Contemplative literature : a comparative sourcebook on meditation and contemplative prayer / edited by Louis Komjathy ; contributors, Michael Birkel [and ten others].

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Komjathy, Louis, 1971- editor.

Birkel, Michael Lawrence, contributor.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Contemplation.

Meditation.

Religions.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (850 p.)

Place of Publication:

Albany, New York : SUNY Press, 2015.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

This is the first theoretically informed and historically accurate comparative anthology of primary texts on meditation and contemplative prayer. Written by international experts on the respective texts and corresponding traditions, Contemplative Literature provides introductions to and primary sources on contemplative practice from various religious traditions. The contributors explore classical Daoist apophatic meditation, Quaker silent prayer, Jewish Kabbalah, Southern Buddhist meditation, Sufi contemplation, Eastern Orthodox prayer, Pure Land Buddhist visualization, Hindu classical Yoga, Dominican Catholic prayer, Daoist internal alchemy, and modern therapeutic meditation. Each introduction to a contemplative text discusses its historical context, the associated religious tradition and literature, the method of contemplative practice, and the text's legacy and influence. Volume editor Louis Komjathy opens the work with a thoughtful consideration of interpretive issues in the emerging interdisciplinary field of contemplative studies. Readers will gain not only a nuanced understanding of important works of contemplative literature, but also resources for understanding contemplative practice and contemplative experience from a comparative and cross-cultural perspective.

Contents:

Contents; Illustrations; Preface; Acknowledgments; Abbreviations; Part I: Approaching Contemplative Practice; Chapter 1. Approaching Contemplative Practice; Contemplative Practice; Contemplative Studies; Context and Locatedness; Psychology, Consciousness Studies, and Neuroscience; Interpretive Issues in Contemplative Studies; Notes; Works Cited and Further Reading; Chapter 2. Contemplative Traditions; Contemplative Traditions; Dimensions of Contemplative Practice; Contemplative Experience; Psychologies of Realization; Contemplative Literature; Future Prospects; Notes

Works Cited and Further Reading Part II: Contemplative Traditions; Chapter 3. Daoist Apophatic Meditation: Selections from the Classical Daoist Textual Corpus; Elders of the Inner Cultivation Lineages of Classical Daoism; Classical Daoism and the "Family of the Way? (Daojia); Ways to the Way: Classical Daoist Apophatic Meditation and Its Results; Inner Cultivation according to the Textual Corpus of Classical Daoism; Further Inquiries on the Way; Contemplative Being-in-the-World; Notes; Works Cited and Further Reading; Selections from the Classical Daoist Textual Corpus; Cosmology

Neiye (Inward Training)Laozi (Book of Venerable Masters); Zhuangzi (Book of Master Zhuang); Huainanzi (Book of the Huainan Masters); Inner Cultivation: Theory and Techniques; Neiye (Inward Training); Laozi (Book of Venerable Masters); Zhuangzi (Book of Master Zhuang); Xinshu shang (Techniques of the Mind I); Huainanzi (Book of the Huainan Masters); Contemplative States: Transient yet Transformative; Xinshu shang (Techiniques of the Mind I); Zhuangzi (Book of Master Zhuang); Huainanzi (Book of the Huainan Masters); Contemplative Traits: Long-Lasting Benefits; Neiye (Inward Training)

Laozi (Book of Venerable Masters)Zhuangzi (Book of Master Zhuang); Huainanzi (Book of the Huainan Masters); Chapter 4. Quaker Silent Prayer: A Guide to True Peace; The Guide and Christian Quietism; The Religious Society of Friends and Quaker Quietism; Quaker Silent Prayer and Quietist Spirituality; Instructions on Prayer from the Guide; Reading the Guide in Later Quakerism; Minding the Light in Contemplative Studies; Notes; Works Cited and Further Reading; A Guide to True Peace: Or, the Excellency of Inward and Spiritual Prayer; Preface; 1: The Spirit of God Dwells in the Heart of Man

2: On Faith 3: On Prayer; 4: All Are Capable of Attaining to Inward and Spiritual Prayer; 5: On Attaining to True Prayer; 6: On Spiritual Dryness; 7: On Defects and Infirmities; 8: On Temptations and Tribulations; 9: On Self-Denial; 10: On Mortification; 11: On Resignation; 12: On Virtue; 13: On Conversion; 14: On Self-Annihilation; 15: Man Acts More Nobly under the Divine Influence, than He Can Possibly Do by Following His Own Will; 16: On the Possession of Peace and Rest before God; 17: On Perfection, or the Union of the Soul with God

Chapter 5. Jewish Kabbalah: Hayyim Vital's Shaarei Kedusha

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references at the end of each chapters and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9781438457079

1438457073

OCLC:

919921205