Mystical cognition

The mystical is a particular type of inner experience which may or may not be called religious or spiritual according to the meaning given to these words. Such experience may range from the intuitive to the mystical in its fullest sense. Although some argue that mysticism is the heart of true religion, others contend that it is only one aspect, on a level and to be contrasted with the prophetic and the devotional. It is rejected completely by Marxism-Leninism as being irreconcilable with the scientific, materialistic world view.

The mystical manifests itself at different levels and in different ways, but in all cases consciousness and cognition operate as though an inner, non-rational light is communicated, through which the mind is enabled to apprehend something which would otherwise be inaccessible. This has been called experiential wisdom. The mystical can therefore be defined as the complexion which reality assumes when perception and thought have moved into a particular dimension of consciousness which is at the intersection of rational and non-rational thought and perception. As such it is a response to an apprehension of a quality of Is-ness, whether of God or of the world. At the heart of mystical knowledge is awareness of undifferentiated unity or unity with the source. This may be interpreted as identical with God or the Absolute, or simply as knowledge of union. To the believer in God the content of the experience is godliness; to the non-believer it is goodness. It not only has an ethical content, it is primarily validated by being demonstrated in a life of godliness or goodness.

- William James systematized the mystical experience under four headings: ineffability; noetic quality; transiency; passivity, these being the effects that the experience has on the person experiencing it.

- Evelyn Underhill summarized mysticism as a specialized form of the search for reality and for a heightened and completed life which is a constant characteristic of human consciousness. The spiritual spark, which lies below the threshold in ordinary men, emerges in the mystic and becomes the dominant factor in his life. The powers of love and will become servant to it and are enhanced by it. It has the following characteristics: (1) It is the art and science of establishing conscious relation with the Absolute rather than just talking about it. (2) Having surrendered to the embrace of reality, and with transformed vision, the mystic sees a different world and lives a spiritual life. (3) Mysticism is the art of the arts, it is the source and end of artistic inspiration. The mystic attempts to communicate a vision of reality through symbol and image, although no representation can contain the full meaning of the mystical experience. (4) True mysticism is an active and practical process of life, neither passive nor theoretical. It is not a philosophy and has nothing to do with occult knowledge, nor is it concerned with manipulating the physical universe. Its aims are entirely transcendental and spiritual. (5) Although intellectual investigation and emotional longing must be present for union with the One, they are not enough. The mystic way involves an arduous physiological and spiritual process and the liberating of the latent state of consciousness which has been referred to as ecstasy or the unitive state. (6) In mysticism, the will and the emotions are united in the desire to be joined in love with the one, eternal and ultimate object of love perceived by the soul. (7) For the mystic, the one reality is an object of love drawing one homeward under guidance of the heart. Generous love in all aspects of life is the business and method of mysticism. It is a passion pursued only for the sake of love and never self-seeking. The great religious traditions restate the relevance of mysticism to contemporary life, each with a unique perception of the universal experience. Such restatements are also found in art and in the life of any human being who awakens to spiritual knowledge and ecstatic love.

- W T Stace distinguishes between extrovertive mysticism, when the whole of nature appears in harmony and at one, and introvertive mysticism, when everything is excluded from the mind except the self, and finally the self is absorbed in the void. Five characteristics are characteristic of both forms: blessedness, objectivity, holiness, paradoxicality and ineffability. The other two characteristics differ in the two forms: unity, which the extrovertive sees in the all while the introvertive in the one, void or pure consciousness; and apprehension which is of the inner life of all things in the extrovertive while in the introvertive is nonspatial and nontemporal. In fact, the extrovertive is seen to be the lower level of the introvertive, in which its tendencies are fulfilled. It is as though the multiplicity is half absorbed in unity in the first case and wholly obliterated in the second.

The mystical experience may be evident as an expansion of the range of perception and awareness permitting experiences which, though interpreted according to different religious philosophies, have the same character and presumably the same origin. Such experiences notably include permanent states of consciousness variously called [illumination]

, [enlightenment]

, [union with God]

, [nirvana]

, etc. The mystical may also take the form of a transitory experience, occurring perhaps only once or twice in a lifetime, having a unique quality and perception of reality which remains of great importance to the individual. Terms used to label such experiences include: peak experience, intuitive enlightenment, timeless moment, illumination. The mystical may also take the form of a special feeling or non-rational apprehension of the nature of reality. It may manifest itself as a contemplative insight culminating a process of rational and analytical thought.

For some, mystical experience does not necessarily imply religious experience. The experience seems to be the same independent of the religious tradition (or lack of it) of the experiencer. W T Stace, for example, sees God as an interpretation of the experience, not the experience itself. Others have taken mysticism to imply religious experience, an experiencing of God rather than intellectual belief. Meister Eckhart, in this sense, is referring to a way of life. It is not the transient experience such as arises on a drugs "trip", for example, but an abiding attitude which remains constant through all states of consciousness. This permanent state of letting go, of surrender, brings receptivity to whatever the present moment may bring. It is union with God through total surrender of the self.

There is a distinction to be drawn between mysticism as approached in western religion, the [epithalamian]

tradition, with the goal of marriage between the soul and God; and the approach of eastern religious traditions, where fusion of the soul with God, unitive experience, is the aim. The former may be looked upon as [agape]

, the latter [eros]

. In unitive mysticism the soul reaches God, something which cannot be said to occur in epithalamian mysticism, where there always remains passion and longing.

While the more complete and permanent manifestations of the mystical are experienced by comparatively few, it is believed that it is possible for one who is in no way a contemplative, and who has never had any unique mystical experience, to think and apprehend mystically, and so to arrive at a mystical interpretation of the nature of the world, rather than assuming the intellect to be the ultimate manner of knowing. The intellect may even be considered a hindrance to mystical cognition, which may also oppose logic and philosophy.

Mystical experience is distinguished from visionary experience in that it is not described in sensory language and is marked by low levels of normal cognition and physiological activity.