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51 of 52 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A seminal work that takes the mystery out of mysticism, August 30, 1999
By A Customer
This review is from: Mysticism, Mind, Consciousness (Paperback)
The word "mysticism" means different things todifferent people. To many it connotes heightened sensory or cognitiveexperiences such as visions, voices or revelations. To others, mystical experiences are silent fusings of the conscious self with eternity, infinity, oneness, unbounded awareness. In this book Dr. Forman, a professor of religion at Hunter College, carefully restricts his use to the latter type of mysticism--consciousness events not describable in terms of the senses. Of these he distinguishes two stages: the short-lasting "pure consciousness event" and the longer-lasting or permanent "dualistic mystical state." The two opening chapters define the "pure consciousness event" (PCE) in detail. The author describes his own PCE experiences (strictly speaking they are not subject-object experiences at all but simple periods of awareness without thought) and cites accounts of similar experiences by contemporary, medieval and ancient writers. The thesis he will develop is that the PCE is universal and the same for everyone, an innate ability analogous to the experience of hot or cold, light or dark and not the product of a person's previous experience, culture, or expectations--a model called "constructivism" that pervades today's academic world. Chapters 3-5 explore the philosophical basis of constructivism and show convincingly that constructivist models, no matter how valuable in explaining ordinary subject-object experience, cannot account for pure consciousness events. Although the arguments are rigorous, Forman's style is lively and readable. Chapter 4 deals with the epistemology of Kant, Brentano and Husserl. Here the going is somewhat tough and the author gives the less philosophically inclined reader permission to skip ahead. Chapter 5 examines the writings of Paramartha, a 9th century Buddhist thinker who invoked constructivist models similar to those of contemporary writers to explain ordinary experiences, but rejected them as unsuitable for mystical (pure consciousness) phenomena. Having dealt with the constructivists, Forman explains in Chapters 6-7 that mystical phenomena are actually products of "de-construction"--of letting go, forgetting, "unknowing," and introduces the principle of "knowledge by identity" whereby the mystic knows his state not through concepts, words or transitory acquaintance but by direct unmediated experience. Now comes the most interesting part. Moving beyond simple "pure consciousness events" Forman discusses the more significant "dualistic mystical state" (DMS). Unlike the short-lived PCE, the DMS is a long-lasting or permanent state in which pure consciousness persists along with ordinary relative consciousness. Some have described it as a great silence within, a void, a cosmic vastness that persists in the midst of ordinary day-to-day life. Others feel it as loss of ego or personal self that is sometimes distressing. This paradoxical state has been experienced and lived by mystics throughout the ages, but no western writers (although Bernadette Roberts, Franklin Merrell-Wolff, and Suzanne Segal come close) have analyzed it as formally and clearly as the present author. He knows whereof he speaks; in Chapter 8 Dr. Forman quietly tells us that he has lived the dualistic mystical state since his twenties when it came upon him during an extended meditation retreat. It has never left. Deep conscious inner silence, he writes, persists during daily activity and even during sleep. This book, then, is the result of his attempts over the years to make philosophical sense of the mystical (some would say "contemplative") state that is now his everyday reality. In his final chapters Forman examines the nature of consciousness itself in light of the PCE and DMS, drawing on Sartre and the Zen philosopher Hui Neng to buttress his conclusions that pure consciousness is non-linguistic, non-intentional and "utterly translucent," a "pure watching presence" that "can tie things--and itself--together through time." "One knows it only because one is it," he writes. The book ends with the suggestion that "this nonverbal presence has a great deal to teach about the nature of human life and intelligence." Mysticism, Mind, Consciousness is a groundbreaking book that could well become a classic in the field--vital reading for anyone interested in the twin phenomena of consciousness and mysticism. Those looking for warm New Age fuzzies however, might be disappointed; Forman is a scholar writing primarily for other scholars (although he keeps lay readers in mind throughout). His thoughts and carefully reasoned arguments, drawing on a wide variety of thinkers both ancient and modern, take the mystery out of mysticsm and establish the PCE and DMS as valid subjects for further inquiry and research. This short book (214 pages, 36 of which are notes and bibliography) raises many questions. Why do mystical experiences come easily to a few people and not to most others? Is there a physiological basis to these states? (Forman details some interesting physical sensations associated with his transition.) Could pure consciousness phenomena perhaps be verified by brain wave patterns? What is "enlightenment"? (Forman suggests that the DMS represents a beginning stage to it.) Many mystics claim that pure consciousness phenomena are "salvific"; why does Forman disagree? What type of meditation did he practice that brought him to the dualistic mystical state? ("Neo-Advaitan" is all he will say.) What did he learn from spiritual teachers Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and Ram Dass (both briefly acknowledged in the Preface but scarcely mentioned thereafter)? What is the relationship between religion and mysticism? Hopefully we will hear more from Dr. Forman on these questions in the near future. Meanwhile, if you are at all interested in the topics of mysticism, mind or consciousness, pick up a copy of this book. You will probably want to read it several times.
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22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Forman's book is a landmark study., August 28, 1999
By A Customer
This review is from: Mysticism, Mind, Consciousness (Paperback)
Rober K. C Forman is the foremost philosopher of mysticism (mysticist) of our time. In Mysticism, Mind and Consciousness, Forman discusses the pure consciousness event (PCE), a new model of pure consciousness, and what Forman calls the "dualistic mystical state" (DMS). The pure consciousness event is a state of awareness wherein the mystic experiences nothing. There is no thinking, no willing, no sensing, no remembering. The mystic has no sense of the self or the world. There is no sense of place or of time passing. But the mystic is not asleep or unconscious. The mystic is aware that they are aware throughout the event. Accounts of pure consciousness events are found in all religious traditions. The PCE is a frequent concomitant of meditative practices. But it needn't be. Sometimes non-religious people experience pure consciousness events. I am aware of one person, for example. who experienced a PCE as a result of concentrating on her breathing. To account for how the mystic is aware of the PCE, Forman proposes a new model of pure consciousness. Foreman says that the mind of the mystic is reflexively aware of itself, even when there is no content to the consciousness. Although this may sound strange, it is what mystics report. Mystics know that they have been aware throughout the pure consciousness event, even though there has been no sense of self or the world. After a PCE, a mystic is often at a loss in how to understand the event and express it to others. A PCE doesn't link well to language, as it has no content. So what does one say about it? An experience of nothing is ineffable. All the same, mystics often place interpretative categories on what they have experienced. They may say that they have experienced the presence of God, or the ground of being (the Tao) or a silence within or their self-nature. A mystic might say that they have experienced a level of themselves wherein they are most real. Irregardless of how a mystic interprets a PCE, the language used to talk about it should be taken as figurative at best. The language is not the experience and can only point to it. Some mystics go on from the experience of the PCE, to have a continuing sense of the experience during ordinary, wakeful consciouness. Forman calls this the dualistic mystical state (DMS). A person might have a sense of the "silence within", for example, at the same time that they are going about their ordinary daily routines. A person might have a sense of the "self-nature " that they experienced during the PCE, at the same time that they see themselves as a person having roles, responsibilities, activities and so on. As a result of this, mystics often feel less attached to themselves and the things of the world. They are enlightened. As a philosopher of mysticism, Forman describes the dualistic mystical state (DMS) as one where two distinct epistemiological modalities are operating at the same time. In this state, the mystic has a sense of the experience of the PCE - awareness per se (awareness without content) and, at the same time, the mystic is aware of themselves and the world. Forman refers to this as a new modus operandi of human living. Mysticism, Mind and Consciousness is essential reading for all students of mysticism.
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29 of 32 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Philosophy of the Unsayable, December 1, 2000
In this ambitious study, Professor Forman attempts to provide a philosophical basis for mysticism. He tries to show that mystical experience is not simply a product of the time, place, and background of the individuals claiming such experience. Those holding that mystical experiences are the product of such considerations are called "constructivists". Their philosophical ancestor, for Professor Forman, is Kant. In opposition to constructivism, Professor Forman argues that mysticism in its most basic form is a "pure consciousness event" (PCE) -- the mind knowing itself in a nonlinguistic manner involving pure awareness of mind as such. Professor Forman relies in large part on reports of the mystical experience from people far removed from each other in terms of time and culture. He discusses his own experiences, those of contemporary Christian, Hindu, and Buddhist mystics,and ancient texts by Buddhist and Hindu contemplatives reporting on the mystical experience. He states that he has been greatly influenced by the transcendental meditation of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Ram Dass, and Meister Eckhart; and the first and third of these are discussed in the book. In addition to Eckhart, Professor Forman's book is also heavily influenced, I find, by William James's "Varieties of Religious Experience" and by Jean Paul Sartre. In addition to discussing and attempting to describe the nature of the mystical experience (no small task in itself), Professor Forman takes issue with philosophers such as Kant, Husserl and a contemporary writer on mysticism, Steven Katz, who see the mystical experience as conditioned by language. (The constructivists are juxtaposed against the "perennialists" who, we learn, have no sensitivity to the nuances of language, time, and place.) The philosophic argument of the book is found in a dense discussion in chapter 4 "Non-Linguistic Mediation" which is a critique of the philosophy of Kant. Although Professor Forman allows the nonphilosophically inclined to skip this chapter it is pivotal to his philosophical argument. I was unable, at any rate, to agree with Professor Forman's description of the Kantian philosophy or with its critique. It turns on an argument that Kant's Transcendental Aesthetic was not intended to apply to mystical experience and that the restrictions it would place on human knowledge do not apply to the mystical experience. Unfortunately, I found that this argument does not meet Kant's argument which was squarely directed against unmediated experience as well as unmediated philosophizing. Professor Forman also is critical of the arguments of Edmund Husserl on the intentional nature of consciousness, finding in Husserl a restatement of the constructivist claim of Kant. I am not sure if Professor Forman is correct in considering Husserl a constuctivist. Much of Husserl's phenomenology, which focuses as I understand it on a description of experience (bracketed to avoid causual questions such as those Professor Forman addresses) is useful in an attempt to understand the nature of the mystical experience -- recognized by Professor Forman in a backhanded way, I think. As a philosophical critique, the book is less than successful. As a description of the mystical experience and as a statement of why such experiences may be valuable and important it does much better. The subject richly deserves attention, as does the nature of the spiritual life and Professor Forman has much to say. I think the problem at bottom as the mysticism is not by its nature susceptible to philosophical analysis or justification. As the Buddha for one insisted it is experiential in character and can't be reached by philosophical argument. Again, Husserl and William James are helpful here. One must look and see for oneself If one engages in a contemplative practice and looks and sees, the nature of the path becomes opened by the process and practice. The issue of "constuctivism" is irrelevant one way or the other to the nature of the experience. Both the "constructivist" approach and Professor Forman's critique are off the mark in that they both attempt to put in words what is undescribable and experiential.
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