"Mysticism" and Einstein - Swarthmoor

I'm a bit off the terms "mysticism" and "mystical;" for me, they are a bit care-worn. They are usually applied, it seems, to writings that are seen as apart from the common herd, aimed at a spiritual elite, those wise enough to receive secret knowledge.

Or else things "mystical" and "magical" are simply used as design motifs to sell stuff.

I'm more interested in writings that try the difficult - ultimately impossible - task of expressing in words an ultimate reality that is above, or beyond, words. A state of mind, a state of being, that is not to be achieved through rational concepts or ordinarily descriptive language. The writers of these texts are often called "mystics."

We had plenty of really valuable examples of such texts on the Swarthmoor retreat - usually described as mystical, but arguably, intensely practical. They added, and continue to add, a lot to my contemplations.

Here's a vision of an ultimate reality from a mighty genius who can see the immediate practical consequences of living by that vision. Not a "mystic," but a scientist.


"A human being is a part of the whole, called by us the Universe, a part limited in time and space.

He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest-a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. 

This delusion is a kind of prison, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty."
                                                                      Albert Einstein

Bert, you little beauty!