Abstract
Statement of the Problem:
We live in a time when a sophisticated interreligious dialogue among the world's religions is needed. Mystics like Ibn 'Arabi suggest that, while each of the world's religious traditions may possess a piece of the truth, none can ever hope to capture the entire nature of the divine in a single interpretation as God is infinitely vaster than any particular understanding. According to Ibn 'Arabi and other mystics, God Himself is the source of all diversity, and the world's religions are, therefore, reflective of the diversity found in God's transcendent nature. Religious conflicts arise however, when groups complete with another for the dominance of a single, particular interpretation of the divine.
Sources of Data:
Publications of recognized experts in their respective fields including books, radio interviews, and periodicals.
Conclusions Reached:
The mystics look beyond a rigid and unthinking adherence to doctrine or other attempts to define the divine, and seek the reality that they believe lies behind them. As Rumi says, "Have you ever plucked a rose from R, O,S,E? You name His name, go seek the reality named by it! Look for the moon in the sky, not in the water!" (Nicholson, The Mystics of Islam 70). In suggesting a nondelimited perspective of divinity the mystics sow the seeds
for what they suggest is a more inclusive, and thus more complete, religious perspective. Critical to the vision of these figures are stories and poems. Some, like the Sufi Ibn 'Arabi, have called stories, poems, and various other forms of creative language which do not seek to narrowly define, but rather to reveal or illustrate through a construction of parallel imagery, the "second eye of the mystic." Ultimately it can be observed that story is able to access perspectives which transcend the personal, and function as tools for developing a more inclusive, more complete perspective on divinity and religious diversity.