【精品】七年级上册语文教案 title88

Mysticism,I. Definition of Mysticism (Evelyn Underwood, Practical Mysticism: Mysticism is the art of union with Reality, The mystic is a person who has attained that union in greater or less degree; or who aims at and believes in such attainment,But,A. What is Reality? From this definition only a mystic can answer and in terms which only other mystics can understandB. What is Union? From the mystics perspective it is not an “operation” but an activity which is being done, every conscious moment of time with great intensity and thoroughnesswe can know a thing by unity with it,“Marks” of Mysticism(James, Varieties of Religious Experience),I. Ineffabilitya negativeA. Mysticism defies expressionno words are adequate its contentB. It must be directly “experienced”C. It cannot be imparted or transferred to others,II. Noetic QualityA. Mysticism is a state of insight into depths of truth unknown through discursive intellectB. The areas of knowledge are “illuminations” or “revelations”,III. TransiencyA. Mystical states cannot be sustained for any great amount of timeB. At times, when faded, their quality can be imperfectly reproduced in memory,IV. PassivityA. The mystic will feel that his/her own will were in abeyance, sometimes as if grasped and controlled by a superior powerB. The “control” factor will lead at times to secondary phenemena1. prophetic speech2. automatic writing3. mediumistic trance,Characteristics(Underwood, Mysticism),I. Mysticism is practical, not theoreticalII. Mysticism is an entirely spiritual activityIII. The business and method of mysticism is lovelove is:A. The active, connotative, expression of ones will and desire for the AbsoluteB. Ones innate tendency to that Absolute, ones spiritual weight,IV. Mysticism entails a definite psychological experienceV. As a corollary to the four rules, emphasis should be made that true mysticism is never self-seeking,Generic Experiences(OBrien, Varieties of Mystical Experiences),I. The object confronted in mystic experience is thought by the mystic to be somehow ultimateA. A belief that a mystical experience is the ultimate experience one can have on earth1. Richard Rolle-the object is the “fire of divine consolation”2. St. Bernard-comparable to the “Beatific Vision in Heaven”,B. It is asserted that the object is the ultimate experienced possible to human awareness because it is the ultimate reality-the deity1. St. Catherine of Siena-the “Sea Pacific” in which she felt herself immersed in God2. Origen-It is the Word; the second person of the Trinity,II. The manner of confrontation is always immediate and directA. It can an intuitive one-to-one cognitive relation between subject and object, as found in St. AugustineB. It can an “insight”-the unmediated perception of a higher coherence-St. Ignatius Loyola or St. Teresa of Avila,III. The confrontation is always different from the familiar exercises of either sense perception or of reasoningA. Differing backgrounds of mystics will cause the mystical experience to be explained in different termsB. Yet, there are similarities which go beyond religious beliefs, for example, the self, itself, becomes awareness,Three Rules for Determining the “Truth” of an Experience,I. The reputed experience does not follow as a doctrinal conclusion from a persons basic philosophic or theological position, but is counter to it.A. In writings of Pseudo-Dionysius or Meister Eckhart, the experience which is so highly extolled is the last logical step in a rigid speculative system,B. Either of them may have been authentic mystics, but one cannot come to that conclusion from their writings onlyC. When the experience does not fit in at all with the persons speculative suppositions, the chances are that it was a genuine experience,II. The reputed experience is not an instance of wish fulfillment, but is counter to ones wishesIII. The reputed experience alone gives consistency to the speculationA. In Gregory, the experiences will be seen to be to the “luminous” center in the light of which Bible and philosophy and current theological controversies are understoodB. In St. John of the Cross, everything takes its coloring from the experience,Three Phrases of Life Agreed On By Mystics,I. Life as it concerns GodII. Life as it concerns the creatureIII. An intermediate life, a mixture of the former twoIV. ExamplesA. Plotinus3 descending phases or principles of Divine Reality1. The Godhead, the Absolute, and Unconditioned One2. Gods manifestation as the nous, the Divine Mind or Spirit which inspires the “intelligible” and eternal world3. Psyche, the Life or Soul of the physical universe,B. The Upanishads1. Brahma is the “heart of reality”; other then the known, and above the unknown2. Ananda, (being) that spiritual world which is the true object of aesethetic passion and religious contemplation3. The world-process as we know it, which represents Ananda taking form,C. Richard of St. Victor1. “Dilation of mind”enlarging and deepening our vision of the world2. The “elevation of the mind”in which we behold the realities which are above ourselves3. “Ecstasy,” in which the mind is carried up to contrast with truth in its pure simplicity,D. Jacopone da Todiuses symbolism of three heavens1. When the mind has achieved self-conquest, the “starry heaven” of multiplicity is revealed to it; its darkness is lit by scattered lights (points of reality which pierce the sky2. The “crystalline heaven” of lucid contemplation, where the soul is conformed to the rhythm of the divine lifeby its loving intuition it apprehends God under veils3. The “hidden heaven” or “ecstasy”lifted up that ineffable state where it enjoys a vision of imageless reality and “enters into possession of all that is God”,E. Ruysbroeck1. The natural world, theatre of our moral struggle2. The essential world, where God and Eternity are indeed known by intermediaries3. The super-essential world, where without immediary, and beyond all separation, “above reason and without reason,” the soul is united to “the glorious and absolute One”,F. Jacob Boehme1. The “deepest Deity, without and beyond Nature”2. The Eternal Light-world, the manifestation of Deity3. The outer world in which we dwell according to the body, which is manifestation, image or similitude of the Eternal,G. Dionysius the Areopagite1. The way of purification, in which the mind is inclined to learn true wisdom2. The way of illumination, in which the mind by contemplation is kindled to the burning of love3. The way of union, in which the mind by understanding, reason, and spirit is led up by God alone,Forms of Mystical Literature,I. Pastoral Homilies-the writings of the mystics intimate communion with the Divine, sometimes the writings are written from sermons preachedII. Theological Treaties-directed to an analysis of the mystical experience,III. Personal Advice-written to meet the need for instruction in the mystical of some definite person or personsA. The advice is personal in two ways at onceB. Author-mystic, in the light of personal experienceC. Reader-mystic, counseling for personal need,D. This category has many anonymous works which are considered to be “classical”1. The Book of the Poor in Spirit2. Theologia Germanica3. The Cloud of Unknowing,IV. ConfessionsA. Most famous practioner of this type is Augustine of Hippo in his ConfessionsB. William of St. Thierry, in his On Contemplating God,V. Spiritual Accounts-direct and to the point; purpose is simply to tell what occurredA. St. Ignatius LoyolaB. Marie of the IncarnationC. St. Paul of the Cross,Sampling of Mystics,I. Meister Eckhart (1260-1329 CE)A. The process of reality is a series of emanations1. From the Godhead to the Unspoken Word (the Father)2. From the Unspoken Word to the Spoken Word (the Son)3. The Spoken Word to Love (the Spirit)4. From Love to ideal creation,B. Humans return to the Godhead in a reverse orderC. The practical spirit of Eckhart1. The first stage of the souls return is regression from phenomenon, that is, from creatures in their actual state because they are not merely nothing, they are annihilating2. The second stage is the beholding of the uncreaturely in creatures; that is, of creatures in the ideal state3. The third stage is introspective; that is, one meditates upon the purely spiritual faculties of the soul, the trinity of memory, understanding, and will,D. The souls ultimate destiny is not the Trinity, but what is beyond the TrinityThe Godhead itself1. Thus, there is a fourth stage2. It consists in passing beyond memory-understanding-will to the delicate simplicity of the souls pure nature, to a oneness so rarefied that it is almost as though it were not in man at all,II. The Sufi Rabia of Basra (d. 185/801)A. Unlike many other Sufis, she did not pay heed to the beauty of natureB. She was marked by an extremely other-worldliness,C. An important aspect of her thought is her concept of pure or disinterested lovethe Love of God for HimselfO my Lord, if I worship thee from fear of Hell, burn me in hell; and if I worship thee from hope of Paradise, exclude me from Paradise, but if I worship thee for Thy own sake, then withhold not from me Thy Eternal BreatheD. Her doctrine of disinterested love would influence not only later Sufis but traditional Islamic teahing,III. The “Intoxicated” Sufi Abu Yazid (d. 261/875)A. Regarded as the first of the “intoxicated” Sufis who would find God within his own soulB. He scandalized the orthodox Muslim by ejaculating, Glory to MeC. He was also the first to take the Prophets Ascension as a theme for expressing his own mystical experienceD. He developed the doctrine of Fana (“absorption” or “annihilation” which would play an important role in later Sufi teaching,Hermiticism and Kabbalistic Mysticism,Neo-platonic and Neo-Pythagorean Influences,I. All of Platos works were preserved during the Christian destruction of Greek literatureII. Platos “Academy” continued from the time of Plato until it was closed in 529 CE,.III. Between the 3rd and 6th centuries CE, Platonism underwent a revivalthis revival is referred to as Neo-PlatonismIV. The nature of Platos philosophy is positive toward syncretism; other systems could be easily addedespecially true of Neo-platonism which included neo-pythagorean and Hermetic concepts,Hermes Trismegistus,I. Tradition states that he lived around 2670 BCEII. Hermes Trismegistus is the Greek equivalent for Thoth and means “The Thrice Great”III. Legend claims he was an Egyptian priest, legislator, and philosopher and was to have written 36 books on theology and philosophy and six books on medicine,IV. The 46 books are divided as follows:A. Ten books of laws, deities, and the education of priestsB. Ten books of sacrifices, offerings, prayers, hymns, and festive processionsC. Ten books of cosmographi and geographical information,D. Four books devoted to astronomy and astrologyE. Two books containing a collection of songs in honor of the gods and a description of royal life and its dutiesF. Six books known collectively as the “Pastophorous” and deals with medical subjects,G. These writings were imparted, according to tradition, to Greek philosophers such as Pythagoras, Plato, Aristotle, and Herodotus,Other Legends,I. Thoth was thought to govern over mystical wisdom, magic, writing, and healing; Hermes was the personification of universal wisdom and the patron of magic,II. Both are associated with writingsA. Thoth was credited with writing the sacred books of EgyptB. According to Iamblichus (c. 250-300 BCE), Hermes wrote 20,000 books and Mantheo (c. 300 BCE) thought he wrote over 36,000 books,III. According to legend both revealed to humankind the healing arts, magic, writing, astrology, science and philosophyIV. Hermes Trismegistus provided the wisdom of light to the ancient mysteries of Egypt. “He carried an emerald, upon which was recorded all philosophy, and the caduces, the symbols mystical illumination. Hermes Trismegistus vanquished Typhon, the dragon of ignorance, and mental, moral and physical perversion,The Emerald Tablet,True, without falsehood, certain and most true, that which is above is the same as that which is below, and that which is below is the same as that which is above, for the performance of miracles of the One Thing. And as all things from the One, by the meditation of One, so all things have their birth from this One Thing by adaptation. The Sun is its Father, the Moon its Mother, the Wind carries it in its belly, its nurse is the world. This is the Father of all perfection, or consummation of the world. Its power is itegrating, if it be turned into earth,You shall separate the earth from the fire, the subtle from the gross, suavely, and with great ingenuity and skill. Your skilful work ascends from earth to heaven and descends to earth again, and receives the power of the superiors and of the inferiors. So thou has the glory of the whole worldtherefore let all obscurity flee from thee. This is the strong force of all forces, overcoming every subtle and penetrating every solid thing. So the world was created. Hence all were wonderful adaptations, of which this is the manner. Therefore I am called Hermes Trismegistus having the three parts of the philosophy of the whole world. What I have to tell is completed during the Operation of the Sun,V. Several Fathers of the Church thought that Hermes was pre-plato; Lactancius, St. Augustine, Justin Martyr, Athenagoras, Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian, Cyprian, and Cyril of AlexandriaVI. Other Greek scholars included Zosimus, Jamblichus, Fulgentius, and Julian the Emperor,The Truth,I. Until 17th century CE, it was generally accepted that Hermes lived before the pre-Socratics and wrote a considerable body of religious, philosophic, and scientific literature.,II. The works attributed to Hermed are referred to as “The Corpus Hermeticum”, composed by a circle of Greek-speaking Egyptians working in and around Alexandria in the 2nd and 3rd centuries CEIII. The Hermetic writings show influence from Platonic, Stoic, and mystic Jewish traditions,IV. No Christian influence, although there are many phrases and ideas that seem as if they might be from the Christian tradition: For instance, in the Pimander there is an account of the creation of the world by the “luminous Word” who is the “Son of God”V. Some scholars believe the similarities are due to the fact that Hermes and Christianity have some of the same sources,VI. The manuscripts of the Corpus Hermiticum were discovered in Constantinople by agents of Cosimo Medici (a ruling prince of Tuscany)VII. Cosimo was so eager to know the contents of the material that he had Marisilio Ficino interrupt his translation of Plato and devote his energies to the translation of Hermes,VIII. He finished the translation in 1464; being a Platonic expert he was able to see the Platonic elements in the corpus; but he believed Plato got his ideas from Hermes.A. This misdating led him to believe that he had the oldest knowledgeB. Dating the corpus to the 2nd millennium BCE made it the basis of all wisdomC. Ficino also thought that Hermes and Moses were contemporaries; he even speculates that they might be the same person,D. Thus, the corpus gave the 2 great streams of knowledgethe philosophical writings of Plato and the Old TestamentE. His translation and commentary helped to establish a Christian Hermetic tradition that flourished well into the 17th century CE,Pico Della Mirandola,I. Contemporary of FicinoA. Began his study of philosophy under FicinoB. Picos importance is that he added to the magic of the Hermetic tradition the magic of the CabalaC. He went to Rome in 1486 with 900 theses or points drawn from all philosophies which he wanted to debate in public that points were reconcilable with one another,D. No debate occurred, but it helped to continue the Renaissances interest in magic through his books such as the Dignity of Man, Apology, and Oration.E. He later had to appear before a commission appointed by Pope Innocent VIII; the commission was to investigate the heretical character of some of Picos theses,F. In 1487 Pico made a retraction of his beliefsG. In 1492 a new pope, Alexander IV, came to the rescue of Pico,Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite,I. Wrote Celestial HierarchiesII. Claimed to be the Dionysius who met St. Paul in Athensaccepted by many scholars of the early churchIII. Real author is unknown, but wrote under neo-platonic influencesIV. The work would become important in the synthesis neo-platonism and Christianity,V. The link is done by identifying the angelic world with what the philosophers call the intelligible worldVI. The world is divided:A. Angelic (intelligible)B. CelestialC. Sublunar, which we inhabit,Henry Cornelius Agrippa von Netesheim(Cornelius Agrippa),I. Born in 1486 in Cologne, GermanyII. He confided in a latter at an early age that he possessed a curiosity concerning the mysteries (Albertus Magnus (1193-1280, famous occult scholar lived in Cologne)III. Went to the University of Paris where he gathered a band of fellow students interested in the same subject,IV. In 1510 he wrote the first draft of his Three Books of Occult Philosophyfirst published in 1531,33V. His work is divided into 3 books:A. Natural Magic, or magic in the elemental worldB. Celestial MagicC. Ceremonial MagicD. These divisions correspond to the divisions of philosophy into physics,