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BS ENGLISH

FINAL EXAMINATION

Year, 2020

(8th SEMESTER/EVENING)

20th Century Fiction and Non Fiction

Student Name : Zainab Ihsan

Roll Number : 42

Program : BS-English

Semester : V-III (Evening)

Course Title : 20th Century Fiction and Non Fiction

Course Code : ENG - 402

Session : 2016-2020

Submitted To : Sir Haider Gardezi

Total no. of pages :9

Bahauddin Zakariya University Multan

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20th CENTURY FICTION AND NON-

FICTION:
QUESTION NUMBER 1:

WHAT IS MYSTICISM? EXPLAIN THE NATURE AND POWER OF MYSTICAL

EXPERIENCES. ALSO EXPLAIN THE TYPES OF ECSTASIES?

MYSTICISM:

“MYSTICISM IS BASICALLY A PROCESS THAT CANNOT

EASILY BE ABSORBED IN A HUMAN MIND. IT STARTS WHERE
THE PHILOSOPHY ENDS. THE ONENESS OF HUMAN SOUL
WITH THE DIVINE CAN BE TERMED AS MYSTICISM.”

MYSTIC:

“A MYSTIC IS A CURIOUS PERSON WHO IS IN SEARCH OF THE

REALITY OF UNIVERSE AND HOW IT WAS CREATED AND THIS
HUNGER FOR KNOWLEDGE DRAWS HIM TOWARDS THE
CREATOR AND THEN THE CREATOR CHOOSES HIM AS HIS
MOUTH PIECE TO COMMUNICATE WITH THE HUMANITY.”

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND:

PLOTINUS is considered to be the father of mysticism but basically if we go into the depth
that all his works and writings are derived from works of Plato that did not survive. PLATO
described the beauty of mysticism in such a way that he reaches to the heights of
imaginations and abstractions of the concept. He simply described mysticism in the terms of
universe i.e. as a whole and its parts. The term whole refers to the transcendental being i.e.
GOD while the term part is referred to as HUMAN SOUL. And so we come to the conclusion
that a human soul is a part of God and we cannot keep them separate. The soul is always
trying to return its greater part.
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SCIENCE AND MYSTICISM:

SCIENCE describes everything theoretically and only believes in the things that can be
experimented upon while MYSTICISM is a total abstraction. Science has no room for these
abstract ideas while mysticism believes that these constraints of the mind can be crossed
through the height of imaginations and that is practically done by MYSTIC obviously with
the help of God. Science believe in knowing everything through reasoning, knowledge and
experimentation while mysticism directly confronts this view by telling how powerful the
imagination of mind is and what could be done with this imagination is being expanded to a
height that mysticism allows you to reach.

POWER OF MYSTICAL EXPERIENCES:

Mystical experiences Ashu powerful and so dominating that if they are experienced for once
in the whole life time then they are sufficient to guide the person who experienced it
throughout his life. These mystical experiences are beyond the grasp of an ordinary human
mind. To be a mistake it is very important to understand the concept of INSIGHT. To be a
mistake the most important concept that is to be observed is to plunge into one's own self and
to find out how much potential is there that is needed to become a mystic. Mysticism is all
about EVOLUTION, it is a matter of determination and will that a person has to be evolved
to such an extent and to reach a height of humanity where God decides that he is one of the
highest beings present in the world and they are worthy of the knowledge that is imparted as
a gift to these MYSTICS. The power of mysticism cannot be described until we have a full
knowledge of the word “ECSTASY”

EXCUSE IS THE HIGHEST FORM OF EXPERIENCES. ANECSTATIC

FRANCE IS AN EXPERIENCE THAT UNITES THE HUMAN SOUL WITH
THE DOMAIN OF THE TRANSCENDENT AND AT THAT TIME THE
CONSCIOUSNESS OF THAT SOUL IS LOST COMPLETELY AND THE
FEELING CANNOT BE EXPLAINED IN LANGUAGE.

The trans which takes over the human or a MYSTIC is the time when he is fully evolved to
embrace such a position that is given by God to him. That is the time for the fulfillment of the
desires of the soul and what the soul actually wants is to return to the lighthouse, return to the
place from where it actually came, to be reunited with its origin and to go where it actually
belongs. That is the nature of a mystical experience and to that height that experience takes a
human soul. I did not refer to the body of the human because the body stays in that place
where a man resides but the soul is taken to places. It is an experience that is specifically for
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the soul, for the real self, for the thing that is going to last forever not for the body that is
going to be rotten and withered.

FOR EXAMPLE,
We can take the example of PLATO at this point as before he said anything she would
experience such a trans that no one would go near him or ask him that what happening and
after the experience of the trans is over he gave his sermons and told what he saw or what he
was confronted with. But the thing with the frenzy is that it can only be experienced and then
be understood because language is so limited and experience is so vast that it cannot be
grasped by any language in the world.

TYPES OF ECSTASY:

The types of ECSTASY were elaborated by NIETZSCHE in his book “THE BIRTH OF
TRAGEDY”.

1) APOLLONIAN ECSTASY
2) DIONYSIAN ECSTACY

1) APOLLONIAN ECSTASY:

Apollonian ecstasy emphasizes on the sense of INSIGHT. The sense of is described as the
power of vision within the person who is experiencing this type of frenzy. These people are
the people that have a deep sense of knowledge within them and within the universe and they
withhold this knowledge so deeply within them that they become PAINTERS, EPIC
POETS, and ARTIST etc. These people are the real VISIONARIES.

1) DIONYSIAN ECSTACY

Dionysian ecstasy is the representation. This ecstasy is what takes over the human being
where that human is grasped by an outward force and enjoys that experience to its fullest at
that time. For example, we can say that Music is a form of earth that captures all the senses
of human being and total mystical state is experienced at that time.
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QUESTION NUMBER 2:

HOW DO MYSTICS DEFINE THE FOLLOWING TERMS:

OPINION, SENSE, KNOWLEDGE, WISDOM?

OPINION:

ACCORDING TO PLOTINUS,

“THE LOWEST EMBODIMENT OF THOUGHT PROCESS IS

CALLED OPINION”

Opinion according to my understanding is the form of believing in a thought that has not
come from a true source. The source of this kind of thought or idea can be someone’s own
mind is wrong perception of a situation that led him to think that his idea is the exact
manifestation of the activity that he precept. This thought of him stirs something in his mind
and opinion is created.

OPINIONS ARE THE DEADLIEST GROWTHS.

The concepts that are known as opinions have nothing valid within them. We cannot say that
someone read something from a book and after that he created that kind of thing, NO! That
is not true about opinions. We can say that opinions are created because a person does not
have the right amount of KNOWLEDGE about that particular concept or he does not want
to have that knowledge and because of this reason he creates his own opinion.

That is the major difference between a common man and a genius. THE GREAT
SCHOLARS of the world are so down to earth that even we are having the highest kind of
ideas within them and impart this knowledge to the ignorant ones but still they say, all that
they have explained is not worthy of being credited as knowledge because they know that the
knowledge they have is very less knowledge as compared to the ideas that are scattered all
over in the universe. But what AN OPINIONATED PERSON does is that he sticks to his
ideas and is so stubborn about them that he never wills to change them and argues that they
are not wrong.
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SENSE:

I would explain sense starting from the historical reference of CANNIBALISM.

There was a time when people thought that it is pious and religious to sacrifice human beings
for the sake of God and then eating that holy corpse. Eating the corpse of an enemy was
mostly practiced. That was once the sense of human beings and it takes ages to change a
sense that is installed in the minds of human beings by their ancestors and that is what is
happening till date. Human beings to develop a more logical kind of sense have to throw
away these typical kinds of mindsets and have to believe what is now considered logical
scientifically, philosophically and religiously.

What the sense of a mystic is;

A SHARED COMMON-SENSE BY ALL THE PEOPLE THAT IS

LIGICAL AND IS BASED UPON IDEAS AND NOT JUST ON
ANCESTRAL KNOWLEDGE AND JUDGEMENTS

So we can say that the thing that comes after opinion and is higher than it is sense. Sense is
not perception of any kind of activity or behaviour, it is basically any human being's personal
level of understanding behaviour, things and ideas.

Common sense does not depend upon how knowledgeable a person is and it is also not a
matter of literacy. It can be defined as mere understanding of things. It is the most vital thing
that is taught in the basic years of education. IT CAN BE REGARDED AS A SECOND
LEVEL OF PHILOSOPHY.

KNOWLEDGE:

KNOWLEDGE CAN BE EXPLAINED SYSTEMATICALLY AS A PROCESS

THAT INVOLVES THREE STAGES NAMELY; TRADITION,
OBSERVATION AND EXPERIMENTATION.

Sense is a coincidence that a person may develop a sense by himself but how knowledge can
be defined as a far complex discussion.
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TRADITIONS:

Traditions can be the raw materials that are provided to us by our ancestors and it is left upon
us that how much of the tradition we have observed from the information that is left to us. It
can also be defined as the experiences that our ancestors went through and the left those
experiences and their conclusions for our guidance.

OBSERVATION:

Second condition to become knowledgeable is observation. It makes the individual observe

the behaviour of people and then to consider that which behaviour is right and which should
not be practiced. This method is essential because most of the information that an individual
has comes from observation.

EXPERIMENTATION:

Experimentation means to put the observation of behaviour to work and after experimenting
those behaviours one comes to know which behaviour should be practiced. Before testing
those actions, beliefs and ideas one must have the complete knowledge of these ideas and
then it can be said as EXPERIMENTAL KNOWLEDGE.

WISDOM:

The concept that I have till now discussed is of knowledge but what wisdom is a higher form
of mental capacity. Once knowledge is being acquired by a mystic it is not only that
knowledge that resides within the mind of that individual. Knowledge contains within
information that is of infinite nature. Knowledge means to have a specific kind of information
but how wisdom can be defined is;

A more deeper understanding of ideas.

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QUESTION NUMBER 3:

WHAT IS SUFISM? EXPLAIN HOW THROUGHTHE UNDERSTANDING OF

SYMBOLS CAN WE ACTUALLY UNDERSTAND THE DEEPER MEANING OF
SCRIPTURES?

SUFISM:

“THE HIGHEST FORM TO WHICH A HUMAN CAN TRANSCENDENT IS

CALLED SUFISM IN MY OPINION.”

     To be a Sufi means to be fulfilled and a man’s eternal desire and fulfillment is to be
united with his creator the one who created him.

An example of Sufism is given by WILLIAM JAMES in his book “The varieties of

religious experiences”;

Example is of George Fox who described his experience as he says that he fasted a lot and
walked through many lonely places carrying his Bible with him. Also he said that he sat
under trees until the darkness of night took over and he walked in the night too. He said that
he felt sad while he was in the initial stages of God's residence in him.

HISTORY OF SUFISM AND SCHOOLS OF TRAINING:

Great Sufis have existed in the history of time both in the Western and Eastern parts of the
world. In the ancient times there was School that taught Sufism. The schools taught the
students who came to learn Sufism that how to become a visionary person and how to
develop and evolve the soul that is our real self that becomes so pure that God chooses that
person as one of his favorites. These schools were developed in the areas of GREECE,
EGYPT, IRAN, IRAQ AND IN THE ARABIAN REGIONS OF THE WORLD.

The methods that they used for the teachings of these disciplines that was essential for the
study of mysticism and to become a Sufi consisted of a series of processes that symbolised
each and everything taught within that process. The main method that was used to teach the
students was through FABLES, ALLEGORIES, STORIES and PARABLES.
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LANGUAGE OF SUFISM:

The language that is used for the teaching of Sufism was very symbolic but the thing is that
something that is felt and cannot be seen is very difficult to teach. Also a vast abstraction or a
concept as wide, huge and symbolic as Sufism cannot be grasped by the constraints of
language.

INTERPRETATIONS AND SUFISM:

Another thing about Sufism is that being a symbolic study and a concept that is based on
symbols can be interpreted in thousands of ways. So every person who is involved in the
study of mysticism interprets the stories and fables according to his own understanding of the
concept of Sufism. We can quote the example of HOLY SCRIPTURES at the teachings in
these precious books are also symbolic. Only the worldly knowledge of these books for the
knowledge that is of the surface importance is not enough to become a Sufi. The knowledge
of understanding should be vast and a person should be able to interpret each and every word
by using so many methods and ways.

TEACHINGS OF SUFIS:

A very peculiar way of teaching is used by the Sufis to impart their knowledge to the
disciples. This way of imparting knowledge is through indirect teachings of behaviour.

Everything that a Sufi does is a part of his teaching. A Sufi has a particular style and he is
determined to teach each and everyone through his behaviour and that is the responsibility of
the student to interpret that behaviour into words and knowledge.

The main purpose of EDUCATION IN SUFISM IS TO BRING OUT WHAT IS ALREADY

PRESENT WITHIN THE PERSON. As in a present studies we call that process food for
thought. This food for thought is given by the Sufi to his behaviour and his indirect stories
and fables that are to be interpreted by the students.

Sufis themselves derived these kinds of information from thousands of different ways and
sources that were present historically. These teachings are present for those who have
visionary kind of mind and can understand what teachings are given by these Sufis.
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SYMBOLISM:

SYMBOLISM CAN BE DEFINED AS THE INTERPRETATION OF A

SYMBOL THAT IS PECULIAR TO EVERY PERSON'S OWN
UNDERSTANDING.

A symbol never directly and forcefully gives any meaning. The meaning of the symbol
depends upon the interpretation and understanding of the individual that is trying to
understand the meaning of that symbol. And this symbolism becomes a method for all the
humanity and a way to increase their knowledge of things and to sharpen their process of
interpretation.

FOR EXAMPLE,
We can take the examples of interpretation from the Holy Scriptures and also from the
religious activities and the words that are used throughout the world by the people belonging
to different religions, having different languages but the essence of the words and ideas are
the same.

NAME OF GOD:

THE NAME OF GOD IS THE CONTROVERSIES THROUGHOUT THE RELIGIONS. As

we being Muslims call God “ALLAH” but the Hindus call the same transcendental being as
“Bhagwan”. So, we see the sense of the word is the same for all the humans considering the
examples of Muslims and Hindus but the words they use are different.

PLACES OF WORSHIP:

The worship of transcendental being is a main activity that is carried out by all the religions
through many ways that they consider right and all the worships are being carried out in
separate places that are being built for this specific purpose. But they are called differently as
we call these Holy places as “MOSQUES” while Hindus call them as “MANDIRS”.

So, we see from these examples that the essence of the words is same but they carry different
meanings for different people living in different parts of the world.

Every word in the holy scriptures carry a different meaning and from the meanings of each
word mean that there is an eternity of meaning in every word and we spend our lives finding
the meanings of these words but we never can reach the end because we are not capable of
reaching it.