Abstract

In modern philosophy of religion great interest attaches to the study of mystical experience as a form of cognition. The theory of cognition through mysticism as a means of direct recognition of the divine has usually been set against indirect knowledge. This dichotomy of the reasonable - as against the mystical - leads to subjectivism, skepticism. The study of mystical experience as a fact of culture lets us rethink the problem of this correlation. The mind’s ability to clutch at mystical experience in its spontaneity makes it possible to hold the experience in thought, and not letting it dissolve. Identifying the rational component in the mystical act, we make a fresh attempt on the synthesis of the scientific and mystical, on interpreting mystic experience against the sweep of philosophical tradition. Our topic touches on the problem of the ratio of direct-indirect knowledge: a matter just now under active discussion in literature. Our testimony considers the specifics of mystical knowledge, shows the kind of rationality it is, and examines the disciple’s attitude towards religious authority. We address the ‘practical’ goal of achieving the highest mystical state; we demonstrate varieties of mystical experience on the solid base of Western and Russian philosophical traditions.