Kabbalah: A Neurocognitive Approach to Mystical Experiences

by Shahar Arzy, Moshe Idel

In this original study, Moshe Idel, an eminent scholar of Jewish mysticism and thought, and the cognitive neuroscientist and neurologist Shahar Arzy combine their considerable expertise to explore the mysteries of the Kabbalah from an entirely new that of the human brain. In lieu of the theological, sociological, and psychoanalytic approaches that have generally dominated the study of ecstatic mystical experiences, the authors endeavor to decode the brain mechanisms underlying these phenomena. Arzy and Idel analyze first-person descriptions to explore the Kabbalistic techniques employed by most prominent Jewish mystics to effect bodily reduplications, dissociations, and other phenomena, and compare them with recent neurological observations and modern-day laboratory experiments. The resultant study offers readers a scientific, more brain-based understanding of how ecstatic Kabbalists achieved their most precious mystical experiences. The study further demonstrates how these Kabbalists have long functioned as pioneering investigators of the human self.

Genres: Spirituality

216 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 30, 2015

Reviews

[Christian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interessanter, größerer, wenn man so will, Essay, dem allerdings die letzte Spitze fehlt: für eine theologische Betrachtung zu unentschlossen wenig distanziert von der impliziten Identitätstheorie seitens der Neurowissenschaften, für eine rein relisionswissenschaftliche Betrachtung eher ein küner Entwurf angesichts der Probleme phänomonelogischer Ansätze. Vor dem Hintergurnd jedoch vielleicht auch wieder erfrischend zu lesen. Man könnte auch sagen, dass dieses Büchlein es keinem recht machen will und insofern über eine ungewöhnliche Perspektive einen faszinierenden Einblick in die Erfahrungswelt dieser religiösen Spezialisten bietet.

[H Gultiano]

highly recommended for anyone studying neuro*, psych*, consciousness, mysticism. exploration from multiple angles without much implicit bias emphasizing any truth: simply experiential reports of medieval kabbalists and neural correlates observed via fMRI on modern testees using the medieval techniques.

as someone who has experienced most of the phenomena explored here, this book was very valuable to me, and gave me critical insight & extrapolation into the brain's role in co-creating experiential reality and schema of self.

[The Jewish Book Council]

Review by Gavriel Savit for the Jewish Book Council.