{"id":19340,"date":"2023-05-25T10:06:36","date_gmt":"2023-05-25T09:06:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kennethsorensen.dk\/?p=19340"},"modified":"2026-06-01T16:01:04","modified_gmt":"2026-06-01T15:01:04","slug":"the-mystical-approach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kennethsorensen.dk\/en\/the-mystical-approach\/","title":{"rendered":"The Mystical Approach"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Mysticism means one specific thing: the way of love directed upward. The mystical approach traces how that love works, what it is not, and what happens when it is genuine.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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By Roberto Assagioli<\/strong>
Assagioli Archive, Florence
Original title: La via dell’amore<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Editorial Note<\/strong>
The abstract and contextual subtitle in this online edition have been added by the editor, Kenneth S\u00f8rensen, to support readability, navigation, and archival consistency. The original wording has not been altered.
The concluding passage of this article has been drawn from the Italian original (La via dell’amore<\/em>, Assagioli Archive, Florence) to complete a text that otherwise ends mid-discussion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Abstract<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

In this essay, Roberto Assagioli defines the mystical approach precisely as the way of Love: not spirituality in general but the specific path of directed, vertical love toward a divine being or God. He examines the debate over whether mystical experience has sexual origins, holding both the psychoanalytic reduction and the purely symbolic interpretation as one-sided, and proposes instead a view of love as a universal drive toward overcoming duality, with mystical love being its highest and most vertical form. The practical test of genuine mystical love, he argues, is its fruits: the expansion from personal devotion into active service of humanity, illustrated through St. Francis, Gandhi, the Quakers, and the Ramakrishna Order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This aspect of spiritual consciousness is the one which has been the most widely investigated and discussed. In this field the best preliminary guide is still Evelyn Underhill’s well-known book, <\/span><\/span>Mysticism. A study in the <\/span><\/span><\/em> Nature and Development of Man’s Spiritual Consciousness<\/span><\/span><\/em> . (1)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The wealth of material, the order and clarity of insight with which the subject is dealt with from various angles, the author’s penetrating analysis and deep understanding of the mystics are admirable. On the other hand, the chapter on ” <\/span><\/span>Mysticism and Psychology<\/span><\/span><\/em> ” is largely. outdated owing to the many developments in the science of psychology since the writing of the book.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moreover, the book has some limitations insofar as the material is practically restricted to the Christian Mystics, included only a few Persians, and barely touches upon the spiritual experiences of the other orientals \u2014 a field of extraordinarily richness and value for the student.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another valuable book is Fiedrich’ Heiler’s extensive study <\/span><\/span>, Das Gebet: eine religionsgeschichtliche and religionspsychologische Untersuchung<\/span><\/span><\/em> (2) in which the various aspects of the active search for God and spiritual reality through prayer \u2014 in its widest sense \u2014 have been thoroughly and most understandingly investigated. His comparative tabulation of the various stages of contemplation and spiritual experience as described in Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras; in Buddhist and Hindu texts, as well as in the writings of Persian, Greek and Christian mystics will be found by readers to be very illuminating.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In these and other books, the terms “religious” and “mystical” are frequently used in wide connection, including \u2014even though to a lesser extent\u2014 other modes of spiritual approach. For instance, William James speaks of the “noetic quality” of mystical experiences. Thus he broadens his definition of “mystical”, making it a synonym of “spiritual”. In our opinion, however, it is advisable, for the purpose of scientific clarity, to limit the use of the word “mysticism” to its more specific and traditional meaning, which indicates a particular way of coming into contact with God or with a high spiritual Being, qualitatively distinct from all others\u2014namely <\/span><\/span>the way of Love<\/span><\/span><\/em> .<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This terminology is justified by two facts. The first is that, although many of those who are called mystics have had illuminative experiences, it is the love feeling and relationship which prevails in <\/span><\/span>,<\/span><\/span><\/sub> and is characteristic of, their nature. Secondly, in many spiritual experiences of a noetic illuminative character the love aspect is, on the contrary, absent.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The mystic’s ardent aspiration is to achieve union with the beloved Being, who, while having divine characteristics, is conceived by him as possessing an exalted personality, and with whom he <\/span><\/span>can,<\/span><\/span><\/strong> therefore, establish a personal relationship. In describing his inner experiences, he freely uses the language of human love and often that of an undisguised sex symbolism.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The true nature and, consequently, the value of this kind of mystical experience is a question which has been much discussed, and concerning which widely divergent views are held. <\/span><\/span>A<\/span><\/span><\/strong> number of psychologists, and particularly psychoanalysts consider such experiences as of sexual origin and regard them as more or less sublimated manifestations of the sexual instinct.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other students of religious phenomena, including Evelyn Underhill, consider the “love phraseology” employed by the mystics as symbolic and having no connection with sex.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n