The framework for this study is world religion. It describes & explains mystical thought in virtually all its contexts, primitive, Hindu, Chinese, Hellenistic, Hebrew, Christian & Moslem. It's illustrated with numerous quotations from the sayings & writings of famous mystics. The final chapter surveys the main tendencies of mystical religion & their relevance to humanity's recurring & fundamental problems.
Preface
Mysticism in primitive religions
Hindu mysticism. The Upanishads; The Bhagavad gita; The Vedanta; Bhakti mysticism
Buddhist mysticism. The Hinayana & the Mahayana; Mysticism in the Hinayana; The mysticism of the Mahayana; Tantric Buddhism
Taoist & Confucian mysticism. Taoism; Mystical elements in Confucianism
Greek & Hellenistic mysticism. Greek mysticism; Philo; The Hermetic movement; The Gnostics; The mystery-religions; Plotinus & Neo-Platonism
Hebrew & Jewish mysticism. Mysticism in the Old Testament; Jewish mysticism
Christian mysticism. Mysticism in the New Testament; Mysticism in the Eastern Church; Mysticism in the Western Catholic Church; Heretical movements in Western Catholic mysticism; Protestant mysticism
Islamic mysticism. The growth of Sufism; Main trends of Sufi teaching
Mystical religions: a survey of tendencies. The mystics & the nature of reality; The mystics & pantheism; Divine immanence & transcendence; The mystics & the self; The mystics & the world; The nature of evil; The mystics & the moral life; The mystics & religious orthodoxy
Bibliography
Index