From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Liber Divinorum Operum
, or the Universal Man of St.
Hildegard of Bingen
, 1185 (13th-century copy)
Mysticism
is the belief that people can
directly
experience
God
or true
reality
, rather than through books, ritual or other people. People who practice this are called
mystics
.
Mystics exist within most
religions
, though not all people who practice religions are mystics. Mystics may experience
visions
or
dreams
, or hear God as a voice.
Some examples of
Hindu
mystics:
- Shankara
- Sri Ramakrishna
Some examples of
Christian
mystics:
- Augustine of Hippo
(354?430)
- Gregory I
(590?604)
- Bridget of Sweden
(1303?1373)
- John of the Cross
(1542?1591)
- George Fox
(1624?1691)
- William Blake
(1757?1827)
- Thomas Merton
(1915?1968)
Islamic Mysticism is known as
Tassawuf
(or Sufism) and a detailed list of
Muslim
Sufi mystics is given on the
Sufism
page.
Some examples of
Jewish
mystics:
- Menachem Mendel Schneerson
(1902-1994)
Some examples of
Buddhist
mystics:
- Siddhartha Gautama
(563 BC-483 BC)
- Bodhidharma
(440-528)
