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The term "mysticism" is being used in different ways in different traditions. [12] Some call to attention the conflation of mysticism and linked terms, such as spirituality and esotericism, and point at the differences between various traditions. [62]
The meaning of spirituality has developed and expanded over time, and various meanings can be found alongside each other. [1] [2] [3] [note 1] Traditionally, spirituality is referred to a religious process of re-formation which "aims to recover the original shape of man", [note 2] oriented at "the image of God" [4] [5] as exemplified by the founders and sacred texts of the religions of the world.
Historically, the words religious and spiritual have been used synonymously to describe all the various aspects of the concept of religion. [1] However, religion is a highly contested term with scholars such as Russell McCutcheon arguing that the term "religion" is used as a way to name a "seemingly distinct domain of diverse items of human activity and production". [6]
The difference between these two conditions of the soul is like the difference between working, and enjoyment of the fruit of our work; between receiving a gift, and profiting by it; between the toil of travelling and the rest of our journey's end". [74] [75] Mattá al-Miskīn, an Oriental Orthodox monk has posited:
James distinguished between institutional religion and personal religion. Institutional religion refers to the religious group or organization, and plays an important part in a society's culture. Personal religion, in which the individual has mystical experience, can be experienced regardless of the culture.
R. C. Zaehner distinguishes between three fundamental types of mysticism, namely theistic, monistic, and panenhenic ("all-in-one") or natural mysticism. [7] The theistic category includes most forms of Jewish, Christian and Islamic mysticism and occasional Hindu examples such as Ramanuja and the Bhagavad Gita. [7]
Religion is the broader term: besides mythological aspects, it includes aspects of ritual, morality, theology, and mystical experience. A given mythology is almost always associated with a certain religion such as Greek mythology with Ancient Greek religion.
Ralph Merrifield, the British archaeologist credited as producing the first full-length volume dedicated to a material approach to magic, [2] defined the differences between religion and magic: "'Religion' is used to indicate the belief in supernatural or spiritual beings; 'magic', the use of practices intended to bring occult forces under ...