[lit-ideas] Re: Kataphatic, Negative and Apophatic Theology

  • From: "Phil Enns" <phil.enns@xxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Fri, 6 Aug 2004 20:25:57 -0400

I had written:

"Note, I am not trying to do away with mysticism but rather to suggest
that it must be grounded in theology of some form.  One can't
consistently engage in only negative theology."

to which Peter Junger replies:

"Does this mean that Buddhists and other persons who don't have a
theology, not having a god, cannot be mystics?  There certainly are a
lot of Buddhists who would deny that mysticism is compatable with
Buddhism.  On the other hand the Buddhist emphasis on ``emptiness'' at
the core of all appearances certainly sounds negative in the same way
that negative theology sounds negative."

The issue is not one of having a god but rather an articulated
understanding of the divine.  If most of Buddhism rejects the idea of
the divine, then it makes sense that mysticism is incompatible with
Buddhism.  There may be a negation that lies at the core of Buddhism,
but is it a negation that orients one towards the divine?

Sincerely,

Phil Enns
Toronto, ON

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