Emptiness and Unknowing
Buddhist Studies Review December 31, 2018 Rupert Gethin 1 citation
The debate between perennialists, who argue mystical experiences are universal, and constructivists, who see them as culturally specific, has shaped the study of mysticism for fifty years. This article, inspired by Lance Cousins' comparison of Buddhaghosa's Path of Purification and Teresa of Ávila's Interior Castle, identifies specific parallels in contemplative exercises and the progress of the spiritual life between Buddhist meditation accounts (such as the Cūḷa-Suññata-sutta) and Christian apophaticism (as in The Cloud of Unknowing). It details parallels in techniques, approaches to contemplative practice, and the phenomenology of experiences of the meditator or contemplative at different stages.