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Kabbalah, Rumi, labyrinths, centering prayer. Thousands of Americans are exploring the mystical aspects of their own faith and others.’ Although no studies have been done, scholars and experts cite anecdotal evidence that interest in mysticism has been steadily increasing. Judaism, Roman Catholicism and Islam have long traditions in mysticism, and it is officially accepted doctrine in the Catholic Church. Mainline Protestantism has comparatively background in mysticism, yet experts say that is where mysticism is gaining the most ground.

Aging baby boomers who dabbled in Eastern and New Age spiritualities in their youth are returning to organized religion and bringing those spiritual experiences with them, according to Steven Fanning, an associate professor of history at the University of Illinois at Chicago who writes about Christian mysticism. Robert Eisen, an associate professor of religion at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., and an expert on Jewish mysticism, says the daily stresses of contemporary life, coupled with the uncertainty of the times, also create a climate in which mysticism can thrive.

Mysticism crosses faith lines, with many practitioners adopting rituals from other traditions. Kabbalah, a form of Jewish mysticism, is popular among some non-Jews as well as Reform and Conservative Jews. The poetry of the 12th-century Muslim poet Rumi draws readers well beyond Islam. Centering prayer, a form of silent contemplation aimed at opening heart and mind to God, reaches beyond is core audience of Catholics and Protestants.

These movements challenge religious groups from both the inside and outside. Within Judaism, Islam and Christianity, not all traditions accept mysticism as orthodox teaching, causing division. As Americans “borrow” parts of mystical traditions such as Kabbbalah and Sufism without adopting the Jewish or Muslim faiths, religious leaders question the integrity of these seekers’ practice and try to protect their traditions from being dilluted by pop culture.

Meanwhile, interest in mysticism is reflected in book and product sales, retreats and classes. Kyriacos Markides, who teaches Eastern Orthodox mysticism at the University of Maine in Orono, says mainstream religions, particularly Protestants, may have to accommodate this growing thirst for the mystical if they wish to serve their congregants.

Questions for reporters

• Is interest in mysticism evident in your community? What is fueling it?

• What attracts people to mysticism, and what do they say they gain from its practice? How do they say it affects their daily life?

• Who is practicing mysticism? Do they participate in organized religion and community life?

• Is there opposition to mysticism from some religious leaders?

• What do local bookstores say about what’s selling?

• Are classes and retreats on mysticism offered locally?

 

Why it Matters

In a country where 90 percent of the people say they believe in God, the ways in which people connect with the divine influences the way they participate in religious and community life.

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National sources

• Lauren Artress is an Episcopal priest at Grace Episcopal Church in San Francisco. She also is a psychotherapist and the author of Walking a Sacred Path: Rediscovering the Labyrinth as a Spiritual Tool (Riverhead, 1996), which helped re-introduce the labyrinth as a form of walking meditation and a path of prayer. Contact Tom Keelan, 415-749-6358, Tomfk@hotmail.com.

• Thomas Keating is a Cistercian Trappist priest, monk and abbot. He is a founder of the Centering Prayer Movement and of Contemplative Outreach, an organization dedicated to teaching contemplative practice to laypeople and clergy. He resides at St. Benedict’s Monastery in Snowmass, Colo. Contact 970-927-3311.

• Zeki Saritoprak is a visiting assistant professor of religious studies at John Carroll University in University Heights, Ohio. He is the founder and honorary president of the Rumi Forum for Interfaith Dialogue in Washington, D.C. Contact 216-397-4935, zsaritoprak@jcu.edu.

• Rabbi Lawrence Kushner is scholar-in-residence at Congregation Emanu-El in San Francisco. He has written several books on the Kabbalah and Jewish mysticism and speaks about the subjects around the country. Contact 415-751-2535.

• Coleman Barks is author of The Essential Rumi (Harper San Francisco,

1997) and a professor of English at the University of Georgia. Contact 706-546-0914, cbbarks@arches.uga.edu.

Background

• The Christian web site Praize offers a list of links with information about Christian mysticism.

• A religious studies web site from the University of Georgia offers a list of links with information about Christian and Judaic mysticism.

• This list from the University of Florida’s religious studies web site offers a variety of links with information on the role of mysticism in modern life. It includes a page on mysticism in world religions.

• The religion web site Beliefnet offers this list of faith-based retreat centers for a variety of religions.

• Contemplative Outreach helps organize a network of individuals and religious communities that are devoted to the practice of contemplative prayer.

• The Hermetic Kabbalah web site offers this FAQ on the Kabbalah.

• This web site is devoted to Islamic mysticism and was put together by academics from around the world.

• An extensive web page offers links to mysticism in world religions, including Hinduism, Buddhism and Taosim. It is maintained by Deb Platt.

 

Regional sources

IN THE NORTHEAST

• Steven T. Katz is director of the Center for Judaic Studies at Boston University. He is an expert on Jewish mysticism and edited the book Comparative Mysticism: An Anthology of Original Sources (Oxford University Press, 2003). Contact 617-353-8096, judaics@bu.edu.

• Kyriacos C. Markides is a professor of religion at the University of Maine in Orono. He specializes in Christian and Eastern Orthodox mysticism. He wrote the book Riding With the Lion: In Search of Mystical Christianity (Penguin USA, 1996). Contact 207-581-2390, markides@maine.edu.

• Arthur Green is a professor of religion at Brandeis University in Waltham, Mass. He is an expert in Jewish mysticism and the Kabbalah. Contact 781-736-2971, green@brandeis.edu.

• Herbert Mason is a professor of history and religious thought at Boston University. He is an expert on mysticism with a focus on Islam. Contact 617-358-1777, masonh@bu.edu.

• John Peter Kenney is a professor at St. Michael’s College in Colchester, Vt., where he specializes in Christian mysticism. Contact 802-654-2000, jkenney@smcvt.edu.

• Shimon Shokek is a professor at Baltimore Hebrew University in Baltimore. He is an expert in Jewish philosophy, mysticism and Kabbalah. Contact 410-578-6900, sshokek@bhu.edu.

IN THE EAST

• Janet K. Ruffing is a professor of spirituality and spiritual direction in the graduate school of religion and religious education at Fordham University in New York. She has written extensively on Christian spirituality, religious life, spiritual direction and mysticism. Contact 718-817-4816, ruffing@fordham.edu.

• Jose C. Nieto is a professor of religion at Juniata College in Huntingdon, Pa. He is an expert on mysticism and wrote the book Religious Experience and Mysticism: Otherness as Experience of Transcendence (University Press of America, 1997). Contact 814-641-3000, nieto@juniata.edu.

• Elliot R. Wolfson is a professor at New York University. His focus is on Jewish mysticism and philosophy. Contact 212-998-8986, erw1@nyu.edu.

• Michael A. Sells is a professor at Haverford College in Haverford, Pa. He teaches a course on Jewish, Christian and Islamic mysticism and is the author of Mystical Languages of Unsaying (University of Chicago Press, 1994). Contact 610-896-1027, msells@haverford.edu.

• Joel Hecker chairs the department of Modern Jewish Civilization and is Associate Professor of Jewish Mysticism at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in Wyncote, Pa. Contact 215-576-0800 ext. 217, jhecker@rrc.edu.

• Robert Eisen is an associate professor of religion at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. He is an expert on Jewish mysticism. Contact 202-994-6327, eisen@gwu.edu.

• James Wiseman is a professor of religion at Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. He is the co-editor of Light From Light: An Anthology of Christian Mysticism (Paulist Press, 2001). Contact 202-319-6522, wiseman@cua.edu.

• Emil T. Homerin is a professor at the University of Rochester in New York. He is an expert on Islamic mysticism. Contact 716-275-4760, theh@mail.rochester.edu.

• Seyyed Hossein Nasr is professor of Islamic Studies at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., and author of The Heart of Islam (HarperSanFrancisco, 2002). He can explain the history of the relationship between mainstream Islam and Sufi mysticism and why Sufism has been perceived as controversial. Contact 202-994-5704.

IN THE SOUTHEAST

• Alton Brooks Pollard III is the director of Black Church Studies at Emory University in Atlanta. He specializes in mysticism and social change. Contact 404-727-4196, abpolla@learnlink.emory.edu.

• Carl W. Ernst is a professor at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. He is an expert on the teachings of Sufism. Contact 919-962-3924, cernst@email.unc.edu.

IN THE SOUTH

• Gillian Ahlgren is an associate professor at Xavier University in New Orleans. Her areas of expertise include mysticism and monasticism. Contact 513-645-4247, ahlgren@xavier.xu.edu.

• Vincent J. Cornell is director of the Middle Eastern Studies Program at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. He teaches courses in Islamic mysticism. Contact 501-575-4157, vcornell@uark.edu.

IN THE MIDWEST

• Steven Fanning is an associate professor of history at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He wrote the book Mystics of the Christian Tradition (Routledge, 2001). Contact 312-996-3143, sfanning@uic.edu.

• Bernard McGinn is professor of religion at the University of Chicago. He wrote the book The Flowering of Mysticism: Men and Women in the New Mysticism – 1200-1350 (Crossroad/Herder & Herder, 2001). Contact 773-702-8249, bmcginn@midway.uchicago.edu.

• Michael Fishbane is chairman of the Committee for Jewish Studies for the University of Chicago. He is an expert in Jewish mysticism. Contact 773-702-8234, mfishban@midway.uchicago.edu.

• Alexander Golitzin is an associate professor at Marquette University in Milwaukee. He specializes in the origins of the Eastern Christian ascetical and mystical tradition. Contact 414-288-7510, alexander.golitzin@marquette.edu.

• Valerie J. Hoffman is an associate professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She specializes in Sufism. Contact 217-333-0953, vhoffman@uiuc.edu.

• George John Renard Jr. is professor of religion at St. Louis University, St. Louis, Mo. He is the author of Seven Doors to Islam: Spirituality and the Religious Life of Muslims (University of California Press, 1996). Contact 314-977-2869, renardgj@slu.edu.

IN THE SOUTHWEST

• William G. Barnard is an assistant professor of religion at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. He teaches courses on the philosophy of mysticism and contemporary spirituality. Contact 214-768-2135, bbarnard@mail.smu.edu.

• Allison Coudert is a professor at Arizona State University in Tempe. She specializes in comparative mysticism. Contact 480-727-6111, allison.coudert@asu.edu.

• Beverly J. Lanzetta is president of the Interfaith Theological Seminary in Tucson, Ariz. She is an expert in mysticism and interreligious dialogue. Contact 520-696-9368, blanzetta@earthlink.net.

• David W. Damrel is professor of religious studies at Arizona State University in Tempe. He is an expert on Islamic mysticism. Contact 480-727-6112, dwdamrel@imap2.asu.edu.

IN THE WEST/NORTHWEST

• Robert S. Ellwood Jr. is emeritus professor at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. He is the author of the book Mysticism and Religion (Seven Bridges Press, 1999). Contact 213-740-3533, robert_ellwood@hotmail.com.

• Pinchas Giller is assistant professor at the University of Judaism in Los Angeles. He is an expert on Jewish mysticism. Contact 310-476-9777, pgiller@uj.edu. (Ed. note: The University of Judaism merged with Brandeis-Bardin to become American Jewish University in 2007.)

• Maria Jaoudi is an associate professor of religious studies at the University of California, Sacramento. She wrote the book Christian Mysticism East and West: What the Masters Teach Us (Paulist Press, 1999). Contact 916-278-7483, jaoudim@csus.edu.

• Carol Lee Flinders teaches courses on mysticism at the Center for Professional Development at Santa Clara University in California. Contact 408-551-1981, info@tworock.org.

• Arthur G. Holder is dean, vice president for academic affairs and professor of Christian spirituality at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, Calif. He specializes in Christian mysticism. Contact 510-649-2440, aholder@gtu.edu.

• James Fadiman is co-author of Essential Sufism (HarperSanFrancisco, 1999). Contact 415-321-5590, jfadiman@aol.com.