The Mystical Experience

About this course:

A major and recurrent feature in world religions is the ecstatic or mystical experience and the effects of such experience on religious traditions. In this course, we explore mysticism as it appears in archaic, Eastern, and Western traditions. We begin with perhaps the earliest of religious experiences, the shamans; and continue with the ancient Greek, Roman, and Egyptian mystical practices as described in secret texts. We continue with Hinduism, Buddhism, and Daoism, which present instructions and evidence of intense mystical experiences; and Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, all of which have significant and powerful mystical knowledge. Finally, we address modern ecstatic experiences aided by psychedelic drugs such as psilocybin, LSD, and MDMA (ecstasy). This course uses the Hybrid format which allows students to participate remotely and/or in the classroom. This course will be recorded. Students will have access to videos for the duration of the course.