The spiritual quest : transcendence in myth, religion, and science

書誌事項

The spiritual quest : transcendence in myth, religion, and science

Robert M. Torrance

University of California Press, c1994

  • pbk.

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注記

Includes bibliographical references (p. 295-339) and index

内容説明・目次
巻冊次

ISBN 9780520081321

内容説明

This treatise argues that the quest for the spirit is not a rare mystical experience, but a frequent expression of basic human impulses, rooted in our biological, psychological and social nature. It presents the quest in the myths and religious practices of tribal people throughout the world. Shaman and scientist, medium and poet all have ventured forth in the quest of visionary truths to transform and renew the world. In theorizing about the quest, this study draws on thinkers as diverse as Freud, Darwin and Chomsky.
巻冊次

pbk. ISBN 9780520211599

内容説明

Robert Torrance's wide-ranging, innovative study argues that the spiritual quest is rooted in our biological, psychological, linguistic, and social nature. The quest is not, as most have believed, a rare mystical experience, but a frequent expression of our most basic human impulses. Shaman and scientist, medium and poet, prophet and philosopher, all venture forth in quest of visionary truths to transform and renew the world. Yet Torrance is not trying to reduce the quest to an "archetype" or "monomyth." Instead, he presents the full diversity of the quest in the myths and religious practices of tribal peoples throughout the world, from Oceania to India, Africa, Siberia, and especially the Americas. In theorizing about the quest, Torrance draws on thinkers as diverse as Bergson and Piaget, van Gennep and Turner, Pierce and Popper, Freud, Darwin, and Chomsky. This is a book that will expand our knowledge--and awareness--of a fundamental human activity in all its fascinating complexity.

目次

PREFACE ACKNOWLEDGMENTS PART ONE* ANIMAL QUAERENS: THE QUEST AS A DIMENSION OF HUMAN EXPERIENCE 1. Religion and the Spiritual Quest: From Closure to Openness 2. Biological and Psychological Foundations of the Quest 3. Linguistic Foundations of the Quest 4. The Questing Animal PART TWO * THE SPIRITUAL QUEST IN RITUAL AND MYTH 5. Ritual as Affirmation and Transformation 6. Myth and the Journey beyond the Self 7. Mobility and Its Limits in Communal Ritual and Myth PART THREE* SPIRIT POSSESSION AS A FORM OF THE SPIRITUAL QUEST 8. The Varieties of Spirit Possession 9. Possession and Transformation PART FOUR* FORMS OF THE SHAMANIC QUEST 10. Shamanism, Possession, and Ecstasy: Australia and the Tropics 11. Shamanic Heartland: Central and Northern Eurasia PART FIVE * FORMS OF THE QUEST IN NATIVE AMERICA 12. The Arctic and Western North America 13. Mesoamerica and South America 14. Eastern North America and the Great Plains PART SIX * THE THEORY OF THE QUEST:SOME CLOSING CONSIDERATIONS 15. A Ternary Process 16. The Reality of Transcendence BIBLIOGRAPHY INDEX

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