The search for enlightenment
Constant Mews and Ian Mabbett
12 points * 2 hours per week * First semester * Clayton
This subject will examine and compare specific religious and mystical traditions within medieval Europe and the East, with particular attention to India. Common themes to be explored with respect to both Western and Eastern traditions include the role of asceticism in the search for enlightenment, the contrast between intellectual and affective knowledge of the divine, and the tension between images of collective and of individual enlightenment. A range of religious and mystical writings, including those of Augustine, St Anselm, Eckhart, Patanjali, the Vedas and the Upanishads, will be studied from a variety of possible viewpoints, and the relative value of these interpretations compared.
Assessment
Written (5000 words): 60% * Examinations (take home): 40%
Prescribed texts
Eastman R (ed.) The ways of religion 2nd edn, OUP
Happold F C Mysticism Penguin
Katz S (ed.) Mysticism and religious traditions OUP