Din Maneviyat Tartışmaları Açısından Hilmi Ziya Ülken’in ‘Anadolu Tarihinde Dini Ruhiyat Müşahedeleri’ İsimli Makalesinin Değerlendirilmesi
Evaluation of Hilmi Ziya Ulken’s Article Named “Religious Spiritual Observations in Anatolian History” in Terms of Religion and Spiritual Discussions

Summary/Abstract: One of the pioneering works in the history of religious psychology in Turkey is the article titled "Observations of Religious Psychology in Anatolian History." This article was published on June 1, 1924 (Hijri-1340) in the 13th-14th issue of the Mihrap Magazine and was written by Hilmi Ziya ULKEN. The presentations in this work were created, taking into account current topics in the psychology of religion, based on both the Ottoman Turkish original and the contemporary translation of the article. With this study, a contemporary interpretation of this century-old Ottoman Turkish article was made to understand its intended message, and its relevance to the present day was addressed. In this article, Ulken examines the lives and some mystical experiences of two historical mystical figures by presenting historical sources. It becomes apparent from Ulken's article that the importance of mystical experiences in Anatolian culture has continued throughout its historical process. The Anatolian people have placed value on metaphysical and Sufi/mystical elements. Ulken attempts to demonstrate that the mystical experiences in Anatolia are rooted more in Shaman culture than Buddhist culture and that this tradition continued during the Ottoman era. What Ulken described a century ago in this article reminds us that the quest for meaning and spirituality in contemporary psychology of religion is universal. On the other hand, in the West, some individuals searching for spirituality have stated that they do not belong to any particular religious tradition, leading to debates about changing the name of psychology of religion to "spiritual psychology." However, Ulken's attempt to show that the quest for spirituality in Anatolia, although occasionally reflecting Shaman culture, is not independent of religious traditions, demonstrates that spirituality in Anatolia is not divorced from religion, in contrast to the West. In conclusion, when examining debates in Western psychology of religion, it is important to focus on the universality of the field and make better use of past works and historical figures in Anatolian culture, rather than simply imitating Western developments. This article by Ulken is one of the Works that can help in in this regard.

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