Crazy wisdom as a universal cultural phenomenon
Crazy wisdom as a universal cultural phenomenon
Feuerstein lists Zen-poet Han-shan (fl. 9th century) as one of the crazy-wise, explaining that when people would ask him about Zen, he would only laugh hysterically. He also counts Zen master Ikkyu (15th century), the Christian saint Isadora, and the Sufi storyteller Mulla Nasruddin among the crazy wise teachers.[5] Other adepts that have attained "mad" mental states, according to Feuerstein, include the masts and bauls of India, and the intoxicated Sufis associated with shath.[6]June McDaniel, in her work on the divine madness of the medieval bhakti saints in Bengal, mentions multiple parallels to this phenomenon in other cultures: Plato in his Phaedrus, the Hasidic Jews, Eastern Orthodoxy, Western Christianity and the Sufi all bear witness to the phenomenon of divine madness.[7] The bhakti divine madness may show itself in a total absorption in the divine, complete renunciation and surrender to divinity and the participation in the deity and divine pastime rather than its aping or imitation.[8] Though the participation in the divine is generally favoured in Vaishnava bhakti discourse throughout the sampradayas rather than imitation of the divine 'play' (Sanskrit: lila), there is the important anomaly of the Vaishnava-Sahajiya sect.[9]
Divine madness may also be seen in the biography, hagiography and poetry of the Alvars and it has parallels in others religions, such as the Fools for Christ in Christianity, and the Sufis (particularly Malamati) in Islam.[10] The 9th-century Indian philosopher Adi Shankara also described that an enlightened man may act like a Jadvat (an inert thing), a Balvat (child), an Unmat (a manic) or a Pissachvat (ghost).[citation needed]
See also
| Part of a series on |
| Tibetan Buddhism |
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- Antinomianism
- Chaos magic
- Crazy like a fox
- Divine ecstasy
- Foolishness for Christ
- The Fool (tarot card)
- Heyoka
- Sacred fool
- Theia mania
- Village idiot
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