Explore the Mystical Life — with a Christian Mysticism “Unknowledge Base”!
Friends, I’m excited to announce a major new initiative on this website. Coming on February 1, 2021, I’m launching a Christian Mysticism (Un)Knowled...
Tag: Christian mysticism
Seven Ways to Think About Christian Mysticism
Here is the third episode of my “Schola Mystica” podcast. The transcript of the episode appears below. Mysticism is a notoriously difficult word to ...
Video: Mysticism and the Bible — Three Contemplative Verses
“Is mysticism in the Bible?” It’s a question I get asked from time to time. And while the word mysticism itself is not found in scripture, the...
A Dream and a Book (How I Learned About Christian Mysticism)
For episode 2 of my new podcast, Schola Mystica, I tell a brief story about how I first learned about Christian mysticism, beginning with a dream I had shortly ...
Video: Just what IS Mysticism?
What is mysticism? It’s a question I often get asked, so here is a short little video where I try to sort it out a bit.
Five Key Words for Understanding Christian Mysticism
So often people will say to me, “I just don’t know what Christian mysticism is!” Which is perfectly understandable, since not only is mysticis...
A Drop of Water is Not the Ocean (Understanding Christian Mystical Teachings of Union and Nonduality)
A reader named Beth writes: Hi Carl, I started reading “The Big Book of Christian Mysticism” and have a question for you… In chapter 1 you mak...
What We Need for Union with God
Recently I posted this quote from Fr. Thomas Keating on Facebook: If you’re curious about the source of this quote, it is found on page 71 of Open Mind, O...
The Chrysalis and the Butterfly: A New Way to Think About the Relationship Between Spirituality and Religion
“I’m spiritual but not religious.” It’s an increasingly common way for people to identify their relationship to spirituality (as a syste...
A Question for Discernment: What Do We Need to Do to Make Mysticism Mainstream?
It’s the first Sunday of Advent. So liturgically speaking, it’s a new church year. Happy new year! In the spirit of making a new year’s resolu...
I’m Wondering About the Relationship Between Mysticism and the Church. Here’s Why.
I often get asked if Christian mysticism needs the institutional church. Do you have to be a member of a church in order to be a Christian mystic? Or, to paraph...
A Luminous Autobiography from America’s Most Unsung Mystic
Not all spiritual books are created equal. Of course, there are the theological differences: many books present an image of God that is limited, narrow, and som...
What Inspired Me to Write About Christian Mysticism
This month marks nine years since The Big Book of Christian Mysticism was published. Hard to believe it’s been that long! To mark this anniversary, I̵...
Unteachable Lessons: Why Wisdom Can’t Be Taught (and Why That’s Okay)
My dear friends, it’s time to announce a new book that’s coming out this fall. It’s called Unteachable Lessons: Why Spirituality Can’t B...
Walter Hilton: A Contemplative Guide Who Will Take You Back to the Basics
Twice this month, the lesser-known English mystic Walter Hilton has shown up on this blog. First I wrote about a dream I had, and how I think Hilton inspired me...