Mysticism and Spirituality ― Spirituality, the Way of Life

This English-language second part of the first volume of Raimon Panikkar’s Opera Omnia follows Part 1’s treatment of mysticism, “the supreme experience of reality,” with Panikkar’s insights into spirituality, “the path toward that supreme experience.” Panikkar defines spirituality broadly, warning against artificial bifurcations between body and spirit, inmanent and transcendent, and the world of humanity and the existence of the divine. In Spirituality, The Way of Life, Panikkar also reminds Christians they cannot forsake twenty-five centuries of tradition in their hunger for the spiritual insights of the East, but should instead strive for a return to tradition paired with a cross-fertilization among all human traditions to find a spirituality for our time.

Raimon Panikkar made pioneering contributions in the areas of interreligious dialogue, comparative theology, and the phenomenology of religion, while bridging different religions and cultures and effected insightful conversation between the so-called sacred and secular worlds.