A Comparison and Evaluation of Spiritual Experience in the Perspective of Dawson Church and Islamic Spirituality

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 M. A student in general psychology, Arak University and Islamic Seminary Level Three student, Qom, Iran

2 Associate Professor, Department of Epistemology and Cognitive Sciences, Research Institute of Islamic Culture and Thought. Qom, Iran.

10.22081/jsr.2024.68496.1074

Abstract

Discussions over spiritual states and experiences trace back to traditions and religions around the world. In the tradition of Islamic thought and spirituality, Muslim mystics have dealt with this issue with terms such as inner states, discovery and intuition, revelation and inspiration. In the past years, spiritual experience as one of the human states and behaviors has received the special attention of psychologists, neuroscientists and spiritual researchers. One of these people is Dawson Church, who in recent years has proposed the term "mystical brain" and is trying to make spiritual experiences seem secular and limit them to a series of psychological and physical states. The present study, which has been carried out via documentary method, seeks to answer this question, what is the relationship between this view of spiritual experiences and the view of Islamic spirituality? The findings of the study suggest that there is a fundamental difference between the two mentioned views on spiritual experience in at least 5 areas, which are semantic, ontological, anthropological, teleological and methodological.

Keywords

Islam and Researches about Spirituality
Volume 2, Issue 2 - Serial Number 4
March 2024
Pages 162-191

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History

  • Receive Date: 03 February 2024
  • Accept Date: 18 February 2024

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