2021/09/09

신현 - 위키백과, 신현(神顯, theophany,

신현 - 위키백과, 우리 모두의 백과사전



신현
위키백과, 우리 모두의 백과사전.


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중국 허난성 신양시의 행정 구역에 대해서는 신현 (신양시) 문서를 참고하십시오.

페테르 파울 루벤스의 작품 도덕적 위장없이 제우스 신현에 의한 세멜레의 죽음

신현(神顯, theophany, 고대 그리스 (ἡ) θεοφάνεια theophaneia,[1] )이란 신의 현현을 의미한다. 하나님이 인간에게 나타난 것을 말한다.[2][3][4] 

구약성서에 보면 하나님은 아브라함에게는 천사의 모습으로, 모세와 이스라엘 백성들에게는 셰키나(shekinah, 하나님의 영광)의 모습으로, 다니엘에게는 인자의 모습으로 나타난다. 신약에서는 예수 그리스도는 바로 그 하나님의 모습으로, 바울에게는 셰키나의 하나님으로 보이셨다. 하나님의 나타나심은 자신의 존재만 아니라 자신의 의지와 계획을 위해 인간을 도구로 사용하시기 위해 현현하신 것이다. 성경에서 나타나는 하나님은 멀리 계시는 하나님(초월성)일 뿐만 아니라 또한 가까이 계시는 하나님(내재성)이시다.




하나님은 구약 시대에 그룹(Cherubim, 지천사) 사이에 임재하셨다(시 80: 1, 99: 1). 하나님의 임재는 불과 연기의 구름 속에서(창 15: 17; 출 3: 2, 19: 9, 16 이하, 33: 9; 시 78: 14, 99: 7), 폭풍우 속에서(욥 38: 1, 40: 6; 시 18: 10-16) 또한 미풍 속에서도 나타났다. 이것들은 모두가 그의 임재의 표시로 이 가운데서 그는 영광의 모습을 계시하셨던 것이다. 구약에서는 “여호와의 사자”의 현현이 특수한 자리를 차지하고 있다. 이 사자는 분명히 창조된 사자가 아니었다. 이 사자는 하나님과 구별되었으나(출 23: 20-23; 사 63: 8-9) 하나님과 동일시되기도 하였다(창 16: 13, 31: 11, 13, 32: 28). 일반적인 견해에 의하면 그는 삼위 중의 제 2위라고 한다. “만군의 여호와가 이르노라 보라 내가 내 사자를 보내리니 그가 내 앞에서 길을 예비할 것이요 또 너희의 구하는바 주가 홀연히 그 전에 임하리니 곧 너희의 사모하는바 언약의 사자가 임할 것이라.”(말 3: 1) 하나님의 현현은 말씀이 육신이 되신 그리스도 안에서 그 정점에 달하였고(요 1: 14) 그리스도 안에서 신격의 충만함이 육체적으로 임재하셨다(골 1: 19, 2: 9). 그리고 그리스도 안에서 교회는 성령의 전이 된다(고전 3: 16, 6: 19; 엡 2: 21). 그러나 새 예루살렘이 하늘에서 하나님으로부터 내려오고 하나님의 성막이 사람들 사이에 쳐질 때 하나님과 인간과의 가장 충만한 동거의 실현이 있게 될 것이다. “또 내가 보매 거룩한 성 새 예루살렘이 하나님께로부터 하늘에서 내려오니 그 예비한 것이 신부가 남편을 위하여 단장한 것 같더라 내가 들으니 보좌에서 큰 음성이 나서 가로되 보라 하나님의 장막이 사람들과 함께 있으매 하나님이 저희와 함께 거하시리니 저희는 하나님의 백성이 되고 하나님은 친히 저희와 함께 계셔서.”(계 21: 2-3)[5]

===
Theophany
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Peter Paul Rubens' Death of Semele, caused by the theophany of Zeus without a mortal disguise

Theophany (from Ancient Greek (ἡ) θεοφάνεια theophaneia,[1] meaning "appearance of a deity") is a personal encounter with a deity, that is an event where the manifestation of a deity occurs in an observable way.[2][3] Specifically, it "refers to the temporal and spatial manifestation of God in some tangible form."[4]

Where the deity does not take tangible form (outward manifestation), the broader term used for inward manifestation is divine revelation or divine inspiration.[5] Where the spirit of god is manifest in a person the term used is divine incarnation, avatar or personification of the deity.[6]

Traditionally the term "theophany" was used to refer to appearances of the gods in ancient Greek and in Near Eastern religions. 

While the Iliad is the earliest source for descriptions of theophanies in classical antiquity (which occur throughout Greek mythology), probably the earliest description appears in the Epic of Gilgamesh.[7]

In the specific usage for Christians and Jews, with respect to the Bible, theophany refers to an event where the Abrahamic God reveals his presence to a person.


Theophany

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to navigationJump to search
Peter Paul Rubens' Death of Semele, caused by the theophany of Zeus without a mortal disguise

Theophany (from Ancient Greek (ἡ) θεοφάνεια theophaneia,[1] meaning "appearance of a deity") is a personal encounter with a deity, that is an event where the manifestation of a deity occurs in an observable way.[2][3] Specifically, it "refers to the temporal and spatial manifestation of God in some tangible form."[4]

Where the deity does not take tangible form (outward manifestation), the broader term used for inward manifestation is divine revelation or divine inspiration.[5] Where the spirit of god is manifest in a person the term used is divine incarnation, avatar or personification of the deity.[6]

Traditionally the term "theophany" was used to refer to appearances of the gods in ancient Greek and in Near Eastern religions. While the Iliad is the earliest source for descriptions of theophanies in classical antiquity (which occur throughout Greek mythology), probably the earliest description appears in the Epic of Gilgamesh.[7]

In the specific usage for Christians and Jews, with respect to the Bible, theophany refers to an event where the Abrahamic God reveals his presence to a person.

Ancient Greek religion[edit source]

See also: Epiphany (Ancient Greece)

The appearance of Zeus to Semele is more than a mortal can stand and she is burned to death by the flames of his power.[8] However, most Greek theophanies were less deadly. Unusual for Greek mythology is the story of Prometheus, not an Olympian but a Titan, who brought knowledge of fire to humanity. Divine or heroic epiphanies were sometimes experienced in historical times, either in dreams or as a waking vision, and frequently led to the foundation of a cult, or at least an act of worship and the dedication of a commemorative offering.[9]

Theophanies were reenacted at a number of Greek sites and festivals. At Delphi the Theophania (Θεοφάνια) was an annual festival in spring celebrating the return of Apollo from his winter quarters in Hyperborea. The culmination of the festival was a display of an image of the gods, usually hidden in the sanctuary, to worshippers. Later Roman mystery religions often included similar brief displays of images to excited worshippers.[10]

Hinduism[edit source]

Indra blesses Kunti with a son.

Hinduism uses darśana, the Sanskrit for "sighting",[11] for the sighting of a god.[12] Gods taking form on earth are referred to as avatars.[13][14] The most popular avatar of Vishnu in Hinduism is Krishna. The most well-known theophany is contained within the Bhagavad-Gita, itself one chapter of the larger epic the Mahabharata. On the battlefield of Kurukshetra, Krishna gives the famed warrior Arjuna a series of teachings, and Arjuna begs for Krishna to reveal his "universal form." Krishna complies and gives Arjuna the spiritual vision which enables him to see Krishna in that form, a magnificent and awe-inspiring manifestation, containing everything in the universe. A description of this theophany forms the main part of Chapter XI.

A number of theophanies are described in the Sanskrit epic the Mahabharata.[15] Among the first is the god Indra's appearance to Kunti, with the subsequent birth of the hero Arjuna.[16][17] Near the end of the epic, the god Yama, referred to as Dharma in the text, is portrayed as taking the form of a dog to test the compassion of Yudhishthira, who is told he may not enter paradise with such an animal, but refuses to abandon his companion, for which decision he is then praised by Dharma.[18]

Judaism[edit source]

The Hebrew Bible states that God revealed himself to mankind.[19] God speaks with Adam and Eve in Eden (Gen 3:9–19); with Cain (Gen 4:9–15); with Noah (Gen 6:13, Gen 7:1, Gen 8:15) and his sons (Gen 9:1-8); and with Abraham and his wife Sarah (Gen 18). He also appears twice to Hagar, the slave-girl who has Abraham's first child, Ishmael (Gen 16).

The first revelation that Moses had of Yahweh at the burning bush was "a great sight"; "he was afraid to look" at him (Ex. 3:3, 6); also the first revelation Samuel had in a dream is called "the vision"; afterward God was frequently "seen" at Shiloh (I Sam. 3:15, 21, Hebr.). Isaiah's first revelation was also a sight of God (Isa. 6:1–5); Amos had visions (Amos 7:1, 4; 8:1; 9:1); and so with Jeremiah (Jer. 1:11, 13), Ezekiel (Ezek. 1-3; 8:1–3; 10), and Zechariah (Zech. 1-14,2:13), and, in fact, with all "seers," as they called themselves.

Balaam also boasted of being one who saw "the vision of the Almighty" (Num. 24:4).

In Job, Eliphaz describes a vision: "In thoughts from the vision of the night, when deep sleep falls on men, fear came upon me, and trembling . . . a spirit passed before my face; the hair of my flesh stood up. He stood still, but I could not discern his appearance; a figure was before mine eyes, a whispering voice I heard" (Job 9:1-4, 10-11, Hebr.).

The Torah lays stress on the fact that, while to other prophets God made himself known in a vision, speaking to them in a dream, he spoke with Moses "mouth to mouth", "as a man would speak with his neighbor", in clear sight and not in riddles (Num. 12:6–8; comp. Ex. 33:11; Deut. 34:10).

The burning bush[edit source]

In Midian, while Moses was keeping the flock of his father in law Jethro, the angel of the Lord appeared to Moses in a bush that burned but was not consumed (Exodus 3:1-2). Yahweh called to Moses out of the midst of the bush, and told him that he had heard the affliction of his people in Egypt, and gave Moses orders to speak to Pharaoh and to lead the Israelites out of Egypt (Exodus 3:3-12).[20]

The pillar of cloud and pillar of fire[edit source]

Further information: Pillars of fire and cloud
The Children of Israel Crossing the Jordan, Exodus 13:21-22: By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire.

God reveals his divine presence and protection to the Israelites by leading them out of Egypt and through the Sinai desert by appearing as a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.[21]

According to Rabbi Eliezer, each person among the Israelites, including even the least intelligent bond-woman, saw God's glory at the Red Sea in clearer form than did, afterward, prophets of the stamp of Ezekiel; wherefore they burst forth into the song, "This is my God" (Mek.(Mekiita), l.c., with reference to Exodus xv. 2).[22]

Mount Sinai[edit source]

The theophany at biblical Mount Sinai is related in Exodus 19:16–25. YHWH's manifestation is accompanied by thunder and lightning; there is a fiery flame, reaching to the sky; the loud notes of a trumpet are heard; and the whole mountain smokes and quakes. Out of the midst of the flame and the cloud a voice reveals the Ten Commandments. The account in Deut. 4:11-12, Deut. 4:33-36 and Deut. 5:4-19 is practically the same; and in its guarded language it strongly emphasizes the incorporeal nature of God. Moses in his blessing (Deut. 33:2) points to this revelation as to the source of the election of Israel, but with this difference: with him the point of departure for the theophany is Mount Sinai and not heaven. God appears on Sinai like a shining sun and comes "accompanied by holy myriads" (comp. Sifre, Deut. 243).

Likewise, in the Song of Deborah (Judges 5:2-31) the manifestation is described as a storm: the earth quakes, Sinai trembles, and the clouds drop water. It is poetically elaborated in the prayer of Habakkuk (Hab. iii.); here past and future are confused. As in Deut. xxxiii. 2 and Judges v. 4, God appears from Teman and Paran. His majesty is described as a glory of light and brightness; pestilence precedes Him. The mountains tremble violently; the earth quakes; the people are sore afraid. God rides in a chariot of war, with horses – a conception found also in Isa. xix. 1 where God appears on a cloud, and in Ps. xviii. 10 where He appears on a cherub.

In Isaiah and Ezekiel[edit source]

Ezekiel's Vision by Raphael, c. 1518

The biblical prophets Isaiah and Ezekiel receive their commissions as prophets amid glorious manifestations of God. Isaiah sees God on a high and lofty throne. More precisely, however, he sees not him but only his glorious robe, the hem and train of which fill the whole temple of heaven. Before the throne stand the seraphim, the six-winged angels. With two wings they cover their faces so as not to gaze on God; with two they cover their feet, through modesty; and with the remaining two they fly. Their occupation is the everlasting praise of God, which at the time of the revelation took the form of the thrice-repeated cry "Holy!" (Isa. vi.).

Ezekiel in his description is not so reserved as Isaiah. The divine throne appears to him as a wonderful chariot. Storm, a great cloud, ceaseless fire, and on all sides a wonderful brightness accompany the manifestation. Out of the fire four creatures become visible. They have the faces of men; each one has four wings; and the shape of their feet enables them to go to all four-quarters of the earth with equal rapidity and without having to turn. These living creatures are recognized by the prophet as cherubim (Ezek. x 20 ). The heavenly fire, the coals of which burn like torches, moves between them. The movement of the creatures is harmonious: wherever the spirit of God leads them they go.

Beneath the living creatures are wheels (ofannim) full of eyes. On their heads rests a firmament upon which is the throne of God. When the divine chariot moves, their wings rustle with a noise like thunder. On the throne the prophet sees the divine being, having the likeness of a man. His body from the loins upward is shining (ḥashmal); downward it is fire (in Ezek. viii. 2 the reverse is stated). In the Sinaitic revelation God descends and appears upon earth. In the prophetic vision, on the other hand, he appears in heaven, which is in keeping with the nature of the case, because the Sinaitic revelation was meant for a whole people, on the part of which an ecstatic condition cannot be thought of.

David's theophany[edit source]

The theophany described in Psalm 18:8–16 is very different. David is in great need and at his earnest solicitation God appears to save him. Before God the earth trembles and fire glows. God rides on a cherub on the wind. God is surrounded by clouds which are outshone by God's brightness. With thunder and lightning God destroys the enemies of the singer and rescues him.[23]

Christianity[edit source]

See also: Christophany

Christians generally recognize the same Old Testament theophanies as the Jews.[24][25] In addition there are at least two theophanies mentioned in the New Testament.[26][27] While some usages[28] refer to the baptisms of Jesus and John the Baptist as "theophanies, scholars eschew such usage.[2]

The 4th-century bishop Eusebius of Caesarea, b. 263 AD, wrote a treatise "On Divine Manifestation" (Peri theophaneias), referring to the incarnation of Jesus, but generally divine incarnation is not regarded as theophantic, as it lacks the "temporariness and suddenness of the appearance of God".[2]

Traditional analysis of the Biblical passages led Christian scholars to understand theophany as an unambiguous manifestation of God to man.[29] Otherwise, the more general term hierophany is used.[30]

Catholic Christianity[edit source]

The New Catholic Encyclopedia cites examples of theophanies such as Genesis 3:8 and then quotes Genesis 16:7–14. In this case, initially it is an angel which appears to Hagar, however it then says that God spoke directly to her, and that she saw God and lived (Genesis 16:13).

The next example the New Catholic Encyclopedia cites is Genesis 22:11–15, which states explicitly that it was the angel of the Lord speaking to Abraham (Genesis 22:11). However, the angel addressing Abraham speaks the words of God in the first person (Genesis 22:12). In both of the last two examples, although it is an angel speaking, the voice is of God spoken through the angel, since it says "withhold from me". A similar case would be Moses and the burning bush. Initially Moses saw an angel in the bush, but then goes on to have a direct conversation with God himself (Exodus 3).

The New Catholic Encyclopedia, however, makes few references to a theophany from the gospels. Mark 1:9-11, where only Jesus hears the voice from heaven, and Luke 9:28–36 the transfiguration where the Father speaks are cited.

Orthodox Christianity[edit source]

Main article: Epiphany (holiday)
Mural - Jesus' Baptism.jpg

Eastern Orthodox Churches celebrate the theophany of Jesus Christ on 6 January according to a liturgical calendar as one of the Great Feasts. In Western Orthodox Christian Churches, 6 January is kept as the holy day Epiphany, while the feast of Theophany is celebrated separately, on the following Sunday.

In Orthodox Christian tradition, the feast commemorates the baptism of Christ by John the Baptist.[28]

Evangelical Christianity[edit source]

Some modern Evangelical Christian Bible commentators, such as Ron Rhodes, interpret "the angel of the Lord", who appears in several places throughout the Old Testament, to be the pre-incarnate Christ, which is Jesus before his manifestation into human form, as described in the New Testament.[31] The term Christophany has also been coined to identify pre-incarnate appearances of Christ in the Old Testament. This also has been the traditional interpretation of the earliest Church Fathers as well as the apostle Paul himself, who identifies the rock that was with Moses in the desert as being Christ. For a more thorough list of "God sightings", or theophanies, see the examples below under "Judaism, Hebrew Bible."

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints[edit source]

Main article: First Vision

Joseph Smith, the prophet and founder of the Latter Day Saint movement, said that when he was 14 years old he was visited by God the Father and Jesus Christ in a grove of trees near his house, a theophany in answer to his spoken prayer. This "First Vision" is considered to be the founding event of the Latter Day Saint movement.[32] The Book of Mormon describes other hierophanies and theophanies that occurred in the New World.[33]

For example, Blake Ostler analysed the Throne-Theophany of Lehi in the First Book of Nephi and concluded that the theophanies in the Bible and the Book of Mormon have much in common.[34]

And being thus overcome with the Spirit, he was carried away in a vision, even that he saw the heavens open, and he thought he saw God sitting upon his throne, surrounded with numberless concourses of angels in the attitude of singing and praising their God. And it came to pass that he saw One descending out of the midst of heaven, and he beheld that his luster was above that of the sun at noon-day. And he also saw twelve others following him, and their brightness did exceed that of the stars in the firmament. And they came down and went forth upon the face of the earth; and the first came and stood before my father, and gave unto him a book, and bade him that he should read.[35]

Nontrinitarians[edit source]

Those groups which have Arian Christology such as Jehovah's Witnesses may identify some appearances of angels, particularly the archangel Michael, as Christophanies, but not theophanies.[36]

Those groups with early Unitarian or Socinian Christology such as Christadelphians and the Church of God General Conference identify the Angel of the Lord in the Old Testament much as Jews do, simply as angels. Early Christadelphians, notably John Thomas (1870)[37] and C. C. Walker (1929),[38] integrated angelic theophanies and God as revealed in his various divine names into a doctrine of God Manifestation which carries on into a Unitarian understanding of God's theophany in Christ and God being manifested in resurrected believers.[citation needed]

Islam[edit source]

The most important theophany in Islam is the Mi'raj, the Prophet's ascent into heaven where he speaks to God (Allah), sometimes called "a night journey from Mecca through Jerusalem."[39][40]

Baháʼí Faith[edit source]

Main article: Manifestation of God (Baháʼí Faith)

While the Baháʼí Faith does not refer to any particular events of theophany, they hold that god is manifest in the prophets. The "Manifestation of God" is a concept that refers to what are commonly called prophets, including, among others, Zoroaster, Krishna, Gautama Buddha, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, Muhammad, the Báb, and Baháʼu'lláh.[41] The Manifestations of God are a series of personages who reflect the attributes of the divine into the human world for the progress and advancement of human morals and civilization.[42] The Manifestations of God are the only channel for humanity to know about God, and they act as perfect mirrors reflecting the attributes of God into the physical world.[43]

In his 1914 publication entitled The Reconciliation of Races and Religions, Thomas Kelly Cheyne, FBA (1841 – 1915), an ordained minister in the Church of England and Oxford University scholar, described theophany within the context of the Baháʼí Faith.[44][45] Cheyne wrote, "...one feels that a theology without a theophany is both dry and difficult to defend. We want an avatar, i.e. a 'descent' of God in human form".[45] Cheyne described Baháʼu'lláh as a "human being of such consummate excellence that many think it is both permissible and inevitable even to identify him mystically with the invisible Godhead."[45]:4, 5 He wrote that Baháʼu'lláh was a "true image of God and a true lover of man, and helps forward the reform of all those manifold abuses which hinder the firm establishment of the kingdom of God."[45]:4, 5

A 1991 article in the Journal of Bahá’í Studies (JBS), described "Bahá’í theophanology" as "acceptance of the Prophet, or 'Manifestation of God,' who speaks on behalf of God."[46] The author wrote that Bahá’u’lláh wrote a series of epistles in the 1860s to kings and rulers, including, Pope Pius IX, Napoleon III, Tsar Alexander II of Russia, Queen Victoria, and Naser al-Din Shah Qajar, in a "forceful, theophanic voice" calling them to undertake reforms.[46] These letters were published in a compilation entitled Summons of the Lord of Hosts in 2002.[47] The JBS article described Bahá’u’lláh's "theophanology" as "progressivist". He claimed "spiritual authority" in these letters in which he warned western leaders of the dangers facing humanity should they choose to not act on his guidance.[46]

Druze Faith[edit source]

See also: Druze § Beliefs

While the Druze do not refer to any particular events of theophany, they believe in divine incarnation and reincarnation, i.e. the transmigration of the soul.[48] Hamza ibn Ali ibn Ahmad is considered the founder of the Druze and the primary author of the Druze manuscripts,[49] he proclaimed that God had become human and taken the form of man, al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah.[50][51][52][53][54] al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah is an important figure in the Druze faith whose eponymous founder ad-Darazi proclaimed him as the incarnation of God in 1018.[50][51]

Divine appearances to animals[edit source]

Human religious lore includes ancient literary recordings of deities appearing to animals, usually with the animals able to relate the experience to humans using human speech:

Modern[edit source]

Teofanía ("Theophany") by Mexican artist Antonio García Vega

More recently, science fiction author Philip K. Dick reportedly had a theophany on 3 February 1974,[58] which was to become the later basis for his semi-biographic works VALIS (1981) and the posthumous Radio Free Albemuth (1985).[59][60]

In 1977, a man in France, Michel Potay, testified he witnessed five theophanies. He published the text he says he received from God in The Book, second part of The Revelation of Ares.

There are a large number of modern cases which have been rendered into print, film, and otherwise conveyed to broad publics. Some cases have become popular books and media, including:

These instances are distinguished from cases in which divine encounters are explicitly considered fictional by the author, a frequent motif in speculative fiction such as in Julian May's Galactic Milieu Series.[63]

See also[edit source]

References[edit source]

  1. ^ Not to be confused with the Ancient Greek (τὰ) Θεοφάνια (Theophania), the festivity at Delphi.
  2. ^ Jump up to:a b c "Theophany". Encyclopædia Britannica. Archived from the original on 6 June 2012.
  3. ^ Burtchaell, J. T. (2002). "Theophany". New Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 13: Seq-The (second ed.). Detroit, Michigan: The Catholic University of America by Thomson/Gale. p. 929. ISBN 978-0-7876-4017-0.
  4. ^ Harvey, Van Austin (1964). "Theophany". A Handbook of Theological Terms. New York: Macmillan. p. 241. OCLC 963417958.
  5. ^ Auberlen, Karl August (1867). The Divine Revelation: An Essay in Defence of the Faith. Edinburgh: T. and T. Clark. p. 105. ISBN 978-0-8370-8722-1. Translation by A. B. Paton of Die gottliche Offenbarung.
  6. ^ Bassuk, Daniel E. (1987). "Foreward". Incarnation in Hinduism and Christianity: The Myth of the God-Man. Springer Verlag. p. ix. ISBN 978-1-349-08642-9.
  7. ^ Bulkley, Kelly (1993). "The Evil Dreams of Gilgamesh: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Dreams in Mythological Texts". In Rupprecht, Carol Schreier (ed.). The Dream and the Text: Essays on Literature and Language. Albany, New York: SUNY Press. pp. 159–177, page 163. ISBN 978-0-7914-1361-6.
  8. ^ William Sherwood Fox (1916). Greek and Roman [mythology]. Harvard University. Marshall Jones Company.
  9. ^ Oxford Classical Dictionary, 3rd edn revised, p 546
  10. ^ James Hall, A History of Ideas and Images in Italian Art, pp 70–71, 1983, John Murray, London, ISBN 0-7195-3971-4
  11. ^ Flood, Gavin D. (2011). "Miracles in Hinduism". In Twelftree, Graham H. (ed.). The Cambridge Companion to Miracles. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. pp. 184–198, page 194. ISBN 978-0-521-89986-4.
  12. ^ Da Samraj, Adi (1992). The Method of the Siddhas: Talks on the Spiritual Technique of the Saviors of Mankind. Clearlake, California: Dawn Horse Press. p. 13. ISBN 978-0-918801-50-0.
  13. ^ Lochtefeld, James G. (2002). "Avatar". The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Volume 1: A–M. New York: Rosen. pp. 72–73. ISBN 978-0-8239-3179-8.
  14. ^ Geoffrey Parrinder (1997). Avatar and Incarnation: The Divine in Human Form in the World's Religions. Oneworld. pp. 19–20. ISBN 978-1-85168-130-3.
  15. ^ Laine, James W. (2007). Visions of God: narratives of theophany in the Mahābhdāhata. Publications of the De Nobili Research Library, Volume 16. Vienna: Gerold & Company. ISBN 978-3-900271-19-0.
  16. ^ Coulter, Charles Russell; Turner, Patricia (2013). "Arjuna". Encyclopedia of Ancient Deities. Routledge. p. 69. ISBN 978-1-13596-390-3.
  17. ^ Johnson, W. J. (2009). "Kunti". A Dictionary of Hinduism. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/acref/9780198610250.001.0001. ISBN 978-0-19861-025-0.
  18. ^ "The Mahabharata, Book 17: Mahaprasthanika Parva: Section 3". Internet Sacrd Texts Archive.
  19. ^ The original Hebraic terms that were used for the display were mar'eh ("sight") and maḥazeh, ḥazon or ḥizzayon ("vision").
  20. ^ Zeligs, Dorothy F. (1969). "Moses in Midian: The burning bush". American Imago. 26 (4): 379–400. JSTOR 26302773.
  21. ^ "By day the LORD went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way". Exodus 13:21–22)
  22. ^ "Revelation: Nature of Revelation". The Jewish Encyclopedia. Volume 10, Philipson–Samoscz. New York: Funk and Wagnalls. 1905.
  23. ^ Shnider, Steven (2006). "Psalm xviii: Theophany, Epiphany Empowerment". Vetus Testamentum. 56 (3): 386–398. JSTOR 20504047.
  24. ^ Kominiak, Benedict (1948). The Theophanies of the Old Testament in the Writings of St. Justin. Studies in Sacred Theology, 2nd series, number 14. Washington, D.C.: Catholic University of America Press. pp. throughout. OCLC 878155779.
  25. ^ Bucur, Bogdan Gabriel (2018). Scripture Re-envisioned: Christophanic Exegesis and the Making of a Christian Bible. Leiden: Boston Brill. pp. passim. ISBN 978-90-04-38610-5.
  26. ^ Mark 1:9–11 and Luke 9:28–36
  27. ^ Cook, Chris (2019). "Hearing voices in Christian scripture: the New Testament". Hearing Voices, Demonic and Divine: Scientific and Theological Perspectives. New York: Routledge. p. 82. ISBN 978-0-367-58243-2.
  28. ^ Jump up to:a b "The Season of Epiphany". The Voice. Christian Research Institute.
  29. ^ Ivakhiv, Adrian J. (2001). Claiming Sacred Ground: Pilgrims and Politics at Glastonbury and Sedona. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press. p. 253, note 2 and the authors there cited. ISBN 978-0-253-33899-0.
  30. ^ Sharma, Arvind (2006). "The Concept of Revelation and the Primal Religious Tradition". A Primal Perspective on the Philosophy of Religion. Dordrecht, the Netherlands: Springer Verlag. p. 109. ISBN 978-1-4020-5014-5.
  31. ^ Ron Rhodes Angels Among Us: Separating Fact from Fiction – Page 117, (2008): "As we examine Scripture together, I think you too will come to see that this was no ordinary angel but was in fact the pre-incarnate Christ. Theologians call the appearances of Christ in the Old Testament theophanies."
  32. ^ The Restoration of the Gospel Archived 13 October 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  33. ^ Wright, Mark Alan (2011). ""According to Their Language, unto Their Understanding": The Cultural Context of Hierophanies and Theophanies in Latter-day Saint Canon". Studies in the Bible and Antiquity. Maxwell Institute for Regilious Scholarship, Brigham Young University. 3: 51–65. Archived from the original on 25 January 2013.
  34. ^ "The Throne-Theophany and Prophetic Commission in 1 Nephi: A Form-Critical Analysis | BYU Studies". byustudies.byu.edu. Retrieved 16 May 2020.
  35. ^ The Throne-Theophany of Lehi in the First Book of Nephi in 1 Nephi 1:8–11
  36. ^ John Ankerberg, John Weldon, Dillon Burroughs The Facts on Jehovah's Witnesses 2008 Page 32
  37. ^ Thomas, John (1870). Phanerosis: an exposition of the doctrine of the Old and New Testaments, concerning the manifestation of the invisible eternal God in human nature. s.d.: R. Roberts.
  38. ^ Walker, C. C. (1929) Theophany: The Bible doctrine of the manifestation of God upon earth in the angels, in the Lord Jesus Christ, and hereafter in "the manifestation of sons of God" Birmingham
  39. ^ Bradlow, Khadija (18 August 2007). "A night journey through Jerusalem". Times Online. Retrieved 27 March 2011.
  40. ^ Vuckovic, Brooke Olson (2004). Heavenly Journeys, Earthly Concerns: The Legacy of the Mi'raj in the Formation of Islam. Religion in History, Society and Culture, volume 5. New York: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-96785-3.
  41. ^ Smith, Peter (2000). "Manifestations of God". A Concise Encyclopedia of the Baháʼí Faith. Oxford: Oneworld Publications. p. 231. ISBN 1-85168-184-1.
  42. ^ Cole, Juan (1982). "The Concept of Manifestation in the Baháʼí Writings". Baháʼí Studies. monograph 9: 1–38.
  43. ^ Hatcher, W.S.; Martin, J.D. (1998). The Baháʼí Faith: The Emerging Global Religion. San Francisco: Harper & Row. p. 118. ISBN 0-87743-264-3.
  44. ^ "Worldwide Adherents of All Religions by Six Continental Areas, Mid-2010". Encyclopædia Britannica. 2010. Retrieved 4 June 2017.
  45. ^ Jump up to:a b c d Cheyne, Thomas Kelly (1914). The reconciliation of races and religions. London: A. and C. Black. ISBN 978-0-7905-0976-1. OCLC 2779254. Retrieved 24 July 2020.
  46. ^ Jump up to:a b c Buck, Christopher (1991). "Bahá'u'lláh as "World Reformer"". Journal of Bahá'í Studies. Association for Bahá’í Studies. 3 (4).
  47. ^ Baháʼu'lláh (2002) [1868]. The Summons of the Lord of Hosts. Haifa Israel: Baháʼí World Centre. p. 137. ISBN 0-85398-976-1.
  48. ^ Nisan 2002, p. 95.
  49. ^ Hendrix, Scott; Okeja, Uchenna, eds. (2018). The World's Greatest Religious Leaders: How Religious Figures Helped Shape World History [2 volumes]. ABC-CLIO. p. 11. ISBN 978-1440841385.
  50. ^ Jump up to:a b Willi Frischauer (1970). The Aga Khans. Bodley Head. p. ?. (Which page?)
  51. ^ Jump up to:a b Ismail K. Poonawala. "Review - The Fatimids and Their Traditions of Learning". Journal of the American Oriental Society. 119 (3): 542. doi:10.2307/605981. JSTOR 605981.
  52. ^ Minorities in the Middle East: A History of Struggle and Self-expression - Page 95 by Mordechai Nisan
  53. ^ The Druze in the Middle East: Their Faith, Leadership, Identity and Status - Page 41 by Nissim Dana
  54. ^ Encyclopaedic Survey of Islamic Culture - Page 94 by Mohamed Taher
  55. ^ Leeming, David Adams, Creation myths of the world: an encyclopedia (2010)
  56. ^ Valmiki, Ramayana
  57. ^ Hsuan-tsang, Journey to the West
  58. ^ Mckee, Gabriel (2004) Pink beams of light from the god in the gutter: the science-fictional religion of Philip K. Dick University Press of America, Lanham, Maryland, pages 1–2, and following, ISBN 0-7618-2673-4
  59. ^ Mckee, Gabriel (2004) Pink beams of light from the god in the gutter: the science-fictional religion of Philip K. Dick University Press of America, Lanham, Maryland, page 10, ISBN 0-7618-2673-4
  60. ^ Umland, Samuel J. (1995) Philip K. Dick: contemporary critical interpretations Greenwood Press, Westport, Connecticut, page 82, ISBN 0-313-29295-7
  61. ^ Shucman, Helen, A Course in Miracles
  62. ^ Kaza, Stephanie, The Attentive Heart: Conversations with Trees
  63. ^ May, Julian, Intervention: A Root Tale to the Galactic Milieu and a Vinculum between it and The Saga of Pliocene Exile (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1987).

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2021/09/08

Mahāvākyas - WikipediaTat Tvam Asi

Mahāvākyas - Wikipedia

Tat Tvam Asi[edit source]

The phrase "Tat Tvam Asi" in the Malayalam and Devanagari scripts, displayed outside the sanctum sanctorum of the Sabarimala Temple in Kerala, India. The sacred syllable "Om" is the glyph in the middle.
Main article: Chandogya Upanishad

Chandogya Upanishad 6.8.7,[21] in the dialogue between Uddalaka and his son Śvetaketu. It appears at the end of a section, and is repeated at the end of the subsequent sections as a refrain:

[6.2.1] In the beginning, son, this world was simply what is existent - one only, without a second. [6.2.3] And it thought to itself: "let me become many. Let me propagate myself." [6.8.3] It cannot be without a root [6.8.4] [l]ook to the existent as the root. The existent, my son, is the root of all these creatures - the existent is their resting place, the existent is their foundation[7] The finest essence here - that consitutes the self of this whole world; that is the truth; that is the self (ātman). And that's how you are, Śvetaketu.[22]

Etymology and translation[edit source]

Tat Tvam Asi (Devanagari: तत्त्वमसि, Vedic: tát tvam ási) is translated variously as "Thou art that," "That thou art," "That art thou," "You are that," "That you are," or "You're it":

  • Tat - 'it', 'that', from which an absolutive derivation is formed with the suffix -tva: tattva,[23] 'thatness', 'principle', 'reality' or 'truth';[24] compare tathātā, "suchness", a similar absolutive derivation from tathā - 'thus', 'so', 'such', only with the suffix -tā, not -tva. Tat refers to Sat, "the Existent,"[3][4] Existence, Being,[25] which is the base of everything.[25] Deutsch: "Although the text does not use the term brahman, the Vedanta tradition is that the Existent (sat) referred to is no other than Brahman."[26]
  • tvam - you, thou[27][25]
  • asi - are, 'art'[25]

Tat, the true essence or root or origin of everything that exists is sat, "the Existent,"[3][4] and this essence is what the individual at the core is.[28][29]

Interpretation[edit source]

Major Vedantic schools offer different interpretations of the phrase:

  • Advaita - absolute equality of 'tat', the Ultimate Reality, Brahman, and 'tvam', the Self, Atman.
  • Shuddhadvaita - oneness in "essence" between 'tat' and individual self; but 'tat' is the whole and self is a part.
  • Vishishtadvaita - tvam denotes the Jiva-antaryami Brahman while Tat refers to Jagat-Karana Brahman.
  • Dvaitadvaita - equal non-difference and difference between the individual self as a part of the whole which is 'tat'.
  • Dvaita of Madhvacharya - “Sa atmaa-tat tvam asi” in Sanskrit is actually “Sa atma-atat tvam asi” or “Atma (Self), thou art, thou art not God”. In refutation of Mayavada (Mayavada sata dushani), text 6, 'tat tvam asi" is translated as "you are a servant of the Supreme (Vishnu)"
  • Acintya Bheda Abheda - inconceivable oneness and difference between individual self as a part of the whole which is 'tat'.
  • Akshar Purushottam Upasana - oneness of the individual self, Atman, with Aksharbrahman, while worshipping Purushottam (God) as a supreme and separate entity.[30][31]
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Using The Tat Tvam Asi Mantra: Definition, Meaning, and Sutra Statements

Using The Tat Tvam Asi Mantra: Definition, Meaning, and Sutra Statements



Using The Tat Tvam Asi Mantra: Definition, Meaning, and Sutra Statements



by thejoywithin
in Mantras
on September 15, 2019
0


Tat Tvam Asi is a common Sanskrit mantra that is used to express the relationship between the individual and the universe.

The phrase is used widely in Hindu traditions, and the idea is also frequent in many Buddhist teachings.

Tat Tvam Asi Meaning and Definition

Tat Tvam Asi is most often translated as: “I am that.”

This means that when you look at objects in the world, whether in the form of relationships with others or the physical objects and circumstances around you, you understand that everything you observe is an extension of yourself.


The world you witness is a mirror to your own consciousness, and the understanding of oneness begins with your understanding that you are the other, which you appear to be observing.

When you work with this mantra, you will begin to find it easier to practice loving kindness and compassion for others, and to observe the world from a new, higher perspective.

Alan Watts Explains: What Is Tat Tvam Asi?

In this video, Alan Watts reflects on the principles of Tat Tvam Asi and gives a lecture on the two sides of energy and how to begin to see unity and connection in the world around you. The video is set to beautiful background music to allow you to tune in and listen as in a soft, guided meditation.

Meditation and Sutra Statements

When working with mantras, one technique for improving your understanding of the phrase is to combine the mantra with a series of statements, or sutras, that help you to intuit the meaning of the mantra more clearly. Sutras help you to internalize the meaning of the mantra in order to evoke its power from a subconscious level.

In his book, Synchrodestiny Deepak Chopra discusses the importance of using sutras when working with mantras, and he offers the following statements to help you with the implementation of Tat Tvam Asi. In Chopra’s exercise, these statements are to be used on Day 2 of your practice, following your work with the mantra Aham Brahmasmi.


Read these statements slowly, pausing after each, and repeating the mantra: tat tvam asi.

Imagine that your spirit is not only in you but in all other beings, and everything that is.
Imagine that everybody is a reflection of yourself.
Imagine that when you look at the universe you are looking at your mirror.
Imagine that you see what others see.
Imagine that you can feel what others feel.
Imagine that you are the qualities you most admire in others.
Imagine that others reflect the qualities you cherish in yourself.
Imagine that you are a person in a hall of mirrors where you can see yourself for miles and every reflection you see is of yourself, but appears different.

Browse more common mantras and sutras, or read more inspiring quotes by Deepak Chopra.
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Catherine of Genoa - Wikiquote

Catherine of Genoa - Wikiquote

Catherine of Genoa

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Saint Catherine by the Master of Frankfurt
My I am God, nor is any other self known to me except my God

Saint Catherine of Genoa (Caterina Fieschi Adorno, 1447 – 15 September 1510) was an Italian saint and mystic of the Catholic Church. She is recognised for her contributions to the development of the doctrine of purgatory.

Quotes[edit]

From, Martin Buber, Ecstatic Confessions
I no longer see union, for I know nothing more and can see nothing more than him alone without me. I do not know where the I is, nor do I seek it, nor do I wish to know or be cognizant of it
  • In God is my being, my I, my strength, my bliss, my desire. But this I that I often call so...in truth I no longer know what the I is, or the Mine, or desire, or the good, or bliss.
    • P.108.
God became man in order to make me God; therefore I want to be changed completely into pure God
  • I find in myself by the grace of God a satisfaction without nourishment, love without fear
I am so plunged and submerged in the source of his infinite love, as if I were quite underwater in the sea and could not touch, see, feel anything on any side except water
  • Faith seems to me wholly lost, and hope dead; for it seems to me that I have and hold in the certainty that which I believed and hoped at other times. I no longer see union, for I know nothing more and can see nothing more than him alone without me. I do not know where the I is, nor do I seek it, nor do I wish to know or be cognizant of it.
I see without eyes, and I hear without ears. I feel without feeling and taste without tasting. I know neither form nor measure; for without seeing I yet behold an operation so divine
  • I am so submerged in the sweet fire of love that I cannot grasp anything except the whole of love, which melts all the marrow of my soul and body.
I shall never rest until I am hidden and enclosed in that divine heart wherein all created forms are lost, and, so lost, remain thereafter all divine
  • Therefore it seems to me that I am no longer of this world, since I can no longer do the work of the world like the others; indeed, every action of others that I see disturbs me, for I do not work as they do, nor as I myself used to do. I feel altogether estranged from earthly affairs, and from my own most of all
I am mute and lost in God
  • I cannot work, or walk, or stand, or speak, but all this seems to be a useless thing
God so transforms the soul in Him that it knows nothing other than God, and He continues to draw it up into His fiery love until He restores it to that pure state from which it first issued
  • Many are astonished at this, and since they do not know the reason, they are offended. And truly, if it were not that God stands by me, the world would often consider me mad, and that is because I almost always live outside myself.
The soul becomes like gold that becomes purer as it is fired, all dross being cast out. Having come to the point of twenty-four carats, gold cannot be purified any further; and this is what happens to the soul in the fire of God’s love
  • God became man in order to make me God; therefore I want to be changed completely into pure God
    • Ibid., P.109.
  • I am so plunged and submerged in the source of his infinite love, as if I were quite underwater in the sea and could not touch, see, feel anything on any side except water
    • Sally Kempton, Meditation for the Love of It: Enjoying Your Own Deepest Experience (2011), p. 227

Life and Doctrine[edit]

From, "Life and Doctrine of Saint Catherine of Genoa" by CHRISTIAN PRESS ASSOCIATION PUBLISHING CO. (1907)
  • I see without eyes, and I hear without ears. I feel without feeling and taste without tasting. I know neither form nor measure; for without seeing I yet behold an operation so divine that the words I first used, perfection, purity, and the like, seem to me now mere lies in the presence of truth. . . . Nor can I any longer say, “My God, my all.” Everything is mine, for all that is God’s seem to be wholly mine. I am mute and lost in God...God so transforms the soul in Him that it knows nothing other than God, and He continues to draw it up into His fiery love until He restores it to that pure state from which it first issued
    • p. 50
  • So long as anyone can speak of divine things, enjoy and understand them, remember and desire them, he has not yet arrived in port; yet there are ways and means to guide him thither. But the creature can know nothing but what God gives him to know from day today
  • This is the beatitude that the blessed might have, and yet they have it not, except in so far as they are dead to themselves and absorbed in God. They have it not in so far as they remain in themselves and can say: `I am blessed.' Words are wholly inadequate to express my meaning, and I reproach myself for using them. I would that everyone could understand me, and I am sure that if I could breathe on creatures, the fire of love burning within me would inflame them all with divine desire. O thing most marvelous!
    • Ch. IX
  • I do not wish a love which may be described as for God, or in God. I cannot see those words, for and in, without their suggesting to me that something may intervene between God and me; and that is what pure and simple love, by reason of its purity and simplicity, is unable to endure. This purity and simplicity is as great as God is, for it is his own
    • Ch. XVIII
  • I cannot desire any created love, that is, a love which can be felt, enjoyed, or understood. I do not wish love that can pass through the intellect, memory, or will; because pure love passes all these things and transcends them
  • I shall never rest until I am hidden and enclosed in that divine heart wherein all created forms are lost, and, so lost, remain thereafter all divine; nothing else can satisfy true, pure, and simple love
  • In my soul, therefore, I can see no one but God, since I suffer no one else to enter there, and myself less than any other, because I am my own worst enemy.
  • If, however, it happens to be necessary to speak of myself, I do so on account of the world, which would not understand me should I name myself otherwise than as men are named, yet inwardly I say: my I is God, nor is any other self known to me except my God
  • All things which have being, have it from the essence of God by his participation: but pure love cannot stop to contemplate this general participation coming from God, nor to consider whether in itself, considered as a creature, it receives it in the same way as do the other creatures which more or less participate with God. Pure love cannot endure such comparison; on the contrary, it exclaims with a great impetus of love; my being is God, not by participation only but by a true transformation and annihilation of my proper being.
  • In God is my being, my me, my strength, my beatitude, my good, and my delight. I say mine at present because it is not possible to speak otherwise, but I do not mean by it any such thing as me or mine, or delight or good, or strength or stability, or beatitude; nor could I possibly turn my eyes to behold such things in heaven or in the earth; and if, notwithstanding, I sometimes use words which may have the likeness of humility and of spirituality, in my interior I do not understand them, I do not feel them. In truth, it astonishes me that I speak at all, or use words so far removed from the truth and from that which I feel. I see clearly that man in this world deceives himself by admiring and esteeming things which are not, and neither sees nor esteems the things which are
    • Ch. XIV

The Treatise on Purgatory[edit]

From, Catherine of Genoa: Purgation and Purgatory, The Spiritual Dialogue (Classics of Western Spirituality)
  • When God sees the Soul pure as it was in its origins, He tugs at it with a glance, draws it, and binds it to Himself with a fiery love that by itself could annihilate the immortal soul. In so acting, God so transforms the soul in Him that it knows nothing other than God; and He continues to draw it up into His fiery love until He restores it to that pure state from which it first issued. These rays purify and then annihilate. The soul becomes like gold that becomes purer as it is fired, all dross being cast out. Having come to the point of twenty-four carats, gold cannot be purified any further; and this is what happens to the soul in the fire of God’s love
    • p. 79-80

Quotes about Catherine[edit]

  • Dear friends, in their experience of union with God, Saints attain such a profound knowledge of the divine mysteries in which love and knowledge interpenetrate, that they are of help to theologians themselves in their commitment to study, to intelligentia fidei, to an intelligentsia of the mysteries of faith, to attain a really deeper knowledge of the mysteries of faith, for example, of what purgatory is. With her life St Catherine teaches us that the more we love God and enter into intimacy with him in prayer the more he makes himself known to us, setting our hearts on fire with his love. In writing about purgatory, the Saint reminds us of a fundamental truth of faith that becomes for us an invitation to pray for the deceased so that they may attain the beatific vision of God in the Communion of Saints (cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 1032). Moreover, the humble, faithful, and generous service in Pammatone Hospital that the Saint rendered throughout her life is a shining example of charity for all and encouragement, especially for women who, with their precious work enriched by their sensitivity and attention to the poorest and neediest, make a fundamental contribution to society and to the Church.
    • Pope Benedict XVI, General Audience Address, 12 January 2011 [1]
  • One characteristic of Italian spirituality at this period is the theme of divine love. Historically, it can be traced back to St.Catherine of Genoa (+ 1510), the foundress of Italian hospitals. One of her disciples, Ettore Vernazza, founded a religious group under the title, Oratorio del Divino Amore, and it very quickly spread throughout Italy
    • Jordan Altman, Christian Spirituality in the Catholic Tradition, p. 181
  • Catherine came from the famous Fieschi family in Genoa, where she received a careful and sound education as befitted her noble status. Her early aspirations to become a nun were frustrated by her relatives when, for political reasons, they married her off at the age of sixteen to a young man, Guiliano Adorno, who was worldly, pleasure-loving, and indulgent. Catherine experienced considerable unhappiness and spent some sorrowful years in seclusion until she was able to free herself from her husband. She then devoted herself to prayer, contemplation and strict discipline. In 1473 she underwent a deep mystical experience marked by close union with God. From now on her life was transformed. She reached great spiritual heights, but balanced ascetic discipline with an active life of service to the ill and poor
    • Ursula King, Christian Mystics: Their Lives and Legacies throughout the Ages (1998), p. 41
  • In the early twentieth century, attention was drawn to Catherine’s remarkable mystical, mental, and at times almost pathological, experiences through the classic study by Baron Friedrich von Hügel, The Mystical Element in Religion as Studied in Saint Catherine of Genoa and Her Friends (1908). The last ten years of Catherine’s life were marked by violent interior emotions, mentioned in her works. It has been said that in many ways Catherine of Genoa is a “theologian of purgatory,” a purgatory that she herself experienced in a marriage she did not desire, in her care for plague victims, and also in her nervous illness. She also experienced purgatory spiritually as the soul’s realization of its own imperfections, in her search for salvation and purification. Influenced by Plato and Dionysius, the focus of her mysticism was, in spite of her eucharistic devotion, not so much Christ, but above all the infinite God. Her mysticism is primarily theocentric, not Christocentric. She speaks of the absorption into the totality of God as if immersed into an ocean: “I am so…submerged in His immense love, that I seem as though immersed in the sea, and nowhere able to touch, see or feel aught but water.” At the height of her mystical experiences, she could exclaim: “My being is God, not by simple participation but by a true transformation of my being.”
    • Ursula King, Christian Mystics: Their Lives and Legacies Throughout the Ages (1998), p. 42
  • Some of the mo[st] daring statements [are] of another Catherine who has been canonized by the Church—Catherine of Genoa (1447-1510). Among the autotheistic sayings of this mystic are the following: "My me is God, nor do I recognize any other Me except my God Himself," and "My being is God, not by some simple participation but by a true transformation of my being."
    • James A. Wisemann, O.S.B. (1990), The Autotheistic sayings of the Mystics
  • Saint Catherine of Genoa was born in the Vicolo del Filo in that city, in 1447. She was of the great Guelph family of Fiesta, being the daughter of Giacomo Fiesta, at one-time Viceroy of Naples, and granddaughter of Roberto Fiesta, whose brother was Pope Innocent IV...She grew up to be very lovely: "taller than most women, her head well proportioned, her face rather long but singularly beautiful and well-shaped, her complexion fair and in the flower of her youth rubicund, her nose long rather than short, her eyes dark and her forehead high and broad; every part of her body was well-formed." About the time she failed to enter the convent, or a little later, her father died, and his power and possessions passed to her eldest brother Giacomo. Wishing to compose the differences between the factions into which the principal families of Genoa were divided--differences which had long entailed cruel, distracting, and wearing strife--Giacomo Fiesta formed the project of marrying his young sister to Giuliano Adorni, son of the head of a powerful Ghibelline family. He obtained his mother's support for his plan, and found Giuliano willing to accept the beautiful, noble and rich bride proposed to him; as for Catherine herself, she would not refuse this cross laid on her at the command of her mother and eldest brother. On the 13th of January, 1463, at the age of sixteen, she was married to Giuliano Adorni.
  • Catherine's states of absorption in prayer, such as we find ever since her conversion, were transparently real and sincere, and were so swift and spontaneous as to appear quasi involuntary. They were evidently, together with, and largely on the occasion of, her reception of the Holy Eucharist, the chief means and the ordinary form of the accessions of strength and growth to her spiritual life... Catherine's teaching, as we have it, is, at first sight, strangely abstract and impersonal. God nowhere appears in it, at least in so many words, either as Father, or as Friend, or as Bridegroom of the soul. This comes to no doubt, in part, from the circumstance that she had never known the joys of maternity, and had never, for one moment, experienced the soul-entrancing power of full conjugal union. It comes, perhaps, even more, from her somewhat abnormal temperament, the (in some respects) exclusive mentality which we have already noted. But it certainly springs at its deepest from one of the central requirements and experiences of her spiritual life; and must be interpreted by the place and the function which this apparently abstract teaching occupies within this large experimental life of hers which stimulates, utilizes, and transcends it all. For here again we are brought back to her rare thirst, her imperious need, for unification; to the fact that she was a living, closely knit, an ever-increasing spiritual organism, if there ever was one.
    • Baron Von Hugel, The Mystical Element of Religion (1923), p. 226-7
  • The one true divine root-center of her individual soul is ever, at the same time, experienced and conceived as a present, in various degrees and ways, simply everywhere, and in everything. All the world of spirits is thus linked together; and a certain slightest remnant of a union exists even between Heaven and Hell, between the lost and the saved. For there is no absolute or really infinite Evil existent anywhere; whilst everywhere there are some traces of and communications from the Absolute Good, the Source and Creator of the substantial being of all things that are. And to possess even God, and all of God, herself alone exclusively, would have been to her, we can say it boldly, a truly intolerable state, if this state were conceived as accompanied by any consciousness of the existence of other rational creatures entirely excluded from any and every degree or kind of such possession. It is, on the contrary, the apprehension of how she, as but one of the countless creatures of God, is allowed to share in the affluence of the one Light and Life and Love, an effluence which, identical in essential character everywhere, is not entirely absent anywhere: it is the abounding consciousness of this universal bond and brotherhood, this complete freedom from all sectarian exclusiveness and from all exhaustive appropriation of God, the Sun of the Universe, by any or all of the just or unjust, upon all of whom He shines: it is all this that constitutes her element of unity, saneness, and breadth, the one half of her faith, and the greater part of her spiritual joy.
    • Baron Von Hugel, The Mystical Element of Religion (1923), p. 231
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