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2021 unit information
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Last updated: 4 June 2021
Trimester 2: Cloud (online)*
*This is the final offering of this unit
Nil
1 x 1-hour class per week (recordings provided), 1 x 1-hour online seminar per week
Mysticism and Religious Experience focuses on descriptions of advanced meditative states and spontaneous encounters with transcendent beings by some of the most important figures in world religions. It is a historical and topical survey of some of the world's major mystical traditions, which will be concerned with the principal characteristics of mysticism in Hinduism, Buddhism, Daoism, and Islam and with the thoughts and practices of some major figures in these traditions. Other related concerns will be questions about (1) the nature of religious experience and its relationship to religious authority; (2) the psychology of religion, especially of mystical religion; (3) contrasts between mysticism and other forms of religious experience, such as prophetism; and (4) implications of mystical experience for religious belief and theological expression. We will begin by considering some of the most influential models for analysing and categorising accounts by mystics and the systems in which they trained, and this theoretical background will enable us to compare and contrast these descriptions in a global religious perspective.
GLO1 Discipline knowledge and capabilities
GLO4 Critical thinking
Examine and explain how mystics and their reported experiences have influenced the development of their respective traditions.
Evaluate influential interpretive models for understanding mysticism
These Unit Learning Outcomes are applicable for all teaching periods throughout the year.
The assessment due weeks provided may change. The Unit Chair will clarify the exact assessment requirements, including the due date, at the start of the teaching period.
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