[PDF] The Varieties Of Spiritual Experience eBook

Author : David B. Yaden
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 441 pages
File Size : 28,25 MB
Release : 2022
Category : Experience (Religion)
ISBN : 019066567X

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"In the midst of life's many ordinary moments, some experiences feel extraordinary. They can mark inflection points in one's life, after which one is never quite the same. Most brief experiences capable of making a long-lasting impact involve obvious changes in one's outward circumstances, like a birth, a death, a marriage, or an illness. Yet some life-changing moments seem to come wholly from another source, appearing as mental states or altered states of consciousness either from deep within a person's mind or, perhaps, from a source beyond the self. These experiences have been called by different names over time: spiritual, religious, mystical, peak, or self-transcendent, and people around the world and throughout history have experienced them, up to and including the present day. The sacred texts of every major religion describe these moments, philosophers since the ancient Greeks have pondered them, and according to recent Gallup polls (2003), well over 30% of contemporary Americans have experienced them"--

Author : Carl Sagan
Publisher : Penguin
Page : 316 pages
File Size : 27,62 MB
Release : 2006-11-02
Category : Science
ISBN : 1101201835

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“Ann Druyan has unearthed a treasure. It is a treasure of reason, compassion, and scientific awe. It should be the next book you read.” —Sam Harris, author of The End of Faith “A stunningly valuable legacy left to all of us by a great human being. I miss him so.” —Kurt Vonnegut Carl Sagan's prophetic vision of the tragic resurgence of fundamentalism and the hope-filled potential of the next great development in human spirituality The late great astronomer and astrophysicist describes his personal search to understand the nature of the sacred in the vastness of the cosmos. Exhibiting a breadth of intellect nothing short of astounding, Sagan presents his views on a wide range of topics, including the likelihood of intelligent life on other planets, creationism and so-called intelligent design, and a new concept of science as "informed worship." Originally presented at the centennial celebration of the famous Gifford Lectures in Scotland in 1985 but never published, this book offers a unique encounter with one of the most remarkable minds of the twentieth century.

Author : William James
Publisher : The Floating Press
Page : 824 pages
File Size : 31,29 MB
Release : 2009-01-01
Category : Psychology
ISBN : 1877527467

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Harvard psychologist and philosopher William James' The Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature explores the nature of religion and, in James' observation, its divorce from science when studied academically. After publication in 1902 it quickly became a canonical text of philosophy and psychology, remaining in print through the entire century. "Scientific theories are organically conditioned just as much as religious emotions are; and if we only knew the facts intimately enough, we should doubtless see 'the liver' determining the dicta of the sturdy atheist as decisively as it does those of the Methodist under conviction anxious about his soul. When it alters in one way the blood that percolates it, we get the Methodist, when in another way, we get the atheist form of mind."

Author : Wesley J. Wildman
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 321 pages
File Size : 49,80 MB
Release : 2011-01-06
Category : Religion
ISBN : 1139495240

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What is the value of religious and spiritual experiences within human life? Are we evolutionarily programmed to have such experiences? How will emerging technologies change such experiences in the future? Wesley Wildman addresses these key intellectual questions and more, offering a spiritually evocative naturalist interpretation of the diverse variety of religious and spiritual experiences. He describes these experiences, from the common to the exceptional, and offers innovative classifications for them based on their neurological features and internal qualities. His account avoids reductionistic oversimplifications and instead synthesizes perspectives from many disciplines, including philosophy and natural sciences, into a compelling account of the meaning and value of religious and spiritual experiences in human life. The resulting interpretation does not assume a supernatural worldview but incorporates religious and spiritual experiences into a positive affirmation of this-worldly existence.

Author : William James
Publisher : Everymans Library
Page : 372 pages
File Size : 18,64 MB
Release : 1995
Category : Ethics
ISBN : 9780460875578

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Brother of novelist Henry James, William James held views embodied in the tendency to subordinate logical proof to intuitive conviction. He was a vigorous antagonist of the idealistic school of Kant and Hegel, and an empiricist who made empiricism more radical by treating pure experience as the very substance of the world. Taking writings from The Principles of Psychology, Essays in Radical Empiricism and The Meaning of Truth amongst other publications, this edition offers a comprehensive selection of James's writings.

Author : Marianne Rankin
Publisher : A&C Black
Page : 303 pages
File Size : 21,99 MB
Release : 2008-01-01
Category : Religion
ISBN : 0826498213

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Spiritual experiences, mystical and near-death incidences are interpreted from scientific, philosophical and religious viewpoints.

Author : Charles Foster
Publisher : Hodder
Page : 282 pages
File Size : 37,89 MB
Release : 2011-12-08
Category : Religion
ISBN : 1444722050

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Human religious experiences are remarkably uniform; many can be pharmacologically induced. Recent research into the neurology of religious experience has shown that, when worshipping or praying, a certain part of the brain, apparently dormant during other activities, becomes active. What does all this mean for those of faith and those with none? In this fascinating book barrister Charles Foster takes a survey of the evidence - from shamans to medieval mystics, to out-of-body experiences and epilepsy, via Jerusalem and middle-class Christianity - and assesses its significance. Written in short, accessible chapters, this is a fascinating tour of religious and mystical experiences and their relation to human physiology.

Author : William James
Publisher : Good Press
Page : 436 pages
File Size : 13,94 MB
Release : 2023-12-01
Category : Religion
ISBN :

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William James' 'The Varieties of Religious Experience (Complete Edition)' provides a comprehensive exploration of the diversity of religious experiences individuals encounter. Written in a clear and accessible style, James delves into the psychological and philosophical aspects of religion, offering insights into the nature of mystical experiences, conversion, and the relationship between religion and science. Drawing from a wide range of religious traditions and personal narratives, James presents a nuanced understanding of spirituality that remains relevant in contemporary debates. This seminal work is a key text in the study of psychology of religion and the philosophy of spirituality. As a psychologist and philosopher, William James was deeply interested in the human mind and the nature of spiritual experiences. His background in both fields provided him with a unique perspective on the complexities of religious phenomena. With 'The Varieties of Religious Experience,' James sought to bridge the gap between subjective experiences and objective analysis, making a significant contribution to the understanding of spirituality. I highly recommend 'The Varieties of Religious Experience (Complete Edition)' to readers interested in exploring the psychological and philosophical dimensions of religion. James' insightful observations and thoughtful analysis make this book a timeless classic that continues to inspire scholars and seekers alike.

Author : Charles Taylor
Publisher : Harvard University Press
Page : 148 pages
File Size : 34,94 MB
Release : 2003-11-30
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9780674012530

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A hundred years after William James delivered the celebrated lectures that became The Varieties of Religious Experience, one of the foremost thinkers in the English-speaking world returns to the questions posed in James's masterpiece to clarify the circumstances and conditions of religion in our day. An elegant mix of the philosophy and sociology of religion, Charles Taylor's powerful book maintains a clear perspective on James's work in its historical and cultural contexts, while casting a new and revealing light upon the present. Lucid, readable, and dense with ideas that promise to transform current debates about religion and secularism, Varieties of Religion Today is much more than a revisiting of James's classic. Rather, it places James's analysis of religious experience and the dilemmas of doubt and belief in an unfamiliar but illuminating context, namely the social horizon in which questions of religion come to be presented to individuals in the first place. Taylor begins with questions about the way in which James conceives his subject, and shows how these questions arise out of different ways of understanding religion that confronted one another in James's time and continue to do so today. Evaluating James's treatment of the ethics of belief, he goes on to develop an innovative and provocative reading of the public and cultural conditions in which questions of belief or unbelief are perceived to be individual questions. What emerges is a remarkable and penetrating view of the relation between religion and social order and, ultimately, of what "religion" means.

Author : David B. Yaden
Publisher :
Page : pages
File Size : 33,55 MB
Release : 2022
Category : Experience (Religion)
ISBN : 9780190665692

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"In the midst of life's many ordinary moments, some experiences feel extraordinary. They can mark inflection points in one's life, after which one is never quite the same. Most brief experiences capable of making a long-lasting impact involve obvious changes in one's outward circumstances, like a birth, a death, a marriage, or an illness. Yet some life-changing moments seem to come wholly from another source, appearing as mental states or altered states of consciousness either from deep within a person's mind or, perhaps, from a source beyond the self. These experiences have been called by different names over time: spiritual, religious, mystical, peak, or self-transcendent, and people around the world and throughout history have experienced them, up to and including the present day. The sacred texts of every major religion describe these moments, philosophers since the ancient Greeks have pondered them, and according to recent Gallup polls (2003), well over 30% of contemporary Americans have experienced them"--