Introduction

Abstract

Mystical Traditions: Approaches to Peaceful Coexistence is another installment in the series of volumes flowing from the “Sacred Texts and Human Contexts” conferences convened by the Hickey Center for Interfaith Studies and Dialogue and its partner institutions. Previous conferences and essay volumes have brought an interfaith lens to examine topics such as wealth and poverty, the environmental crisis, sex and gender, and violence. This time around the subject is mysticism and its possible contributions to a positive common human future. This is not a naïve, one-sided celebration of the supposed wisdom and moral rectitude of the mystical religious traditions. To be blunt, like everything human, religion has its share of stupidity, ugliness, and evil. However, participants in the interfaith dialogue project are convinced that: religion has also been a vehicle of the true, the beautiful, and the good; at any rate, religion is too socially powerful to ignore; we can make choices about which truths and values to emphasize from the vast pool of the human religious experience; and we share a responsibility to make those choices in a manner that promotes the global good.