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Home Better World Books Roads of Excess, Palaces of Wisdom : Eroticism and Reflexivity in the Study of Mysticism by Kripal, Jeffrey J (ISBN: 9780226453798)

Roads of Excess, Palaces of Wisdom : Eroticism and Reflexivity in the Study of

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Roads of Excess, Palaces of Wisdom : Eroticism and Reflexivity in the Study of Mysticism Paperback - 2001 - 1st Edition

by Kripal, Jeffrey J

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University of Chicago Press. Used - Good. Former library book; may include library markings. Used book that is in clean, average condition without any missing pages.

Used - Good

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Title Roads of Excess, Palaces of Wisdom : Eroticism and Reflexivity in the Study of Mysticism
Author Kripal, Jeffrey J
Binding Paperback
Edition number 1st
Edition 1
Condition Used - Good
Pages 272
Volumes 1
Language ENG
Publisher University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois
Date 2001-12-01
Features Bibliography, Index
Bookseller's Inventory # 10540494-6
ISBN 9780226453798 / 0226453790
Weight 1.28 lbs (0.58 kg)
Dimensions 9.02 x 6.06 x 0.9 in (22.91 x 15.39 x 2.29 cm)
Library of Congress subjects Sex - Religious aspects, Homosexuality - Religious aspects
Library of Congress Catalog Number 2001035571
Dewey Decimal Code 291.422

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First line

Although my body was asleep, resting almost anesthetized on its back, not unlike a corpse, consciousness was lucid and clear, fully awake.

From the rear cover

William Blake once wrote that "the road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom." Inspired by these poetic terms, Jeffrey J. Kripal reflects on how the modern study of mysticism has often been inspired by the mystical experiences of the scholars themselves. More specifically, he suggests, these "roads of excess" are often marked by erotic engagements with text and tradition that carry within themselves important theoretical insights into both the historical mystics and our own critical engagements with their remarkable texts.

To explore such possibilities, Kripal takes his readers on a tour of comparative mystical thought in Catholicism, Sufism, Hinduism, Tantra, and Kabbalah by examining the lives and works of five major historians of mysticism: Evelyn Underhill, Louis Massignon, R. C. Zaehner, Agehananda Bharati, and Elliot Wolfson. Kripal also critically analyzes his own mystical experiences in a series of revealing autobiographical essays and concludes the book with seven "palaces of wisdom" that envision the study of mysticism as a mystical phenomenon, with its own unique histories, psychosexual dynamics, ethical disciplines, existential paradoxes, and unitive goals.

About the author

Jeffrey J. Kripal is the Vira I. Heinz Associate Professor of Religion at Westminster College in New Wilmington, Pennsylvania. He is the author of Kali's Child: The Mystical and the Erotic in the Life and Teachings of Ramakrishna, published by the University of Chicago Press, which won the American Academy of Religion's Best First Book in the History of Religions Award.