Mysticism: A Study in the Nature and Development of Man's Spiritual Consciousness [Paperback]

For the best study of mysticsm, this is the true text book. Word of warning - I picked it up as my first book on the subject and felt I was reading a foreign language. After reading three books about individual mystics, I again picked up Mysticism and found that the book was incredible and probably the best reference book ever written, or to be written, on this topic. I am sure I will refer to it again and again for further detail on certain ways of the mystics. It is apparent that this was Ms. Underhill's mission in life - to interpret and explain mysticism for all of us.

What the world, which truly knows nothing, calls `mysticism' is the science of ultimates . . . the science of self-evident Reality, which cannot be `reasoned about', because it is the object of pure reason or perception.

- Coventry Patmore, "The Rod, the Root, and the Flower".

_Mysticism: A Study in the Nature and Development of Spiritual Consciousness_ is a republication by Dover Publications of the twelfth edition of a work first published in 1911 by mystical writer Evelyn Underhill which attempts to shed light on the nature of mysticism in terms of philosophy, psychology, and mysticism itself through beautiful prose. Evelyn Underhill (1875-1941) was an Anglo-Catholic writer on mysticism, influenced heavily by Neoplatonism and her mentor the Roman Catholic mystic Baron von Hugel, who presented the teachings and writings of medieval Catholic mystics to a largely Protestant audience. This book discusses mysticism from a Christian perspective (emphasizing Catholicism in particular), though mention is made of some Moslem, Jewish (the Kabalah), and Oriental mystics. In this book, mention is made of such mystics as Philo, Saint Paul, Clement of Alexandria, Origen, Plotinus, Saint Augustine, Dionysius the Areopagite, John Cassian, Saint Gregory the Great, Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, Saint Hildegard of Bingen, Joachim of Flora, Richard of Saint Victor, Mechtild of Magdeburg, Saint Francis of Assisi, Jacopone da Todi, Saint Bonaventure, Saint Thomas Aquinas, Jalalu `d Din (Islam), Ramon Lull, Dante, Meister Eckhart, John Tauler, Henry Suso (part of the "Friends of God" movement), John Ruysbroeck, Thomas a Kempis, Margery Kempe, Richard Rolle, Julian of Norwich, Saints Catherine of Sienna and Genoa, Saint Ignatius Loyola (the Jesuits), Saint Teresa, Saint John of the Cross, Jacob Boehme (the "inspired shoemaker"), George Fox (Quaker), Thomas and Henry Vaughan, Saint Francois de Sales, Brother Lawrence, Madame Guyon (quietist), William Law (Quaker), Eckharthausen, Saint-Martin, and Blake (poet). Furthermore, the following anonymous mystical works are mentioned "Theologia Germanica", "The Mirror of Simple Souls", and "The Cloud of Unknowing". Philosophically, Underhill emphasizes the psychological theories of William James (cf. _The Varieties of Religious Experience_) and R. M. Bucke (cf. _Cosmic Consciousness_), the vitalist theories of Henri Bergson, the theology of Karl Barth and Rudolph Otto, and in particular the writings of her mentor Baron von Hugel on mysticism.

This book is divided into three main sections: "The Mystic Fact", "The Mystic Way", and "A Historical Sketch of European Mysticism from the Beginning of the Christian Era to the Death of Blake". The first section attempts to define mysticism in terms of man's quest for Truth and the Absolute. It outlines the philosophical schools of Naturalism (shown to be problematic), Idealism (shown to be more appropriate to mysticism but limited), Philosophical Scepticism (shown to be self-refuting), and ultimately the mystical embrace of Reality. Underhill also relates mysticism to vitalism (mentioning the theories for example of Bergson) and psychology (mentioning the theories of William James and the nature of consciousness). Next, Underhill turns her attention to the characteristics of mysticism, attempting to outline the mystical type. Underhill also discusses mysticism and theology (noting the problematic relationship between mysticism and religious orthodoxy), mysticism and symbolism (noting symbolism in Dante and the Holy Grail symbolism for example), and finally mysticism and magic (referencing the works of Eliphas Levi and showing how mysticism and magic are in opposition mentioning the Kabalah, Hermetic science, and alchemy). The second section of this book is devoted to understanding the mystic way. Here, Underhill again goes over the traits of the mystic type. Underhill discusses the awakening of the self (psychologically a form of conversion emphasizing both the expansive and transcendent and the personal and immanent), the purification of the self (the need for the cleansing powers of perception, detachment, mortification, spiritual poverty, chastity, and obedience), the illumination of the self (noting the sense of the presence of God, the lucid vision of the world, and automatic activity and also mentioning "nature mysticism"), voices and visions (noting the difficulty in interpreting voices, visions, and automatic writing among mystics), introversion: recollection and quiet (noting the importance of contemplation and the degrees of orison, but also the dangers inherent in the perversion of this state in Quietism, mentioning the condemned writings of Madame Guyon who fell into this snare), introversion: contemplation (emphasizing that contemplation is "ineffable" and "noetic" and has two forms: the immanental and the transcendental also mentioning the "Via Negativa" and the "Divine Dark"), ecstasy and rapture (emphasizing trance, "pure apprehension", the perception of Eternity, and rapture), the "Dark Night of the Soul" (showing the apparent loss of contact with God, its psychological and mystical character, and the painfulness of this occurrence), and the unitive life (emphasizing the role of "deification" and union with the divine at the culmination of mystical experience). The author concludes by noting the importance of these "spiritual pilgrims" in the development of religion and how even the common person may seek God in this manner. The third section of this book is devoted to a history of mysticism, emphasizing in particular the Christian mystics in Europe. The author notes the course of mystical activity, breaking it up into the Classical, Medieval, and Renaissance periods. The author explains that mysticism reached peaks in the third, fourteenth, and seventeenth centuries. The author then provides a list of the famous mystics.

This book is a very important spiritual work for those brave seekers who attempt to search for the Absolute. The writing is beautiful, and the exposition of the mystical character is profound. It is certain to be of great solace to those who seek God in their lives and who hope to learn of the mystical masters.

The author states at one point that only a mystic can write about mysticism, or rather about the true mystic experience. Conventional language, mere words, are poor tools for expressing transcendent reality. In spite of this I found myself exclaiming again and again during my reading that I knew exactly what was being described.

The core here is that only Being can know Being, we behold that which we are, and we are that which we behold. There is a spark in man's soul which is Real and by its cultivation that we may know Reality. You can only behold that which you are. Only the Real can know Reality. If this resonates to you, if it sounds strangely familiar, then perhaps this work is for you.

The mystic is drawn to the path by the force of love- the overriding desire for union with the Absolute. It is by this power that he or she is drawn to transcendent reality. This love leads to the state of contemplation which is the subtle state of consciousness that allows access to another plane. It is a form of consciousness recognized by Plato and Plotinus as well as Augustine and Aquinas. It is that form of consciousness beyond the emotional, intellectual, and volitional striving of ordinary men- a different way of knowing.

The second half of the book is structured according to the pattern of awakening, purification, illumination, ecstacy and rapture, the dark night of the soul, and the unitive life. In no sense is it a "how-to" guide, but it is a most valuable validation for those who have travelled any way at all on the path. It has also been traveled by others.

I find it significant that the author ends her appendix of biographical sketches with William Blake's death in 1827. There have of course been genuine, accomplished mystics since then, but the materialist and rationalistic world is more hostile to the testimony of the true mystic than the "dark ages" ever were.

And yet Mystic Union is no less a reality- and no less obtainable by the boon of grace.

After all, it is to know God that is our ultimate and highest purpose- all else is secondary if not ultimately trivial.