Customer Reviews

Mysticism: A Study and an Anthology, Third Edition

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

F.C. Happold's introduction to mysticism consists of a short (110 pages) essay (broken into readable mini-chapters) and a brief anthology of world religious literature on the subject (300 pages). Those with serious interest will probably want to immediately continue with a reading of some of Evelyn Underhill's works, including her book Mysticism, or complete original classic works in the field. In his anthology, Dr. Happold provides in effect an extended bibliography of works for future study. One value of the book, written after Happold's retirement from a long career in English secondary education, is its immediate 'cutting across' all religious and time boundaries. The reader is immediately given the fact that mysticism has been and is now found in all religious traditions and has a common structure wherever it occurs. This book would possibly be a good supplementary text in freshman philosophy classes, being used to reinforce the currently unpopular view that there are epistemologies other than realism to be seriously considered. In fact, at one point Happold refers to mysticism as a 'critical realism.' An instructor might find that students enjoy reading this book along with some Ayn Rand, for instance.

This is a magical little book. It appeared into my life at the right moment, and never ceases to amaze me with it's vast array of different takes on the same source which we all come from. No matter what I'm going through in my life, I pick up this book, randomly open it to a page and it is always revelant to what I am going through at the moment. Incredible. I have not read this book in a linear fashion, but rather by this method I have just described, by opening it to any page, and it is always the answer I am looking for. And it continues up to this day, although I thought I read the whole book, old passages will just come back with new meanings.
I'm suprised more people don't have this book. But I think it will have a way of bringing itself into the hands of those who are meant to read it. From Plato to Teilhard de Chardin with a sprinkling of Buddhist mysticism and Sufi Love poems, the reader will recieve a variety of viewpoints, although Happold admittedly leans towards Christian mysticism. All in all, like I said, a magical little book. FC Happold has joined the ranks of the mystics he has written about, by giving us this little gem, which continues to thrive although Happold is no longer with us. Just read it with an open heart, and soon you will find an answer. If it is in your possession, it is no coincidence you were meant to have it.

In my thirties I had an experience totally beyond anything in my previous life. I was not a religious person, but this experience of seeing the 'uncreated light' was overwhelming and entirely unforeseen.

I didn't know how to explain what happened. I did not even know this is the mysticism that various religions talk about. When I found Frank Happold's book, it gave me the framework I needed to understand this life-changing experience, and for that I will always be grateful.

The book provides a starting point and an introduction to genuine mystical experience, the profound kind which alters your understanding of life. Happold offers a helpful introduction to the mystic's universe which is 100 pages long. This is followed by an anthology of mystics from many traditions. The anthology is 300 pages and provides a wonderful source for further study.

I recommend this book with only one mild reservation. Happold believed the experience of Christian mystics is somehow superior. I am afraid I find some of their accounts obviously altered to avoid being burned at the stake! I think they revised their account of experience to bring it in line with church doctrine.

But that is a minor point. Frank Happold's Mysticism is the best introduction I have seen to this topic.

F.C. Happolds' 'Mysticism, A Study and an Anthology,' is an excellent first book for someone intrigued by a subject too often poorly understood. A "mystical experience" is an extraordinary occurrence, resulting in wonder, amazement and insight. Such experiences can not be packaged and sold, but are freely available to anyone. Life itself, and consciousness itself, are the ultimate miracles - miracles taken for granted as we tred through our daily routines. The true mystic is in a state of awe, simply because he IS aware. This introductory text presents a collection of authors, concentrating on Christian mystics. The new reader can then acquire texts on the Sufi, Zen and other non-western traditions, and then, one night as wispy clouds drift by a crescent moon... !!!

I am a professor of Christian mystical theology and have found Happold's book to be an excellent one. I have used it as a text in my class and for personal meditation. He combines a study of mysticism itself in the first 120 pages and then substantiates it with the writings of several mystics. This is basically a study of Christian mysticism with references to the mystics of other religions. The selections in the anthology are long enough to capture the writer's intent. The book leaves one with a good introductory understanding of mysticism. And it challenges the reader to more deeply read the mystics.

This book had very little to offer the serious student of mysticism. The first part of the book was an attempt at classifying mysticism into various categories, which ultimately proves to be of little worth. The second part of the book provided the reader with excerpts from mystical texts. These excerpts do not provide any adequate insight into the nature of these mystical texts nor the mystics themselves. The first part of Happold's book is a gross over-classification of mysticism while the second part of the book is an abhorent reductionism of mystical texts which renders the "selected passages" meaningless.

-Kory Harris