The theistic category that we named as “Mysticism of Union” in the Typology outlined in the previous article is more complex and nuanced than it may appear at first sight.

It includes the subjective experience of pure monotheistic (and monistic) religions such as Judaism and Islam, but it also includes the one from the also monotheistic (but not monistic) Christianity.

As we will see in this article, even though their mainstream exoteric theologies reflect, in theory, a perseverance of both Unity (the One) and Plurality (the Many) in their mystical experiences and in their descriptions of the afterlife, this distinction is not always maintained.

Purely monistic exoteric monotheistic religions such as Judaism and Islam tend to describe their experiences of the afterlife as an ascended and enhanced version of this earthly life, with some of them putting a greater emphasis (e.g., Islam) on the “physical” or embodied aspect of this state of being. However, due to their allegiance to pure Monism, they all show a dialectical tension between their mainstream exoteric teachings and the ones found in their esoteric mystical schools.

Those schools (Kabbalah for Judaism, Sufism for Islam), instead of focusing on the proximity of the particular saved individuals with God in a highly spiritualized realm of existence, put their emphasis in the direct fusion with the Godhead. This unavoidably transforms the monotheistic parent religion into a panentheistic worldview.

This fact, which may seem surprising for those with a limited knowledge of the respective esoteric schools of each tradition, is just the logical consequence of a belief system that adheres to pure Monism or the doctrine of the One: if God is absolutely simple and not even Him transcends the One/Many dialectic or the Either/Or logic that underlies it, any multiplicity in the Eschaton is at best superfluous and at worst contrary to this absolute Oneness.

For a Christian, however, this means the singling out of one of the many energies of God (His Oneness or Unity) and turning it into God´s Essence, in the process creating an idol out of Unity.

The whole exoteric-esoteric package of pure monistic religions, in summary, shows an unresolved dialectical tension between pure “otherness” or External Union with God in an elevated plane of existence created by God´s grace or energies (the Many; exoteric Monotheism) and the fusion or Internal Union with God´s Essence (the One; esoteric Panentheism).

In the past, this inconsistency has been translated into historical conflicts and persecutions against mystical excesses (e.g., Islam´s sometimes uneasy relationship with Sufism). However, it is only the natural and inescapable logical consequence of the allegiance of their parent religion to absolute Monism. The latent seed that tends towards Panentheism, so to speak, can be quenched but not completely removed from pure monistic Monotheism.

In the following sections and in the next articles we will study both aspects of this internal dialectic present in the major theistic religions.

In Judaism, the afterlife is known as the “coming world” (olam ha-ba)¹Blomberg, Craig L.; Chung, Sung Wook (2009). A case for historic premillennialism: “Olam Ha-Ba is usually related to teachings regarding collective redemption and resurrection, but in other places it refers to an afterlife realm for the individual.”. It is related to the heavenly “Garden in Eden” (Gan Eden) and “Hell” (Gehinnom²Rosten, Leo (1968). The Joys of Yiddish. Pocket Books edition, pp. 124 & 127.). This “Hell” is not permanent, however, being closer to the Roman Catholic concept of Purgatory, and seen as a spiritual forge where the soul is purified and prepared for its eventual heavenly abode.³Apokatastasis or universal salvation is a common concept of the doctrines of the One, being more explicit in Panentheism. If reality is ultimately One (the Absolute, the All), then it has to eventually contain everything in one way or another, excluding nothing.

The medieval rabbinical views on the afterlife, however, were not homogeneous. Maimonides, for example, described a purely spiritual existence for each individual “disembodied intellect,” while Nachmanides spoke of a state of being where spirituality and physicality are joined together in a higher order of existence connected to the Divine Presence. This latter view is shared by all classical rabbinic scholars⁴Simcha Paull, Raphael; summary by Rabbi Dr. Barry Leff. Summary of Jewish Views of the Afterlife. The Neshamah Center..

Even though it is accepted religious law (halakha) that it is impossible for the living to really know what the world to come is like⁵Steinsaltz, Adin Evan-Israel (2012). Berakhot. Edited by Tvi Hersh Weinreb. Koren Publishers Jerusalem. Koren Talmud Bavli., the vision put forward by exoteric Judaism is that of a plurality of saved souls existing externally and in parallel to God. Souls that, even if they are infused with God´s grace or created energies and elevated to greater heights closer to His Presence (Shekhinah), are still mere creatures in relation to Him.

This, which implies that the Will of the One God for creation is to attain an everlasting state of plurality and difference in the world to come (the Many), is just a variant of the dialectical Complementary Dualism between Unity and Multiplicity seen in the last article when speaking of panentheistic worldviews. In order to “contain” multiplicity, God needs creation.

This everlasting state, as may be rather obvious at this point, does not solve or transcend the problem of Unity and Multiplicity. Neither in the Godhead (pure Monism), nor in the Eschaton (pure plurality as there is only closeness but no real union between creature and Creator).

The eschatological reality in Judaism, to summarize, is one of multiplicity. This makes one horn of the dialectic. Kabbalah, in turn, will become the complementary second horn that rejects multiplicity to embrace pure unity, as we are about to see.

In Islam, the same dialectical tension just mentioned is accentuated by the insistence on determinism to the point of predestination and by certain interpretations of God´s unity (Tawhid), the central and single most important concept in Islamic religious life. R. J. Rushdoony⁷Rushdoony, R.J. (2007). The One and the Many: Studies in the Philosophy of Order and Ultimacy. Chalcedon / Ross House Books. p. 15. sums up this dichotomy as follows:

“Mohammedanism, because of its “unitar-ianism,” has been primarily a monolithic statist order, Islam. Its denial of free-will and espousal of rigid determinism is related to this theological premise. Since plurality has no ultimate reality in Mohammedanism, the freedom of the many is an academic question; the one will of Allah governs all reality. The tendency of Mohammedan thought, when not arrested by statist action, to run into mysticism is an obvious and natural one. Since the one alone has ultimate reality, the proper goal of the many is absorption into that one. Since the one alone has ultimacy, the one alone has freedom.”

The whole of Islamic intellectual history can, in fact, be interpreted as how different generations of believers have understood the presuppositions and implications of the doctrine of God’s Absolute Unity.

The transformation of the classical definition of Tawhid serves as an eloquent example of this inherent tension. In its origin, it just meant the affirmation of the belief in Monotheism (one God) and His unity⁸Lane, Edward (1863). Al-Qamus: An Arabic Lexicon. London: Williams and Norgate. pp. 2926–2928 (Vol.8.).. Even though this meaning still persists in contemporary Arabic, its more common modern connotation, however, is that of: “unification, union, combination, fusion; standardization, regularization; consolidation, amalgamation, merger”.⁹Wehr, Hans (1976). A dictionary of modern written Arabic – Edited by Milton Cowan. New York: Spoken Language Services. p. 1055.

Another clear example can be found in the following quote by Ali himself:

“As to the two meanings that are correct when applied to God, one is that it should be said that “God is one” in the sense that there is no likeness to him among things. Another is to say that “God is one” in the sense that there is no multiplicity or division conceivable in Him, neither outwardly, nor in the mind, nor in the imagination. God alone possesses such a unity.”¹⁰J. Cornell, Vincent . Encyclopedia of Religion, Vol 5. pp. 3561-3562.

From a Christian theological perspective, as previously mentioned in the case of Judaism, this is the affirmation that an energy or attribute that God possesses both defines and limits Him.

By adhering to this doctrine, and even though Islam´s God is a personal one, the person of God remains below and conditioned by one of His attributes: His absolute unity. Therefore, one of God´s energies (conceptualized as God´s Essence) has primacy over Personhood, in what would amount in Christian theology to a confusion in categorical thinking.

In Orthodox Christianity, to the contrary, each of the triad Essence-Person-Energies is at the same level, implying each other.

Islam´s Allah is absolutely independent of the entirety of creation. However, what began as an absolute Monad, the only existing One, ends in an eternity of Multiplicity containing the plurality of saved individuals, as in Judaism´s eschatology. Given that there is no real union between God and mankind, just a lessened distance with Him compared to our current state of being, the abyss between creature and Creator is never overcome.

In Islamic exoteric eschatology, then, no transcendence of the Either/Or dialectic underpinning the One/Many dichotomy is found neither in the Godhead nor in the Eschaton, as was also the case for Judaism.

As specific examples of the form that this plurality takes in the afterlife, the Sunni hadith scholar Al-Tirmidhi quotes Muhammad:

“The smallest reward for the people of Heaven is an abode where there are eighty thousand servants and seventy-two houri, over which stands a dome decorated with pearls, aquamarine, and ruby, as wide as the distance from al-Jabiyyah to San’a”.¹¹Jami’ at-Tirmidhi 2562 – Chapters on the description of Paradise Sunnah.com – Sayings and Teachings of Prophet Muhammad.¹²Various Questions Answered by Shaykh Gibril Haddad Living Islam.

Another hadith, also quoted by Tirmidhi and considered “good and sound” (hasan sahih), defines the specific reward given to the martyr:

“There are six things with Allah for the martyr. He is forgiven with the first flow of blood (he suffers), he is shown his place in Paradise, he is protected from punishment in the grave, secured from the greatest terror, the crown of dignity is placed upon his head—and its gems are better than the world and what is in it—he is married to seventy-two wives among the wide-eyed houris of Paradise, and he may intercede for seventy of his close relatives”.¹³Hadith – The Book on Virtues of Jihad – Jami’at-Tirmidhi Sunnah.com – Sayings and Teachings of Prophet Muhammad.

As can be seen, the physical aspect of the afterlife is accentuated compared to most other monotheistic religions.

For example, even if the Quran does not mention explicitly the presence of sexual intercourse in Paradise¹⁴Haleem, M.A.S. Abdel (2011). “Paradise in the Qur’an”. Understanding the Qur’an: Themes and Style. I.B Tauris. p. 235., it is mentioned in hadiths, tafsirs¹⁵Ibn Kathir, Tafsir (Quranic Commentary). The Reward of Those on the Right After. [Chapter (Surah) Al-Waqiah (That Which Must Come To Pass) 56):35–36], Dar-us-Salam Publications, 2000.¹⁶“Will men in Paradise have intercourse with al-hoor aliyn?”. IslamQA. 30 August 2000. and Islamic commentaries.¹⁷Imam Muhammad Ibn Majah. “Volume 5:37 Book of Zuhd 4337” (Muflihun.com).¹⁸Al-Jalalayn. “Tafsir Yā Sīn”. Tafsir al-Jalalayn.¹⁹Bouhdiba, Abdelwahab (2008). Sexuality in Islam. Routledge. pp. 75–76.²⁰Abdul-Rahman, Muhammad Saed (2003). Islam: Questions and Answers: Basic Tenets of Faith: Belief (Part 2). MSA Publication Ltd. pp. 415–419.

This, as we will see in the next section, is a very different reality compared to the one found in Sufi descriptions of the mystical states of being (based on unity) achieved by the Muslim saint.

In this section we will focus on the Sufi concept of Fana, or “annihilation of the self”. This doctrine is central to the problem of the One and the Many, and can be interpreted in different ways.

“All things in creation suffer annihilation and there remains the face of the Lord in its majesty and bounty.”

— The Quran. Surat-L-Rehman, 26-27²¹7 Renowned Translations. Arabic to English Translation. Surat-L-Rehman 165.

One of the traditional conceptualizations of this ego-death is that of the Vision of God. This definition implies the recognition of the will of God, at the same time that the mystic abandons his consciousness of oneself, replaced by the contemplation of God alone²²Mat, Ismail (1978). The Concept of Fana in Sufism. Islāmiyyāt 2.. This interpretation was favoured by mystics such as Al-Junayd al-Baghdadi, Al-Ghazali and Al-Sarraj.²³Yaran, Cafer. Muslim religious experiences. Alister Hardy Religious Experience Research Centre, 2004.

As Al-Hujwiri unambiguously stated, this doctrine implies the ceasing of any experience of “otherness” or multiplicity, with only the Unity of God remaining:

“One may speak, however, of an annihiliation that is independent of annihiliation: in that case annihilation (fana) means ‘annihilation of all remembrance of other’ and subsistance (baqa) means ‘subsistence of the remembrance of God’ (baqa aldhikhr al-haqq)”.²⁴Ibid.

— Al-Hujwiri. Kashf al-Mahjub

This vision is attained not only through God´s grace but, in part, through the hard work of the mystic, which grants him ma’rifa (gnosis) and a state of certainty of the reality of his visions.

The second possible interpretation, however, describes annihilation of the self as total union (ittihad) with the One or the Truth. This view, rightly criticized as heretical and incompatible with strict Monotheism by some orthodox Muslims, had its two maximum exponents in Al-Bistami and Al-Hallaj²⁵Ibid..

The removal of any trace of particularity and individuality in this state of union can be clearly seen in the verses of the famous mystic and poet Jallaluddin Rumi:

“When the Shaykh (Halláj) said ‘I am God’ and carried it through (to the end), he throttled (vanquished) all the blind (sceptics). When a man’s ‘I’ is negated (and eliminated) from existence, then what remains? Consider, O denier.”²⁶Nicholson, Reynold Alleyne. The Mathnawí of Jalálu’ddín Rúmí. Poetry Soup, p. 132, verses 2095-2096.

Sultan Bahoo, furthermore, in his book Ain-ul-Faqr, provided a very clear numerical (arithmetical) picture of the whole process of annihilation as fusion with God when he stated:

“Initially I was four, then became three, afterwards two and when I got out of Doi (being two), I became one with Allah.”

The Sufi literature describing the experience of the mystic in the form of seven concentric castles is abundant, being reminiscent of the seven Kabbalistic Palaces and of the seven Mansions of St. Teresa of Ávila, as we will later see when we explore Roman Catholic mysticism. These schemas are reminiscent of the Neo-Platonic process of Henosis or process of progressive simplification starting from external emanations and ending in union with the One.

This symbolism can be seen in works such as the Maqamat Al-Qulub or Stations of the Heart (Abu l-Hasan Nuri of Baghdad; ninth century, earliest known text), or the Nawadir (Ahmad al-Qalyubi , sixteenth century).

In the Nawadir, for example, the soul progresses through seven degrees of perfection represented through the use of the aforementioned castles as metaphors and symbols. The final stage involves the ecstatic union of the soul of the aspirant with God Himself.

An especially illustrative example of the panentheistic tendencies underlying this type of Islamic mysticism can be found in the famous Persian poet Farid ad-din Attar.

In his poem The Conference of the Birds, he wrote about the seven Valleys of the Way as the different stages encountered by the pilgrim in his “journey in God”.

In it, we can clearly see the metaphysical position in favour of the One and, therefore, the complete exclusion of the Many. In the description of the fifth valley, the Valley of Unity, difference and diversity dissolve into unity: “the many here are merged into one; one form involves the multifarious, thick swarm.”²⁷Attar, Farid ad-din. (1984). Conference of the Birds. London: Penguin. pp. 191.

The final Valley, the one of Poverty and Nothingness, also shows striking similarities to other Eastern panentheistic worldviews, as can be seen in the following extracts of its description:

“[…] Lame and deaf, the mind has gone, You enter an obscure oblivion”,
“[…]Whoever sinks within this sea is blest and in self-loss obtains eternal rest”.

“First lose yourself, then lose this loss and then Withdraw from all that you

have lost again –

Go peacefully, and

stage by stage progress

Until you gain the realms

of Nothingness;

But if you cling to any

worldly trace,

No news will reach you

from that promised place.”²⁸Ibid., pp. 203, 205.

Given that this interpretation transforms Islam´s monotheistic Monism into a panentheistic one, it is no surprise that this is the preferred interpretation of perennialists, such as the Islamic scholar and philosopher Hossein Nasr.²⁹Yaran, Cafer. Muslim religious experiences. Alister Hardy Religious Experience Research Centre, 2004.

Perennialism or Perennial Philosophy (also known as Traditionalism) states either that all esoteric mystical schools are just partial exponents of the true lost metaphysical doctrine or that they all are different ways to reach the same destination. It focuses on the minimum common denominator between them, and it is especially influenced by the Panentheism of Advaita Vedanta and the Sufi traditions that define self-annihilation as union with God. In other words, Perennialism always favours a panentheistic worldview.

This interpretation of self-annihilation, furthermore, is similar to Eastern religious concepts such as Samadhi in Hinduism or Nirvana in Buddhism³⁰Bennett, Clinton; M. Ramsey, Charles. South Asian Sufis: Devotion, Deviation, and Destiny. A&C Black, p. 23., which literally means “extinction or disappearance”.

The similarities of Sufism with Eastern mysticism and Western esotericism are evident. They are also natural, as they are just the logical consequence of the doctrine of absolute Monism. If everything is ultimately One (God), what are we? Either we remain separated from God even in Paradise, being nothing in comparison to Him, or we are everything by uniting with Him instead.

As we have seen, both Jewish and Islamic mysticism, when unconstrained by their respective orthodox authorities, make explicit the inherent undeclared dialectical conflict between the exoteric and esoteric aspects of theistic Absolute Monism or Non-Trinitarian Monotheism. When not repressed, they tend towards the One (Panentheism).

JUDAISM AND KABBALAH

1. Universal Aspects of the Kabbalah and Judaism. Leo Schaya.
2. Kabbalah. Gershom Scholem.
3. Meditation and Kabbalah. Aryeh Kaplan.
4. Universal Meaning of the Kabbalah. Leo Schaya.
   

ISLAM AND SUFISM

1. Introduction to Sufi Doctrine. Titus Burckhardt.
2. Hindu and Muslim Mysticism. R. C. Zaehner.
3. The Sufi Path of Knowledge: Ibn al-Arabi’s Metaphysics of Imagination. William C. Chittick.
4. The Sufi Path of Love: The Spiritual Teachings of Rumi. William C. Chittick.

1. Blomberg, Craig L.; Chung, Sung Wook (2009). A case for historic premillennialism: “Olam Ha-Ba is usually related to teachings regarding collective redemption and resurrection, but in other places it refers to an afterlife realm for the individual.”
2. Rosten, Leo (1968). The Joys of Yiddish. Pocket Books edition, pp. 124 & 127.
3. Apokatastasis or universal salvation is a common concept of the doctrines of the One, being more explicit in Panentheism. If reality is ultimately One (the Absolute, the All), then it has to eventually contain everything in one way or another, excluding nothing.
4. Simcha Paull, Raphael; summary by Rabbi Dr. Barry Leff. Summary of Jewish Views of the Afterlife. The Neshamah Center.
5. Steinsaltz, Adin Evan-Israel (2012). Berakhot. Edited by Tvi Hersh Weinreb. Koren Publishers Jerusalem. Koren Talmud Bavli.
6. Green, D. (1989). Gold in the Crucible. p. 92.
7. Rushdoony, R.J. (2007). The One and the Many: Studies in the Philosophy of Order and Ultimacy. Chalcedon / Ross House Books. p. 15.
8. Lane, Edward (1863). Al-Qamus: An Arabic Lexicon. London: Williams and Norgate. pp. 2926–2928 (Vol.8.).
9. Wehr, Hans (1976). A dictionary of modern written Arabic – Edited by Milton Cowan. New York: Spoken Language Services. p. 1055.
10. J. Cornell, Vincent . Encyclopedia of Religion, Vol 5. pp. 3561-3562.
11. “Jami’ at-Tirmidhi 2562 – Chapters on the description of Paradise“. Sunnah.com – Sayings and Teachings of Prophet Muhammad.
12. “Various Questions Answered by Shaykh Gibril Haddad”. Living Islam.
13. “Hadith – The Book on Virtues of Jihad – Jami’at-Tirmidhi”. Sunnah.com – Sayings and Teachings of Prophet Muhammad.
14. Haleem, M.A.S. Abdel (2011). “Paradise in the Qur’an”. Understanding the Qur’an: Themes and Style. I.B Tauris. p. 235.
15. Ibn Kathir, Tafsir (Quranic Commentary). The Reward of Those on the Right After. [Chapter (Surah) Al-Waqiah (That Which Must Come To Pass) 56):35–36], Dar-us-Salam Publications, 2000.
16. “Will men in Paradise have intercourse with al-hoor aliyn?”. IslamQA. 30 August 2000.
17. Imam Muhammad Ibn Majah. “Volume 5:37 Book of Zuhd 4337” (Muflihun.com).
18. Al-Jalalayn. “Tafsir Yā Sīn”. Tafsir al-Jalalayn.
19. Bouhdiba, Abdelwahab (2008). Sexuality in Islam. Routledge. pp. 75–76.
20. Abdul-Rahman, Muhammad Saed (2003). Islam: Questions and Answers: Basic Tenets of Faith: Belief (Part 2). MSA Publication Ltd. pp. 415–419.
21. 7 Renowned Translations. Arabic to English Translation. Surat-L-Rehman 165.
22. Mat, Ismail (1978). The Concept of Fana in Sufism. Islāmiyyāt 2.
23. Yaran, Cafer. Muslim religious experiences. Alister Hardy Religious Experience Research Centre, 2004.
24. Ibid.
25. Ibid.
26. Nicholson, Reynold Alleyne. The Mathnawí of Jalálu’ddín Rúmí. Poetry Soup, p. 132, verses 2095-2096.
27. Attar, Farid ad-din. (1984). Conference of the Birds. London: Penguin. pp. 191.
28. Ibid., pp. 203, 205.
29. Yaran, Cafer. Muslim religious experiences. Alister Hardy Religious Experience Research Centre, 2004.
30. Bennett, Clinton; M. Ramsey, Charles. South Asian Sufis: Devotion, Deviation, and Destiny. A&C Black, p. 23.