The essays presented here are only a first exercise in a new experiment in ecumenism. And though the effort is made to note the similarities among the plurality of religious outlooks, deeper scholorship in search of the transforming differences is the unique contribution of this collection. It might be that religion has come of age in the present fertile, historical conditions, or at least come far enough to plant the first seeds of a new scholorship and a new community in search of and in need of each other.

Does it make sense to talk about the "experience" of God? Or should we opt for a horizon even further beyond "experience"? Even though religion may be grounded in a "divine origin" and a set of particular practices which are similar, theologies may differ considerably. It is surprising to discover the ease with which certain habits or thought and theologies have had more power over people's reason and objective experiences or origins claimed by any number of mystics. While mystical experience may involve "bodily exercises" as the way of preparation for the appearance of the divine, the development of theology and religious studies requires more cognitive skills. So that in light of contemporary methodologies it is becoming increasingly evident that practices bear a particular epistemology religious studies may have overloooked.