Roads of Excess, Palaces of Wisdom: Eroticism and Reflexivity in the Study of Mysticism

by Jeffrey J. Kripal and J.J. Kripal

Book Overview

William Blake once wrote that "The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom." Inspired by these poetic terms, Jeffrey J. Kripal reveals how the works of scholars of mysticism are often rooted in their own mystical experiences, "roads of excess," which can both lead to important insights into these scholars' works and point us to our own "palaces of wisdom."

In his new book, Kripal addresses the twentieth-century study of mysticism as a kind of mystical tradition in its own right, with its own unique histories, discourses, sociological dynamics, and rhetorics of secrecy. Fluidly combining autobiography and biography with scholarly exploration, Kripal takes us on a tour of comparative mystical thought by examining the lives and works of five major historians of mysticism--Evelyn Underhill, Louis Massignon, R. C. Zaehner, Agehananda Bharati, and Elliot Wolfson--as well as relating his own mystical experiences. The result, Kripal finds, is seven "palaces of wisdom" the religious power of excess, the necessity of distance in the study of mysticism, the relationship between the mystical and art, the dilemmas of male subjectivity and modern heterosexuality, a call for ethical criticism, the paradox of the insider-outsider problem in the study of religion, and the magical power of texts and their interpretation.
An original and penetrating analysis of modern scholarship and scholars of mysticism, Roads of Excess, Palaces of Wisdom is also a persuasive demonstration of the way this scholarly activity is itself a mystical phenomenon.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0226453790
• ISBN13: 9780226453798
• Release Date: December 2001
• Publisher: University of Chicago Press
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 1.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.1" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Nexus of Objectivity and Subjectivity

The aspect of Kripal's book that I enjoyed the most was seeing the realities of the academic pursuit. These various scholars of mysticism, by virtue of the very nature of academic engagement with the material, were working at the point of convergence of objectivity and subjectivity. And it is this placement at the nexus that invigorated and enlived their research. If one is interested in mysticism, or religious studies, this is an excellent book to read in order to get a glimpse of true scholars at work.

Enlightening and Unique Study

I had the opportunity of studying with Professor Kripal and using the proof of this book as the text. The lives described within this text are fascinating, the analysis penetrating, and the personal details of his own path bring the whole thing home for the reader. I don't know that there is another book like it anywhere and I learned an incredible amount from Kripal about mysticism, as well as analytical methodology. Warning: it is for academics, the lay person will get lost in the language.