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PRACTICAL MYSTICISM by Evelyn UnderhillISBN 0-525-47049-2 / Publisher: E.P. Dutton & Co., Inc. / New York / First Published: 1915
About the Author: Evelyn Underhill (1875-1941), English Poet, novelist and writer on mysticism.
COMMENT:Ms Underhill describes in brief text the mystical practice and path toward the union
of the individual soul with ultimate Reality. She defines Mysticism as "the art of union with Reality. The mystic is a person who has attained that union in greater or less degree; or who aims at and believes in such attainment".He text follows with the answer to the ultimate question, "What is Reality?",
and progresses to describe the mystic's journey with recognizable path markers
that leads to the ultimate experience: the union of the soul within with the source
of all.With ten brief chapters she narrates the journey as a companion, and addresses the reader directly as "a practical man". Thus the reason for the title: Practical Mysticism. This is truly a book for the "practical minded" individual who must have a personal experience to consider the mystic practice valid.
Ms Underhill reveals herself as one who knows the terrain of the mystic path well
and has refreshed her being often in the presence of what she refers to as the "Enkindling Light".
ISBN: 1-57322-694-7 / Publisher:The Barkley Publishing Group/ New York / First Published: 1997
About the Author: Rabbi David Cooper studied mystical Judaism in Jerusalem's Old City for more than eight years.
COMMENT:The back cover of the book well states that the book "is the first to bring (Kabbalah) this obscure and difficult tradition to a mainstream audience in a way that gently leads us to the heart of the subject, showing us how to transform profound teachings into a meaningful personal experience - and appreciate fully the great mystical process we know as God.
Ram Dass, author of Be Here Now describes the book as "A superb sensitive, and gentle guide".
For the mystic traveler this can provide an enlightening insight into how a mystical tradition has formed with instinctual type supports. Where mystics such as Evelyn Underhill suggests a solitary path with a simple process toward the mystical union, Rabbi Cooper explains the benefit of a knowledgeable teacher for fathoming the Kabbalah. In his introduction, however, he quotes Eleazar Azkkri, a member of the kabbalistic circle of Moses Cordovero in Safed as saying, "One should flee from society as much as is possible and be completely silent in a brilliant flame, alone, fearful and trembling. The light which is above your head make always into your teacher."
One enriching aspect of the book is the insight into the mystical jewish view of God. Rabbi Cooper includes a number of contemplative exercises that allows the mystic traveler to savor the mystic wisdom gathered over the years. Joan Bjorysenko, author of A Woman's Book of Life states
" David Cooper's rich wisdom and practical exercises bring Judaism alive in an exciting new way."
ISBN: 0-345-38456-3 / Publisher:Ballantine Booksp/ New York / First Published: 1994
About the Author: Karen Armstrong spent seven years as a Roman Catholic nun. After leaving her order in 1969, she took a degree at Oxford University and taught modern literature.
COMMENT:Ms Armstrong begins her History of God at the beginning "where the idea of God gradually emerged about 14,000 years ago" (pg4). She then traces the development of God's history from the Babylonian myth of Divine emergence through a modern day consideration of God in the future.
Her history provides a fundamental understanding of how the idea of God evolved over time and developed into such diverse, and at times, warring theologies. The comfort to the mystic is that the message of Divinity continues to flow forth from the Divine Source. As Ms. Armstrong states, "...my study of the history of religion has revealed that human beings are spiritual animals."
ISBN: 0-385-03097-5 / Image Books / Garden City, NY / First Published: 14th Century
About the Author: All that is know about the author is that he wanted to remain anonymous, that he was an Englishman
and a Christian mystic.
COMMENT:
An excellent guide for the Christian mystic.
Originally written in Middle English by an unknown mystic of the 14th Century, THE CLOUD OF UNKNOWING represents the first expression in our own tongue of the soul's quest for God.
A literary work of great beauty in both style and its message, it offers a practical guide in the path of contemplation. The author explains how all thoughts and concepts must be buried beneath a "cloud of forgetting," while our love must rise toward God hidden in the "cloud of unknowing."This Image edition is recommended because of William Johnston's excellent rendering of the text into modern English and his lengthy introduction detailing what is known about the background of THE CLOUD and its relevance throughout the ages.
Also included in this Image Edition is the same author's other principal work, THE BOOK OF PRIVY COUNSELING - a short but moving treatise on the way to "enlightenment" through a total loss of "self" and consciousness only of the being of God. Together, they offer an enduring guide to spiritual union - all in contemporary language for the
contemporary individual.
ISBN: 0-19-514182-2 / Oxford University Press/ Oxford, NY / First Published: 2003
About the Author: Bart Ehrman chairs the Department of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is considered an authority on the early Church and the life of Jesus.
COMMENT:
In December 1945, an Arab peasant discovered thirteen papyrus books, bound in leather, while digging for fertilizer near Naj 'Hammadi, Egypt. The manuscripts were in Coptic script and have been dated to A.D. 350 - 400 with the original texts reaching back as far as the second half of the first century (50 -100 ), perhaps earlier than Mark, Matthew, Luke, and John.
LOST SCRIPTURES provides a expert translation of early Christian texts with informative commentary regarding the array of varied writings from early Christian groups. Dr. Ehrman's book contributes to a growing understanding the initial Christian thinking before the Roman Empire franchised the Christian faith and sought to abolish all other groups.The mystic might find The Gospel of Thomas, written by early Gnostic Christians, as an opportunity to view another perspective on the teachings of Jesus. The manuscript describes itself as "secret teachings" of Jesus. The Gospel consists of 114 quotes from Jesus.
ISBN: 0-87477-974-X / Jeremy P. Tarcher / Putnan
About the Author: Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan is the eldest son and spiritual seccessor of Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan, who brought Sufism to the West and founded the Sufi Order in 1910. Pir Vilayat studied psychology and philosophy at Paris University, and did postgraduate work at oxford University. He became head of the Sufi Order in 1956 and lived in Paris until he "returned to the light" in 2005.
COMMENT:
"Pir Vilayat not only guides the reader in specific practices and meditations - involving the breath, light, and the Divine Qualities - but shows how the reader can seek out their own individual teacher from the pages of the world's great religions and ethical teachings. In addition, he explores how we can make our home, workplace, and other daily settings into a "temple for the Divine Presence.Like a spiritual alchemist, Pir Vilayat combines the perfume of ancient Sufi mysticism with the consciousness-expanding theories of quantum science and the imperative of social conscience, thereby creating a contemplative practice uniquely relevant to today's seeker."
--From the book jacketThe mystic will immediately identify Pir Vilayant as one who speaks with knowing. He describes the mystic experience in a language that will ring with divine truth to the mystic.
ISBN: 0-670-03179-8 / Penguin Books Ltd / Published 2003.
About the Author: Charles Seife is a journalist who holds a masters's degree in mathematics from Yale University. He writes for Science magazine and has also written for New Scientist, Scientific America, The Economist, Wired, The Sciences, and many other publications. His previous book, Zero, won the PEN Martha Albrand Award for first nonfiction and was named a New York Times Notable Book. He lives in Washington, DC.
The author provides the reader with a view of the transition from the world of Newtonian Physics into the sub atomic world of particle physics as it has evolved through 2002. He also guides the reader in suggesting a number of ongoing scientific endeavors that are expected to make significant scientific breakthroughs in the near future in understanding our universe and the reality of our existence.For the mystic, the reading experience penetrates deeper and deeper into the fundamental reality of the universe to peer closer and closer to that point of beginning. Where the mystic challenges appearances, cosmologists and physicists are dismantling the very material of our reality to reveal the unity of our mutual being in the universe.
The book examines the "big bang" beginning of our universe and leads the reader into the conceptual world of M-Theory and the concept of a "big splat". Reading the book will give a "material dimension" to the mystic experience as it explores deeper and deeper into the realm of the "infinitely small".
As science draws nearer and neared to understanding the beginning of our Universe, we are drawing nearer and nearer to the point beyond the beginning. Some mystics expect science to discover indications of the "creating environment" and "creating essence" at this point.
As implied in the title, "Alpha & Omega", the book supports the case for continued expansion rather than a sudden collapse of our Universe. The book explains, however, that the expansion is based on a massive amount of "dark energy" that is still a mysterious "something" yet unknown to science.
A fascinating and intriguing look at "reality" for the mystic.