麻豆女演员

Brooks Freeman 鈥�25, an聽English聽major at 麻豆女演员 Institute, sought a common core between the philosophies of聽Jal膩l al-D墨n R奴m墨, a 13th聽century Middle Eastern Sufi mystic and poet, and S脴ren Kierkegaard, a 19th聽century Danish philosopher, theologian, and poet, in his honors presentation, 鈥淰arieties of Mystical Experience: Encountering the Absolute in聽R奴m墨聽and Kierkegaard.鈥澛犅�

Freeman found inspiration for his research after traveling to England and Morocco in the summer of 2023. In England, he studied existential philosophy and comparative religion.

鈥淕oing into the existential philosophy class, the first person we read was Kierkegaard, who is regarded as the original existentialist. He wrote extensively about faith, and I became interested in his ideas. In my comparative religion class, I learned a little about Sufism and Christian mysticism, and found those to be very interesting,鈥� shared Freeman. Upon returning to VMI the following fall, he decided he wanted to compare the two thinkers for his honors thesis. 

Freeman cited Pseudo-Dionysius, an ancient Greek theologian, for his definition of mysticism. 鈥溾�楾he experiential encounter with the utterly transcendental reality that God is.鈥� Basically, a meeting with God.鈥� 

He described some differences between Christian mysticism and Sufism.

鈥淭he first and most obvious difference would be their foundations; Sufism founded from Islam, and Christian mysticism from Christianity. They also have different end goals. Christian mysticism is about union with God while keeping one鈥檚 individual characteristics, and Sufism is about annihilation of oneself to form a kind of oneness with God.鈥�

Similarities he listed between the two philosophies include the individual taking an internal journey toward divine union, poetry rich in symbolism, and teaching and guidance.

鈥淭hen the final thing is this idea of the absurd that you can see in Kierkegaard鈥檚 writing. It has to do with something that cannot be comprehended logically, but is believed through faith, which Kierkegaard wrote is extremely difficult. It is something that is present in R奴m墨鈥檚 writing as well,鈥� Freeman explained.  

Freeman defended the premise of comparing the two authors because they are still relevant, they are widely read outside of their faith tradition, there is a lack of research comparing them, and they both sought a similar mystical path.  

Freeman concluded that the paths of Kierkegaard and R奴m墨 are similar, but warned that the commonalities are steeped in their respective traditions, so context must be appreciated. Studying them in conjunction displays that mystical experiences can at once be common and contextualist. 

Freeman鈥檚 advisor, Lt. Col. Patrick Eichholz, associate professor in the Department of English, Rhetoric, and Humanistic Studies, has known Freeman for four years.

鈥淚 first met Brooks through the adopt-a-rat program, and it鈥檚 been a real pleasure to watch him develop as a scholar. I knew there was something different about Brooks the first time he came over to my house. When the other rats asked for the Netflix password, Brooks asked for book recommendations. After Breakout, I saw a lot less of Brooks, but I was not surprised when I heard all the updates that Brooks was joining the honors program, preparing for the LSAT, and traveling overseas for various study abroad opportunities.鈥�  

Freeman is from Noblesville, Indiana, and minoring in Arabic. He is an alumnus of Culver Academies and the son of Lee and Rose Freeman. He plans to attend law school following graduation.