I know two elderly monks at the local monastery near where I live, both of whom have reputations as "real mystics." Indeed, I would agree with this assessment — they both strike me as genuine contemplatives, true living mystics. But they are very different from one another in some key ways.
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Mystical Theology
Why is mysticism an important part of Christianity (and indeed of all the great religious traditions)? These articles attempt to answer this question by exploring the minds of the mystics themselves: their theology, philosophy and world-view.
So instead of the heart of contemplation being thought or cogitation, in a spiritual sense, contemplation is wordless prayer.
It's not about thought — in fact, contemplation takes us to a place beyond thought.
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The "idea" that I'm referring to is the notion that Christian spirituality can be understood as involving three stages. To give this notion a bit of gravitas, Origen appealed to the Hebrew Scriptures.
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