Mystical Consciousness

Louis Roy O.P.

Description

This book offers a philosophical account of ordinary consciousness as a step toward understanding mystical consciousness. Presupposing a living interaction between meditation and thinking, the work draws on Western and Japanese thinkers to develop a philosophy of religion that is friendly to the experience of meditators and that can explore such themes as emptiness, nothingness, and the self. Western thinkers considered include Plotinus, Eckhart, Schleiermacher, Heidegger, Brentano, Husserl, Sartre, and Lonergan; and Japanese thinkers referenced include Nishitani, Hisamatsu, and Suzuki. All employed centering prayer, Zen, or other forms of mental concentration. Particular emphasis is placed on the work of twentieth-century Catholic philosopher Bernard Lonergan, whose writings on consciousness can inform an understanding of mysticism.

Preface
Acknowledgments

Introduction

Part I. Western Philosophies of Consciousness

1. Major Contributions

Brentano
Husserl
Sartre
Lonergan
Concluding Remarks

2. Complementary Contributions

From Intentionality to Consciousness: Searle
Degrees of Consciousness: Crosby
Further Clarifications: Helminiak
The Affective Side: Morelli
Concluding Remarks

3. Accounts of Mystical Consciousness

Forman on Pure Consciousness Events
The Realm of Transcendence According to Lonergan
Moore on the "How" of Consciousness
Price on Bare Consciousness
Granfield on the Mystical Difference
Concluding Remarks

Part II. Three Classics

4. Plotinus: Consciousness beyond Consciousness

A Grand Worldview
Intellect's Share in the Good
Ordinary Consciousness
What Happens beyond Consciousness?
No Blackout and Yet No Self-Consciousness
Ecstasy, or Enstasy?
Concluding Remarks

5. Eckhart: When Human Consciousness Becomes Divine Consciousness

The Emptiness of the Human Intellect
No Awareness
Nothingness
A Detached Love without a Why
Is the Soul Equated with God?
The Soul's Breakthrough to the Godhead
Concluding Remarks

6. Schleiermacher: Consciousness as Feeling

Feeling
Prereflective and Reflective Consciousness
Absolute Dependence
Three Kinds of Consciousness
Concluding Remarks

Part III. A Dialogue with Zen Philosophy

7. Western Views of the Self

Arguing against the Self
Arguing for the Self
Transcending the Self
Concluding Remarks

8. Japanese Views of the Self

Suzuki
Nishitani
Concluding Remarks

9. Some Western Views of Nothingness

Plotinus and Eckhart
Heidegger
Nishitani Interpreter of Plotinus, Eckhart, and Heidegger
Concluding Remarks

10. Japanese Views of Nothingness

Nishitani's Approach to Nihilism
Nishitani's Characterization of "Absolute Nothingness"
Hisamatsu's Characterization of "Oriental Nothingness"
Concluding Remarks

Conclusion

Notes
Glossary
Bibliography
Index

Sujets

• Philosophie
• Philosophie de la religion
• Philosophy of religion
• Comparative religion
• Mysticism

Informations

• Publié par: State University of New York Press
• Date de parution: 01 février 2012
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780791487310
• Langue: English

Extrait

Mystical Consciousness

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Mystical Consciousness

WESTERN PERSPECTIVES AND DIALOGUE WITH JAPANESE THINKERS

Louis Roy, O.P.

STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK PRESS

Published by State University of New York Press, Albany

© 2003 State University of New York

All rights reserved

Printed in the United States of America

No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of the publisher.

For information, address State University of New York Press, 90 State Street, Suite 700, Albany, N.Y., 12207

Production by Diane Ganeles Marketing by Fran Keneston

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

Roy, Louis, 1942– Mystical consciousness : western perspectives and dialogue with Japanese thinkers / Louis Roy. p. cm. ISBN 0-7914-5643-9 (alk. paper.) — ISBN 0-7914-5644-7 (pbk.: alk. paper) 1. Religion—Philosophy. 2. Philosophy, European—20th century. 3. Philosophy, Japanese—20th century. 4. Zen Buddhism—Philosophy. I. Title.

BL51.R5996 2003 218—dc21

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

2002066783

Preface Acknowledgments Introduction

Contents

Part I Western Philosophies of Consciousness Chapter 1. Major Contributions Brentano Husserl Sartre Lonergan Concluding Remarks Chapter 2. Complementary Contributions From Intentionality to Consciousness: Searle Degrees of Consciousness: Crosby Further Clarifications: Helminiak The Affective Side: Morelli Concluding Remarks Chapter 3. Accounts of Mystical Consciousness Forman on Pure Consciousness Events The Realm of Transcendence According to Lonergan Moore on the “How” of Consciousness Price on Bare Consciousness Granfield on the Mystical Difference Concluding Remarks

v

ix xiii xv

3 4 7 10 16 20 21 21 24 26 30 32 37 37 41 44 46 49 50

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Mystical Consciousness

Part II Three Classics Chapter 4. Plotinus: Consciousness beyond Consciousness A Grand Worldview Intellect’s Share in the Good Ordinary Consciousness What Happens beyond Consciousness? No Blackout and Yet No Self-Consciousness Ecstasy, or Enstasy? Concluding Remarks Chapter 5. Eckhart: When Human Consciousness Becomes Divine Consciousness The Emptiness of the Human Intellect No Awareness Nothingness A Detached Love without a Why Is the Soul Equated with God? The Soul’s Breakthrough to the Godhead Concluding Remarks Chapter 6. Schleiermacher: Consciousness as Feeling Feeling Prereflective and Reflective Consciousness Absolute Dependence Three Kinds of Consciousness Concluding Remarks

Part III A Dialogue with Zen Philosophy Chapter 7. Western Views of the Self Arguing against the Self Arguing for the Self Transcending the Self Concluding Remarks Chapter 8. Japanese Views of the Self Suzuki Nishitani Concluding Remarks

55 56 58 61 63 65 66 69

71 72 75 79 81 85 88 93

95 95 98 103 106 109

115 116 119 124 127

129 129 139 142

Contents

Chapter 9. Western Views of Nothingness Plotinus and Eckhart Heidegger Nishitani of Interpreter of Plotinus, Eckhart, and Heidegger Concluding Remarks Chapter 10. Japanese Views of Nothingness Nishitani’s Approach to Nihilism Nishitani’s Characterization of “Absolute Nothingness” Hisamatsu’s Characterization of “Oriental Nothingness” Concluding Remarks Conclusion Notes Glossary Bibliography Index

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145 145 146 158 163 165 165 167 177 185 187 193 221 223 227

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Preface

ver the last 150 years, with thinkers such as Marx, Nietzsche, O Freud, Heidegger, Wittgenstein and Skinner, consciousness has been 1 suspect in the West. But in the East, by and large it has been viewed neg- atively for at least two and a half millennia. Nevertheless, this book will praise consciousness! A reckless endeavor? Perhaps not if we are willing to distinguish lower sorts of consciousness from the kind of conscious- ness involved in spiritual enlightenment—pace those who deny its pres- ence in the highest mystical states. Accordingly, this study will aim at philosophically clarifying certain aspects of mystical consciousness which are cross-culturally reported and discussed. More particularly, it wants to join in the mutually enriching dialogue that has taken place, during the twentieth century, between Japanese and Western philoso- phers. At the outset, the readers are urged to note that this undertaking presupposes a living interaction between meditation and rational think- ing. All the major authors introduced here philosophized in a religious ambience, although at times they adopted a critical stance vis-à-vis the constructs of either institutional or sectarian religion. They drew upon the resources of centering prayer, Zen, or other forms of mental concen- tration as they grappled with issues regarding fundamental meaning and utter emptiness. As early in his career as 1903, the great Japanese philosopher Nishida Kitaro published a short, programmatic essay in which he pointed to the lack of meaning in modern existence. He stated:

However, the doubt of the human heart which I’m talking about is not a mere philosophical problem based on an intel- lectual demand. It arises from the actual demands of our will

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