mysticism

[Vouthon]

I’m currently reading Mysticism (A Study in the Nature and Development of Spiritual Consciousness) by Evelyn Underhill. She was not Catholic (Anglican I believe) and although she relies heavily on the writings of the Catholic saints, she does not limit herself to Christianity so not all will like it. That said it’s a very good study so far. She makes the distinction between false mysticism very clear but it may not be for everybody.

Evelyn Underhill actually desired to be received into the Catholic Church but was prevented by her Anglican husband. She therefore had to “compromise” with Anglo-Catholicism (High Anglicanism) however for all intents and purposes we can accept her as a Catholic in spirit

Needless to say her book, Mysticism is probably the most thorough introduction one can find.

 

[Vouthon]

The word “mystical” is synonymous in its traditional Catholic application with “contemplation” (contemplatio in Latin) which describes the highest stages of prayer in Catholic spirituality which through the grace of God move beyond discursive thought (meditation) and through an ecstatic intuition devoid of images, forms or conceptual knowledge grasp truths concerning God, without any intermediaries between the soul and the Supreme Deity. Such wisdom gives someone insight into realities that would have taken them years to assimilate through study. The contemplative (or “mystic”) has a direct, interior and unmediated conscious awareness of the Supreme Reality of The Most Blessed Trinity beyond themselves which strains their limited powers of human perception to describe for others. In this stage of prayer there is a paradoxical form of knowing which is a kind of infused wisdom purely given by God rather than arrived at through human education.

One of the earliest theologians to use the term mystical was an anonymous sixth-century Syrian monk who called himself “Dionysius” in his corpus of writings that were to become foundational for Catholic and Orthodox Christianity.

One of his works was called “The Mystical Theology”. The word “mystical” was used prior to him to describe contemplative prayer however he elevated it to even greater heights through his use of philosophy.

In the introduction to this work he writes this, which is an accurate description of what the “Catholic Church” understands by “mysticism” (or at least in its apophatic dimension):

Supernal Triad, Deity above all essence, knowledge and goodness; Guide of Christians to Divine Wisdom; direct our path to the ultimate summit of your mystical knowledge, most incomprehensible, most luminous and most exalted, where the pure, absolute and immutable mysteries of theology are veiled in the dazzling obscurity of the secret Silence, outshining all brilliance with the intensity of their Darkness, and surcharging our blinded intellects with the utterly impalpable and invisible fairness of glories surpassing all beauty.

Let this be my prayer; but do, dear Timothy, in the diligent exercise of mystical contemplation, leave behind the senses and the operations of the intellect, and all things sensible and intellectual, and all things in the world of being and nonbeing, that you may arise by unknowing towards the union, as far as is attainable, with it that transcends all being and all knowledge. For by the unceasing and absolute renunciation of yourself and of all things you may be borne on high, through pure and entire self-abnegation, into the superessential Radiance of the Divine Darkness. But these things are not to be disclosed to the uninitiated, by whom I mean those attached to the objects of human thought, and who believe there is no superessential Reality beyond, and who imagine that by their own understanding they know it that has made Darkness Its secret place…

Its incomprehensible Presence is manifested upon those heights of Its Holy Places; that then It breaks forth, even from that which is seen and that which sees, and plunges the mystic into the Darkness of Unknowing, whence all perfection of understanding is excluded, and he is enwrapped in that which is altogether intangible, wholly absorbed in it that is beyond all, and in none else (whether himself or another); and through the inactivity of all his reasoning powers is united by his highest faculty to it that is wholly unknowable; thus by knowing nothing he knows That which is beyond his knowledge

Here is a translation of The Mystical Theology:

esoteric.msu.edu/VolumeII…lTheology.html

It is a short work that while profound and deep can be read fairly quickly, although it must be read meditatively and slowly to fully imbibe its wisdom.

 

[fhansen]

If there’s any key to receiving mystical experiences it lies in simply having an open heart to God, it lies in humility before Him-in one who probably isn’t even coveting such an experience to begin with. Faith-filled humility comes before any prayer techniques or even holiness/sinlessness. This is related to Jesus’ proclamation in Matt 11:

At that time Jesus said, "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children."

 

[J_Peterson]

Evelyn Underhill actually desired to be received into the Catholic Church but was prevented by her Anglican husband. She therefore had to “compromise” with Anglo-Catholicism (High Anglicanism) however for all intents and purposes we can accept her as a Catholic in spirit

Needless to say her book, Mysticism is probably the most thorough introduction one can find.

Interesting, I don’t know much about her. That’s good to know.

I wonder if its that mystics are attracted to Catholicism or if its that Catholics are drawn to mysticism?

 

[hazcompat]

UNION!

Peace

 

[franklinstower]

Interesting, I don’t know much about her. That’s good to know.

I wonder if its that mystics are attracted to Catholicism or if its that Catholics are drawn to mysticism?

I think the Catholic Church and especially the monastic side of it is somewhat geared towards producing mysticism. In my opinion the Orthodox Church is even more geared towards producing mysticism and also they tend to produce a different flavor of mystical experience too.

I agree with people saying that a sincere desire for God and an open heart help to dispose one to receive mystical experience as a sort of by product of devotion. I would add that serious time spent one on one with God also helps a great deal.