ABSTRACT
https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9781315828060/49546f0e-ce84-4e70-9b40-7107f16ee305/content/unfiga_4_B.tif" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"/>LTHOUGH the fundamentals of Mysticism are the same in both Europe and Asia, yet Oriental Mysticism is generally influenced by certain beliefs not so widespread or common in Europe, and therefore apparently strange to many Europeans. Of these the two most important are a somewhat Pantheistic conception of the Supreme Being, and the Doctrine of Reincarnation. Without attempting to go into the exact differences in the conception of the Supreme Being held by an Englishman and a Hindu, or Chinese, it is sufficient to say that the Eastern conception is rather more impersonal than the Western, and may roughly be summarised in the sentence, “All things are part of God and therefore God is part of all things.” A Western Mystic would probably express the same idea in some such sentence as follows—“All things are created by God, but the Creator is greater than that which He has created, and can therefore hardly be described as part of it.” These may be regarded as extreme views on both sides, but they will serve to indicate a distinct difference which will also be noticed by a Western student of the Hung ritual.
