Common Core Thesis and Qualitative and Quantitative Analysis of Mysticism in Chinese Buddhist Monks and Nuns
Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion December 1, 2011 Zhuo Chen, Qi Wen, Ralph W. Hood et al. 54 citations
Among 139 Chinese Pure Land and Chan Buddhist monastics, the common facets of mysticism identified by Stace and measured by Hood's Mysticism Scale successfully described Buddhist experience, though modified by Buddhist doctrines. Confirmatory factor analysis showed that Stace's three-factor structure fit the data, but the hypothesized separation between introvertive and extrovertive unity converged in this Chinese Buddhist context. These results strongly support the idea that mystical experience has a common experiential core across religious traditions and that this core can be studied with mixed methods.