22 Podcasts on the Muslim, Jewish, and Christian Mystical Traditions
Here's what we're got so far on interweaving the Abrahamic faiths' mystical currents.
Let’s take a look at the themes we’ve explored so far in our ongoing podcasting series discussing ideas in the three Abrahamic religions’ hidden mystical traditions.
Check out the installments you may have missed:
5 Podcasts: Islam on Fridays
For the Muslim mystical podcasts I’ve been reading the late James Wasserman’s Hasan-i-Sabah: Assassin Master which tells the life of the founder of Ismaili Islam, a variant of the faith with 20 million adherents today and which has long taken a more modern, moderate, mystical approach. I also explore other manifestations of more peaceful Islam which have emerged, some more recently. In the future I plan to research more and discuss Sufism, the most well-known mystical current in Islam. I’ll then discuss how it influenced the Islam of Senegal, a fascinating country I visited a few years ago.
For now, though, I’m going to primarily focus on finishing Hasan-i-Sabah - which I still need to make much progress in completing. It’s a thick book, and I’m usually intimidated by long titles! I’ll also continue to discuss encouraging stories about Muslim peacemaking which I come across each week in my editing, writing, and readings on current events. If you know of other Muslim mystical ideas you’d like me to explore and discuss please email or leave a comment.
6 Podcasts: Judaism on Saturdays
The Jewish mysticism podcast was the second one I started, realizing that if I was to discuss Christian mysticism on Sundays, the Christian sabbath, then it made sense to talk Jewish on Saturdays, Sabbath of Judaism. (I then realized it thus made sense to talk Islam’s mysticism on Friday’s, the Muslims’ Sabbath.)
In this ongoing series I discuss the Jewish mystical tradition of Kabbalah, as explained by Gershom Scholem in his book On the Kabbalah and Its Symbolism, a title generally regarded as his best work and the most influential in the study of the field. I also talk about Jewish mysticism’s relation to the prophets of the Bible and the important contributions of Maimonides with his Guide of the Perplexed. Finally, like the Muslim mystical podcasts I sometimes take a break if I come across a recent article exploring these themes in some way.
A related written article in the Antisemitism and Culture series depicting the clash between more mystical understandings of Judaism and more fundamentalist:
10 Podcasts: Christianity on Sundays
I have the most to offer so far in the Christian mystical series because it was the first I started, kicking off our podcast offerings altogether, and inspired by GOTD author Alec Ott who very kindly sent me a copy of The Imitation of Christ by Thomas a Kempis. I quickly recognize this title and its themes as expressions of Christian mysticism, primarily concerned with offering ideas and practices to allow the reader to engage directly with God, rather than through the mediator of the Church. This is a central theme of all mystical traditions - the idea that one can pursue the divine directly, without some institution of religious leader being a go-between.
I further discuss another title I acquired myself, inspired by Kempis’ book: The Desert Fathers: Sayings of the Early Christian Monks. I also discuss some of my general problems with more institutionalized and fundamentalist forms of Christianity today.
Some related written posts on these themes:
1 Podcast: Combining All 3
At one point in the series I felt too sick with the PTSD to continue it regularly. At one point when I was running behind I tried combining all three traditions into one podcast, something I may do again in the future:
See this related installment in the Antisemitism and Culture series also discussing the combining of the 3 forms:
