Aktiv og passiv mystik

Abstract

According to the phenomenologist of religion Mercia Eliade we must try, in order to understand our lives better, to »translate« the meaning of myth into contemporary language. The basic mythological structure, pilgrimage, can then be understood as
»ajoumey towards the centre of ones own being and away from unreality« (Eliade). However, its a strange faet that pilgrimage can appear to be, on one hand, very difficult and dangerous, and on the other as fairly easy. This inspires me to talk about two
different types of religious experience, one that demands activity, to become a true person, and one that is mainly passive, where the main categories are grace and blessing. I give examples from literature and philosophy. In stead of making up a
typology I prefer to talk about the active and passive dimension of life. But I assume that these »dimensions« can be understood in the terms of the jungian typology. And its my point of view that the concept »extraversion« where the person is declined
to be in natural harrnony with the surroundings probably is analogous to the passive dimension and the other way round that introversion, that is concemed with the person is analogous to the active dimension. Somehow it must be my conclusion that neither
of them represents the »final truth«.