Emptiness and Unknowing: An Essay in Comparative Mysticism
Buddhist Path, Buddhist Teachings: Studies in Memory of L.S. Cousins October 8, 2019 DOI: 10.1558/equinox.33391
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractThe article examines parallels between Buddhist and Christian contemplative practices, arguing that specific techniques and experiential stages in meditation are comparable across traditions, challenging the constructivist view that mystical experiences are entirely shaped by cultural context. It draws on Lance Cousins' 1989 comparison of Buddhaghosa's Path of Purification and Teresa of Ávila's Interior Castle, as well as Buddhist texts like the Cūḷa-Suññata-sutta and the Christian work The Cloud of Unknowing. The author identifies similarities in contemplative exercises, the progress of the spiritual life, and the phenomenology of meditators' experiences at different stages, suggesting that these parallels support a more nuanced understanding of mysticism beyond strict cultural relativism.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Citations | 1 |
| Key finding | The article identifies specific parallels in the techniques, approaches, and phenomenology of contemplative practice between Buddhist and Christian traditions, challenging the constructivist view that mystical experiences are entirely culturally specific. |
Abstract
Over the last fifty years the study of mysticism has been shaped by the debate between ‘perennialists’, who claim that mystical experiences are the same across different cultures, and ‘constructivists’, who claim that mystical experiences are shaped by, and hence specific to, particular religious traditions. The constructivist view is associated with the ‘discursive turn’ that has dominated the humanities for the last half century, emphasising cultural relativism. Nonetheless, the constructivist position is not without problems. Inspired in part by Lance Cousins’ 1989 comparison of Buddhaghosa’s Path of Purification and Teresa of Ávila’s Interior Castle, the present article seeks to bring out parallels in the contemplative exercises and the progress of the ‘spiritual life’ found in Buddhist accounts of meditation (such as the Cūḷa- Suññata-sutta) and Christian apophaticism (as presented in The Cloud of Unknowing). The article seeks to establish specific parallels in the techniques of and approaches to contemplative practice in both traditions, as well as in the phenomenology of the experiences of the meditator (yogāvacara) or contemplative at different stages in the work of meditation and contemplation.