After Spirituality—Studies in Mystical Traditions

This collection of eight essays explores contemporary and recent forms of mysticism. The essays are organized in two sections on Jewish mysticism and the dyad of Buddhist and Christian mysticism. Many of them are interested in the interplay between mysticism and sociology, which leads editor Philip Wexler (sociology of education, Hebrew U. of Jerusalem) to write about society and mysticism. For the authors, including Buddhist scholar and Zen teacher David Loy (ethics/religion and society, Xavier U.), spirituality is best thought of in terms of "the commodity fetish of religion." To that end, many of the essays are concerned with the political economy associated with spirituality. This book inaugurates what looks to be a promising series of studies into the social ramifications of mystical traditions. Annotation c2012 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Philip Wexler is Professor of Sociology of Education and Unterberg Chair in Social and Educational Jewish History at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He is the author of a number of books on the relation between social theory and education and social theory and religion, among them, Holy Sparks, Mystical Society, Mystical Interactions, and Mystical Sociology.
Jonathan Garb (PhD Hebrew University of Jerusalem) was awarded the Hebrew University President’s Prize for Outstanding Researcher in 2010. In 2011–2012, he is a fellow at the Tikvah Center for Law and Jewish Civilization at New York University. His publications include Manifestations of Power in Jewish Mysticism from Rabbinic Literature to Safedian Kabbalah (2004); ?The Chosen will Become Herds?: Studies in Twentieth Century Kabbalah (2009); and Shamanic Trance in Modern Kabbalah (2011).