticism, with the Christian mystic Eckhart, representing Western mysticism. Otto seeks to provide a model for understanding religious truth and comparing religious thinkers, presenting mysticism as a phenomenon that is inherently East-West in nature, building on ideas first explored in his 1923 book The Idea of the Holy.