Comparative Mysticism Comparative Mysticism An Anthology of Original Sources E DITED BY Steven T. Katz OXTORD UNIVERSITY PRESS OXFORD v UNIVERSITY PRESS Oxford University Press is a department of the » University of Oxford. It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide. Oxford New York Auckland Cape Town Dar es Salaam Hong Kong Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Nairobi New Delhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto With offices in Argentina Austria Brazil Chile Czech Republic France Greece Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore South Korea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University Press in the UK and certain other countries. Published in the United Sûtes of America by Oxford University Press 198 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016 © Oxford University Press 2013 All rights reserved. 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Katz, Steven T, 1944- BL625.C657 2013 204’.2209-dc22 2010020299 13579 864 2 Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper Preface This anthology of original mystical sources has been created in order to provide students at all levels with a reliable, wide-ranging, methodologically sophisticated, philosophically and logically coherent introduction to the complex subject at hand. Each individual section, rep­ resenting a different major mystical community, has been edited by an expert on the particu­ lar tradition under review. These section editors have provided helpful introductions to the traditions for which they were responsible; have selected the primary texts to be included in this collection; and have compiled useful, if brief, bibliographies of primary and secondary sources for further study. These bibliographies include some older as well as more recent titles. Readers will also note that in a few cases more recent translations of the works from which the selections included in this volume have been taken have appeared. Because the nuances raised by these translations in no way affect the quality of the present collection, nor the arguments regarding the contextual interpretations of mystical experience that it is ad­ vancing, the translations first chosen have been retained. The selection of texts has followed certain broad guidelines suggested by the volume s editor. As the editor, I would like to thank all my coworkers in this project. They have all done their work with great skill and much courtesy. I would also like to thank my editor at Oxford University Press, Cynthia Read, for all her help and patience while the project was being produced. In addition, a major debt is owed to Charlotte Steinhardt at Oxford, without whose help this volume would never have appeared. Late on the projects production, Ms. Leslie Johnson was very helpful in assuring that the book finally appeared. And for this I am very grateful. Closer to home, I want to acknowledge, with gratitude and appreciation, the invaluable help of Pagiel Czoka, the administrative assistant at the Elie Wiesel Center for Judaic Studies at Boston University. As usual, she has done everything needed, and more, to make this book a reality. Lasdy, I would like to acknowledge the multifaceted assistance of my wife, Rebecca, without whose efforts this volume would still be forthcoming. Steven T. Katz, editor Contents Contributors xxi General Editor s Introduction Steven T. Katz 3 JUDAISM Selector: Moshe Idel, Hebrew University 25 Jewish Mysticism: An Introduction 25 Selections: 1. Ascending to Heaven 36 (a) Mystical Ascent to Heaven 36 Maaseh Merkavah (b) In the World Above 57 Pirkei Hekhalot Rabbati 2. Knowledge of Human Power and the Divine Reality 58 The Book ofBahir 3. The Sefirot—The Divine Emanations 65 Explanation of the Ten Sefirot 4. Revelation and the Giving of the Torah 70 “All of Israel Saw the Letters” from the Zohar (The Book of Radiance) 5. Language and Meaning 71 Zohar, 2:99 a-b 6. The Many Meanings of the Torah 72 “The Old Man and the Beautiful Maiden,” from the Zohar 7. The Mystical Sabbath 78 “The Secret of Sabbath,” from the Zohar 8. The End of Exile and the Future Redemption 79 “God, Israel, and Shekhinah? from the Zohar 9. Divine Emanation and the Names of God 88 R. Joseph Gikatilla, Shaarei €Orah (The Gates of Light), “Introduction” viii Contents 10. The Essential Quality of God Is Mercy 93 R. Joseph Gikatilla, Shaarei *Orah (The Gates of Light), "The First Sphere" 11. The Mystery of Sexuality 98 The Holy Letter, attributed to R. Moses ben Nahman 12. Meditation and Other Mystical Techniques 100 (a) Meditation 101 R. Hai Gaon (b) Preparing for Mystical Experience 101 Abraham Abulafia (c) Meditations on the Morning Service 102 R. Alexander Susskind of Grodno (d) The Combination of Letters 103 Abraham Abulafia (e) Breathing Exercises 104 Abraham Abulafia (f ) Breathing Exercises and Hebrew Letters 104 Abraham Abulafia (g) Shaking of Ones Head 105 Abraham Abulafia (h) Weeping 105 Midrash, Ecclesiastes Rabbah (i) Crying to God 105 Anonymous, Perakim be-Hazlachah, sometimes attributed to R. Moses ben Maimon (j) Prayers and Tears 105 R. Abraham ha-Levi (k) Meditation and Colors 106 R. Moses Cordovero 13. Clinging to God—Devekut 106 (a) Clinging to God 106 R. Ezra of Gerona (b) A Linking of Souls 107 R. Menachem Recanati (c) Cleaving to the Shechinah 107 R. Menachem Recanati (d) Devekut and the Performance ofM itzvot 107 R. Azriel of Gerona (e) Devekut and Sexual Union 107 Anonymous, The Holy Letter, traditionally attributed to R. Moses ben Nahman Contents ix (f) Devekut and Worship 108 R. Meir ibn Gabbay (g) Loving Relation with God 108 R. David ibn Zimra (h) Devekut and Torah Study 108 R. Chaim Vital 14. Mystical Experience 108 Anonymous text, attributed to a student of Abraham Abulafia 15. Mystical Union 114 (a) Intellectual Mystical Union 114 Abraham Abulafia (b) LossofSelf 115 R. Isaac of Acre (c) The Annihilation of Selfhood 115 R. Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev (d) Reunification of the Self and God 115 R. Schneur Zalman of Liadi (e) Unio Mystico, Torah, and Mitzvot 116 R. Nachman of Bratzlav 16. Mystical Actions That Create Mystical Experience 116 R. Yehudah Albotini, Sefer Sullam ha-Aliyah 17. Mystical Prayer 126 Lakha Dodi, “Come, My Beloved” 18. A Mystical Love Song 127 R. Isaac Luria, Hymn 19. Ethical Behavior and Mystical Experience 127 R. Elijah de Vidas, Reshit Hokhmah (The Beginning of Wisdom) 20. Heavenly Tutors. 136 R. Joseph ben Ephraim Karo, Maggid Mesharim (The Speaker of Upright Words) 21. Mystical Ascents 144 The Baal Shem Tov, Letter to His Brother-in-Law 22. The Mystical Master—the Zaddik 147 R. Kalonymus Kalman Epstein, Maor va-Shemesh 23. Reincarnation 151 (a) Reincarnation, Good, and Evil 151 Sefer ha-Bahir (b) Reincarnation and Human Action 151 R. Isaac Luria, recorded by R. Jacob Zemach in Nagid u-Mezaveh Selected Bibliography for Further Reading 152 Contents CHRISTIANITY Selector: Bernard McGinn, University of Chicago 157 Christian Mysticism: An Introduction 157 Selections: 1. Mystical Prayer and Preparation 163 (a) Asceticism and “Evil Thoughts”: Evagrius Ponticus 163 Praktikos: Chapters on Prayer (b) Introductory Explanations to the Spiritual Exercises 164 Ignatius of Loyola, Spiritual Exercises and Selected Works (c) The Dark Night of the Senses in John of the Cross 165 Ascent of Mount Carmel and Dark Night ofthe Senses in John of the Cross: Selected Writings (d) Mystical Purgation in Marie of the Incarnation 170 Marie of the Incarnation, The Relation of1654 2. Biblical Interpretation 173 (a) A Mystical Reading of the Song of Songs 173 Origen, Commentary on the Song of Songs (b) “Three Kisses” 177 Bernard of Clairvaux, Sermons on the Song of Songs 3. Prayer and Itineraries of the Path to God 179 (a) Richard of Saint Victor on the Varieties of Contemplation 180 Richard of St. Victor, The Mystical Ark (b) Bonaventure on the Stages in the Ascent to God 183 Bonaventure, The Soul's Journey into God (c) Seven Stages of Ascent 191 Marguerite Porete, The Mirror of Simple Souls (d) Mystical Prayer 194 Teresa of Avila, Life (e) The Jesus Prayer 200 The Way of the Pilgrim 4. Accounts of Direct Consciousness of God 202 (a) “Seeing” and “Touching” God 203 Saint Augustine, Confessions (b) The Vision of Saint Benedict 205 Saint Gregory the Great, Dialogues (c) Mystical Illumination 206 Symeon, The Discourses (d) Seeking the Divine Lover 208 Bernard of Clairvaux, Sermon 74 of the Sermons on the Song of Songs (e) Mystical Elevations 210 Angela of Foligno, Memorial