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Christian mysticism is the tradition of and mystical theology within which "concerns the preparation of for, the consciousness of, and the effect of ... a direct and transformative presence of God" or love. Until the sixth century the practice of what is now called mysticism was referred to by the term contemplatio, c.q. theoria, from (; , theoria), Andrew Louth, "Theology of the Philokalia" in Abba: The Tradition of Orthodoxy in the West (St Vladimir's Seminary Press 2003 ), p. 358 "looking at", "gazing at", "being aware of" God or the divine. William Johnson, The Inner Eye of Love: Mysticism and Religion (HarperCollins 1997 ), p. 24 Liddell and Scott: θεωρία Lewis and Short: contemplatio Christianity took up the use of both the Greek ( theoria) and Latin ( contemplatio, contemplation) terminology to describe various forms of prayer and the process of coming to know God.

Contemplative practices range from simple prayerful meditation of holy scripture (i.e. ) to contemplation on the presence of God, resulting in theosis (spiritual union with God) and ecstatic visions of the soul's . Three stages are discerned in contemplative practice, namely catharsis (purification),

(1998). 9781579101534, Wipf and Stock Publishers. .
(2014). 9781625641939, Wipf and Stock Publishers. .
contemplation proper, and the vision of God.

Contemplative practices have a prominent place in Eastern Orthodoxy and Oriental Orthodoxy, and have gained a renewed interest in Western Christianity.

Etymology
Theoria
The theoria (θεωρία) meant "contemplation, speculation, a looking at, things looked at", from theorein (θεωρεῖν) "to consider, speculate, look at", from theoros (θεωρός) "spectator", from thea (θέα) "a view" + horan (ὁρᾶν) "to see". It expressed the state of being a . Both Greek θεωρία and Latin contemplatio primarily meant looking at things, whether with the eyes or with the mind.Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (Oxford University Press 2005 ), article contemplation, contemplative life

According to William Johnston, until the sixth century the practice of what is now called was referred to by the term contemplatio, c.q. theoria. According to Johnston, "both contemplation and mysticism speak of the eye of love which is looking at, gazing at, aware of divine realities."

Several scholars have demonstrated similarities between the Greek idea of theoria and the idea of darśana (darshan), including Ian RutherfordIan Rutherford, Theoria and Darshan: Pilgrimage as Gaze in Greece and India, Classical Quarterly, Vol. 50, 2000, pp. 133–146 and Gregory Grieve.

Mysticism
"Mysticism" is derived from the μύω, meaning "to conceal," and its derivative μυστικός, , meaning "an initiate." In the Hellenistic world, a "mystikos" was an initiate of a . "Mystical" referred to secret religious rituals and use of the word lacked any direct references to the transcendental.

In early Christianity the term mystikos referred to three dimensions, which soon became intertwined, namely the biblical, the liturgical and the spiritual or contemplative. The biblical dimension refers to "hidden" or allegorical interpretations of Scriptures. The liturgical dimension refers to the liturgical mystery of the , the presence of Christ at the Eucharist. The third dimension is the contemplative or experiential knowledge of God.

Definition of mysticism
Transformative presence of God
Bernard McGinn defines Christian mysticism as:

McGinn argues that "presence" is more accurate than "union," since not all mystics spoke of union with God, and since many visions and miracles were not necessarily related to union.

Presence versus experience
McGinn also argues that we should speak of "consciousness" of God's presence, rather than of "experience", since mystical activity is not simply about the sensation of God as an external object, but more broadly about

popularized the use of the term "religious experience" in his 1902 book The Varieties of Religious Experience. It has also influenced the understanding of mysticism as a distinctive experience which supplies knowledge.

traces the roots of the notion of religious experience further back to the German theologian Friedrich Schleiermacher (1768–1834), who argued that religion is based on a feeling of the infinite. The notion of religious experience was used by Schleiermacher to defend religion against the growing scientific and secular critique. It was adopted by many scholars of religion, of which William James was the most influential.

Interpersonal transformation
McGinn's emphasis on the transformation that occurs through mystical activity relates to this idea of "presence" instead of "experience":

Parsons points out that the stress on "experience" is accompanied by favoring the atomic individual, instead of the shared life of the community. It also fails to distinguish between episodic experience, and mysticism as a process that is embedded in a total religious matrix of liturgy, scripture, worship, virtues, theology, rituals and practices.

Richard King also points to disjunction between "mystical experience" and social justice:

Social construction
Mystical experience is not simply a matter between the mystic and God, but is often shaped by cultural issues. For instance, has shown how, in the late Middle Ages, miracles attending the taking of the Eucharist were not simply symbolic of the Passion story, but served as vindication of the mystic's theological by proving that the mystic had not fallen prey to heretical ideas, such as the rejection of the material world as evil, contrary to orthodox teaching that and remained sinless. Thus, the nature of mystical experience could be tailored to the particular cultural and theological issues of the time.

Origins
The idea of mystical realities has been widely held in Christianity since the second century AD, referring not simply to spiritual practices, but also to the belief that their rituals and even their scriptures have hidden ("mystical") meanings.

The link between mysticism and the vision of the divine was introduced by the early , who used the term as an adjective, as in mystical theology and mystical contemplation.

In subsequent centuries, especially as Christian apologetics began to use Greek philosophy to explain Christian ideas, became an influence on Christian mystical thought and practice via such authors as Augustine of Hippo and .

Jewish antecedents
Jewish spirituality in the period before Jesus was highly corporate and public, based mostly on the worship services of the synagogues, which included the reading and interpretation of the Hebrew Scriptures and the recitation of prayers, and on the major festivals. Thus, private spirituality was strongly influenced by the liturgies and by the scriptures (e.g., the use of the Psalms for prayer), and individual prayers often recalled historical events just as much as they recalled their own immediate needs.

Of special importance are the following concepts:

  • Binah (understanding), and (wisdom), which come from years of reading, praying and meditating the scriptures;
  • , the presence of God in our daily lives, the superiority of that presence to earthly wealth, the pain and longing that come when God is absent; and the nurturing, feminine aspect of God;
  • The hiddenness of God, which comes from our inability to survive the full revelation of God's glory and which forces us to seek to know God through faith and obedience;
  • "-mysticism", a view of God's laws as the central expression of God's will and therefore as worthy object not only of obedience but also of loving meditation and ;
  • Poverty, an value, based on the expectation of God's impending arrival, that characterized the Jewish people's reaction to being oppressed by a series of foreign empires.

In Christian mysticism, Shekhinah became mystery, Da'at (knowledge) became , and poverty became an important component of .

Greek influences
The term theoria was used by the ancient Greeks to refer to the act of experiencing or observing, and then comprehending through .

The influences of Greek thought are apparent in the earliest Christian mystics and their writings. (428–348 BC) is considered the most important of ancient philosophers, and his philosophical system provides the basis of most later mystical forms. (c. 205 – 270 AD) provided the non-Christian, basis for much Christian, and Islamic mysticism.

Plato
For , what the contemplative ( theoros) contemplates ( theorei) are the Forms, the realities underlying the individual appearances, and one who contemplates these atemporal and aspatial realities is enriched with a perspective on ordinary things superior to that of ordinary people.Andrea Wilson Nightingale, Spectacles of Truth in Classical Greek Philosophy: Theoria in Its Cultural Context (Cambridge University Press 2004 ), p. 5 Philip of Opus viewed theoria as contemplation of the stars, with practical effects in everyday life similar to those that Plato saw as following from contemplation of the Forms.

Plotinus
In the of (c.204/5–270 CE), a founder of , everything is contemplation ( theoria)"Everything is contemplation" ( Cambridge Companion to Plotinus, p. 32). and everything is derived from contemplation."Everything comes from contemplation" ( Cambridge Companion to Plotinus, p. 32). The first hypostasis, the One, is contemplation"According to his (Plotinus) metaphysical conception, everything was endowed with this supreme activity (contemplation), beginning with the One, which turns to itself in the simplest regard, implying no complexity of need" ( Cambridge Companion to Plotinus, p. 32)"Plotinus suggests that the One subsists by thinking itself as itself" ( Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy: A Peer-Reviewed Academic Resource: Neoplatonism). (by the nous, or second hypostasis) in that "it turns to itself in the simplest regard, implying no complexity or need"; this reflecting back on itself emanated (not created) the second hypostasis, Intellect (in Greek Νοῦς, Nous), Plotinus describes as "living contemplation", being "self-reflective and contemplative activity par excellence", and the third hypostatic level has theoria. Lloyd P. Gerson, The Cambridge Companion to Plotinus (Cambridge University Press 1996 ), p. 32 Knowledge of the one is achieved through experience of its power, an experience that is contemplation ( theoria) of the source of all things.

Plotinus agreed with Aristotle's systematic distinction between contemplation ( theoria) and practice ( praxis): dedication to the superior life of theoria requires abstention from practical, active life. Plotinus explained: "The point of action is contemplation. ... Contemplation is therefore the end of action" and "Such is the life of the divinity and of divine and blessed men: detachments from all things here below, scorn of all earthly pleasures, the flight of the lone to the Alone."Quoted in Jorge M. Ferrer, Jacob H. Sherman (editors), The Participatory Turn: Spirituality, Mysticism, Religious Studies (State University of New York Press 2008 ), p. 353

Early church
New Testament writings
The Christian scriptures, insofar as they are the founding narrative of the Christian church, provide many key stories and concepts that become important for Christian mystics in all later generations: practices such as the , and the Lord's Prayer all become activities that take on importance for both their ritual and symbolic values. Other scriptural narratives present scenes that become the focus of meditation: the crucifixion of Jesus and his appearances after his resurrection are two of the most central to Christian theology; but Jesus' conception, in which the Holy Spirit overshadows Mary, and his transfiguration, in which he is briefly revealed in his heavenly glory, also become important images for meditation. Moreover, many of the Christian texts build on Jewish spiritual foundations, such as , .

But different writers present different images and ideas. The (in spite of their many differences) introduce several important ideas, two of which are related to Greco-Judaic notions of knowledge/ gnosis by virtue of being mental acts: purity of heart, in which we will to see in God's light; and repentance, which involves allowing God to judge and then transform us. Another key idea presented by the Synoptics is the desert, which is used as a metaphor for the place where we meet God in the poverty of our spirit.

The Gospel of John focuses on God's glory in his use of light imagery and in his presentation of the cross as a moment of exaltation; he also sees the cross as the example of agape love, a love which is not so much an emotion as a willingness to serve and care for others. But in stressing love, John shifts the goal of spiritual growth away from knowledge/ gnosis, which he presents more in terms of ideas about the role of reason as being the underlying principle of the universe and as the spiritual principle within all people. Although John does not follow up on the Stoic notion that this principle makes union with the divine possible for humanity, it is an idea that later Christian writers develop. Later generations will also shift back and forth between whether to follow the Synoptics in stressing knowledge or John in stressing love.

In his letters, Paul also focuses on mental activities, but not in the same way as the Synoptics, which equate renewing the mind with repentance. Instead, Paul sees the renewal of our minds as happening as we contemplate what Jesus did on the cross, which then opens us to grace and to the movement of the Holy Spirit into peoples' hearts. Like John, Paul is less interested in knowledge, preferring to emphasize the hiddenness, the "mystery" of God's plan as revealed through Christ. But Paul's discussion of the Cross differs from John's in being less about how it reveals God's glory and more about how it becomes the stumbling block that turns our minds back to God. Paul also describes the Christian life as that of an athlete, demanding practice and training for the sake of the prize; later writers will see in this image a call to .

Apostolic Fathers
The texts attributed to the Apostolic Fathers, the earliest post-Biblical texts we have, share several key themes, particularly the call to unity in the face of internal divisions and perceptions of persecution, the reality of the , especially prophecy, visions, and Christian , which is understood as "a gift of the Holy Spirit that enables us to know Christ" through meditating on the scriptures and on the cross of Christ. (This understanding of gnosis is not the same as that developed by the , who focused on esoteric knowledge that is available only to a few people but that allows them to free themselves from the evil world.) These authors also discuss the notion of the "two ways", that is, the way of life and the way of death; this idea has biblical roots, being found in both the Sermon on the Mount and the . The two ways are then related to the notion of purity of heart, which is developed by contrasting it against the divided or duplicitous heart and by linking it to the need for asceticism, which keeps the heart whole/pure. Purity of heart was especially important given perceptions of martyrdom, which many writers discussed in theological terms, seeing it not as an evil but as an opportunity to truly die for the sake of God—the ultimate example of ascetic practice. Martyrdom could also be seen as symbolic in its connections with the Eucharist and with baptism.

Theoria enabled the Fathers to perceive depths of meaning in the biblical writings that escape a purely scientific or empirical approach to interpretation. John Breck, Scripture in Tradition: The Bible and Its Interpretation in the Orthodox Church, St Vladimir's Seminary Press 2001, p. 11. The Antiochene Fathers, in particular, saw in every passage of Scripture a double meaning, both literal and spiritual. Breck, Scripture in Tradition, p. 37). As notes, "Best translated in this context as a type of "", theoria was the act of perceiving in the wording and "story" of Scripture a moral and spiritual meaning," Frances Margaret Young, Biblical exegesis and the Formation of Christian Culture (Cambridge University Press 1997 ), p. 175 and may be regarded as a form of allegory. John J. O'Keefe, Russell R. Reno, Sanctified Vision (JHU Press 2005 ), p. 15).

Alexandrian mysticism
The Alexandrian contribution to Christian mysticism centers on () and Clement of Alexandria (150–215 AD). Clement was an early Christian humanist who argued that reason is the most important aspect of human existence and that gnosis (not something we can attain by ourselves, but the gift of Christ) helps us find the spiritual realities that are hidden behind the natural world and within the scriptures. Given the importance of reason, Clement stresses as a reasonable ordering of our passions in order to live within God's love, which is seen as a form of truth. Origen, who had a lasting influence on Eastern Christian thought, further develops the idea that the spiritual realities can be found through allegorical readings of the scriptures (along the lines of Jewish tradition), but he focuses his attention on the cross and on the importance of imitating Christ through the cross, especially through spiritual combat and asceticism. Origen stresses the importance of combining intellect and virtue ( and praxis) in our spiritual exercises, drawing on the image of and leading the Israelites through the wilderness, and he describes our union with God as the marriage of our souls with Christ the Logos, using the wedding imagery from the Song of Songs. Alexandrian mysticism developed alongside and and therefore share some of the same ideas, images, etc. in spite of their differences.

Philo of Alexandria (20 BCE – c.  50 CE) was a Jewish Hellenistic philosopher who was important for connecting the Hebrew Scriptures to Greek thought, and thereby to Greek Christians, who struggled to understand their connection to Jewish history. In particular, Philo taught that allegorical interpretations of the Hebrew scriptures provides access to the real meanings of the texts. Philo also taught the need to bring together the contemplative focus of the and with the active lives of virtue and community worship found in and the . Using terms reminiscent of the Platonists, Philo described the intellectual component of faith as a sort of spiritual ecstasy in which our (mind) is suspended and God's spirit takes its place. Philo's ideas influenced the Alexandrian Christians, Clement, and , and through them, Gregory of Nyssa.

Monasticism
Desert Fathers
Inspired by Christ's teaching and example, and withdrew to the deserts of Sketes where, either as solitary individuals or communities, they lived lives of austere simplicity oriented towards contemplative prayer. These communities formed the basis for what later would become known as Christian monasticism.

Early monasticism
The Eastern church then saw the development of and the mystical contributions of Gregory of Nyssa, Evagrius Ponticus, and Pseudo-Dionysius. Monasticism, also known as (meaning "to withdraw") was seen as an alternative to martyrdom, and was less about escaping the world than about fighting demons (who were thought to live in the desert) and about gaining liberation from our bodily passions in order to be open to the word of God. Anchorites practiced continuous meditation on the scriptures as a means of climbing the ladder of perfection—a common religious image in the Mediterranean world and one found in Christianity through the story of Jacob's ladder—and sought to fend off the demon of ("un-caring"), a boredom or apathy that prevents us from continuing on in our spiritual training. Anchorites could live in total solitude ("", from the word erēmitēs, "of the desert") or in loose communities ("", meaning "common life").

Monasticism eventually made its way to the West and was established by the work of and Benedict of Nursia. Meanwhile, Western spiritual writing was deeply influenced by the works of such men as and Augustine of Hippo.

Neo-Platonism
Neo-Platonism has had a profound influence on Christian contemplative traditions. Neoplatonic ideas were adopted by Christianity, among them the idea of theoria or contemplation, taken over by Gregory of Nyssa for example. The Brill Dictionary of Gregory of Nyssa remarks that contemplation in Gregory is described as a "loving contemplation", The Brill Dictionary of Gregory of Nyssa (Brill, Leiden 2010 ), p. 528 and, according to , the Greek Fathers of the Church, in taking over from the Neoplatonists the word theoria, attached to it the idea expressed by the Hebrew word da'ath, which, though usually translated as "knowledge", is a much stronger term, since it indicates the experiential knowledge that comes with love and that involves the whole person, not merely the mind. Thomas Keating, Open Mind, Open Heart: The Contemplative Dimension of the Gospel (Continuum International 1986 ), p. 19 Among the Greek Fathers, Christian theoria was not contemplation of Platonic Ideas nor of the astronomical heavens of Pontic Heraclitus, but "studying the Scriptures", with an emphasis on the spiritual sense.

Later, contemplation came to be distinguished from intellectual life, leading to the identification of θεωρία or contemplatio with a form of prayer distinguished from discursive in both East Mattá al-Miskīn, Orthodox Prayer Life: The Interior Way (St Vladimir's Seminary Press 2003 ), pp. 55–56 and West. Some make a further distinction, within contemplation, between contemplation acquired by human effort and infused contemplation.

(2003). 9780881412505, St. Vladimir's Seminary Press. .

Mystical theology
In early Christianity the term "mystikos" referred to three dimensions, which soon became intertwined, namely the biblical, the liturgical and the spiritual or contemplative. The biblical dimension refers to "hidden" or allegorical interpretations of Scriptures. The liturgical dimension refers to the liturgical mystery of the Eucharist, the presence of Christ at the Eucharist. The third dimension is the contemplative or experiential knowledge of God.

The 9th century saw the development of mystical theology through the introduction of the works of sixth-century theologian Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite, such as On Mystical Theology. His discussion of the via negativa was especially influential.

Under the influence of Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite (late 5th to early 6th century) the mystical theology came to denote the investigation of the allegorical truth of the Bible, and "the spiritual awareness of the ineffable Absolute beyond the theology of divine names." Pseudo-Dionysius' apophatic theology, or "negative theology", exerted a great influence on medieval monastic religiosity. It was influenced by , and very influential in Eastern Orthodox Christian theology. In western Christianity it was a counter-current to the prevailing Cataphatic theology or "positive theology".

Practice
Cataphatic and apophatic mysticism
Within theistic mysticism two broad tendencies can be identified. One is a tendency to understand God by asserting what he is and the other by asserting what he is not. The former leads to what is called cataphatic theology and the latter to apophatic theology.
  1. (imaging God, imagination or words) – e.g., The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola, Julian of Norwich, Francis of Assisi; and
  2. Apophatic (imageless, stillness, and wordlessness) – inspired by the writings of Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite, which forms the basis of Eastern Orthodox mysticism and hesychasm, and became influential in western Catholic mysticism from the 12th century AD onward, as in The Cloud of Unknowing and .

Urban T. Holmes III categorized mystical theology in terms of whether it focuses on illuminating the mind, which Holmes refers to as speculative practice, or the heart/emotions, which he calls affective practice. Combining the speculative/affective scale with the apophatic/cataphatic scale allows for a range of categories:

Meditation and contemplation
In discursive meditation, such as , mind and imagination and other faculties are actively employed in an effort to understand Christians' relationship with God."Meditation is a prayerful quest engaging thought, imagination, emotion, and desire. Its goal is to make our own in faith the subject considered, by confronting it with the reality of our own life"( Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2723). In contemplative prayer, this activity is curtailed, so that has been described as "a gaze of faith", "a silent love". There is no clear-cut boundary between Christian meditation and Christian contemplation, and they sometimes overlap. Meditation serves as a foundation on which the contemplative life stands, the practice by which someone begins the state of contemplation.

John of the Cross described the difference between discursive meditation and contemplation by saying:

Mattá al-Miskīn, an Oriental Orthodox monk has posited:

Threefold path
According to the standard formulation of the process of Christian perfection, going back to Evagrius Ponticus (345–399 AD) and Dionysius the Pseudo-Areopagite (late 5th to early 6th century),Oxford Reference, purgative, illuminative, and unitive ways there are three stages:Réginald Garrigou-Lagrange (1938/1939), The Three Ages of the Interior Life, chapter Christian Perfection
  • or purification;
  • or illumination, also called "natural" or "acquired contemplation;"
  • Union or Theosis; also called "infused" or "higher contemplation"; indwelling in God; vision of God; deification;

The three aspects later became purgative, illuminative, and unitive in the western churches and prayer of the lips, the mind, the heart in the eastern churches.

Purification and illumination of the mind are preparations for the vision of God. Without these preparations it is impossible for man's selfish love to be transformed into selfless love. This transformation takes place during the higher level of the stage of illumination called theoria, literally meaning vision, in this case vision by means of unceasing and uninterrupted memory of God. Those who remain selfish and self-centered with a hardened heart, closed to God's love, will not see the glory of God in this life. However, they will see God's glory eventually, but as an eternal and consuming fire and outer darkness.

Catharsis (purification)
In the Orthodox Churches, theosis results from leading a pure life, practicing restraint and adhering to the commandments, putting the love of God before all else. This metamorphosis (transfiguration) or transformation results from a deep love of God. Saint Isaac the Syrian says in his Ascetical Homilies that "Paradise is the love of God, in which the bliss of all the beatitudes is contained," and that "the tree of life is the love of God" (Homily 72). Theoria is thus achieved by the pure of heart who are no longer subject to the afflictions of the passions. It is a gift from the Holy Spirit to those who, through observance of the commandments of God and (see praxis, , and ), have achieved dispassion.

Purification constitutes a turning away from all that is unclean and unwholesome. This is a purification of mind and body. As preparation for theoria, however, the concept of purification in this three-part scheme refers most importantly to the purification of consciousness ( nous), the faculty of discernment and knowledge (wisdom), whose awakening is essential to coming out of the state of delusion that is characteristic of the worldly-minded. After the nous has been cleansed, the faculty of wisdom may then begin to operate more consistently. With a purified nous, clear vision and understanding become possible, making one fit for contemplative prayer.

In the Eastern Orthodox ascetic tradition called , humility, as a saintly attribute, is called holy wisdom or Sophia. Humility is the most critical component to humanity's salvation. Following Christ's instruction to "go into your room or closet and shut the door and pray to your father who is in secret" (Matthew 6:6), the withdraws into solitude in order that he or she may enter into a deeper state of contemplative stillness. By means of this stillness, the mind is calmed, and the ability to see reality is enhanced. The practitioner seeks to attain what the apostle Paul called 'unceasing prayer'.

Some Eastern Orthodox theologians object to what they consider an overly speculative, rationalistic, and insufficiently experiential nature of Roman Catholic theology. and confusion between different aspects of the Trinity.

Theoria (illumination) – contemplative prayer
An exercise long used among Christians for acquiring contemplation, one that is "available to everyone, whether he be of the clergy or of any secular occupation", Orthodox Prayer Life: The Interior Way, p. 59 is that of focusing the mind by constant repetition of a phrase or word. Saint recommended using the phrase "O God, make speed to save me: O Lord, make haste to help me". Another formula for repetition is the name of Jesus,
(1974). 9780913836125, St. Vladimir's Seminary Press. .
James W. Skehan, Place Me with Your Son (Georgetown University Press 1991 ), p. 89 or the : "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner," which has been called "the of the Orthodox Church", although the term "Jesus Prayer" is not found in the writings of the Fathers of the Church. The author of The Cloud of Unknowing recommended use of a monosyllabic word, such as "God" or "Love". The Cloud of Unknowing (Wordsworth Classics of World Literature 2005 ), p. 18

Contemplative prayer in the Eastern Church
In the Eastern Church, noetic prayer is the first stage of theoria, the vision of God, which is beyond conceptual knowledge,V Lossky Vision of God p. 123: "Knowledge is limited to what exists: now, as the cause of all being (The Divine Names, I, 1, col.588) or rather He is superior to all oppositions between being and non-being." like the difference between reading about the experience of another, and reading about one's own experience. Noetic prayer is the first stage of the , a short formulaic : "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner." The second stage of the Jesus Prayer is the Prayer of the Heart (Καρδιακή Προσευχή), in which the prayer is internalized into 'the heart'.

The Jesus Prayer, which, for the early Fathers, was just a training for repose, the later Byzantines developed into , a spiritual practice of its own, attaching to it technical requirements and various stipulations that became a matter of serious theological controversy. Orthodox Prayer Life: The Interior Way, p. 58 Via the Jesus Prayer, the practice of the Hesychast is seen to cultivate , watchful attention. Sobriety contributes to this mental asceticism that rejects tempting thoughts; it puts a great emphasis on focus and attention. The practitioner of the hesychast is to pay extreme attention to the consciousness of his inner world and to the words of the Jesus Prayer, not letting his mind wander in any way at all. The Jesus Prayer invokes an attitude of humility believed to be essential for the attainment of theoria. The Forgotten Desert Mothers: Sayings, Lives, and Stories of Early Christian Women, By Laura Swan p. 67 Published by Paulist Press, 2001 The Jesus Prayer is also invoked to pacify the passions, as well as the illusions that lead a person to actively express these passions. It is believed that the worldly, neurotic mind is habitually accustomed to seek pleasant sensations and to avoid unpleasant ones. This state of incessant agitation is attributed to the corruption of primordial knowledge and union with God (the fall of man and the defilement and corruption of consciousness, or ). According to St. Theophan the Recluse, though the Jesus Prayer has long been associated with the Prayer of the Heart, they are not synonymous."People say: attain the Jesus Prayer, for that is inner prayer. This is not correct. The Jesus Prayer is a good means to arrive at inner prayer but in itself it is not inner but outer prayer" – St Theophan the Recluse, 'What Is Prayer?' cited in The Art of Prayer: An Orthodox Anthology p.98 by

Contemplative prayer in the Roman Catholic Church
Methods of prayer in the Roman Catholic Church include recitation of the , which "combines the Christological hymn of with the cry of the publican () and the blind man begging for light (). By it the heart is opened to human wretchedness and the Saviour's mercy"; invocation of the holy name of Jesus; recitation, as recommended by Saint , of "O God, come to my assistance; O Lord, make haste to help me" or other verses of Scripture; repetition of a single monosyllabic word, as suggested by the Cloud of Unknowing, such as "God" or "Love"; the method used in ; the use of . The Congregation for Divine Worship's directory of popular piety and the liturgy emphasizes the contemplative characteristic of the and states that the Rosary is essentially a contemplative prayer which requires "tranquility of rhythm or even a mental lingering which encourages the faithful to meditate on the mysteries of the Lord's life." Directory of popular piety and the liturgy, §197, Congregation of Divine Worship, Vatican, 2001. Pope John Paul II placed the Rosary at the very center of Christian spirituality and called it "among the finest and most praiseworthy traditions of Christian contemplation." In modern times, , which is also called "Prayer of the heart" and "Prayer of Simplicity," has been popularized by , drawing on Hesychasm and the Cloud of Unknowing. The practice of contemplative prayer has also been encouraged by the formation of associations like The Julian Meetings and the Fellowship of Meditation.

Unification
The third phase, starting with infused or higher contemplation (or Mystical Contemplative Prayer) in the Western tradition, refers to the presence or consciousness of God. This presence or consciousness varies, but it is first and foremost always associated with a reuniting with divine love, the underlying theme being that God, the perfect goodness, is known or experienced at least as much by the heart as by the intellect since, in the words 1 John 4:16: "God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God and God in him." Some approaches to classical mysticism would consider the first two phases as preparatory to the third, explicitly mystical experience, but others state that these three phases overlap and intertwine.

In the Orthodox Churches, the highest theoria, the highest consciousness that can be experienced by the whole person, is the vision of God. God is beyond being; He is a hyper-being; God is beyond nothingness. Nothingness is a gulf between God and man. God is the origin of everything, including nothingness. This experience of God in hypostasis shows God's essence as incomprehensible, or uncreated. God is the origin, but has no origin; hence, he is apophatic and transcendent in or being, and in foundational realities, and energies. This or theoria is the observation of God.

(1994). 9789607070272, Birth of the Theotokos Monastery.

A nous in a state of ecstasy or ekstasis, called the eighth day, is not internal or external to the world, outside of time and space; it experiences the and limitless God. is the "eye of the soul" (Matthew 6:22–34). Insight into being and becoming (called ) through the intuitive truth called faith, in God (action through faith and ), leads to truth through our contemplative faculties. This , or speculation, as action in faith and love for God, is then expressed famously as "Beauty shall Save the World". This expression comes from a or perspective, rather than a scientific, philosophical or cultural one.Saint Symeon the New Theologian On Faith Palmer, G.E.H; Sherrard, Philip; Ware, Kallistos (Timothy). The Philokalia, Vol. 4Nikitas Stithatos (Nikitas Stethatos) On the Practice of the Virtues: One Hundred TextsNikitas Stithatos (Nikitas Stethatos) On the Inner Nature of Things and on the Purification of the Intellect: One Hundred TextsNikitas Stithatos (Nikitas Stethatos) On , Love and the Perfection of Living: One Hundred Texts

Alternate models
Augustine
In the advance to contemplation Augustine spoke of seven stages: Jordan Aumann, Christian Spirituality in the Catholic Tradition (Ignatius Press 1985 ), p. 64
  1. the first three are merely natural preliminary stages, corresponding to the vegetative, sensitive and rational levels of human life;
  2. the fourth stage is that of virtue or purification;
  3. the fifth is that of the tranquillity attained by control of the passions;
  4. the sixth is entrance into the divine light (the illuminative stage);
  5. the seventh is the indwelling or unitive stage that is truly mystical contemplation.

Meister Eckhart
did not articulate clear-cut stages,James Clark, as cited in Forman (1987), Eckhart's Stages of Mystical Progression yet a number of divisions can be found in his works.
(2025). 9781315657790, Routledge.

Teresa of Avila
According to Jordan Aumann, Saint Teresa of Ávila distinguishes nine grades of prayer:
  1. vocal prayer,
  2. or prayer of meditation,
  3. affective prayer,
  4. prayer of simplicity, or acquired contemplation or recollection,
  5. infused contemplation or recollection,
  6. prayer of quiet,
  7. prayer of union,
  8. prayer of conforming union, and
  9. prayer of transforming union.

According to Aumann, "The first four grades belong to the predominantly ascetical stage of spiritual life; the remaining five grades are infused prayer and belong to the mystical phase of spiritual life." According to Augustin Pulain, for Teresa, ordinary prayer "comprises these four degrees: first, vocal prayer; second, meditation, also called methodical prayer, or prayer of reflection, in which may be included meditative reading; third, affective prayer; fourth, prayer of simplicity, or of simple gaze."

Prayer of simplicity – natural or acquired contemplation
For Teresa, in natural or acquired contemplation, also called the prayer of simplicity there is one dominant thought or sentiment which recurs constantly and easily (although with little or no development) amid many other thoughts, beneficial or otherwise. The prayer of simplicity often has a tendency to simplify itself even in respect to its object, leading one to think chiefly of God and of his presence, but in a confused manner. Definitions similar to that of Saint Alphonsus Maria de Liguori are given by Adolphe Tanquerey ("a simple gaze on God and divine things proceeding from love and tending thereto") and Saint Francis de Sales ("a loving, simple and permanent attentiveness of the mind to divine things"). William Johnston, The Inner Eye of Love: Mysticism and Religion (Harper Collins 2004 ), p. 24

In the words of Saint Alphonsus Maria de Liguori, acquired contemplation "consists in seeing at a simple glance the truths which could previously be discovered only through prolonged discourse": reasoning is largely replaced by intuition and affections and resolutions, though not absent, are only slightly varied and expressed in a few words. Similarly, Saint Ignatius of Loyola, in his 30-day retreat or Spiritual Exercises beginning in the "second week" with its focus on the life of Jesus, describes less reflection and more simple contemplation on the events of Jesus' life. These contemplations consist mainly in a simple gaze and include an "application of the senses" to the events, to further one's empathy for Jesus' values, "to love him more and to follow him more closely."

Natural or acquired contemplation has been compared to the attitude of a mother watching over the cradle of her child: she thinks lovingly of the child without reflection and amid interruptions. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states:

Infused or higher contemplation
In the mystical experience of Teresa of Avila, infused or higher contemplation, also called intuitive, passive or extraordinary, is a supernatural gift by which a person's mind will become totally centered on God. It is a form of , a union characterized by the fact that it is God, and God only, who manifests himself. Under this influence of God, which assumes the free cooperation of the human will, the intellect receives special insights into things of the spirit, and the affections are extraordinarily animated with divine love. This union that it entails may be linked with manifestations of a created object, as, for example, visions of the humanity of Christ or an angel or revelations of a future event, etc. They include miraculous bodily phenomena sometimes observed in ecstatics.

In Teresa's mysticism, infused contemplation is described as a "divinely originated, general, non-conceptual, loving awareness of God". Thomas Dubay, Fire Within (Ignatius Press 1989 ), chapter 5 According to Dubay:

According to , infused contemplation is the normal, ordinary development of discursive prayer (mental prayer, meditative prayer), which it gradually replaces. Dubay considers infused contemplation as common only among "those who try to live the whole Gospel wholeheartedly and who engage in an earnest prayer life". Other writers view contemplative prayer in its infused supernatural form as far from common. John Baptist Scaramelli, reacting in the 17th century against quietism, taught that and mysticism are two distinct paths to perfection, the former being the normal, ordinary end of the Christian life, and the latter something extraordinary and very rare. Jordan Aumann, Christian Spirituality in the Catholic Tradition (Sheed & Ward 1985 ), p. 247 and p. 273 Jordan Aumann considered that this idea of the two paths was "an innovation in spiritual theology and a departure from the traditional Catholic teaching".Aumann, Christian Spirituality in the Catholic Tradition, p. 248 And proposed that one should not say that every mystic necessarily enjoys habitual infused contemplation in the mystical state, since the gifts of the Holy Spirit are not limited to intellectual operations. Aumann, Christian Spirituality in the Catholic Tradition, p. 276

Mystical union
According to Charles G. Herbermann, in the Catholic Encyclopedia (1908), Teresa of Avila described four degrees or stages of mystical union:
  1. incomplete mystical union, or the prayer of quiet or supernatural recollection, when the action of God is not strong enough to prevent distractions, and the imagination still retains a certain liberty;
  2. full or semi-ecstatic union, when the strength of the divine action keeps the person fully occupied but the senses continue to act, so that by making an effort, the person can cease from prayer;
  3. ecstatic union, or ecstasy, when communications with the external world are severed or nearly so, and one can no longer at will move from that state; and
  4. transforming or deifying union, or spiritual marriage (properly) of the soul with God.
The first three are weak, medium, and the energetic states of the same grace.

The Prayer of Quiet
For Teresa of Avila, the Prayer of Quiet is a state in which the soul experiences an extraordinary peace and rest, accompanied by delight or pleasure in contemplating God as present.
(2025). 9781602062610, Cosimo, Inc..
Grade 6: Prayer of the Quiet catholic-church.org.
(1971). 9780521096652, CUP Archive. .
(1999). 9780809137718, Paulist Press.
The Prayer of Quiet is also discussed in the writings of Francis de Sales, and others.
(2025). 9781590305737, Shambhala Publications.
(1976). 9780860120247, Continuum International Publishing Group.

Evelyn Underhill
Author and mystic recognizes two additional phases to the mystical path. First comes the awakening, the stage in which one begins to have some consciousness of absolute or divine reality. Purgation and illumination are followed by a fourth stage which Underhill, borrowing the language of St. John of the Cross, calls the dark night of the soul. This stage, experienced by the few, is one of final and complete purification and is marked by confusion, helplessness, stagnation of the will, and a sense of the withdrawal of God's presence. This dark night of the soul is not, in Underhill's conception, the Divine Darkness of the pseudo-Dionysius and German Christian mysticism. It is the period of final "unselfing" and the surrender to the hidden purposes of the divine will. Her fifth and final stage is union with the object of love, the one Reality, God. Here the self has been permanently established on a transcendental level and liberated for a new purpose.

Eastern Orthodox Christianity
Eastern Christianity has preserved a mystical emphasis in its theology and retains in a tradition of dating back to Christianity's beginnings. Hesychasm concerns a spiritual transformation of the egoic self, the following of a path designed to produce more fully realized human persons, "created in the Image and Likeness of God" and as such, living in harmonious communion with God, the Church, the rest of the world, and all creation, including oneself. The Eastern Christian tradition speaks of this transformation in terms of theosis or divinization, perhaps best summed up by an ancient aphorism usually attributed to Athanasius of Alexandria: "God became human so that man might become god."

According to , in the teachings of Eastern Orthodox Christianity the quintessential purpose and goal of the Christian life is to attain theosis or 'deification', understood as 'likeness to' or 'union with' God. Theosis is expressed as "Being, union with God" and having a relationship or between God and man. God is the Kingdom of Heaven.

Theosis or unity with God is obtained by engaging in contemplative prayer, the first stage of theoria, which results from the cultivation of watchfulness (Gk: ). In theoria, one comes to see or "behold" God or "uncreated light," a grace which is "uncreated." In the Eastern Christian traditions, theoria is the most critical component needed for a person to be considered a theologian; however it is not necessary for one's salvation.The Vision of God, SVS Press, 1997. () An experience of God is necessary to the spiritual and mental health of every created thing, including human beings. Knowledge of God is not intellectual, but existential. According to eastern theologian Andrew Louth, the purpose of theology as a science is to prepare for contemplation, rather than theology being the purpose of contemplation.

Theoria is the main aim of , which has its roots in the contemplative practices taught by Evagrius Ponticus (345–399), (6th–7th century), Maximus the Confessor (c. 580–662), and Symeon the New Theologian (949–1022). John Climacus, in his influential Ladder of Divine Ascent, describes several stages of contemplative or hesychast practice, culminating in . Symeon believed that direct experience gave monks the authority to preach and give absolution of sins, without the need for formal ordination. While Church authorities also taught from a speculative and philosophical perspective, Symeon taught from his own direct mystical experience,deCatanzaro 1980, pp. 9–10. and met with strong resistance for his charismatic approach, and his support of individual direct experience of God's grace. According to John Romanides, this difference in teachings on the possibility to experience God or the uncreated light is at the very heart of many theological conflicts between Eastern Orthodox Christianity and Western Christianity, which is seen to culminate in the conflict over .

According to John Romanides, following The mystical theology of the Eastern Church By Vladimir Lossky pp. 237–238 [29] in his interpretation of St. , the teaching that God is transcendent (incomprehensible in , essence or being), has led in the West to the (mis)understanding that God cannot be experienced in this life. Romanides states that Western theology is more dependent upon logic and reason, culminating in scholasticism used to validate truth and the existence of God, than upon establishing a relationship with God (theosis and theoria).

False spiritual knowledge
In the Orthodox Churches, theoria is regarded to lead to true spiritual knowledge, in contrast to the false or incomplete knowledge of rational thought, c.q. , , , and )."Those who speak from their own thoughts, before having acquired purity, are seduced by the spirit of self-esteem." St. Gregory of Sinai After illumination or theoria, humanity is in union with God and can properly discern, or have . Hence theoria, the experience or vision of God, silences all humanity.

The most common false spiritual knowledge is derived not from an experience of God, but from reading another person's experience of God and subsequently arriving at one's own conclusions, believing those conclusions to be indistinguishable from the actual experienced knowledge.

False spiritual knowledge can also be , generated from an evil rather than a holy source. The gift of the knowledge of good and evil is then required, which is given by God. Humanity, in its finite existence as created beings or creatures, can never, by its own accord, arrive at a sufficiently objective consciousness. Theosis is the gradual submission of a person to the good, who then with from the person's relationship or union with God, attains deification. Illumination restores humanity to that state of faith existent in God, called , before humanity's consciousness and reality was changed by their fall.

Spiritual somnolence
In the orthodox Churches, false spiritual knowledge is regarded as leading to spiritual delusion (Russian prelest, Greek plani), which is the opposite of . Sobriety (called ) means full consciousness and self-realization (), giving true spiritual knowledge (called true gnosis).* History of Russian Philosophy «История российской Философии »(1951) by N. O. Lossky section p. 400. Allen & Unwin: London. International Universities Press Inc: New York. sponsored by Saint Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary Prelest or plani is the estrangement of the person to existence or objective reality, an alienation called . This includes damaging or vilifying the nous, or simply having a non-functioning and faculty.

is, by definition, the act of turning humanity against its creator and existence. , a hatred of God, is a catalyst that separates humanity from nature, or vilifies the realities of , the spiritual world and the natural or material world. Reconciliation between God (the uncreated) and man is reached through submission in faith to God the eternal, i.e. transcendence rather than (magic).

The Trinity as Nous, Word and Spirit (hypostasis) is, , the basis of humanity's being or existence. The Trinity is the creator of humanity's being via each component of humanity's existence: origin as nous (ex nihilo), inner experience or spiritual experience, and physical experience, which is exemplified by Christ ( or the uncreated prototype of the highest ideal) and his saints. The following of false knowledge is marked by the symptom of or "awake sleep" and, later, . Theoria is opposed to or symbolic interpretations of church traditions.

False asceticism or cults
In the Orthodox practice, once the stage of true discernment (diakrisis) is reached (called ), one is able to distinguish false gnosis from valid gnosis and has holy wisdom. The highest holy wisdom, Sophia, or , is cultivated by humility or meekness, akin to that personified by the and all of the saints that came after her and Christ, collectively referred to as the or church. This community of unbroken witnesses is the Orthodox Church.

Wisdom is cultivated by humility () and against (, greed and ) and the passions. Vlachos of Nafpaktos wrote: 

Practicing [[asceticism]] is being dead to the passions and the ego, collectively known as the world.

God is beyond knowledge and the fallen human mind, and, as such, can only be experienced in his hypostases through faith (noetically). False ascetism leads not to reconciliation with God and existence, but toward a false existence based on rebellion to existence.

Latin Catholic mysticism
Contemplatio
In the terms derived from the word contemplatio such as, in English, "contemplation" are generally used in languages largely derived from Latin, rather than the Greek term theoria. The equivalence of the Latin and Greek termsCf. Josef Pieper, An Anthology (Ignatius Press 1989 ), 43; Eugene Victor Walter, Placeways (UNC Press Books 1988 ), p. 218; Thomas Hibbs, Aquinas, Ethics and Philosophy of Religion (Indiana University Press 2007 ), pp. 8, 89; Steven Chase, Angelic Spirituality (Paulist Press 2002 ), p. 63 was noted by , whose writings influenced the whole of Western monasticism, in his Conferences. John Cassian, The Conferences (English translation by Boniface Ramsey, Newman Press 1997 ), p. 47 However, Catholic writers do sometimes use the Greek term. Christopher A. Dustin, "The Liturgy of Theory" in Bruce T. Morrill et al. (editors), Practicing Catholic (Palgrave Macmillan 2005) ), pp. 257–274;

Middle ages
The Early Middle Ages in the West includes the work of Gregory the Great and , as well as developments in Celtic Christianity and Anglo-Saxon Christianity, and comes to fulfillment in the work of Johannes Scotus Eriugena and the Carolingian Renaissance.

The High Middle Ages saw a flourishing of mystical practice and theorization corresponding to the flourishing of new monastic orders, with such figures as , Hildegard of Bingen, Bernard of Clairvaux, the , all coming from different orders, as well as the first real flowering of among the laypeople.

The Late Middle Ages saw the clash between the and schools of thought, which was also a conflict between two different mystical theologies: on the one hand that of and on the other that of Francis of Assisi, Anthony of Padua, , Jacopone da Todi, Angela of Foligno. Moreover, there was the growth of groups of mystics centered on geographic regions: the , such as Mechthild of Magdeburg and (among others); the -Flemish mystics , , , and John of Ruysbroeck; and the English mystics , and Julian of Norwich. This period also saw such individuals as Catherine of Siena and Catherine of Genoa, the , and such books as the Theologia Germanica, The Cloud of Unknowing and The Imitation of Christ.

Counter-reformation
The Reformation brought about the Counter-Reformation and, with it, a new flowering of mystical literature, often grouped by nationality.

Spanish mysticism
The Spanish had , whose Spiritual Exercises were designed to open people to a receptive mode of consciousness in which they can experience God through careful spiritual direction and through understanding how the mind connects to the will and how to weather the experiences of spiritual consolation and desolation; Teresa of Ávila, who used the metaphors of watering a garden and walking through the rooms of a castle to explain how meditation leads to union with God; and John of the Cross, who used a wide range of biblical and spiritual influences both to rewrite the traditional "three ways" of mysticism after the manner of bridal mysticism and to present the two "dark nights": the dark night of the senses and the dark night of the soul, during which the individual renounces everything that might become an obstacle between the soul and God and then experiences the pain of feeling separated from God, unable to carry on normal spiritual exercises, as it encounters the enormous gap between its human nature and God's divine wisdom and light and moves up the 10-step ladder of ascent towards God. Another prominent mystic was Miguel de Molinos, the chief apostle of the religious revival known as Quietism. No breath of suspicion arose against Molinos until 1681, when the Jesuit preacher Paolo Segneri, attacked his views, though without mentioning his name, in his Concordia tra la fatica e la quiete nell' orazione. The matter was referred to the Inquisition. A report got abroad that Molinos had been convicted of moral enormities, as well as of heretical doctrines; and it was seen that he was doomed. On September 3, 1687 he made public profession of his errors, and was sentenced to imprisonment for life. Contemporary Protestants saw in the fate of Molinos nothing more than a persecution by the Jesuits of a wise and enlightened man, who had dared to withstand the petty ceremonialism of the Italian piety of the day. Molinos died in prison in 1696 or 1697.

Italy
, from Otranto in Apulia, was an Italian mystic best known for authoring The Spiritual Combat, a key work in Catholic mysticism.

France
French mystics included Francis de Sales, , François Fénelon, and .

Protestant mysticism
Reformation
The Protestant Reformation downplayed mysticism, although it still produced a fair amount of spiritual literature. Even the most active reformers can be linked to Medieval mystical traditions. , for instance, was a monk who was influenced by the German Dominican mystical tradition of Eckhart and Tauler as well by the Dionysian-influenced Wesenmystik ("essence mysticism") tradition. He also published the Theologia Germanica, which he claimed was the most important book after the Bible and Augustine for teaching him about God, Christ, and humanity. Even , who rejected many Medieval ascetic practices and who favored doctrinal knowledge of God over affective experience, has Medieval influences, namely, and the Devotio Moderna, with its emphasis on piety as the method of spiritual growth in which the individual practices dependence on God by imitating Christ and the son-father relationship. Meanwhile, his notion that we can begin to enjoy our eternal salvation through our earthly successes leads in later generations to "a mysticism of consolation". Nevertheless, Protestantism was not devoid of mystics. Several leaders of the Radical Reformation had mystical leanings such as Caspar Schwenckfeld and . The Magisterial traditions also produced mystics, notably (Calvinist) and (Lutheran). An original thinker, formally in the Lutheran tradition but a forerunner of Christian theosophy, was Jakob Böhme.

As part of the Protestant Reformation, theologians turned away from the traditions developed in the Middle Ages and returned to what they consider to be biblical and early Christian practices. Accordingly, they were often skeptical of Catholic mystical practices, which seemed to them to downplay the role of grace in redemption and to support the idea that human works can play a role in salvation. Thus, Protestant theology developed a strong critical attitude, oftentimes even an animosity towards Christian mysticism. However, Quakers, , Episcopalians, , , Local Churches, , , and Charismatics have in various ways remained open to the idea of mystical experiences.

England
The English had a denominational mix, from Catholic and Julian of Norwich (the first woman to write in English), to Anglicans , , and Lancelot Andrewes, to Puritans and ( The Pilgrim's Progress), to the first "Quaker", and the first "Methodist", , who was well-versed in the continental mystics.

An example of "scientific reason lit up by mysticism in the Church of England"is seen in the work of Sir , a Norwich physician and scientist whose thought often meanders into mystical realms, as in his self-portrait, , and in the "mystical mathematics" of The Garden of Cyrus, whose full running title reads, Or, The Quincuncial Lozenge, or Network Plantations of the ancients, Naturally, Artificially, Mystically considered. Browne's highly original and dense symbolism frequently involves scientific, medical, or optical imagery to illustrate a religious or spiritual truth, often to striking effect, notably in Religio Medici, but also in his posthumous advisory .

Browne's Anglicanism, inclinations, and Montaigne-like self-analysis on the enigmas, idiosyncrasies, and devoutness of his own personality and soul, along with his observations upon the relationship between science and faith, are on display in . His spiritual testament and psychological self-portrait thematically structured upon the Christian virtues of Faith, Hope and Charity, also reveal him as "one of the immortal spirits waiting to introduce the reader to his own unique and intense experience of reality". Though his work is difficult and rarely read, he remains, paradoxically, one of England's perennial, yet first, "scientific" mystics.

Germany
Similarly, well-versed in the mystic tradition was the German , who, along with the English Puritans, influenced such continental as Philipp Jakob Spener, , Nicholas Ludwig von Zinzendorf of the Moravians, and the hymnodist Gerhard Tersteegen. Arndt, whose book True Christianity was popular among Protestants, Catholics and Anglicans alike, combined influences from Bernard of Clairvaux, John Tauler and the Devotio Moderna into a spirituality that focused its attention away from the theological squabbles of contemporary Lutheranism and onto the development of the new life in the heart and mind of the believer. Arndt influenced Spener, who formed a group known as the collegia pietatis ("college of piety") that stressed the role of spiritual direction among lay-people—a practice with a long tradition going back to Aelred of Rievaulx and known in Spener's own time from the work of Francis de Sales. Pietism as known through Spener's formation of it tended not just to reject the theological debates of the time, but to reject both intellectualism and organized religious practice in favor of a personalized, sentimentalized spirituality.

Pietism
This sentimental, anti-intellectual form of pietism is seen in the thought and teaching of Zinzendorf, founder of the ; but more intellectually rigorous forms of pietism are seen in the teachings of , which were themselves influenced by Zinzendorf, and in the teachings of American preachers Jonathan Edwards, who restored to pietism Gerson's focus on obedience and borrowed from early church teachers and Gregory of Nyssa the notion that humans yearn for God, and , who combined a mystical view of the world with a deep concern for social issues; like Wesley, Woolman was influenced by Jakob Böhme, and The Imitation of Christ. The combination of pietistic devotion and mystical experiences that are found in Woolman and Wesley are also found in their Dutch contemporary Tersteegen, who brings back the notion of the nous ("mind") as the site of God's interaction with our souls; through the work of the Spirit, our mind is able to intuitively recognize the immediate presence of God in our midst.

Scientific research
Fifteen allowed scientists to scan their brains with while they were meditating, in a state known as Unio Mystica or Theoria. The results showed that multiple regions of the brain were activated when they considered themselves to be in union with God. These regions included the right medial orbitofrontal cortex, right middle , right inferior and superior , , left medial prefrontal cortex, left anterior , left inferior , left , left , left , and extra-striate .

Further research in 2008 utilized electroencephalography (EEG) to examine the electrical activity of the brain during mystical experiences. This study found increased and gamma band power, as well as enhanced coherence between various brain regions, indicating a state of heightened neural integration during mystical experiences.

Modern philosophy
In modern times theoria is sometimes treated as distinct from the meaning given to it in Christianity, linking the word not with contemplation but with speculation. (–524 or 525) translated the Greek word theoria into Latin, not as contemplatio but as speculatio, and theoria is taken to mean speculative philosophy. Olga Taxidou, Tragedy, Modernity and Mourning (Edinburgh University Press 2004 ), pp. 34, 79 A distinction is made, more radical than in ancient philosophy, between theoria and praxis, theory and practice. Donald Phillip Verene, Speculative Philosophy (Lexington Books 2009 ), p. 15

Influential Christian mystics and texts
Early Christians
  • () used Greek philosophy as the stepping-stone to Christian theology. The mystical conclusions at which some Greeks arrived pointed to Christ. He was influenced by , , and , as well as by .
  • (–254) wrote On the First Principles and . Studied under Clement of Alexandria, and probably also Ammonius Saccus (Plotinus' teacher). He Christianized and theologized .
  • Athanasius of Alexandria (/8–373) wrote The Life of Antony ().
  • Gregory of Nyssa (–after 394) focused on the stages of spiritual growth, the need for constant progress, and the "divine darkness" as seen in the story of Moses.
  • Augustine (354–430) wrote On the Trinity and Confessions. Important source for much mediaeval mysticism. He brings Platonism and Christianity together. Influenced by: and .
  • Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite () wrote Mystical Theology.
  • Abba Or () was an early Egyptian Christian ascetic and mystic. See also .

Eastern Orthodox Christianity
  • , a collection of texts on prayer and solitary mental ascesis written from the 4th to the 15th centuries, which exists in a number of independent redactions;
  • the Ladder of Divine Ascent;
  • the collected works of St. Symeon the New Theologian (949–1022);
  • the works of St. Isaac the Syrian (7th century), as they were selected and translated into Greek at the near about the 10th century.

Western European Middle Ages and Renaissance
  • John Scotus Eriugena (): Periphyseon. Eriugena translated Pseudo-Dionysius from Greek into Latin. Influenced by: Plotinus, Augustine, Pseudo-Dionysius.
  • Bernard of Clairvaux (1090–1153): Cistercian theologian, author of The Steps of Humility and Pride, On Loving God, and Sermons on the Song of Songs; strong blend of scripture and personal experience.
  • Hildegard of Bingen (1098–1179): Benedictine abbess and reformist preacher, known for her visions, recorded in such works as Scivias ( Know the Ways) and Liber Divinorum Operum ( Book of Divine Works). Influenced by: Pseudo-Dionysius, Gregory the Great, Rhabanus Maurus, John Scotus Eriugena.
  • Victorines: fl. 11th century; stressed meditation and contemplation; helped popularize Pseudo-Dionysius; influenced by Augustine
    • Hugh of Saint Victor (d. 1141): The Mysteries of the Christian Faith, Noah's Mystical Ark, etc.
    • Richard of Saint Victor (d. 1173): The Twelve Patriarchs and The Mystical Ark (e.g. Benjamin Minor and Benjamin Major). Influenced Dante, Bonaventure, Cloud of Unknowing.
  • :
    • Francis of Assisi (c.1182 – 1226): founder of the order, stressed simplicity and penitence; first documented case of stigmata
    • Anthony of Padua (1195–1231): priest, Franciscan friar and theologian; visions; sermons
    • ( – 1274): The Soul's Journey into God, The Triple Way, The Tree of Life and others. Influenced by: Pseudo-Dionysius, Augustine, Bernard, Victorines.
    • Jacopone da Todi ( – 1306): Franciscan friar; prominent member of "The Spirituals"; The Lauds
    • Angela of Foligno ( – 1309): tertiary anchoress; focused on Christ's Passion; Memorial and Instructions.
    • Amadeus of Portugal ( – 1482): Franciscan friar; revelations; Apocalypsis nova
  • (1225–1274): priest, Dominican friar and theologian.
  • (fl. 13th century):
    • Mechthild of Magdeburg (c. 1212 – c. 1297): visions, bridal mysticism, reformist; The Flowing Light of the Godhead
    • Hadewijch of Antwerp (13th century): visions, bridal mysticism, essence mysticism; writings are mostly letters and poems. Influenced John of Ruysbroeck.
  • (fl. 14th century): sharp move towards speculation and apophasis; mostly Dominicans
    • (1260–1327): sermons
    • (d. 1361): sermons
    • (c. 1295 – 1366): Life of the Servant, Little Book of Eternal Wisdom
    • Theologia Germanica (anon.). Influenced: Martin Luther
  • John of Ruysbroeck (1293–1381): Flemish, Augustinian; The Spiritual Espousals and many others. Similar themes as the Rhineland Mystics. Influenced by: Beguines, Cistercians. Influenced: Geert Groote and the Devotio Moderna.
  • Catherine of Siena (1347–1380): Letters
  • The English Mystics (fl. 14th century):
    • Anonymous – The Cloud of the Unknowing ()—Intended by ascetic author as a means of instruction in the practice of mystic and contemplative prayer.
    • ( – 1349): The Fire of Love, Mending of Life, Meditations on the Passion
    • ( – 1396): The Ladder of Perfection (a.k.a., The Scale of Perfection) – suggesting familiarity with the works of Pseudo-Dionysius (see above), the author provides an early English language seminal work for the beginner.
    • Julian of Norwich (1342 – ): Revelations of Divine Love (a.k.a. Showing of Love)
    • (1373 - ): The Book of Margery Kempe

Renaissance, Reformation and Counter-Reformation
  • The Spanish Mystics (fl. 16th century):
    • Ignatius of Loyola (1491–1556): St. Ignatius had a number of mystical experiences in his life, the most significant was an experience of enlightenment by the river Cardoner, in which, he later stated, he learnt more in that one occasion than he did in the rest of his life. Another significant mystical experience was in 1537, at a chapel in La Storta, outside Rome, in which he saw God the Father place him with the Son, who was carrying the . This was after he had spent a year praying to Mary for her to place him with her Son (), and was one of the reasons why he insisted that the group that followed his 'way of proceeding' be called the Society of Jesus.
    • Teresa of Ávila (1515–1582): Two of her works, The Interior Castle and The Way of Perfection, were intended as instruction in (profoundly mystic) prayer based upon her experiences. Influenced by: Augustine.
    • John of the Cross (Juan de Yepes) (1542–1591): Wrote three related instructional works, with Ascent of Mount Carmel as a systematic approach to mystic prayer; together with the Spiritual Canticle and the Dark Night of the Soul, these provided poetic and literary language for the Christian Mystical practice and experience. Influenced by and collaborated with Teresa of Ávila.
  • Joseph of Cupertino (1603–1663): An who is said to have been prone to miraculous levitation and intense ecstatic visions that left him gaping.
  • Jakob Böhme (1575–1624): German theosopher; author of The Way to Christ.
  • (1555–1621): German theologian and mystic, author of True Christianity.
  • (1533–1588): German theologian, in his lifetime a Lutheran priest but because of his unorthodox views in his writings (published after his death) considered a forerunner of Christian theosophy.
  • (1605–1682): English physician and philosopher, author of .
  • (1614–1691): Author of The Practice of the Presence of God.
  • (1604–1664): , author of Looking Unto Jesus.
  • (1624–1677): German Catholic priest, physician, and religious poet.
  • (1624–1691): Founder of the Religious Society of Friends.
  • Madame (1648–1717): Visionary and Writer.
  • (1686–1761): English mystic interested in Jakob Böhme who wrote several mystical treatises.
  • Gerhard Tersteegen (1697–1769): German pietistic writer, hymnist and mystic, known for several influential writings of a spiritual and mystical nature.
  • Emanuel Swedenborg (1688–1772): Influential and controversial Swedish writer and visionary.
  • Rosa Egipcíaca (1719–1771): Afro-Brazilian mystic who wrote Sagrada Teologia do Amor Divino das Almas Peregrinas – the first religious text (or book of any kind) to be written by a black woman in colonial Brazil.

Modern era
  • Domenico da Cese (1905–1978): Stigmatist Capuchin friar.
  • (1898–1963): Visionary and writer.
  • Mary of Saint Peter (1816–1848): nun.
  • (1822–1899): Visionary, nun and writer.
  • Andrew Murray (1828–1917): Evangelical Missionary and Writer, Author of over 240 books.
  • Marie Martha Chambon (1841–1907): Nun and visionary.
  • Marie Julie Jahenny (1850–1941): Stigmatist.
  • Mary of the Divine Heart Droste zu Vischering (1863–1899): Sister of the Good Shepherd.
  • Réginald Garrigou-Lagrange (1877–1964): French Dominican , philosopher and theologian. His magnum opus The Three Ages of the Interior Life ( Les trois âges de la vie intérieure) is a synthesis of previous theological thought of Catholic saints and .
  • (1884–1970): Evangelical missionary, author of Letters by a Modern Mystic.
  • (1887–1968): Capuchin friar, priest, stigmatic.
  • Sadhu Sundar Singh (1889–1929): Evangelical Indian missionary, ascetic.
  • Maria Pierina De Micheli (1890–1945): Italian nun and visionary.
  • Thomas Raymond Kelly (1893–1941): .
  • Alexandrina of Balazar (1904–1955): Visionary and writer.
  • Dag Hammarskjöld (1905–1961): Swedish diplomat (Second Secretary General of the United Nations). His posthumously published spiritual diary "Vägmärken" (Markings) gave him the reputation of having been one of the few mystics in the political arena.
  • Mary Faustina Kowalska (1905–1938): Polish nun and visionary.
  • (1907–1990): Italian nun and visionary of God the Father.
  • (1909–1943): French writer, political activist and ecstatic visionary.
  • Flower A. Newhouse (1909–1994): American clairvoyant.
  • Carmela Carabelli (1910–1978): Italian writer.
  • (1911–1991): Italian visionary.
  • A. W. Tozer (1897–1963): Christian and Missionary Alliance; author of The Pursuit of God.
  • (1915–1968): monk and writer.
  • (1903–1972): visionary and writer.
  • (1905–1997): Local Churches Visionary and writer, author of over 400 books.
  • Sister Lúcia (1907–2005): Portuguese participant in the 1917 Fátima apparitions, nun, and prophetess.
  • Bernadette Roberts (1931–2017): nun and writer, focusing on states.
  • Richard J. Foster (b. 1942): Quaker theologian; author of Celebration of Discipline and Prayer.
  • (b. 1943): priest, writer and prophet; author of "Falling upward" and "Universal Christ".
  • (1952–1976): young German Catholic who claims she was possessed to convert sinners; claimed to receive religious visions and bring the . Anneliese Michel—A unrecognized and misunderstood victim soul. A closer look at her possession, exorcism and death
  • (b. 1952): writer and prophet; author of Wasted on Jesus and The Seer.

See also

Notes
Subnotes
Sources
  • (1987). 9780520063297, University of California Press. .

  • (2025). 9789607070180, Birth of the Theotokos Monastery Press.
  • (1996). 9789607070869, Birth of the Theotokos Monastery Birth of the Theotokos Monastery (Pelagia). .

Further reading
General
  • Bernard McGinn: The Foundations of Mysticism: Origins to the Fifth Century, 1991, reprint 1994,
  • Bernard McGinn: The Growth of Mysticism: Gregory the Great through the 12th Century, 1994, paperback ed. 1996,

Eastern Orthodox
  • (1997), The Vision of God SVS Press.
  • . The Origins of the Christian Mystical Tradition: From Plato to Denys. Oxford, 1983 (repr. 2003). .
  • Mattá al-Miskīn, Orthodox Prayer Life: The Interior Way (St Vladimir's Seminary Press 2003
  • Aristotle Papanikolaou, Being With God (University of Notre Dame Press February 24, 2006 )
  • , The Macarian Legacy: The Place of Macarius-Symeon in the Eastern Christian Tradition (Oxford Theological Monographs 2004 )
  • Tomáš Špidlík, The Spirituality of the Christian East: A Systematic Handbook (Cistercian Publications Inc Kalamazoo Michigan 1986 )
  • Dumitru Staniloae, The Experience of God : Revelation and Knowledge of the Triune God: Orthodox Dogmatic Theology, Volume 1 : Revelation and Knowledge of the Triune God (Holy Cross Orthodox Press May 17, 2005 )
  • Dumitru Staniloae, The Experience of God : Orthodox Dogmatic Theology Volume 2: The World, Creation and Deification (Holy Cross Orthodox Press June 16, 2005 )
  • Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos (2005), The illness and cure of the soul in the Orthodox tradition. Levadia, Greece: Birth of the Theotokos Monastery Press. (Hierotheos Vlachos)

Catholicism

Centering prayer

Other

Diverse
  • Tito Colliander: Way of the Ascetics, 1981,
  • Samuel Fanous and Vincent Gillespie, eds. The Cambridge Companion to Medieval English Mysticism, Cambridge University Press, 2011
  • Richard Foster: Celebration of Discipline: The Path to Spiritual Growth, 1978,
  • Patrick Grant. 1983. Literature of Mysticism in Western Tradition. London: MacMillan.
  • Patrick Grant. ed, A Dazzling Darkness: An Anthology of Western Mysticism. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans.
  • Kathleen Lyons: Mysticism and Narcissism. Cabbridge Scholars, 2016,
  • Cheslyn Jones, Geoffrey Wainwright and Edward Yarnold, eds.: The Study of Spirituality, Oxford University Press, 1986,
  • Tarjei Park, The English Mystics, SPCK, 1998,
  • Thomas E. Powers: Invitation to a Great Experiment: Exploring the Possibility that God can be Known, 1979,
  • Ryan Stark, "Some Aspects of Christian Mystical Rhetoric, Philosophy, and Poetry," Philosophy & Rhetoric 41 (2008): 260–77.
  • William Thiele: "Monks in the World: Seeking God in a Frantic Culture", 2014,
  • Evelyn Underhill: The Spiritual Life: Four Broadcast Talks, Hodder & Stoughton, 1937, x, 141 p.

External links

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Eastern Orthodox

Catholic

Centering prayer

Prayer of Quiet

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