The Experience of the Transcendent

In the book “An Experience Beyond the Limit,” outstanding scholar of religious studies Evgeny Torchinov made one of the first scientific attempts to develop a general approach to all known religious confessions, based on the concept of “religious experience.” In his fundamental study he analyzes the structure of religious experience, traces the connection of religion with mythology, philosophy, science, and other forms of spiritual culture. The author describes the history of development of world religions—starting from early shamanic practices, mystery cults of the ancient Mediterranean, and other worldviews of the Ancient world, and ending with Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Daoism.