Antoon Geels

Subud and the Javanese Mystical Tradition

Subud is one of hundreds mystical movements (aliran kebatinan) that increased significantly in post-war Indonesia. Along with other movements like Sumarah and Pangestu, Subud has attracted people from the West and is now spread in about eighty countries. Despite the fact that Subud leaders deny any relation to the Javanese mystical tradition, it is one of the tasks of this study to show that the greater part of Subud’s conceptual apparatus is firmly rooted in the cultural history of Java. Under the banner of change and renewal Subud presents a message which, fundamentally, is one of continuity in a society in transition. In the first part, the author presents an overall picture of the history of Javanese mysticism, particularly the concept of God, the view of man, and the techniques recommended in order to gap the bridge between God and man. In the second part the rise of mystical movements in post-war Java is discussed, along with a presentation of three movements which attracted the West. The following chapters deal with the biography of the founder of Subud, the basic concepts of Subud, and the meaning of the Subud spiritual exercise (latihan kejiwaan). The final part contains an analysis of Subud theory and practice and its relation to the Javanese mystical tradition, as well as a psychological interpretation of the spiritual exercise. (Less)

Review of "Religie, Melancholie en zelf. Een historische en psychologische studie over een psychiatrisch ego-document uit de negentiende eeuw"

While searching for documents related to the role of religion in the history of Dutch psychiatry, Jacob Belzen came across an autobiography by a former patient of a now-defunct psychiatric clinic in the Netherlands. No other scholars seem to have noticed the book, written by Doetje Reinsberg-Ypes (1840–1900) and published in 1898. In it, she recounts the story of her conversion in its biographical context. Widow Reinsberg-Ypes attributes her extensive hospitalization to possession by the devil, and her recovery to being “reborn in Jesus Christ.” Although Belzen’s investigation also reveals a part of the history of Dutch psychiatry, the main question he addresses in his report on this case pertains to the relation between religion and mental health in the life of Mrs. Reinsberg-Ypes. In the first of the five chapters composing his book, Belzen discusses theoretical and methodological matters, drawing on his academic training in history, psychology, philosophy, and religious studies. He wishes to pursue the story of Mrs. Reinsberg-Ypes “from below,” that is, from her perspective, which connects first and foremost to the tradition of cultural psychology, itself compatible with certain branches of historical investigation. Cultural psychology uses hermeneutical methods to study not only a narrator’s cultural environment but also the influence of this environment on the individual life narrative. Narrative psychology, and specifically the concepts of self and identity, Belzen asserts, are the links between individual and culture.

The Marriage of Ego and Id. Cognitive Integration and its Relation to Mystical Experience

The author suggests a new model for interpretation of mystical experience, based on a fruitful combination of cognitive psychology and depth psychology. Offering a rather wide definition of mystical experience, the author then turns to two basic assumptions—a general systems approach and an organismic-holistic view of development. Hans Loewalds analysis of primary process cognition is combined with a multi-dimensional model of cognitive activity called “Interacting Cognitive Subsystems” (ICS), presented by John D. Teasdale and Philip J. Barnard. These two complementary theoretical perspectives are applied to the analysis of both historical and contemporary examples of mystical experience, understood as a result of a dialectical interplay between these different coding systems, or the marriage between Ego and Id.

A Note on the Psychology of Dhikr. The Halveti-Jerrahi Order of Dervishes in Istanbul

Ritual prayer (salat), performed five times a day, belongs to the fundamental obligations of all Muslims. In addition to this fact, there is another type of prayer, associated with mystical orders in all Islamic countries. Repetitive prayer (dhikr) in mystical Islam (Sufism) belongs to the most central activities of the orders. Despite the geographic spread of the Sufi orders (turuq), accounts of the dhikr in the literature are rare. Psychological commentaries are even more scarce. The aim of this paper is to describe this ritual as it exists today within the Halveti-Jerrahi order of dervishes in Istanbul, Turkey, and to present a preliminary psychological analysis of the ritual.