Mysticism

Mysticism, from the Greek {{polytonic|???}} (mueo, "to conceal"), is the pursuit of achieving communion with, or conscious awareness of ultimate reality, the divine, spiritual truth, or God through direct, personal experience (intuition or insight) rather than rational thought; the belief in the existence of realities beyond perceptual or intellectual apprehension that are central to being and directly accessible through personal experience; or the belief that such experience is a genuine and important source of knowledge. In the Hellenistic world, ?mystical? referred to "secret" religious rituals.

Types of mystical experience

The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy features four main common classifications of mystical and religious experiences:

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• Extrovertive

:mystical consciousness of the unity of nature overlaid onto one's sense perception of the world.

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• Introvertive

:any experience that includes sense-perceptual, somatosensory, or introspective content. An experience of ?nothingness? or ?emptiness,? in some mystical traditions, are examples of introvertive experiences.

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• Theistic

:experiences which are purportedly of God.

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• Non-theistic

: purportedly of an ultimate reality other than God or of no reality at all.

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