The essentials of mysticism, and other essays

Name: The essentials of mysticism, and other essays
Author: Evelyn Underhill

By Evelyn Underhill

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Essays, Letters & Speeches Religion/Spirituality

About This Book

A series of essays offering a clear-eyed analysis of mystical experience, distinguishing its permanent core from traditional, psychological, and symbolic accretions. The author identifies an overpowering awareness of the divine alongside a receptive self as the central fact, while arguing that doctrinal images are provisional. Other pieces address practice and psychology, exploring prayer, the roles of will, intellect, and feeling, spiritual education, communal responsibility, and the mystic's creative impulse. The book closes with critical studies of historic figures from Plotinus through medieval and modern Christian mystics, using those lives to illuminate how theory and practice interact across diverse spiritual expressions.

About the Author

Evelyn Underhill

Evelyn Underhill (1875-1941) was an English writer and theologian, renowned for her works on mysticism and spirituality. She is best known for her influential book "Practical Mysticism: A Little Book for Normal People," which seeks to make the concepts of mysticism accessible to a broader audience. Underhill's writings often explore the intersection of faith and experience, drawing on her deep understanding of various religious traditions. Her scholarly approach is evident in works such as "Ruysbroeck" and "The Life of the Spirit and the Life of To-day," where she examines the lives and teachings of mystics. Through her essays and lectures, Underhill contributed significantly to the discourse on spirituality in the early 20th century.