Mystical Experience in Abraham Abulafia, The
State University of New York Press eBooks January 1, 1988 Moshé Idel 210 citations
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Moshé Idel
3 papers in the library · 250 citations · publishing 1988-2005
Papers
Mystical Union in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam: An Ecumenical Dialogue
The Jewish Quarterly Review January 1, 1999 E. Ann Matter, Moshé Idel, Bernard Mcginn 40 citations
This book provides an updated overview of comparative mysticism, featuring contributions from leading scholars in the field. It examines mystical traditions across different religions, including Islam, Christianity, Judaism, and others, exploring their practices, experiences, and philosophical underpinnings. The work aims to offer a comprehensive and current perspective on the study of mysticism from a comparative religious studies viewpoint.
Why revelations have occurred on mountains? Linking mystical experiences and cognitive neuroscience.
Medical hypotheses January 1, 2005 Shahar Arzy, Moshé Idel, Théodor Landis et al.
Revelation experiences foundational to the three monotheistic religions share phenomenological features with experiences reported by contemporary non-mystic mountaineers at altitude, including feeling and hearing a presence, seeing a figure or lights, and fear. The authors suggest that exposure to altitude may alter functional and neural mechanisms—particularly in the temporo-parietal junction and prefrontal cortex—that facilitate such experiences. Acute and chronic hypoxia affect these brain areas, which are also linked to altered body perceptions and mystical experiences. Prolonged high-altitude stays, especially with social deprivation, may cause prefrontal lobe dysfunctions like reduced stress resistance and loss of inhibition. These parallels indicate altitude exposure might contribute to inducing revelation experiences and help explain the mountain metaphor in religion.