Mysticism and Morality, A New Look At Old Questions

Rating:
Summary: The Problem of the Mystic & the Moral
Review: After showing how our modern connection of religion and morality is a thoroughly modern juxtaposition, Jones deals with the principle parameters of morality and most global concepts connected to modern recognition of mysticism as distinct from the traditions. In Part II, mystics from five religious traditions are selected to examine the complexities of mysticism and morality. In Part III, the relation of types of mystical experience to morality is discussed, as will the issue of social action. Finally, what impact classical mystics' ideas on values and morality can have on the contemporary world is addressed.
In Part II, the truth of the traditions' factual claims is not be questioned but simply accepted; the objective of this study is to examine the ethics of these traditions and to see how morality does or does not figure in them. Both values (in particular, the central issue of concern for others) and factual beliefs (whether they permit or foreclose morality) is examined. The mystical path and the enlightened state are of central importance to the shape of moral claims. The amount of exposition varies from tradition to tradition-Daoism requires more because it is open to so many diverse interpretations, while Jainism requires very little because only a few points are of importance here. This a philosophical study of the moral status of mystical traditions, rather than a comprehensive survey of the ethical rules and norms of the different traditions.
From the various tradition individual mystics as exemplars are selected to illustrate the variety of positions and the issues involved examining mystical attainment and ethical behavior. The study is necessarily selective and not a comprehensive assessment of all mystical paths in these traditions. First, Jones focuses upon the "classical" mystics unaffected by modem Western scientific, philosophical, and ethical thought (although a few contemporary practitioners are noted in passing). Second, even within the selected religious traditions the survey snapshottish: only basic texts and representative mystics of chosen subtraditions are discussed. The foundational texts of a tradition or subtradition is the focus for the Eastern traditions, but for Christianity Jones' focus is especially on the medieval period with its rich scholastic mystical practice. The selection within Hinduism and Buddhism is partial but at least sufficient enough to show that there are different points of view within the same tradition. I missed some recognition of Judaism and Islamic mystical traditions but it is doubtful that their inclusion would have affected the analysis in the philosophical portions of the book, especially in part III where modernity as antimystical is most strongly asserted.