History Of Mysticism: The Unchanging Testament (3rd Rev. Ed.) [Paperback]

Swami Abhayananda (Author), S. Abhayananda (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 1996

is a unique book including as it does nearly all of the spiritual traditions and many of the greatest mystics philosophers and thinkers of all time. their collection under one cover and the unifying theme of the singleness of their individual messages brings to the reader a clear understanding of the significant contribution of each of these individual teachers and traditions. Each of these disparate mystics from diverse times and traditions gives expression to the same mystical experience and describes the contents of that experience in unvaryingly identical terms. the personal familiarity of the Author with such mystical states and his lifelong accumulation of knowledge of the mystical literature of the world qualifies him to present this material in a way that is sure to fascinate and inspire the reader and leave him with an increased sense of Diving possibility.

Editorial Reviews

From Scientific American

History Of Mysticism is a passionate, poetic and powerful work ... destined to be a classic.

Review

History Of Mysticism [is a] particularly inspiring publication, ... a survey from the beginning of time to the present of many of the world's God-realized individuals whose lives, writings, and teachings help direct our own path to God.

... One of the wonderful things about this book is that it shows how little variance exists among these mystical revelations, regardless of culture, time period, or other outer circumstances.

... To read the rapturous outpourings of Rumi, the 13th century Persian Poet, brought together in the same volume as the illumined ecstasy of St. John of the Cross, Meister Eckhart, Lao Tzu, and Jesus, is profoundly elevating and soul-nurturing. Abhayananda, a contemporary American mystic, has done an outstanding job of capturing the recurrent experience of enlightenment throughout the ages... -- Science Of Mind magazine

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Product Details

• Paperback: 435 pages
• Publisher: Atma Books; 3rd Rev edition (June 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0914557092
• ISBN-13: 978-0914557098
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,534,867 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I was born Stan Trout on August 14, 1938 in Indianapolis, Indiana. I was graced by God's vision in 1966 at the age of twenty-eight. A few years later, I met a holy man called Swami Muktananda, and I journeyed to India to live with him and to learn from him. After some time, he invited me to join the spiritual Order of sannyasa, and gave me the name "Swami Abhayananda", which means 'the bliss of fearlessness.' I have kept that spiritual name ever since, though I eventually parted with Swami Muktananda and his organization.

My focus has always been on God and His revelation, and my writings reflect that focus. I am not hindered by organizational ties or religious affiliation, and so the scope of my vision and my philosophy is universal, embracing the mystical traditions of both East and West. Today, I live a simple, solitary life, devoted to meditation on God and the sharing of His truth. It is my sincere wish that God may bless you as He has blessed me.

Please see my latest book, Mystical Theology, presenting a comprehensive and reasoned theology that accurately reflects the mystic's vision and is at the same time compatible with current scientific evidence. Available on the Kindle.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent compendium of our world legacy of God Realizers, November 24, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: History Of Mysticism: The Unchanging Testament (3rd Rev. Ed.) (Paperback)

Having written this history regarding the remarkable unanimity of God Realizers from around the world throughout recorded history from the perspective of one who has had the "vision" of God, Swami Abhayananda taps the essence of each of these remarkable visionaries. I highly recommend this book to those who want an overview of our shared spiritual heritage, including seers from our ancient past, the Greco-Roman period, early and late medieval periods, and the modern age.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Enlightened and edifying . . ., March 12, 2006

By 

cvairag (Allan Hancock College) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: History Of Mysticism: The Unchanging Testament (3rd Rev. Ed.) (Paperback)

I believe that everything that Abhayananda writes is very much worth reading. He is a writer of the greatest importance for the present age. History of Mysticism is, at this time, his magnum and a major work in the field we are longing for now in the curriculum, a comprehensive, non-sectarian, unified theology, or more technically, theological semantics, the study of divinely given meaning which leads to insight into the Truth. This study, as Abhayanada reminds us, with eloquence and unswerving devotion to his subject, is what has been called mysticism: that solitary path of the uncompromising Truth Seeker, trod by a hardy few, either by will or destiny or both, but touching us all. Abhayanada's claim, which he cogently delineates in these pages, is that the major revelatory insights of the ages, regardless of tradition or context, have basically expressed the same vision: the appearance of this ever-changing universe in which we live and die, in which all life forms are transient, subject to mortality, and which we call our reality is but the exponential emanation, manifestation if you will, of the one imperishable, unchanging, eternal, transcendent Supreme Self, which pervades and sustains all being.

I searched for a chronologically arranged study of the major statements of mysticism ( or the `perennial philosophy' as Aldous Huxley calls it in his good, but not overwhelming, anthology of citations from this universally acknowledged tradition) for much of my life. I find it in this book. History of Mysticism is state of the art. (Although, for a comprehensive view of the emerging field of what might be more directly called Truth Studies, additionally recommended, for different reasons, is the related work of Sanderson Beck in moral history and peace studies). Along with Abhayanada's considerable philosophic acumen in being able to derive and sustain a clearly consistent line of argument throughout the texts of perhaps twelve millennia (revelations of the whole Mahayuga), but at least the past three, he appears to be divinely guided in his choice of citation, and uncannily discovers the most memorably poetic and appropriate translations for each of the multitude of contexts discussed.

At this point, I would like to list the mystic sources examined in the book (copied from the front cover of the second edition), to give prospective readers an idea of the scope and precision which makes the book de riguer for any serious student:

The Vedic Hymnists, The Psalmist, The Upanishadic Seers, Kapila, Lao Tze, Chaung Tze, The Buddha, Pythagoras, Heraclitus, Socrates, Zeno, Philo Judaeus, Jesus, The Gnostics, The Hermetics, The Early Christians, Plotinus, Dionysius, Narada, The Tantrics, Shankara, Dattatreya, Milarepa, The Zen Buddhists, The Sufis, al-Hallaj, Ibn Gabirol, The Kabbalists, Ibn Arabi, Iraqi, Rumi, Jnaneshvar, Meister Eckhart, Thomas a Kempis, Nicholas of Cusa, Juan de la Cruz, Kabir, Dadu, Ramakrishna.

But this list in only partial. Further, the focused depth of the discussions is notable.

The book has my highest recommendation. One of my favorite questions as raised in the book by Iraqi, a 13th century Sufi:

"When shall you and I divorce ourselves? So that "You" and "I" are gone, and only God remains?"

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating study of 40 great mystics down through the ages., May 4, 2000

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Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: History Of Mysticism: The Unchanging Testament (3rd Rev. Ed.) (Paperback)

The contemporary mystic and scholar, S. Abhayananda's History Of Mysticism: The Unchanging Testament is a fascinating anthology and study of the teachings of more than forty of the greatest mystics from the beginnings of recorded human history down to the present day. Each mystic is introduced and placed into historical perspective. History Of Mysticism features many previously unpublished translations, surprising discovers, and diverse perspectives on the "one ultimate reality" which is the common experience of all mystics regardless of religious or philosophical tradition. Also highly recommended for students of metaphysics is S. Abhayananda's earlier ground breaking work, The Origin Of Western Mysticism: Selected Writings Of Plotinus.