Kabbalah : a neurocognitive approach to mystical experiences / Shahar Arzy, Moshe Idel.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Arzy, S. (Shahar), author.

Idel, Moshe, 1947- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Cabala--Psychology.

Cabala.

Cognitive neuroscience.

Mysticism--Judaism--Psychological aspects.

Mysticism.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (217 p.)

Place of Publication:

New Haven, [Connecticut] ; London, [England] : Yale University Press, 2015.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

In this original study, Moshe Idel, an eminent scholar of Jewish mysticism and thought, and the cognitive neuroscientist and neurologist Shahar Arzy combine their considerable expertise to explore the mysteries of the Kabbalah from an entirely new perspective: that of the human brain. In lieu of the theological, sociological, and psychoanalytic approaches that have generally dominated the study of ecstatic mystical experiences, the authors endeavour to decode the brain mechanisms underlying these phenomena.

Contents:

Cover; Contents; Foreword,; Introduction; ONE: Justification of a neurocognitive Approach to Mystical Experiences; 1. Four Main Approaches to Mystical Experiences; 2. A "Bottom-Up" Approach to Mystical Experiences; 3. Experiences, Radiations, and Cognitive Techniques; 4. Technical Constructivism from Within the Brain: Limitations; TWO: Approaching Ecstatic Experiences; 1. Ecstasy and the Subjective Experience; 2. Ecstasy in Judaism; 3. Four Basic Levels of Ecstasy in Jewish Mysticism; 4. Four Types of Ecstatic Experience in Jewish Mysticism

5. Ecstasy and the Cognitive Neuroscience of the SelfTHREE: The One out There: Autoscopic Phenomena in Jewish Mysticism; 1. Ex-Stasis: Out of the Body; 2. Autoscopic Phenomena; 3. Autoscopic Phenomena in Ecstatic Kabbalah; 4. Personal Reports of Mystical Experiences; 5. Analyzing Mystical Experiences; 6. Autoscopic, Ascension, and Unitive Ecstasies: Different Kabbalistic Trends, Different Brain Mechanisms; 7. Conclusion; FOUR: The Spirit in the Brain: Trance and Possession in Jewish Mysticism; 1. Dissociative Trance Disorders; 2. Maggid and Dibbuq; 3. The Maggid and Its Induction

4. Personal Reports of Mystical Dissociative Experiences5. Maggid, Dibbuq, and the Brain; 6. Maggid and Dibbuq: Two Selves in One Person; Conclusions; 1. Some Final Methodological Remarks; 2. Ecstatic Kabbalah as a Seminal Investigation of the Human Self; APPENDIX A. The External and Internal Worlds: Functional networks in the Human Brain; 1. Large-Scale Networks in the Human Brain: Function and Anatomy; 2. The External and Internal Worlds; 3. Integration of Information in the Brain; 4. Embodiment, Subjectivity, and Integration; 5. Conclusion

APPENDIX B. Abraham Abulafia the Mystic and His Theory and TechniqueNotes; Bibliography; Acknowledgments; Index; A; B; C; D; E; F; G; H; I; J; K; L; M; N; O; P; Q; R; S; T; U; V; W; Y; Z

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

OCLC:

910553852