The Joy of Religion: Exploring the Nature of Pleasure in Spiritual Life

Description

All religions describe spiritual experience as pleasant, and the goal of the religious pursuit as profoundly joyful. But many religions also condemn sensory pleasures and the desire for objects of pleasure. In this book, Ariel Glucklich resolves this apparent contradiction by showing how religious practices that instill self-control and discipline transform one type of pleasure into the pleasures of mastery and play. Using historical data and psychological analysis, he details how the rituals, mystical practices, moral teachings, and sacred texts of the world's religions act as psychological instruments that induce well-being. Glucklich also shows that in promoting joy and pleasure, religion also strengthens social bonds and enhances an individual's pursuit of meaning. Contents 05.0_pp_vii_viii_Acknowledgments 06.0_pp_1_16_Introduction 07.0_pp_17_39_The_Variety_and_Mystery_of_Religious_Pleasure 08.0_pp_40_61_The_Nature_and_Cultivation_of_Complex_Pleasure 09.0_pp_62_92_The_Discovery_of_Mastery_Pleasure 10.0_pp_93_122_Philos_Mastery_Plotinuss_Play_and_the_Mystics_Joy 11.0_pp_123_143_Pleasure_Play_and_Magical_Thinking 12.0_pp_144_169_Church-Sect_Theory_and_Pleasure 13.0_pp_170_194_Narratives_and_Rituals_of_Pleasure 14.0_pp_195_215_A_Scholars_Shabbat_in_Central_Virginia 15.0_pp_216_219_Conclusion 16.0_pp_220_244_Bibliography 17.0_pp_245_256_Index