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...
Tag: Christian mysticism
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...
Great Mystical Book Covers
The other day I wrote a post about a dream I had back in the 1980s. I mentioned in that post that I used to shop at an old Catholic Bookstore that used to carry...
Dialogue with a Druid (About the Relationship Between the Mystical Life and Faith Community)
On Facebook recently I engaged in a dialogue with a reader named Aaron who commented on my post Letting Go of (Our Limited Image of) God. This reader describes ...
A Litany for Julian of Norwich
Here is a litany created from the words of Julian of Norwich, 14th Century English Mystic. I put together this litany for a Julian of Norwich quiet day I led at...
Get to Know Meister Eckhart: A “Dangerous Mystic”
Meister Eckhart is one of the most renowned of Christian mystics: a medieval philosopher who could have gone down in history as an equal to Augustine or Aquinas...
Why Are the Mystics So… Weird?!?
One thing I love about the mystics is just how weird they are. Obviously, there are mystics who see visions, who hear voices, who smell beautiful aromas that no...
What’s in a (Sacred) Story? Meditating on the Mysteries of Our Faith
To be a mystic is to be the explorer of both Divine and human mysteries (which corresponds to Jesus’s two essential teachings, “Love God” and ...