Introvertive Mystical Experiences: Monistic, Theistic, and the Theo-Monistic

Abstract

Some scholars have responded to the apparent differences between monistic and theistic mystical experiences by emphasising the role of socio-religious interpretation of the experiences. Both monistic and theistic experiences, they point out, are described as wholly unlike normal sensory events. These mystics claim to go beyond normal categories of cognition; the experiences are said to be spaceless and timeless realizations which, though not strictly ineffable, defy precise and positive description. Moreover, the mystical exercises - the spiritual training and mental preparation - seem similar for both theistic and monistic mystics. Common mystical means, along with the fact that normal categories of interpretation are not in play during the experience, suggest that mystics interpret a singular experience type according to their particular theological or philosophical background.