View source for Christian mysticism

{{short description|Christian mystical practices}}
{{other uses of|contemplation|Contemplation (disambiguation)}}
{{redirect|Theoria}}

[[File:Preobrazhenie.jpeg|thumb|238px|[[Russian Orthodox Church|Russian Orthodox]] [[icon]] of the [[Transfiguration of Jesus|Transfiguration]] ([[Theophanes the Greek]], {{circa|1408}})]]
{{Christian mysticism}}
{{Palamism}}
{{Christianity|expanded=hide}}
'''Christian mysticism''' is the tradition of [[mysticism|mystical practices]] and [[mystical theology]] within [[Christianity]] which "concerns the preparation [of the person] for, the consciousness of, and the effect of [...] a direct and transformative presence of [[God in Christianity|God]]"{{sfn|McGinn|2006}} or [[divine]] ''love''.{{sfn|Anon.|1857|p=}} Until the sixth century the practice of what is now called mysticism was referred to by the term '''''contemplatio''''', c.q. '''''theoria''''', from ''[[Contemplation|contemplatio]]'' ([[Latin]]; [[Ancient Greek|Greek]] [[:wikt:θεωρία|θεωρία]], ''theoria''),<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=jlpsmkb1q2oC&dq=theoria+contemplation&pg=PA358 Andrew Louth, "Theology of the ''Philokalia''" in ''Abba: The Tradition of Orthodoxy in the West'' (St Vladimir's Seminary Press 2003] {{ISBN|0-88141-248-1}}), p. 358</ref> "looking at", "gazing at", "being aware of" God or the divine.<ref name="Johnston">[https://books.google.com/books?id=8Y2gX6JQr-4C&dq=johnston+%22inner+eye%22+theoria&pg=PA24 William Johnson, ''The Inner Eye of Love: Mysticism and Religion'' (HarperCollins 1997] {{ISBN|0-8232-1777-9}}), p. 24</ref><ref>[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0058:entry=qewri/a Liddell and Scott: θεωρία]</ref><ref>[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=contemplatio&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0059 Lewis and Short: contemplatio]</ref> Christianity took up the use of both the Greek (''theoria'') and Latin (''contemplatio'', contemplation) terminology to describe various forms of prayer and the process of coming to know God.

Contemplative practices range from simple prayerful meditation of holy scripture (i.e. [[Lectio Divina]]) to [[Christian contemplation|contemplation]] on the presence of God, resulting in [[Theosis (Eastern Christian theology)|theosis]] (spiritual union with God) and [[Religious ecstasy|ecstatic]] visions of the soul's [[Bridal theology|mystical union with God]]. Three stages are discerned in contemplative practice, namely catharsis (purification),<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NnJKAwAAQBAJ&dq=purgative+contemplation&pg=PA178|title=Christian Mysticism: The Future of a Tradition|first=Harvey D.|last=Egan|date=September 16, 1998|publisher=Wipf and Stock Publishers|isbn=9781579101534 |via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tnGyCwAAQBAJ&dq=%22purgative+contemplation%22&pg=PA5|title=Praying in God's Theater: Meditations on the Book of Revelation|first=Joel L.|last=Watts|date=March 10, 2014|publisher=Wipf and Stock Publishers|isbn=9781625641939 |via=Google Books}}</ref> contemplation proper, and the vision of God.

Contemplative practices have a prominent place in [[Eastern Orthodoxy]] and [[Oriental Orthodoxy]], and have gained a renewed interest in Western Christianity.
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==Etymology==

=== ''Theoria'' ===
The [[Ancient Greek|Greek]] ''theoria'' (θεωρία) meant "contemplation, speculation, a looking at, things looked at", from ''theorein'' (θεωρεῖν) "to consider, speculate, look at", from ''theoros'' (θεωρός) "spectator", from ''thea'' (θέα) "a view" + ''horan'' (ὁρᾶν) "to see".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=t&page=13|title=t &#124; Search Online Etymology Dictionary|website=www.etymonline.com}}</ref> It expressed the state of being a [[wiktionary:spectator|spectator]]. Both Greek ''θεωρία'' and Latin ''contemplatio'' primarily meant looking at things, whether with the eyes or with the mind.<ref name=ODCC>Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (Oxford University Press 2005 {{ISBN|978-0-19-280290-3}}), article ''contemplation, contemplative life''</ref>

According to William Johnston, until the sixth century the practice of what is now called [[mysticism]] was referred to by the term ''contemplatio'', c.q. ''theoria''.<ref name="Johnston"/> According to Johnston, "[b]oth contemplation and mysticism speak of the eye of love which is looking at, gazing at, aware of divine realities."<ref name="Johnston"/>

Several scholars have demonstrated similarities between the Greek idea of ''theoria'' and the [[India]]n idea of ''[[darśana]]'' (darshan), including Ian Rutherford<ref>Ian Rutherford, [http://www.reading.ac.uk/classics/about/staff/i-c-rutherford.aspx ''Theoria and Darshan: Pilgrimage as Gaze in Greece and India''], Classical Quarterly, Vol. 50, 2000, pp. 133–146</ref> and Gregory Grieve.<ref>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20110721214319/http://www.politicsandculture.org/2010/08/10/re-theorizing-politics-culture-and-religion-in-nepal-a-conversation-with-frederick-young-and-gregory-grieve-2/ ''Re-theorizing Politics, Culture and Religion in Nepal: A conversation with Frederick Young and Gregory Grieve'']}}</ref>

===Mysticism===
[[File:Risen Christ appears to his Mother by Daniele Monteleone.jpg|thumb|''[[Bridal theology|Mystic marriage]] of Christ and the Church'']]
"Mysticism" is derived from the [[Greek language|Greek]] μύω, meaning "to conceal,"{{sfn|Green|2011|page = 182}} and its derivative {{lang|grc|μυστικός}}, ''[[Wikt:μυστικός|mystikos]]'', meaning "an initiate." In the Hellenistic world, a "mystikos" was an initiate of a [[mystery religion]]. "Mystical" referred to secret religious rituals{{sfn|Gellman|2011}} and use of the word lacked any direct references to the transcendental.{{sfn|Parsons|2011|p=3}}

In early Christianity the term ''mystikos'' referred to three dimensions, which soon became intertwined, namely the biblical, the liturgical and the spiritual or contemplative.{{sfn|King|1999|p=15}} The biblical dimension refers to "hidden" or [[Allegorical interpretation of the Bible|allegorical interpretations of Scriptures]].{{sfn|Gellman|2011}}{{sfn|King|1999|p=15}} The liturgical dimension refers to the liturgical mystery of the [[Eucharist]], the presence of Christ at the Eucharist.{{sfn|Gellman|2011}}{{sfn|King|1999|p=15}} The third dimension is the contemplative or experiential knowledge of God.{{sfn|King|1999|p=15}}

==Definition of mysticism==
[[File:Josep Benlliure Gil43.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|''Life of [[Francis of Assisi]]'' by [[José Benlliure y Gil]] ]]

===Transformative presence of God===
[[Bernard McGinn (theologian)|Bernard McGinn]] defines Christian mysticism as: 
{{blockquote|[T]hat part, or element, of Christian belief and practice that concerns the preparation for, the consciousness of, and the effect of [...] a direct and transformative presence of God.{{sfn|McGinn|2006}}}}

McGinn argues that "presence" is more accurate than "union," since not all mystics spoke of union with God, and since many visions and miracles were not necessarily related to union.{{sfn|McGinn|2006}}

===Presence versus experience===
McGinn also argues that we should speak of "consciousness" of God's presence, rather than of "experience", since mystical activity is not simply about the sensation of God as an external object, but more broadly about 
{{blockquote|...new ways of knowing and loving based on states of awareness in which God becomes present in our inner acts.{{sfn|McGinn|2006}}}}

[[William James]] popularized the use of the term "[[religious experience]]" in his 1902 book ''[[The Varieties of Religious Experience]]''.{{sfn|Hori|1999|p=47}} It has also influenced the understanding of mysticism as a distinctive experience which supplies knowledge.{{sfn|Gellman|2011}}

[[Wayne Proudfoot]] traces the roots of the notion of religious experience further back to the German theologian [[Friedrich Schleiermacher]] (1768–1834), who argued that religion is based on a feeling of the infinite. The notion of religious experience was used by Schleiermacher to defend religion against the growing scientific and secular critique. It was adopted by many scholars of religion, of which William James was the most influential.{{sfn|Sharf|2000|p=271}}

===Interpersonal transformation===
[[File:Matthias_Grünewald_-_Resurrection.jpg|thumb|''Resurrection of Jesus'', [[Matthias Grünewald]]]]
McGinn's emphasis on the transformation that occurs through mystical activity relates to this idea of "presence" instead of "experience": {{blockquote|This is why the only test that Christianity has known for determining the authenticity of a mystic and her or his message has been that of personal transformation, both on the mystic's part and—especially—on the part of those whom the mystic has affected.{{sfn|McGinn|2006}}}}

Parsons points out that the stress on "experience" is accompanied by favoring the atomic individual, instead of the shared life of the community. It also fails to distinguish between episodic experience, and mysticism as a process that is embedded in a total religious matrix of liturgy, scripture, worship, virtues, theology, rituals and practices.{{sfn|Parsons|2011|p=4-5}}

Richard King also points to disjunction between "mystical experience" and social justice:{{sfn|King|1999|p=21}}
{{blockquote|The privatisation of mysticism – that is, the increasing tendency to locate the mystical in the psychological realm of personal experiences – serves to exclude it from political issues as social justice. Mysticism thus becomes seen as a personal matter of cultivating inner states of tranquility and equanimity, which, rather than seeking to transform the world, serve to accommodate the individual to the status quo through the alleviation of anxiety and stress.{{sfn|King|1999|p=21}}}}

===Social construction===
Mystical experience is not simply a matter between the mystic and God, but is often shaped by cultural issues. For instance, [[Caroline Bynum]] has shown how, in the late Middle Ages, miracles attending the taking of the Eucharist were not simply symbolic of the [[Passion (Christianity)|Passion]] story, but served as vindication of the mystic's theological [[orthodoxy]] by proving that the mystic had not fallen prey to heretical ideas, such as the [[Catharism|Cathar]] rejection of the material world as evil, contrary to orthodox teaching that [[incarnation|God took on human flesh]] and remained sinless.{{sfn|Bynum|1987|pp=64, 253}} Thus, the nature of mystical experience could be tailored to the particular cultural and theological issues of the time.

==Origins==
The idea of mystical realities has been widely held in Christianity since the second century AD, referring not simply to spiritual practices, but also to the belief that their rituals and even their scriptures have hidden ("mystical") meanings.{{sfn|McGinn|2006}}

The link between mysticism and the vision of the divine was introduced by the early [[Church Fathers]], who used the term as an adjective, as in mystical theology and mystical contemplation.{{sfn|Parsons|2011|p=3}}

In subsequent centuries, especially as [[Christian apologetics]] began to use Greek philosophy to explain Christian ideas, [[Neoplatonism]] became an influence on Christian mystical thought and practice via such authors as [[Augustine of Hippo]] and [[Origen]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Stępień |first1=Tomasz |last2=Kochańczyk-Bonińska |first2=Karolina |title=Unknown God, Known in His Activities |url=https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/id/564d18dd-20be-4626-aae6-c59063788869/9783631757376.pdf |website=Peter Lang |publisher=European Studies in T heolog y, Philosophy and History of Religions |access-date=24 October 2021}}</ref>

===Jewish antecedents===
Jewish spirituality in the period before Jesus was highly corporate and public, based mostly on the worship services of the synagogues, which included the reading and interpretation of the Hebrew Scriptures and the recitation of prayers, and on the major festivals. Thus, private spirituality was strongly influenced by the liturgies and by the scriptures (e.g., the use of the Psalms for prayer), and individual prayers often recalled historical events just as much as they recalled their own immediate needs.{{sfn|Barton|1986|pp=47–57}}

Of special importance are the following concepts:
* ''[[Binah (Kabbalah)|Binah]]'' (understanding), and ''[[Chokmah]]'' (wisdom), which come from years of reading, praying and meditating the scriptures;
* ''[[Shekhinah]]'', the presence of God in our daily lives, the superiority of that presence to earthly wealth, the pain and longing that come when God is absent; and the nurturing, feminine aspect of God;
* The hiddenness of God, which comes from our inability to survive the full revelation of God's glory and which forces us to seek to know God through faith and obedience;
* "[[Torah]]-mysticism", a view of God's laws as the central expression of God's will and therefore as worthy object not only of obedience but also of loving meditation and [[Torah study]];
* Poverty, an [[ascetic]] value, based on the [[Apocalypticism|apocalyptic]] expectation of God's impending arrival, that characterized the Jewish people's reaction to being oppressed by a series of foreign empires.

In Christian mysticism, ''Shekhinah'' became [[Sacred Mysteries#Christianity|mystery]], ''[[Da'at]]'' (knowledge) became [[gnosis]], and poverty became an important component of [[monasticism]].{{sfn|Holmes|2002|p=15}}

===Greek influences===
The term ''theoria'' was used by the ancient Greeks to refer to the act of experiencing or observing, and then comprehending through ''[[nous]]''.{{citation needed|date=January 2025}}

The influences of Greek thought are apparent in the earliest Christian mystics and their writings. [[Plato]] (428–348 BC) is considered the most important of ancient philosophers, and his philosophical system provides the basis of most later mystical forms. [[Plotinus]] (c. 205 – 270 AD) provided the non-Christian, [[Neoplatonism|neo-Platonic]] basis for much Christian, [[Jewish mysticism|Jewish]] and [[Islamic mysticism]].{{sfn|Janz|2009}}

====Plato====
[[File:Plato Silanion Musei Capitolini MC1377.jpg|thumb|100px|Plato (Πλάτων)]]
For [[Plato]], what the contemplative (''theoros'') contemplates (''theorei'') are the [[Theory of Forms|Forms]], the realities underlying the individual appearances, and one who contemplates these atemporal and aspatial realities is enriched with a perspective on ordinary things superior to that of ordinary people.<ref name=Spectacles>Andrea Wilson Nightingale, ''Spectacles of Truth in Classical Greek Philosophy: ''Theoria'' in Its Cultural Context'' (Cambridge University Press 2004 {{ISBN|0-521-83825-8}}), p. 5</ref> [[Philip of Opus]] viewed ''theoria'' as contemplation of the stars, with practical effects in everyday life similar to those that Plato saw as following from contemplation of the Forms.<ref name=Spectacles/>

==== Plotinus ====
[[File:Plotinos.jpg|thumb|100px|Plotinus (Πλωτίνος)]]

In the ''[[Enneads]]'' of [[Plotinus]] (c.204/5–270 CE), a founder of [[Neoplatonism]], everything is contemplation (''theoria'')<ref>"Everything is contemplation" (''Cambridge Companion to Plotinus'', p. 32).</ref> and everything is derived from contemplation.<ref>"Everything comes from contemplation" (''Cambridge Companion to Plotinus'', p. 32).</ref> The first hypostasis, the One, is contemplation<ref>"According to his (Plotinus) metaphysical conception, everything was endowed with this supreme activity (contemplation), beginning with the One, which turns to itself in the simplest regard, implying no complexity of need" (''Cambridge Companion to Plotinus'', p. 32)</ref><ref>"Plotinus suggests that the One subsists by thinking itself as itself" ([http://www.iep.utm.edu/neoplato/ Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy: A Peer-Reviewed Academic Resource: ''Neoplatonism'').]</ref> (by the nous, or second hypostasis){{Failed verification|date=October 2010}} in that "it turns to itself in the simplest regard, implying no complexity or need"; this reflecting back on itself emanated (not created){{Failed verification|date=October 2010}} the second hypostasis, Intellect (in Greek Νοῦς, ''Nous''), Plotinus describes as "living contemplation", being "self-reflective and contemplative activity par excellence", and the third hypostatic level has ''theoria''.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=QdzrNQG3D2YC&dq=theoria+plotinus&pg=PA32 Lloyd P. Gerson, ''The Cambridge Companion to Plotinus'' (Cambridge University Press 1996] {{ISBN|0-521-47093-5}}), p. 32</ref> Knowledge of the one is achieved through experience of its power, an experience that is contemplation (''theoria'') of the source of all things.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://iep.utm.edu/plotinus/|title=Plotinus &#124; Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy}}</ref>

Plotinus agreed with Aristotle's systematic distinction between contemplation (''theoria'') and practice (''praxis''): dedication to the superior life of ''theoria'' requires abstention from practical, active life. Plotinus explained: "The point of action is contemplation. ... Contemplation is therefore the end of action" and "Such is the life of the divinity and of divine and blessed men: detachments from all things here below, scorn of all earthly pleasures, the flight of the lone to the Alone."<ref>Quoted in [https://books.google.com/books?id=GZvCebliAn0C&dq=theoria+contemplation+christianity&pg=PA353 Jorge M. Ferrer, Jacob H. Sherman (editors), ''The Participatory Turn: Spirituality, Mysticism, Religious Studies'' (State University of New York Press 2008] {{ISBN|978-0-7914-7601-7}}), p. 353</ref>

===Early church===
{{See also|Christian mysticism in ancient Africa|Catholic spirituality}}

====New Testament writings====
[[File:Transfiguration by Lodovico Carracci.jpg|thumb|''[[Transfiguration of Jesus]]'' depicting him with [[Elijah]], [[Moses]] and 3 apostles, by [[Lodovico Carracci|Carracci]], 1594]]

The Christian scriptures, insofar as they are the founding narrative of the Christian church, provide many key stories and concepts that become important for Christian mystics in all later generations: practices such as the [[Eucharist]], [[baptism]] and the [[Lord's Prayer]] all become activities that take on importance for both their ritual and symbolic values. Other scriptural narratives present scenes that become the focus of meditation: the [[crucifixion of Jesus]] and his appearances after his [[Resurrection of Jesus|resurrection]] are two of the most central to Christian theology; but Jesus' conception, in which the [[Holy Spirit (Christianity)|Holy Spirit]] overshadows Mary, and his [[Transfiguration of Jesus|transfiguration]], in which he is briefly revealed in his heavenly glory, also become important images for meditation. Moreover, many of the Christian texts build on Jewish spiritual foundations, such as ''[[chokmah]]'', ''[[shekhinah]]''.{{sfn|Holmes|2002|pp=14–16}}

But different writers present different images and ideas. The [[Synoptic Gospels]] (in spite of their many differences) introduce several important ideas, two of which are related to Greco-Judaic notions of knowledge/''gnosis'' by virtue of being mental acts: purity of heart, in which we will to see in God's light; and [[Metanoia (theology)|repentance]], which involves allowing God to judge and then transform us. Another key idea presented by the Synoptics is the desert, which is used as a metaphor for the place where we meet God in the poverty of our spirit.{{sfn|Holmes|2002|p=17}}

The [[Gospel of John]] focuses on God's glory in his use of light imagery and in his presentation of the cross as a moment of exaltation; he also sees the cross as the example of ''agape'' love, a love which is not so much an emotion as a willingness to serve and care for others. But in stressing love, John shifts the goal of spiritual growth away from knowledge/''gnosis'', which he presents more in terms of [[Stoicism|Stoic]] ideas about the role of reason as being the underlying principle of the universe and as the spiritual principle within all people. Although John does not follow up on the Stoic notion that this principle makes union with the divine possible for humanity, it is an idea that later Christian writers develop. Later generations will also shift back and forth between whether to follow the Synoptics in stressing knowledge or John in stressing love.{{sfn|Holmes|2002|pp=19–20}}

In his letters, [[Paul of Tarsus|Paul]] also focuses on mental activities, but not in the same way as the Synoptics, which equate renewing the mind with repentance. Instead, Paul sees the renewal of our minds as happening as we contemplate what Jesus did on the cross, which then opens us to grace and to the movement of the [[Holy Spirit (Christianity)|Holy Spirit]] into peoples' hearts. Like John, Paul is less interested in knowledge, preferring to emphasize the hiddenness, the "mystery" of God's plan as revealed through Christ. But Paul's discussion of the Cross differs from John's in being less about how it reveals God's glory and more about how it becomes the stumbling block that turns our minds back to God. Paul also describes the Christian life as that of an athlete, demanding practice and training for the sake of the prize; later writers will see in this image a call to [[asceticism|ascetical practices]].{{sfn|Holmes|2002|pp=18–19}}

====Apostolic Fathers====
The texts attributed to the [[Apostolic Fathers]], the earliest post-Biblical texts we have, share several key themes, particularly the call to unity in the face of internal divisions and perceptions of persecution, the reality of the [[charism]]s, especially prophecy, visions, and Christian ''[[gnosis]]'', which is understood as "a gift of the Holy Spirit that enables us to know Christ" through meditating on the scriptures and on the cross of Christ.{{sfn|Healey|1999|p=2}} (This understanding of ''gnosis'' is not the same as that developed by the [[Gnosticism|Gnostics]], who focused on [[Western esotericism|esoteric knowledge]] that is available only to a few people but that allows them to free themselves from the evil world.{{sfn|Healey|1999|pp=8–9}}{{sfn|Holmes|2002|pp=20–21}}) These authors also discuss the notion of the "two ways", that is, the way of life and the way of death; this idea has biblical roots, being found in both the [[Sermon on the Mount]] and the [[Torah]]. The two ways are then related to the notion of purity of heart, which is developed by contrasting it against the divided or duplicitous heart and by linking it to the need for asceticism, which keeps the heart whole/pure.{{sfn|Healey|1999|pp=3–4}}{{sfn|Holmes|2002|p=21}} Purity of heart was especially important given perceptions of martyrdom, which many writers discussed in theological terms, seeing it not as an evil but as an opportunity to truly die for the sake of God—the ultimate example of ascetic practice.{{sfn|Healey|1999|pp=4–6}} Martyrdom could also be seen as symbolic in its connections with the Eucharist and with baptism.{{sfn|Holmes|2002|p=22}}

''Theoria'' enabled the Fathers to perceive depths of meaning in the biblical writings that escape a purely scientific or empirical approach to interpretation.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=6r7lQ6np94YC&q=inspired+vision John Breck, ''Scripture in Tradition: The Bible and Its Interpretation in the Orthodox Church''], St Vladimir's Seminary Press 2001, p. 11.</ref> The Antiochene Fathers, in particular, saw in every passage of Scripture a double meaning, both literal and spiritual.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=6r7lQ6np94YC&q=double+meaning Breck, ''Scripture in Tradition''], p. 37).</ref>{{refn|group=note|In their biblical exegesis, whether of Alexandrian or Antiochene tradition, the Fathers, "with little or no understanding of the progressive nature of revelation, where the literal sense would not suffice, [...] resorted to allegory or to ''theoria'' (Chrysostom and the Antiochenes)."<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BVK5oxGwjwYC&dq=theoria+interpretation+of+the+bible&pg=PA48|title=Understanding the Bible: A Basic Introduction to Biblical Interpretation|first=George T.|last=Montague|date=December 31, 2007|publisher=Paulist Press|isbn=9780809143443 |via=Google Books}}</ref>}} As [[Frances Young|Frances Margaret Young]] notes, "Best translated in this context as a type of "[[insight]]", ''theoria'' was the act of perceiving in the wording and "story" of Scripture a moral and spiritual meaning,"<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=vw3o0ojTwvYC&pg=PA175 Frances Margaret Young, ''Biblical exegesis and the Formation of Christian Culture''] (Cambridge University Press 1997 {{ISBN|0-521-58153-2}}), p. 175</ref> and may be regarded as a form of allegory.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=FKTHWLeGexMC&pg=PA15 John J. O'Keefe, Russell R. Reno, ''Sanctified Vision''] (JHU Press 2005 {{ISBN|978-0-8018-8088-9}}), p. 15).</ref>

====Alexandrian mysticism====
The Alexandrian contribution to Christian mysticism centers on [[Origen]] ({{circa|185|253}}) and [[Clement of Alexandria]] (150–215 AD). Clement was an early [[Christian humanism|Christian humanist]] who argued that reason is the most important aspect of human existence and that ''gnosis'' (not something we can attain by ourselves, but the gift of Christ) helps us find the spiritual realities that are hidden behind the natural world and within the scriptures. Given the importance of reason, Clement stresses ''[[apatheia]]'' as a reasonable ordering of our passions in order to live within God's love, which is seen as a form of truth.{{sfn|Holmes|2002|pp=25–26}} Origen, who had a lasting influence on Eastern Christian thought, further develops the idea that the spiritual realities can be found through allegorical readings of the scriptures (along the lines of Jewish [[aggadah]] tradition), but he focuses his attention on the cross and on the importance of imitating Christ through the cross, especially through spiritual combat and asceticism. Origen stresses the importance of combining intellect and virtue (''[[theoria]]'' and ''[[praxis (Eastern Orthodoxy)|praxis]]'') in our spiritual exercises, drawing on the image of [[Moses]] and [[Aaron]] leading the Israelites through the wilderness, and he describes our union with God as the marriage of our souls with Christ the [[Logos (Christianity)|Logos]], using the wedding imagery from the [[Song of Songs]].{{sfn|Holmes|2002|pp=26–28}} Alexandrian mysticism developed alongside [[Hermeticism]] and [[Neoplatonism]] and therefore share some of the same ideas, images, etc. in spite of their differences.{{sfn|Holmes|2002|pp=23–25}}

[[Philo of Alexandria]] (20&nbsp;BCE&nbsp;– c.  50&nbsp;CE) was a Jewish [[Hellenistic philosophy|Hellenistic philosopher]] who was important for connecting the Hebrew Scriptures to Greek thought, and thereby to Greek Christians, who struggled to understand their connection to Jewish history. In particular, Philo taught that [[allegorical interpretation]]s of the Hebrew scriptures provides access to the real meanings of the texts. Philo also taught the need to bring together the contemplative focus of the [[Stoics]] and [[Essenes]] with the active lives of virtue and community worship found in [[Platonism]] and the [[Therapeutae]]. Using terms reminiscent of the Platonists, Philo described the intellectual component of faith as a sort of spiritual ecstasy in which our ''[[nous]]'' (mind) is suspended and God's spirit takes its place. Philo's ideas influenced the [[Alexandrian school|Alexandrian]] Christians, [[Clement of Alexandria|Clement]], and [[Origen]], and through them, [[Gregory of Nyssa]].{{sfn|Holmes|2002|p=16}}

===Monasticism===

====Desert Fathers====
{{See also|Desert Fathers|Desert Mothers}}
Inspired by Christ's teaching and example, [[Desert Fathers|men]] and [[Desert Mothers|women]] withdrew to the deserts of [[Wadi El Natrun|Sketes]] where, either as solitary individuals or communities, they lived lives of austere simplicity oriented towards contemplative prayer. These communities formed the basis for what later would become known as [[Christian monasticism]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Monasticism {{!}} Encyclopedia.com |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/philosophy-and-religion/christianity/roman-catholic-orders-and-missions/monasticism |website=www.encyclopedia.com |access-date=29 September 2021}}</ref>

====Early monasticism====
[[File:Cassianus portret.gif|thumb|right|[[John Cassian]] (Ioannes Cassianus)]]

The Eastern church then saw the development of [[monasticism]] and the mystical contributions of [[Gregory of Nyssa]], [[Evagrius Ponticus]], and [[Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite|Pseudo-Dionysius]]. Monasticism, also known as [[anchoritism]] (meaning "to withdraw") was seen as an alternative to martyrdom, and was less about escaping the world than about fighting demons (who were thought to live in the desert) and about gaining liberation from our bodily passions in order to be open to the word of God. Anchorites practiced continuous meditation on the scriptures as a means of climbing the ladder of perfection—a common religious image in the Mediterranean world and one found in Christianity through the story of [[Jacob's ladder]]—and sought to fend off the demon of ''[[acedia]]'' ("un-caring"), a boredom or apathy that prevents us from continuing on in our spiritual training. Anchorites could live in total solitude ("[[hermit]]s", from the word ''erēmitēs'', "of the desert") or in loose communities ("[[cenobite]]s", meaning "common life").{{sfn|Holmes|2002|pp=29–31}}

Monasticism eventually made its way to the West and was established by the work of [[John Cassian]] and [[Benedict of Nursia]]. Meanwhile, Western spiritual writing was deeply influenced by the works of such men as [[Jerome]] and [[Augustine of Hippo]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=OGLIARI |first1=Donato |title=The Conciliation of Grace and Free Will. Cassian's "Conlatio" 13 Revisited |journal=Augustiniana |date=2000 |volume=50 |issue=1/4 |pages=141–173 |jstor=44991731 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44991731 |access-date=24 October 2021 |issn=0004-8003}}</ref>

====Neo-Platonism====
{{Main|Neo-Platonism}}

Neo-Platonism has had a profound influence on Christian contemplative traditions. Neoplatonic ideas were adopted by Christianity,{{refn|group=note|"From the point of view of the historian, the presence of Neoplatonic ideas in Christian thought is undeniable" <ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=AOBfV-bCN4MC&dq=The+Relationship+between+Neoplatonism+and+Christianity,&pg=PR10 Dominic J. O'Meara (editor), ''Neoplatonism and Christian Thought'' (State University of New York Press 1982] {{ISBN|0-87395-492-0}}), p. x).</ref>}} among them the idea of ''theoria'' or contemplation, taken over by [[Gregory of Nyssa]] for example.{{refn|group=note|"The analogy between (Gregory's) terminology and thought and that of the ancient initiators of the philosophic ideal of life is a perfect one. The ascetics themselves are called by him 'philosophers' or 'the philosophic chorus'. Their activity is called 'contemplation' (θεωρία), and to the present day this word, even when we use it to designate the θεωρητικός βίος of the ancient Greek philosophers, has preserved the overtone which transformation into a technical term of Christian asceticism has added to it"<ref>(Werner Jaeger, ''Two Rediscovered Works of Ancient Christian Literature: Gregory of Nyssa and Macarius'' (Brill, Leiden 1954), pp. 21–22).</ref>}} The ''Brill Dictionary of Gregory of Nyssa'' remarks that contemplation in Gregory is described as a "loving contemplation",<ref>''The Brill Dictionary of Gregory of Nyssa'' (Brill, Leiden 2010 {{ISBN|978-90-04-16965-4}}), p. 528</ref> and, according to [[Thomas Keating]], the Greek Fathers of the Church, in taking over from the Neoplatonists the word ''theoria'', attached to it the idea expressed by the Hebrew word ''da'ath'', which, though usually translated as "knowledge", is a much stronger term, since it indicates the experiential knowledge that comes with love and that involves the whole person, not merely the mind.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=pINxHWGTa6EC&dq=theoria+contemplation+christianity&pg=PA19 Thomas Keating, Open Mind, Open Heart: The Contemplative Dimension of the Gospel (Continuum International 1986] {{ISBN|0-8264-0696-3}}), p. 19</ref> Among the Greek Fathers, Christian ''theoria'' was not contemplation of Platonic Ideas nor of the astronomical heavens of Pontic Heraclitus, but "studying the Scriptures", with an emphasis on the spiritual sense.<ref name=ODCC/>

Later, contemplation came to be distinguished from intellectual life, leading to the identification of θεωρία or ''contemplatio'' with a form of prayer<ref name=ODCC/> distinguished from discursive [[meditation]] in both East<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=CpPnSHWu5d8C&dq=Matt%C3%A1+al-Misk%C4%ABn+%22return+of+adam%22&pg=PA55 Mattá al-Miskīn, ''Orthodox Prayer Life: The Interior Way'' (St Vladimir's Seminary Press 2003] {{ISBN|0-88141-250-3}}), pp. 55–56</ref> and West.<ref name=CE>{{Cite web |url=http://oce.catholic.com/index.php?title=Contemplation |title=Augustin Poulain, "Contemplation", in ''The Catholic Encyclopedia'' 1908 |access-date=2011-11-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120113160224/http://oce.catholic.com/index.php?title=Contemplation |archive-date=2012-01-13 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Some make a further distinction, within contemplation, between contemplation acquired by human effort and infused contemplation.<ref name=CE/><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CpPnSHWu5d8C&dq=Matt%C3%A1+al-Misk%C4%ABn+%22interior+prayer%22&pg=PA55|title=Orthodox Prayer Life: The Interior Way|first=Mattá|last=al-Miskīn|date=December 31, 2003|publisher=St. Vladimir's Seminary Press|isbn=9780881412505 |via=Google Books}}</ref>

====Mystical theology====
In early Christianity the term "mystikos" referred to three dimensions, which soon became intertwined, namely the biblical, the liturgical and the spiritual or contemplative.{{sfn|King|2002|p=15}} The biblical dimension refers to "hidden" or allegorical interpretations of Scriptures.<ref name=SEP_Gelman_Mysticism>{{cite web|url=http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/mysticism/ | title=Gellman, Jerome, "Mysticism", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Summer 2011 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.) | publisher=Plato.stanford.edu |access-date=2013-11-06}}</ref>{{sfn|King|2002|p=15}} The liturgical dimension refers to the liturgical mystery of the Eucharist, the presence of Christ at the Eucharist.<ref name=SEP_Gelman_Mysticism/>{{sfn|King|2002|p=15}} The third dimension is the contemplative or experiential knowledge of God.{{sfn|King|2002|p=15}}

The 9th century saw the development of [[mystical theology]] through the introduction of the works of sixth-century theologian [[Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite]], such as ''On Mystical Theology''. His discussion of the [[apophatic theology|''via negativa'']] was especially influential.<ref>{{cite web |title=Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite {{!}} Biography, Works, & Facts |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Pseudo-Dionysius-the-Areopagite |website=Encyclopedia Britannica |access-date=6 October 2021 |language=en}}</ref>

Under the influence of [[Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite]] (late 5th to early 6th century) the [[mystical theology]] came to denote the investigation of the allegorical truth of the Bible,{{sfn|King|2002|p=15}} and "the spiritual awareness of the ineffable Absolute beyond the theology of divine names."{{sfn|Dupré|2005|p=6341}} Pseudo-Dionysius' [[apophatic theology]], or "negative theology", exerted a great influence on medieval monastic religiosity.{{sfn|King|2002|p=195}} It was influenced by [[Neo-Platonism]], and very influential in [[Eastern Orthodox Christian theology]]. In western Christianity it was a counter-current to the prevailing [[Cataphatic theology]] or "positive theology".

==Practice==

=== Cataphatic and apophatic mysticism ===
Within theistic mysticism two broad tendencies can be identified. One is a tendency to understand God by asserting what he is and the other by 
asserting what he is not. The former leads to what is called [[cataphatic theology]] and the latter to [[apophatic theology]].
# [[Cataphatic]] (imaging God, imagination or words) – e.g., The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola, [[Julian of Norwich]], [[Francis of Assisi]]; and
# Apophatic (imageless, stillness, and wordlessness) – inspired by the writings of [[Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite]], which forms the basis of Eastern Orthodox mysticism and hesychasm, and became influential in western Catholic mysticism from the 12th century AD onward, as in [[The Cloud of Unknowing]] and [[Meister Eckhart]].{{sfn|McBrien|1995|p=901}}

[[Urban T. Holmes III]] categorized mystical theology in terms of whether it focuses on illuminating the mind, which Holmes refers to as speculative practice, or the heart/emotions, which he calls affective practice. Combining the speculative/affective scale with the apophatic/cataphatic scale allows for a range of categories:{{sfn|Holmes|2002|pp=4–5}}
* [[Rationalism]] = Cataphatic and speculative
* [[Pietism]] = Cataphatic and [[Affective piety|affective]]
* [[Encratites|Encratism]] = Apophatic and speculative
* [[Quietism (Christian contemplation)|Quietism]] = Apophatic and affective

=== Meditation and contemplation ===
In discursive meditation, such as [[Lectio Divina]], mind and imagination and other faculties are actively employed in an effort to understand Christians' relationship with [[God in Christianity|God]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ignatius |first=Br. |date=2024-03-07 |title=The Soul's Resonance: Deepening Faith through Benedictine Contemplative Prayer |url=https://thelaymonastic.com/benedictine-contemplative-prayer |access-date=2024-03-09 |website=The Lay Monastic}}</ref><ref>"Meditation is a prayerful quest engaging thought, imagination, emotion, and desire. Its goal is to make our own in faith the subject considered, by confronting it with the reality of our own life"([https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P9N.HTM Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2723).]</ref> In contemplative prayer, this activity is curtailed, so that [[contemplation]] has been described as "a gaze of faith", "a silent love".{{refn|group=note|"Contemplative prayer is the simple expression of the mystery of prayer. It is a gaze of faith fixed on Jesus, an attentiveness to the word of God, a silent love. It achieves real union with the prayer of Christ to the extent that it makes us share in his mystery" ([https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P9N.HTM Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2724).]}} There is no clear-cut boundary between Christian meditation and Christian contemplation, and they sometimes overlap. Meditation serves as a foundation on which the contemplative life stands, the practice by which someone begins the state of contemplation.<ref name="Matta56"/>

[[John of the Cross]] described the difference between discursive meditation and contemplation by saying: 
{{blockquote|The difference between these two conditions of the soul is like the difference between working, and enjoyment of the fruit of  our work; between receiving a gift, and profiting by it; between the toil of travelling and the rest of our journey's end".<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ufNfNEnxAOQC&dq=%22The+difference+between+these+two+conditions+of+the+soul+is+like+the+difference%22&pg=RA1-PA125|title=The Ascent of Mount Carmel|first=John Of the|last=Cross|date=July 31, 2009|publisher=BiblioBazaar|isbn=9781113187048 |via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JxKU3XuXFAYC&dq=%22The+difference+between+these+two+conditions+of+the+soul+is+like+the+difference%22&pg=PA209|title=The Art of Mental Prayer|first=Reverend Bede|last=Frost|date=November 30, 2008|publisher=Read Books|isbn=9781443733106 |via=Google Books}}</ref>}}

Mattá al-Miskīn, an [[Oriental Orthodoxy|Oriental Orthodox]] monk has posited: 
{{blockquote|Meditation is an activity of one's spirit by reading or otherwise, while contemplation is a spontaneous activity of that spirit. In meditation, man's imaginative and thinking power exert some effort. Contemplation then follows to relieve man of all effort. Contemplation is the soul's inward vision and the heart's simple repose in God.<ref name="Matta56">[https://books.google.com/books?id=FqbA6aguSR0C&pg=PA56 Mattá al-Miskīn, ''Orthodox Prayer Life: The Interior Way''] (St Vladimir's Seminary Press 2003 {{ISBN|0-88141-250-3}}), p. 56</ref>}}

===Threefold path===
{{See also|Christian perfection|Degrees of Eastern Orthodox monasticism}}

According to the standard formulation of the process of [[Christian perfection]], going back to [[Evagrius Ponticus]] (345–399 AD){{sfn|Holmes|2002|p=37}} and [[Dionysius the Pseudo-Areopagite]] (late 5th to early 6th century),<ref>Oxford Reference, [http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803100355257 ''purgative, illuminative, and unitive ways'']</ref><ref name="CP"/> there are three stages:<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://oce.catholic.com/index.php?title=State_or_Way |title=Arthur Devine, "State or Way" in ''Catholic Encyclopedia'' |access-date=2017-04-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121103234612/http://oce.catholic.com/index.php?title=State_or_Way |archive-date=2012-11-03 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="CE"/><ref name="CP">Réginald Garrigou-Lagrange (1938/1939), ''[[The Three Ages of the Interior Life]]'', chapter ''Christian Perfection''</ref>
* ''[[Catharsis|Katharsis]]'' or purification;
* ''[[Theoria]]'' or illumination, also called "natural" or "acquired contemplation;"
* ''Union'' or ''[[Theosis (Eastern Christian theology)|Theosis]]''; also called "infused" or "higher contemplation"; indwelling in God; vision of God; deification; [[Henosis|union with God]]

The three aspects later became ''purgative, illuminative, and unitive'' in the western churches and prayer of the lips, the mind, the heart in the eastern churches.{{sfn|Holmes|2002|p=37}}

Purification and illumination of the mind are preparations for the vision of God. Without these preparations it is impossible for man's selfish love to be transformed into selfless love. This transformation takes place during the higher level of the stage of illumination called theoria, literally meaning vision, in this case vision ''by means of unceasing and uninterrupted memory of God''. Those who remain selfish and self-centered with a hardened heart, closed to God's love, will not see the glory of God in this life. However, they will see God's glory eventually, but as an eternal and consuming fire and outer darkness.{{sfn|Romanides|1981b|loc="Diagnosis and Therapy"}}

====Catharsis (purification)====
{{Main|Catharsis}}

In the Orthodox Churches, theosis results from leading a pure life, practicing restraint and adhering to the commandments, putting the love of God before all else. This metamorphosis (transfiguration) or transformation results from a deep love of God. Saint [[Isaac the Syrian]] says in his [[The Ascetical Homilies of Isaac the Syrian|''Ascetical Homilies'']] that "Paradise is the love of God, in which the bliss of all the beatitudes is contained," and that "the [[tree of life]] is the love of God" (Homily 72). ''Theoria'' is thus achieved by the pure of heart who are no longer subject to the afflictions of the passions. It is a gift from the Holy Spirit to those who, through observance of the commandments of God and [[asceticism|ascetic practices]] (see [[Praxis (Eastern Orthodoxy)|praxis]], [[kenosis]], [[Poustinia]] and [[Great Schema|schema]]), have achieved dispassion.{{refn|group=note|name="CWS65"|Ecstasy comes when, in prayer, the [[nous]] abandons every connection with created things: first "with everything evil and bad, then with neutral things" (2, 3, 35; CWS p.65). Ecstasy is mainly withdrawal from the opinion of the world and the flesh. With sincere prayer the nous "abandons all created things" (2, 3, 35; CWS p.65). This ecstasy is higher than abstract theology, that is, than rational theology, and it belongs only to those who have attained dispassion. It is not yet union; the ecstasy which is unceasing prayer of the nous, in which one's nous has continuous remembrance of God and has no relation with the `world of sin', is not yet union with God. This union comes about when the Paraclete "...illuminates from on high the man who attains in prayer the stage which is superior to the highest natural possibilities and who is awaiting the promise of the Father, and by His revelation ravishes him to the contemplation of the light" (2, 3, 35; CWS p.65). Illumination by God is what shows His union with man. ({{langx|el|ἀπάθεια|[[apatheia]]}}) and clarity of vision. Vision here refers to the vision of the ''nous'' that has been purified by ascetic practice.<ref name="Vlachos psych6.2">{{cite book |last1=Vlachos |first1=Hierotheos |title=Orthodox psychotherapy|edition=2005 reissued |date=1994 |publisher=Birth of the Theotokos Monastery |location=Levadia, Greece |isbn=978-960-7070-27-2 |chapter=VI. Orthodox Epistemology [Section 2: The Knowledge of God according to St. Gregory Palamas] |id=By Metropolitan [[Hierotheos Vlachos]] |access-date=September 12, 2010|chapter-url=https://www.pelagia.org/orthodox-psychotherapy.en.aspx |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090105041142/http://www.pelagia.org/htm/b02.en.orthodox_psychotherapy.06.htm#2k |archive-date=January 5, 2009 }}</ref>}}

Purification constitutes a turning away from all that is unclean and unwholesome. This is a purification of mind and body. As preparation for ''theoria'', however, the concept of purification in this three-part scheme refers most importantly to the purification of consciousness (''nous''), the faculty of discernment and knowledge (wisdom), whose awakening is essential to coming out of the state of delusion that is characteristic of the worldly-minded. After the ''nous'' has been cleansed, the faculty of wisdom may then begin to operate more consistently. With a purified ''nous'', clear vision and understanding become possible, making one fit for contemplative prayer.{{citation needed|date=January 2025}}

In the Eastern Orthodox ascetic tradition called [[hesychasm]], humility, as a saintly attribute, is called [[Sophia (Gnosticism)|holy wisdom]] or ''Sophia''. Humility is the most critical component to humanity's salvation.{{refn|group=note|There was an anchorite (hermit) who was able to banish demons; and he asked them: Hermit: What make you go away? Is it fasting? The demons: We do not eat or drink. Hermit: Is it vigils? The demons: We do not sleep. Hermit: Is it separation from the world? The demons: We live in the deserts. Hermit: What power sends you away then? The demons: Nothing can overcome us, but only humility. Do you see how humility is victorious over the demons?<ref>The Forgotten Desert Mothers: Sayings, Lives, and Stories of Early Christian Women By Laura Swan p. 67 Published by Paulist Press, 2001 {{ISBN|978-0-8091-4016-9}}</ref>}} Following Christ's instruction to "go into your room or closet and shut the door and pray to your father who is in secret" (Matthew 6:6), the [[hesychast]] withdraws into solitude in order that he or she may enter into a deeper state of contemplative stillness. By means of this stillness, the mind is calmed, and the ability to see reality is enhanced. The practitioner seeks to attain what the [[Paul the Apostle|apostle Paul]] called 'unceasing prayer'.

Some Eastern Orthodox theologians object to what they consider an overly speculative, rationalistic, and insufficiently experiential nature of [[Roman Catholic theology]].{{refn|group=note| A basic characteristic of the Frankish scholastic method, mislead by Augustinian Platonism and Thomistic Aristotelianism, had been its naive confidence in the objective existence of things rationally speculated about. By following Augustine, the Franks substituted the patristic concern for spiritual observation, (which they had found firmly established in Gaul when they first conquered the area) with a fascination for metaphysics. They did not suspect that such speculations had foundations neither in created nor in spiritual reality. ''No one would today accept as true what is not empirically observable'', or at least verifiable by inference, from an attested effect. So it is with patristic theology. Dialectical speculation about God and the Incarnation as such are rejected. Only those things which can be tested by the experience of the grace of God in the heart are to be accepted. "Be not carried about by divers and strange teachings. For it is good that the heart be confirmed by grace," a passage from Hebrews 13.9, quoted by the Fathers to this effect.{{sfn|Romanides|1981b}}}} and confusion between different aspects of the Trinity.{{refn|group=note|In the present case, Roman Catholic theologians are either confusing two dogmas — that is, the dogma of the personal existence of the Hypostases and the dogma of the Oneness of Essence, and it is absolutely essential to distinguish this from another dogma — or else they are confusing the inner relations of the All Holy Trinity with the providential actions and manifestations of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, which are directed towards the world and the human race. That the Holy Spirit is One in Essence with the Father and the Son, that therefore He is the Spirit of the Father and of the Son, is an indisputable Christian truth, for God is a Trinity One in Essence and Indivisible. [...] The expression, 'the Spirit of the Father and the Son", is likewise in itself quite Orthodox. But these expressions refer to the dogma of the Oneness of Essence, and it is absolutely essential to distinguish this from another dogma, the dogma of the begetting and the procession, in which, as the Holy Fathers express it, is shown the ''Cause of the existence'' of the Son and the Spirit. All of the Eastern Fathers acknowledge that the Father is ''monos aitios'', the sole Cause” of the Son and the Spirit.<ref>Orthodox Dogmatic Theology [[Michael Pomazansky]] [http://www.intratext.com/IXT/ENG0824/_P14.HTM]</ref>}}

====Theoria (illumination) – contemplative prayer====
[[File:megaloschema.svg|thumb|right|The [[Great Schema]] worn by Orthodox monks and nuns of the most advanced degree]]
{{See also|Jesus prayer|Centering prayer}}

An exercise long used among Christians for acquiring contemplation, one that is "available to everyone, whether he be of the clergy or of any secular occupation",<ref>''Orthodox Prayer Life: The Interior Way'', p. 59</ref> is that of focusing the mind by constant repetition of a phrase or word. Saint [[John Cassian]] recommended using the phrase "O God, make speed to save me: O Lord, make haste to help me".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/350810.htm|title=CHURCH FATHERS: Conference 10 (John Cassian)|website=www.newadvent.org}}</ref><ref name=Freeman>{{Cite web|url=https://www.wccm-canada.ca/|title=canadian christian meditation community|website=wccm}}</ref> Another formula for repetition is the name of Jesus,<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iE45LzrfZuwC&dq=repetition+of+the+name+of+Jesus&pg=PA32|title=The Life in Christ|first=Nicolaus|last=Cabasilas|date=December 31, 1974|publisher=St. Vladimir's Seminary Press|isbn=9780913836125 |via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=xXRMGv9UfBEC&dq=repetition+of+the+name+of+Jesus&pg=PA89 James W. Skehan, ''Place Me with Your Son'' (Georgetown University Press 1991] {{ISBN|0-87840-525-9}}), p. 89</ref> or the [[Jesus Prayer]]: "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner," which has been called "the [[mantra]] of the Orthodox Church",<ref name=Freeman/> although the term "Jesus Prayer" is not found in the writings of the Fathers of the Church.<ref name="under Romanity">{{Cite web |author-link=John Romanides |last=Romanides |first=John |website=www.romanity.org |url=http://www.romanity.org/htm/rom.00.en.some_underlying_positions_of_this_website.htm|title=Some underlying positions of this ['Romanity'] website reflecting the studies herein included}}<!--No date shown--></ref> The author of ''[[The Cloud of Unknowing]]'' recommended use of a monosyllabic word, such as "God" or "Love".<ref name="books.google.ie">[https://books.google.com/books?id=VFBg1J0MQ84C&dq=%22Cloud+of+Unknowing%22+monosyllabic&pg=PA18 ''The Cloud of Unknowing'' (Wordsworth Classics of World Literature 2005] {{ISBN|1-84022-126-7}}), p. 18</ref>

==== Contemplative prayer in the Eastern Church ====
In the Eastern Church, noetic prayer is the first stage of ''theoria'',<ref name="Vlachos_difference"/>{{refn|group=note|name=MHV}} the vision of God, which is beyond conceptual knowledge,<ref>V Lossky ''Vision of God'' p. 123: "Knowledge is limited to what exists: now, as the cause of all being (The Divine Names, I, 1, col.588) or rather He is superior to all oppositions between being and non-being."</ref> like the difference between reading about the experience of another, and reading about one's own experience.<ref name="Vlachos psych6.2"/> Noetic prayer is the first stage of the [[Jesus Prayer]], a short formulaic [[Christian prayer|prayer]]: "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner."{{cn|date=June 2023}} The second stage of the Jesus Prayer is the ''Prayer of the Heart'' ({{lang|el|Καρδιακή Προσευχή}}), in which the prayer is internalized into 'the heart'.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://asceticexperience.com/2019/10/what-is-the-jesus-prayer-the-prayer-of-the-mind-and-the-prayer-of-the-heart/|title=What is the "Jesus Prayer", the "Prayer of the mind" and the "Prayer of the heart"?|date=October 8, 2019|access-date=December 17, 2022|archive-date=December 6, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221206014211/https://asceticexperience.com/2019/10/what-is-the-jesus-prayer-the-prayer-of-the-mind-and-the-prayer-of-the-heart/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The Jesus Prayer, which, for the early Fathers, was just a training for repose,<ref name=Dubay2/> the later Byzantines developed into [[hesychasm]], a spiritual practice of its own, attaching to it technical requirements and various stipulations that became a matter of serious theological controversy.<ref name=Dubay2>''Orthodox Prayer Life: The Interior Way'', p. 58</ref> Via the Jesus Prayer, the practice of the Hesychast is seen to cultivate ''[[nepsis]]'', watchful attention. Sobriety contributes to this mental asceticism that rejects tempting thoughts; it puts a great emphasis on focus and attention. The practitioner of the hesychast is to pay extreme attention to the consciousness of his inner world and to the words of the Jesus Prayer, not letting his mind wander in any way at all. The Jesus Prayer invokes an attitude of humility believed to be essential for the attainment of ''theoria''.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=l2ZT2wJC92UC&dq=Do+you+see+how+humility+is+victorious+over+the+demons.%3F&pg=PA67 ''The Forgotten Desert Mothers: Sayings, Lives, and Stories of Early Christian Women''], By Laura Swan p. 67 Published by Paulist Press, 2001 {{ISBN|978-0-8091-4016-9}}</ref> The Jesus Prayer is also invoked to pacify the passions, as well as the illusions that lead a person to actively express these passions. It is believed that the worldly, neurotic mind is habitually accustomed to seek pleasant sensations and to avoid unpleasant ones. This state of incessant agitation is attributed to the corruption of primordial knowledge and union with God (the [[fall of man]] and the defilement and corruption of consciousness, or ''[[nous]]'').{{refn|group=note|''The illness and cure of the soul in the Orthodox tradition'', by [[Hierotheos (Vlachos)|Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos]]: "If one wishes to be an Orthodox theologian one must begin from the state of Adam as it was before the Fall, what happened with the Fall and how we can be restored to our former state, even reach there where Adam did not. If a theology does not speak of man's fall; if it does not designate precisely what it is, and if it does not speak of man's resurrection, then what kind of theology is it? Surely, it is not Orthodox. In any case, we were saying earlier that Orthodoxy is a therapeutic treatment and science, and also that Theology is a therapeutic treatment. It cures man. Yet, if we do not examine where man's illness lies, how can we know what we should heal? If, regarding his body, man follows a wrong treatment he will never be cured. The same also happens with the soul. It must become clear to us that the darkness of nous is its illness and illumination is its cure. Mysteries and all the ascetic tradition of the Church are meant to lead us where Adam was before the Fall, that is, to the illumination of the nous, and from there to theosis, which is man's original destination. Therefore, it is very important for us to know exactly what the illness is. If we ignore our inner sickness our spiritual life ends up in an empty moralism, in a superficiality. Many people are against the social system. They blame society, family, the existing evil, etc. for their own problem. However the basic problem, man's real malady is the darkness of his nous. When one's nous is illumined one thus becomes free from slavery to everything in the environment, e.g. anxiety, insecurity, etc."<ref name="vlachos ch 2">{{cite book |last1=Vlachos |first1=Hierotheos |title=The illness and cure of the soul in the Orthodox tradition |chapter= 2. The illness of the soul |date=1993 |publisher=Birth of the Theotokos Monastery Press |location=Levadia, Greece |chapter-url=http://www.pelagia.org/htm/b05.en.the_illness_and_cure_of_the_soul.02.htm#Fall |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090326044427/http://www.pelagia.org/htm/b05.en.the_illness_and_cure_of_the_soul.02.htm#Fall |archive-date=2009-03-26|isbn=978-960-7070-18-0 |id=By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos}}</ref>
}} According to St. [[Theophan the Recluse]], though the Jesus Prayer has long been associated with the Prayer of the Heart, they are not synonymous.<ref>"People say: attain the Jesus Prayer, for that is inner prayer. This is not correct. The Jesus Prayer is a good means to arrive at inner prayer but in itself it is not inner but outer prayer" – St [[Theophan the Recluse]], 'What Is Prayer?' cited in ''The Art of Prayer: An Orthodox Anthology'' p.98 by [[Igumen Chariton]] {{ISBN|978-0-571-19165-9}}</ref>

==== Contemplative prayer in the Roman Catholic Church ====
Methods of prayer in the Roman Catholic Church include recitation of the [[Jesus Prayer]], which "combines the Christological hymn of {{bibleverse||Philippians|2:6–11|ESV}} with the cry of the publican ({{bibleverse||Luke|18:13|ESV}}) and the blind man begging for light ({{bibleverse||Mark|10:46–52|ESV}}). By it the heart is opened to human wretchedness and the Saviour's mercy";<ref name="vatican1">{{Cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P9F.HTM|title=Catechism of the Catholic Church – IntraText|website=www.vatican.va}}</ref> invocation of the holy name of Jesus;<ref name="vatican1"/> recitation, as recommended by Saint [[John Cassian]], of "O God, come to my assistance; O Lord, make haste to help me" or other verses of Scripture; repetition of a single monosyllabic word, as suggested by the [[Cloud of Unknowing]], such as "God" or "Love";<ref name="books.google.ie"/> the method used in [[centering prayer]]; the use of [[Lectio Divina]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.washington-state.net/en/monasticdialog.html|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120310163401/http://www.monasticdialog.com/a.php?id=332|url-status=dead|title=Magid &#124; Safety at work|archivedate=March 10, 2012|website=www.washington-state.net}}</ref> The [[Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments|Congregation for Divine Worship]]'s directory of popular piety and the liturgy emphasizes the contemplative characteristic of the [[Rosary|Holy Rosary]] and states that the Rosary is essentially a contemplative prayer which requires "tranquility of rhythm or even a mental lingering which encourages the faithful to meditate on the mysteries of the Lord's life."<ref name=pietydiretory>[https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/ccdds/documents/rc_con_ccdds_doc_20020513_vers-direttorio_en.html ''Directory of popular piety and the liturgy'', §197, Congregation of Divine Worship, Vatican, 2001].</ref> [[Pope John Paul II]] placed the Rosary at the very center of Christian spirituality and called it "among the finest and most praiseworthy traditions of Christian contemplation."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/apost_letters/2002/documents/hf_jp-ii_apl_20021016_rosarium-virginis-mariae.html|title=Rosarium Virginis Mariae on the Most Holy Rosary (October 16, 2002) &#124; John Paul II|website=www.vatican.va}}</ref>
In modern times, [[centering prayer]], which is also called "Prayer of the heart" and "Prayer of Simplicity,"{{refn|group=note|name="prayer of simplicity"}} has been popularized by [[Thomas Keating]], drawing on Hesychasm and the ''Cloud of Unknowing''.{{refn|group=note|"Over the centuries, this prayer has been called by various names such as the Prayer of Faith, Prayer of the Heart, Prayer of Simplicity, Prayer of Simple Regard, Active Recollection, Active Quiet and Acquired Contemplation"<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.contemplativeoutreach.org/sites/default/files/newsletter-pdf/04_05conewsletter.pdf|title=Thomas Keating, ''Centering Prayer and the Christian Contemplative Tradition''|access-date=2022-12-17|archive-date=2016-05-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160509062919/http://www.contemplativeoutreach.org/sites/default/files/newsletter-pdf/04_05conewsletter.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>}} The practice of contemplative prayer has also been encouraged by the formation of associations like [[The Julian Meetings]] and the [http://www.fellowshipofmeditation.org Fellowship of Meditation].

====Unification====
{{Main|Theosis (Eastern Christian theology)}}

The third phase, starting with infused or higher contemplation (or Mystical Contemplative Prayer{{sfn|Lehodey|1982|p=}}) in the Western tradition, refers to the presence or consciousness of God. This presence or consciousness varies, but it is first and foremost always associated with a reuniting with divine ''love'', the underlying theme being that God, the perfect goodness,{{sfn|Anon.|1857|p=}} is known or experienced at least as much by the heart as by the intellect since, in the words [[1 John]] 4:16: "God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God and God in him." Some approaches to classical mysticism would consider the first two phases as preparatory to the third, explicitly mystical experience, but others state that these three phases overlap and intertwine.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hunt |first1=Harry T. |title=Experiences of Radical Personal Transformation in Mysticism, Religious Conversion, and Psychosis: A Review of the Varieties, Processes, and Consequences of the Numinous |journal=The Journal of Mind and Behavior |date=2000 |volume=21 |issue=4 |pages=353–397 |jstor=43853939 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/43853939 |access-date=24 October 2021 |issn=0271-0137}}</ref>

In the Orthodox Churches, the highest theoria, the highest consciousness that can be experienced by the whole person, is the vision of God.{{refn|group=note|That is to say, the man who beholds the uncreated light sees it because he is united with God. He sees it with his inner eyes, and also with his bodily eyes, which, however, have been altered by God's action. Consequently, theoria is union with God. And this union is knowledge of God. At this time one is granted knowledge of God, which is above human knowledge and above the senses.<ref name="Vlachos psych6.2"/>}} God is beyond being; He is a hyper-being; God is beyond nothingness. Nothingness is a gulf between God and man. God is the origin of everything, including nothingness. This experience of God in hypostasis shows God's essence as incomprehensible, or uncreated. God is the origin, but has no origin; hence, he is [[Apophatic theology|apophatic]] and [[transcendence (religion)|transcendent]] in [[ousia|essence]] or being, and [[cataphatic]] in [[Hypostasis (philosophy)|foundational realities]], [[immanence]] and [[Essence-Energies distinction|energies]]. This [[ontic]] or [[ontological]] theoria is the observation of God.<ref name="Vlachos psych6">{{cite book |last1=Vlachos |first1=Hierotheos |title=Orthodox psychotherapy|edition=2005 reissued |date=1994 |publisher=Birth of the Theotokos Monastery |location=Levadia, Greece |isbn=978-960-7070-27-2 |chapter=VI. Orthodox Epistemology |id=By Metropolitan [[Hierotheos Vlachos]] |access-date=September 12, 2010|chapter-url=https://www.pelagia.org/orthodox-psychotherapy.en.aspx |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090105041142/http://www.pelagia.org/htm/b02.en.orthodox_psychotherapy.06.htm#2k |archive-date=January 5, 2009 }}</ref>

A nous in a state of ecstasy or ekstasis, called the eighth day, is not internal or external to the world, outside of time and space; it experiences the [[Infinity|infinite]] and limitless God.{{refn|group=note|name="CWS65"}}{{refn|group=note|name="Vladimir Lossky p. 27"|Vladimir Lossky: "It is necessary to renounce both sense and all the workings of reason, everything which may be known by the senses or the understanding, both that which is and all that is not, in order to be able to attain in perfect ignorance to union with Him who transcends all being and all knowledge. It is already evident that this is not simply a question of a process of dialectic but of something else: a purification, a katharis, is necessary. One must abandon all that is impure and even all that is pure. One must then scale the most sublime heights of sanctity leaving behind one all the divine luminaries, all the heavenly sounds and words. It is only thus that one may penetrate to the darkness wherein He who is beyond all created things makes His dwelling."<ref>Mystical Theology of the Eastern Church by Vladimir Lossky, p. 27)</ref>}} ''[[Nous]]'' is the "eye of the soul" (Matthew 6:22–34).{{refn|group=note|"The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!" [[NRSV]] But what is the noetic function? In the Holy Scriptures there is, already, the distinction between the spirit of man (his nous) and the intellect (the logos or mind). The spirit of man in patristics is called nous to distinguish it from the Holy Spirit. The spirit, the nous, is the eye of the soul (see Matt. 6:226).<ref>Faith And Science In Orthodox Gnosiology and Methodology by [[George Metallinos]] [http://www.romanity.org/mir/me01en.htm]</ref>}} Insight into being and becoming (called [[wikt:noesis|noesis]]) through the intuitive truth called faith, in God (action through faith and [[theophilia|love for God]]), leads to truth through our contemplative faculties. This [[theory]], or speculation, as action in faith and love for God, is then expressed famously as "Beauty shall Save the World". This expression comes from a [[Mysticism|mystical]] or [[gnosiology|gnosiological]] perspective, rather than a scientific, philosophical or cultural one.<ref>Saint [[Symeon the New Theologian]] On Faith Palmer, G.E.H; Sherrard, Philip; Ware, Kallistos (Timothy). The Philokalia, Vol. 4</ref><ref>[[Nikitas Stithatos]] (Nikitas Stethatos) On the Practice of the Virtues: One Hundred Texts</ref><ref>Nikitas Stithatos (Nikitas Stethatos) On the Inner Nature of Things and on the Purification of the Intellect: One Hundred Texts</ref><ref>Nikitas Stithatos (Nikitas Stethatos) On [[gnosis|Spiritual Knowledge]], Love and the Perfection of Living: One Hundred Texts</ref>

===Alternate models===

====Augustine====
In the advance to contemplation [[Augustine of Hippo|Augustine]] spoke of seven stages:<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=TdaLXztTZvAC&dq=Aumann+%22seventh+and+final%22&pg=PA64 Jordan Aumann, ''Christian Spirituality in the Catholic Tradition'' (Ignatius Press 1985] {{ISBN|978-0-89870068-8}}), p. 64</ref>
# the first three are merely natural preliminary stages, corresponding to the vegetative, sensitive and rational levels of human life; 
# the fourth stage is that of virtue or purification; 
# the fifth is that of the tranquillity attained by control of the passions; 
# the sixth is entrance into the divine light (the illuminative stage); 
# the seventh is the indwelling or unitive stage that is truly mystical contemplation.

====Meister Eckhart====
[[Meister Eckhart]] did not articulate clear-cut stages,<ref>James Clark, as cited in Forman (1987), ''Eckhart's Stages of Mystical Progression''</ref> yet a number of divisions can be found in his works.<ref>{{cite book | chapter-url=https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/mono/10.4324/9781315657790-12/stages-practices-mystical-perfection-saeed-zarrabi-zadeh | doi=10.4324/9781315657790 | isbn=978-1-315-65779-0 | title=Practical Mysticism in Islam and Christianity | chapter=Conclusion | date=2016 | publisher=Routledge | last1=Zarrabi-Zadeh | first1=Saeed }}</ref>

====Teresa of Avila====
[[File:Josefa de Óbidos, La transverbération de Sainte Thérèse (1672).jpg|thumb|Ecstasy of Saint [[Teresa of Avila]] by [[Josefa de Óbidos]] (1672)]]

According to Jordan Aumann, Saint [[Teresa of Ávila]] distinguishes nine grades of prayer:
# vocal prayer, 
# [[mental prayer]] or prayer of meditation, 
# affective prayer,
# prayer of simplicity, or acquired contemplation or recollection, 
# infused contemplation or recollection,
# prayer of quiet,
# prayer of union,
# prayer of conforming union, and
# prayer of transforming union.

According to Aumann, "The first four grades belong to the predominantly ascetical stage of spiritual life; the remaining five grades are infused prayer and belong to the mystical phase of spiritual life."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.catholic-church.org/~grace/growing/9grades.htm|title=St|website=www.catholic-church.org}}</ref> According to Augustin Pulain, for Teresa, ordinary prayer "comprises these four degrees: first, vocal prayer; second, meditation, also called methodical prayer, or prayer of reflection, in which may be included meditative reading; third, affective prayer; fourth, prayer of simplicity, or of simple gaze."<ref name="CE"/>

=====Prayer of simplicity – natural or acquired contemplation=====
For Teresa, in natural or acquired contemplation, also called the prayer of simplicity{{refn|group=note|name="prayer of simplicity"}} there is one dominant thought or sentiment which recurs constantly and easily (although with little or no development) amid many other thoughts, beneficial or otherwise. The prayer of simplicity often has a tendency to simplify itself even in respect to its object, leading one to think chiefly of God and of his presence, but in a confused manner.<ref name="CE" /> Definitions similar to that of Saint Alphonsus Maria de Liguori are given by Adolphe Tanquerey ("a simple gaze on God and divine things proceeding from love and tending thereto") and Saint [[Francis de Sales]] ("a loving, simple and permanent attentiveness of the mind to divine things").<ref name="Inner">[https://books.google.com/books?id=8Y2gX6JQr-4C&pg=PA24 William Johnston, ''The Inner Eye of Love: Mysticism and Religion''] (Harper Collins 2004 {{ISBN|0-8232-1777-9}}), p. 24</ref>

In the words of Saint [[Alphonsus Maria de Liguori]], acquired contemplation "consists in seeing at a simple glance the truths which could previously be discovered only through prolonged discourse": reasoning is largely replaced by intuition and affections and resolutions, though not absent, are only slightly varied and expressed in a few words. Similarly, Saint [[Ignatius of Loyola]], in his 30-day retreat or [[Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius of Loyola|Spiritual Exercises]] beginning in the "second week" with its focus on the life of Jesus, describes less reflection and more simple contemplation on the events of Jesus' life. These contemplations consist mainly in a simple gaze and include an "application of the senses" to the events,<ref name="spirex">{{Cite web|url=http://spex.ignatianspirituality.com/SpiritualExercises/Puhl|title=Louis J. Puhl, S.J. Translation – The Spiritual Exercises|website=Ignatian Spirituality |access-date=7 March 2017}}</ref>{{rp|121}} to further one's empathy for Jesus' values, "to love him more and to follow him more closely."<ref name=spirex/>{{rp|104}}

Natural or acquired contemplation has been compared to the attitude of a mother watching over the cradle of her child: she thinks lovingly of the child without reflection and amid interruptions. The ''[[Catechism of the Catholic Church]]'' states: 
{{blockquote|What is contemplative prayer? St. Teresa answers: 'Contemplative [sic]{{refn|group=note|Mental prayer, "oración mental," is not contemplative prayer.{{sfnp|Wallenfang|Wallenfang|2021|p="B. Mental Prayer or the Prayer of meditation"}}{{sfnp|Hollenback|1996|p=535}}{{sfnp|Wyhe|2008|p=174}}}} prayer [oración mental] in my opinion is nothing else than a close sharing between friends; it means taking time frequently to be alone with him who we know loves us.' Contemplative prayer seeks him 'whom my soul loves'. It is Jesus, and in him, the Father. We seek him, because to desire him is always the beginning of love, and we seek him in that pure faith which causes us to be born of him and to live in him. In this inner prayer we can still meditate, but our attention is fixed on the Lord himself.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p4s1c3a1.htm|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160801003944/https://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p4s1c3a1.htm|url-status=dead|title=Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2709|archivedate=August 1, 2016}}</ref>}}

=====Infused or higher contemplation=====
In the mystical experience of Teresa of Avila, infused or higher contemplation, also called intuitive, passive or extraordinary, is a supernatural gift by which a person's mind will become totally centered on God.<ref name="MCD">{{Cite web|url=https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/dictionary/index.cfm?id=34205|title=Dictionary : INFUSED CONTEMPLATION|website=www.catholicculture.org}}</ref> It is a form of [[Henosis|mystical union with God]], a union characterized by the fact that it is God, and God only, who manifests himself.<ref name="CE"/> Under this influence of God, which assumes the free cooperation of the human will, the intellect receives special insights into things of the spirit, and the affections are extraordinarily animated with divine love.<ref name="MCD"/> This union that it entails may be linked with manifestations of a created object, as, for example, visions of the humanity of Christ or an angel or revelations of a future event, etc. They include miraculous bodily phenomena sometimes observed in ecstatics.<ref name="CE"/>

In Teresa's mysticism, infused contemplation is described as a "divinely originated, general, non-conceptual, loving awareness of God".<ref name=Dubay>[https://books.google.com/books?id=AsyveSH9P-kC&pg=PT92 Thomas Dubay, ''Fire Within''] (Ignatius Press 1989 {{ISBN|0-89870-263-1}}), chapter 5</ref> According to Dubay:
{{Blockquote |It is a wordless awareness and love that we of ourselves cannot initiate or prolong. The beginnings of this contemplation are brief and frequently interrupted by distractions. The reality is so unimposing that one who lacks instruction can fail to appreciate what exactly is taking place. Initial infused prayer is so ordinary and unspectacular in the early stages that many fail to recognize it for what it is. Yet with generous people, that is, with those who try to live the whole Gospel wholeheartedly and who engage in an earnest prayer life, it is common.<ref name="Dubay"/>}}

According to [[Thomas Dubay]], infused contemplation is the normal, ordinary development of [[Christian meditation|discursive prayer]] (mental prayer, meditative prayer), which it gradually replaces.<ref name="Dubay"/> Dubay considers infused contemplation as common only among "those who try to live the whole Gospel wholeheartedly and who engage in an earnest prayer life". Other writers view contemplative prayer in its infused supernatural form as far from common. [[John Baptist Scaramelli]], reacting in the 17th century against [[Quietism (Christian philosophy)|quietism]], taught that [[asceticism]] and mysticism are two distinct paths to perfection, the former being the normal, ordinary end of the Christian life, and the latter something extraordinary and very rare.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=TdaLXztTZvAC&pg=PA247 Jordan Aumann, ''Christian Spirituality in the Catholic Tradition''] (Sheed & Ward 1985 {{ISBN|0-89870-068-X}}), p. 247 and [https://books.google.com/books?id=BgNyoRwj4VkC&pg=PA273 p. 273]</ref> Jordan Aumann considered that this idea of the two paths was "an innovation in spiritual theology and a departure from the traditional Catholic teaching".<ref>Aumann, ''Christian Spirituality in the Catholic Tradition'', p. 248</ref> And [[Jacques Maritain]] proposed that one should not say that every mystic necessarily enjoys habitual infused contemplation in the mystical state, since the gifts of the Holy Spirit are not limited to intellectual operations.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=TdaLXztTZvAC&pg=PA276 Aumann, ''Christian Spirituality in the Catholic Tradition''], p. 276</ref>

=====Mystical union=====
According to Charles G. Herbermann, in the [[Catholic Encyclopedia]] (1908), Teresa of Avila described four degrees or stages of mystical union: 
# incomplete mystical union, or the [[prayer of quiet]] or supernatural recollection, when the action of God is not strong enough to prevent distractions, and the imagination still retains a certain liberty;
# full or semi-ecstatic union, when the strength of the divine action keeps the person fully occupied but the senses continue to act, so that by making an effort, the person can cease from prayer;
# ecstatic union, or ecstasy, when communications with the external world are severed or nearly so, and one can no longer at will move from that state; and
# transforming or deifying union, or spiritual marriage (properly) of the soul with God.
The first three are weak, medium, and the energetic states of the same grace.

=====The Prayer of Quiet=====
For Teresa of Avila, the Prayer of Quiet is a state in which the soul experiences an extraordinary peace and rest, accompanied by delight or pleasure in contemplating [[God in Christianity|God]] as present.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Way of Perfection |author=St Teresa of Ávila |author-link=Teresa of Ávila |translator=Benedictines of Stanbrook Abbey |chapter= 31. Prayer of Quiet |date=2007 |publisher=Cosimo, Inc. |isbn=978-1-60206-261-0 |page=177 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HM_Ry1PxbdMC&dq=Prayer+of+Quiet&pg=PA177}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=The Interior Castle |author=St Teresa of Ávila |author-link=Teresa of Ávila |translator=The Benedictines of Stanbrook |editor=Benedict Zimmerman |date=1921 |chapter=The Fourth Mansions: Chapter III. Prayer of Quiet |location=London |publisher=Thomas Baker |page=104 |chapter-url=http://www.sacred-texts.com/chr/tic/tic12.htm}}</ref><ref>[http://www.catholic-church.org/grace/growing/9grades/grade6.htm Grade 6: Prayer of the Quiet] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191218094613/http://www.catholic-church.org/grace/growing/9grades/grade6.htm |date=2019-12-18 }} catholic-church.org.</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=An introduction to the psychology of religion|last=Thouless|first=Robert Henry|author-link=Robert Henry Thouless |date=1971|publisher=CUP Archive|isbn=0-521-09665-0|page=125 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aGg4AAAAIAAJ&dq=%22Prayer+of+Quiet%22&pg=PA125 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author-link=Alphonsus Liguori |last1=Liguori |first1=Alfonso Maria de' |title=Selected writings |date=1999 |publisher=Paulist Press |location=New York |isbn=0-8091-3771-2 |page=176 |chapter=14. Prayer of Quiet|editor=Frederick M. Jones |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aTg754j-lt0C&pg=RA1-PA176}}</ref> The Prayer of Quiet is also discussed in the writings of [[Francis de Sales]], [[Thomas Merton]] and others.<ref>{{cite book |title=Teresa of Ávila: The Book of My Life|last=Bielecki|first=Tessa |translator=Mirabai Starr |date=2008|publisher=Shambhala Publications|isbn=978-1-59030-573-7|chapter= 15. Prayer of Quiet|page=102 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wVLtJ-JFVcQC&dq=%22Prayer+of+Quiet%22&pg=PA102 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=The ascent to truth|chapter= 14. Intelligence in the Prayer of Quiet|last=Merton|first=Thomas  |author-link=Thomas Merton|date=1976|publisher=Continuum International Publishing Group|isbn=0-86012-024-4|page=161 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DQwVb71chm4C&dq=%22Prayer+of+Quiet%22&pg=PA161 }}</ref>

====Evelyn Underhill====
Author and mystic [[Evelyn Underhill]] recognizes two additional phases to the mystical path. First comes the awakening, the stage in which one begins to have some consciousness of absolute or divine reality. Purgation and illumination are followed by a fourth stage which Underhill, borrowing the language of [[St. John of the Cross]], calls the [[Dark Night of the Soul|dark night of the soul]]. This stage, experienced by the few, is one of final and complete purification and is marked by confusion, helplessness, stagnation of the [[will (philosophy)|will]], and a sense of the withdrawal of God's presence. This dark night of the soul is not, in Underhill's conception, the Divine Darkness of the pseudo-Dionysius and German Christian mysticism. It is the period of final "unselfing" and the surrender to the hidden purposes of the divine will. Her fifth and final stage is union with the object of love, the one Reality, God. Here the self has been permanently established on a transcendental level and liberated for a new purpose.{{sfn|Greene|1987|pp=22–38}}

==Eastern Orthodox Christianity==
{{Main|Hesychasm}}

[[Eastern Christianity]] has preserved a mystical emphasis in its theology{{sfn|Lossky|1976|p=}} and retains in [[hesychasm]] a tradition of [[mystical prayer]] dating back to Christianity's beginnings. Hesychasm concerns a spiritual transformation of the egoic self, the following of a path designed to produce more fully realized human persons, "created in the Image and Likeness of God" and as such, living in harmonious communion with God, the Church,{{citation needed|date=August 2022}} the rest of the world, and all creation, including oneself. The [[Eastern Orthodox Christianity|Eastern Christian]] tradition speaks of this transformation in terms of [[Theosis (Eastern Orthodox theology)|theosis]] or divinization, perhaps best summed up by an ancient aphorism usually attributed to [[Athanasius of Alexandria]]: "God became human so that man might become god."{{refn|group=note|Literally, "God became man so that man might become god."  Here, ''man'' is understood as ''human'' and no debate exists within the Church concerning a contrary interpretation.}}

According to [[John Romanides]], in the teachings of [[Eastern Orthodox Christianity]] the quintessential purpose and goal of the Christian life is to attain ''[[Theosis (Eastern Orthodox theology)|theosis]]'' or 'deification', understood as 'likeness to' or 'union with' God.<!-- **START OF NOTE** -->{{refn|group=note|(Greek for "making divine",<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://artfl-project.uchicago.edu/?c.27:3:174.lsj|title=The ARTFL Project &#124; The ARTFL Project|website=artfl-project.uchicago.edu}}</ref> "deification",<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://greekorthodoxchurch.org/theosis_purpose.html|title=Theosis - Deification As The Purpose Of Man's Life|website=greekorthodoxchurch.org}}</ref><ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=https://www.greekorthodoxchurch.org/union_with_god_kallistos_katafytiotis_angelikoudis.html|title=On Union With God and Life of Theoria by Kallistos Katafygiotis (Kallistos Angelikoudis) |website=www.greekorthodoxchurch.org}}</ref> "to become gods by Grace",<ref name="auto"/> and for "divinization", "reconciliation, union with God."<ref>Fellow Workers With God: Orthodox Thinking on Theosis (Foundations) by Normal Russell p.</ref> and "glorification"){{sfn|Kapsanēs|2006}} According to John Ramonides, theosis is "the selfless love of glorification (theosis) dedicated to the common good." — [[John Romanides]]<ref name="under Romanity"/>}}<!-- **END OF NOTE** --> ''Theosis'' is expressed as "Being, union with God" and having a relationship or [[synergy]] between God and man.{{refn|group=note|Metropolitan Hierotheos Vlachos: "Theosis-Divinisation is the participation in the Uncreated grace of God. Theosis is identified and connected with the theoria (vision) of the Uncreated Light (see note above). It is called theosis in grace because it is attained through the energy, of the divine grace. It is a co-operation of God with man, since God is He Who operates and man is he who co-operates."<ref>The Difference Between Orthodox Spirituality and Other Traditions by Metropolitan [[Hierotheos Vlachos]] [http://www.orthodoxinfo.com/inquirers/hierotheos_difference.aspx]</ref>}} God ''is'' the Kingdom of Heaven.

''Theosis'' or unity with God is obtained by engaging in [[contemplative prayer]], the first stage of ''theoria'',<ref name="Vlachos_difference"/>{{refn|group=note|name=MHV|Metropolitan Hierotheos Vlachos: "Noetic prayer is the first stage of theoria."<ref name="Vlachos_difference"/>}} which results from the cultivation of watchfulness (Gk: ''[[nepsis]]''). In ''theoria'', one comes to see or "behold" God or "uncreated light," a grace which is "uncreated."{{refn|group=note|[[Theophan the Recluse]]: "The contemplative mind sees God, in so far as this is possible for man."<ref>[[Theophan the Recluse]], ''What Is prayer?''. Cited in ''The Art of Prayer: An Orthodox Anthology'', p.73, compiled by Igumen Chariton of Valamo, trans, E. Kadloubovsky and E.M. Palmer, ed. Timothy Ware, 1966, Faber & Faber, London.</ref>}}{{refn|group=note|Metropolitan Hierotheos Vlachos: "This is what Saint Symeon the New Theologian teaches. In his poems, proclaims over and over that, while beholding the uncreated Light, the deified man acquires the Revelation of God the Trinity. Being in "theoria" (vision of God), the saints do not confuse the hypostatic attributes. The fact that the Latin tradition came to the point of confusing these hypostatic attributes and teaching that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Son also, shows the non-existence of empirical theology for them. Latin tradition speaks also of created grace, a fact which suggests that there is no experience of the grace of God. For, when man obtains the experience of God, then he comes to understand well that this grace is uncreated. Without this experience there can be no genuine "therapeutic tradition.""<ref name="Vlachos_difference">Metropolitan Hierotheos Vlachos, [http://orthodoxinfo.com/inquirers/hierotheos_difference.aspx ''The Difference Between Orthodox Spirituality and Other Traditions'']</ref>}} In the Eastern Christian traditions, theoria is the most critical component needed for a person to be considered a theologian; however it is not necessary for one's salvation.<ref name=autogenerated2>The Vision of God, SVS Press, 1997. ({{ISBN|0-913836-19-2}})</ref> An experience of God is necessary to the spiritual and mental health of every created thing, including human beings.{{sfn|Romanides|1981b|loc="Diagnosis and Therapy"}} Knowledge of God is not intellectual, but existential. According to eastern theologian Andrew Louth, the purpose of theology as a science is to prepare for contemplation,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://sce.sagepub.com/content/17/1/69.abstract|title=Andrew Louth, ''Theology, Contemplation and the University'' (abstract)}}</ref> rather than theology being the purpose of contemplation.

''Theoria'' is the main aim of [[hesychasm]], which has its roots in the contemplative practices taught by [[Evagrius Ponticus]] (345–399), [[John Climacus]] (6th–7th century), [[Maximus the Confessor]] (c. 580–662), and [[Symeon the New Theologian]] (949–1022).{{sfnp|Ware|1995|p=5}} John Climacus, in his influential ''[[Ladder of Divine Ascent]]'', describes several stages of contemplative or hesychast practice, culminating in ''[[agape]]''. Symeon believed that direct experience gave monks the authority to preach and give absolution of sins, without the need for formal ordination. While Church authorities also taught from a speculative and philosophical perspective, Symeon taught from his own direct mystical experience,<ref name="deCatanzaro9-10">[[#refdeCatanzaro1980|deCatanzaro 1980]], pp. 9–10.</ref> and met with strong resistance for his charismatic approach, and his support of individual direct experience of God's grace.<ref name="deCatanzaro9-10"/> According to John Romanides, this difference in teachings on the possibility to experience God or the uncreated light is at the very heart of many theological conflicts between Eastern Orthodox Christianity and Western Christianity, which is seen to culminate in the conflict over [[hesychasm]].{{sfn|Romanides|1981b}}<!-- **START OF NOTE** -->{{refn|group=note|A basic characteristic of the Frankish scholastic method, mislead by Augustinian Platonism and Thomistic Aristotelianism, had been its naive confidence in the objective existence of things rationally speculated about. By following Augustine, the Franks substituted the patristic concern for spiritual observation, (which they had found firmly established in Gaul when they first conquered the area) with a fascination for metaphysics. They did not suspect that such speculations had foundations neither in created nor in spiritual reality. No one would today accept as true what is not empirically observable, or at least verifiable by inference, from an attested effect. so it is with patristic theology. Dialectical speculation about God and the Incarnation as such are rejected. Only those things which can be tested by the experience of the grace of God in the heart are to be accepted. "Be not carried about by divers and strange teachings. For it is good that the heart by confirmed by grace," a passage from Hebrews 13.9, quoted by the Fathers to this effect.{{sfn|Romanides|1981b}}}}<!-- **END OF NOTE** -->

According to John Romanides, following [[Vladimir Lossky]]<ref>The mystical theology of the Eastern Church By Vladimir Lossky pp. 237–238 [https://books.google.com/books?id=dxqvWwPSCSwC&q=losing+sight+of+its+final+goal]</ref> in his interpretation of St. [[Gregory Palamas]], the teaching that God is transcendent (incomprehensible in [[ousia]], essence or being), has led in the West to the (mis)understanding that God cannot be experienced in this life.{{refn|group=note|www.monachos.net: "At the heart of Barlaam's teaching is the idea that God cannot truly be perceived by man; that God the Transcendent can never be wholly known by man, who is created and finite."<ref>monachos.net, [http://www.monachos.net/content/patristics/studies-fathers/62-gregory-palamas-knowledge-prayer-and-vision ''Gregory Palma''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091119191939/http://www.monachos.net/content/patristics/studies-fathers/62-gregory-palamas-knowledge-prayer-and-vision |date=2009-11-19 }}</ref>}} Romanides states that Western theology is more dependent upon logic and reason, culminating in scholasticism used to validate truth and the existence of God, than upon establishing a relationship with God ([[Theosis (Eastern Orthodox theology)|theosis]] and theoria).{{refn|group=note|Romanides: "And, indeed, the Franks believed that the prophets and apostles did not see God himself, except possibly with the exception of Moses and Paul. What the prophets and apostles allegedly did see and hear were phantasmic symbols of God, whose purpose was to pass on concepts about God to human reason. Whereas these symbols passed into and out of existence, the human nature of Christ is a permanent reality and the best conveyor of concepts about God.{{sfn|Romanides|1981a}}}}<!-- **START OF NOTE** -->{{refn|group=note|Romanides ideas have been very influential in the contemporary Greek Orthodox Churches, and are supported by man like [[Metropolitan Hierotheos (Vlachos) of Nafpaktos]],<ref>The Difference Between Orthodox Spirituality and Other Traditions by Metropolitan Hierotheos Vlachos [http://www.orthodoxinfo.com/inquirers/hierotheos_difference.aspx]</ref> [[Thomas Hopko]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.stnicholaspdx.org/2007/12/01/26.mysticism-women-and-the-christian-orient/ |title=St. Nicholas Orthodox Church » Mysticism, Women and the Christian Orient |publisher=Stnicholaspdx.org |access-date=September 4, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110728061824/http://www.stnicholaspdx.org/2007/12/01/26.mysticism-women-and-the-christian-orient/ |archive-date=July 28, 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Professor [[George D. Metallinos]]{{refn|group=subnote|"We have a culture that creates saints, holy people. Our people's ideal is not to create wisemen. Nor was this the ideal of ancient Hellenic culture and civilization. Hellenic anthropocentric (human-centered) Humanism is transformed into Theanthropism (God-humanism) and its ideal is now the creation of Saints, Holy people who have reached the state of theosis (deification)."<ref>{{Citation|url=http://www.romanity.org/mir/me04en.htm|date=1995|author=George D. Metallinos|title=Orthodox and European Civilization: The struggle between Hellenism and Frankism |via=www.romanity.org|id=[Excerpts from the speech of Fr. Georgios Metallinos, Professor at the University of Athens, during the February 1995 Theological Conference in Pirgos, Greece.]}}</ref>}} [[Nikolaos Loudovikos]], [[Dumitru Stăniloae]], [[Stanley S. Harakas]] and Archimandrite George, Abbot of the Holy Monastery of St. Gregorios of [[Mount Athos]].{{sfn|Kapsanēs|2006}}}}<!-- **END OF NOTE** -->

===False spiritual knowledge===
In the Orthodox Churches, theoria is regarded to lead to true spiritual knowledge, in contrast to the false or incomplete knowledge of rational thought (c.q. [[conjecture]], [[speculation]],{{refn|group=note|name="Vladimir Lossky p. 27"}} ''[[Thought|dianoia]]'', ''[[stochastic]]'' and [[dialectics]]).<ref>"Those who speak from their own thoughts, before having acquired purity, are seduced by the spirit of self-esteem." St. [[Gregory of Sinai]]</ref> After illumination or theoria, humanity is in union with God and can properly discern, or have [[holy]] [[wisdom]]. Hence theoria, the experience or vision of God, silences all humanity.

The most common false spiritual knowledge is derived not from an experience of God, but from reading another person's experience of God and subsequently arriving at one's own conclusions, believing those conclusions to be indistinguishable from the actual experienced knowledge.

False spiritual knowledge can also be [[wikt:iniquitous|iniquitous]], generated from an evil rather than a holy source. The gift of the knowledge of good and evil is then required, which is given by God. Humanity, in its finite existence as created beings or creatures, can never, by its own accord, arrive at a sufficiently objective consciousness. Theosis is the gradual submission of a person to the good, who then with [[divine grace]] from the person's relationship or union with God, attains deification. Illumination restores humanity to that state of faith existent in God, called ''[[wikt:noesis|noesis]]'', before humanity's consciousness and reality was changed by [[Fall of Man|their fall]].<ref name="vlachos ch 2"/>

====Spiritual somnolence====
In the orthodox Churches, false spiritual knowledge is regarded as leading to spiritual delusion (Russian prelest, Greek plani), which is the opposite of [[sobriety]]. Sobriety (called [[nepsis]]) means full consciousness and self-realization ([[Self-awareness|enstasis]]), giving true spiritual knowledge (called true gnosis).<ref>*''History of Russian Philosophy «История российской Философии »''(1951) by N. O. Lossky [section on V. Lossky] p. 400. Allen & Unwin: London. International Universities Press Inc: New York. {{ASIN|B000H45QTY}} {{ISBN|978-0-8236-8074-0}} sponsored by [[Saint Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary]]</ref> Prelest or plani is the estrangement of the person to existence or objective reality, an alienation called [[wiktionary:αμαρτία|amartía]]. This includes damaging or vilifying the nous, or simply having a non-functioning [[Nous|noetic]] and [[Nepsis|neptic]] faculty.{{refn|group=note|Man has a malfunctioning or non-functioning noetic faculty in the heart, and it is the task especially of the clergy to apply the cure of unceasing memory of God, otherwise called unceasing prayer or illumination. "Those who have selfless love and are friends of God see God in light – divine light, while the selfish and impure see God the judge as fire – darkness".{{sfn|Vlachos|1996}} }}

[[Evil]] is, by definition, the act of turning humanity against its creator and existence. [[Misotheism]], a hatred of God, is a catalyst that separates humanity from nature, or vilifies the realities of [[ontology]], the spiritual world and the natural or material world. Reconciliation between God (the uncreated) and man is reached through submission in faith to God the eternal, i.e. [[transcendence (religion)|transcendence]] rather than [[Sin|transgression]]{{refn|group=note|name="History of Russian Philosophy"}} (magic).

The Trinity as Nous, Word and Spirit ([[hypostasis (philosophy)|hypostasis]]) is, [[ontology|ontologically]], the basis of humanity's being or existence. The Trinity is the creator of humanity's being via each component of humanity's existence: origin as nous ([[creatio ex nihilo|ex nihilo]]), inner experience or spiritual experience, and physical experience, which is exemplified by Christ ([[logos]] or the uncreated prototype of the highest ideal) and his saints. The following of false knowledge is marked by the symptom of [[somnolence]] or "awake sleep" and, later, [[psychosis]].{{sfn|Vlachos|2005}} Theoria is opposed to [[allegorical]] or symbolic interpretations of church traditions.{{sfn|Hall|1998|p=158}}

====False asceticism or cults====
In the Orthodox practice, once the stage of true discernment (diakrisis) is reached (called [[phronema]]), one is able to distinguish false gnosis from valid gnosis and has holy wisdom. The highest holy wisdom, [[Sophia (wisdom)|Sophia]], or [[Hagia Sophia]], is cultivated by humility or meekness, akin to that personified by the [[Theotokos]] and all of the saints that came after her and Christ, collectively referred to as the [[Mother Church|ecclesia]] or church. This community of unbroken witnesses is the [[Eastern Orthodoxy|Orthodox Church]].<ref name="vlachos ch 2"/>

Wisdom is cultivated by humility ([[kenosis|emptying of oneself]]) and [[Memento mori|remembrance of death]] against [[thymos]] ([[Human ego|ego]], greed and [[selfishness]]) and the [[World (theology)|passions]]. Vlachos of Nafpaktos wrote:{{sfn|Vlachos|1996}} 
{{bq|But let him not remain in this condition. If he wishes to see Christ, then let him do what Zacchaeus did. Let him receive the Word in his home, after having previously climbed up into the sycamore tree, 'mortifying his limbs on the earth and raising up the body of humility'.| Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos (1996) |''Life after Death''}} Practicing [[asceticism]] is being dead to the passions and the ego, collectively known as the [[World (theology)|world]].

God is beyond knowledge and the fallen human mind, and, as such, can only be experienced in his hypostases through faith (noetically). False ascetism leads not to reconciliation with God and existence, but toward a false existence based on rebellion to existence.{{refn|group=note|name="History of Russian Philosophy"}}

==Latin Catholic mysticism==
===''Contemplatio''===
In the [[Latin Church]] terms derived from the [[Latin language|Latin]] word ''contemplatio'' such as, in English, "contemplation" are generally used in languages largely derived from Latin, rather than the Greek term ''theoria''. The equivalence of the Latin and Greek terms<ref>Cf. [https://books.google.com/books?id=fGAHVR8funUC&dq=theoria+contemplatio&pg=PT41 Josef Pieper, ''An Anthology'' (Ignatius Press 1989] {{ISBN|978-0-89870226-2}}), 43; [https://books.google.com/books?id=-cFXcXKI5tIC&dq=theoria+contemplatio&pg=PA218 Eugene Victor Walter, ''Placeways'' (UNC Press Books 1988] {{ISBN|978-0-80784200-3}}), p. 218; [https://books.google.com/books?id=2_DEjHziMSUC&dq=theoria+contemplatio&pg=PA89 Thomas Hibbs, ''Aquinas, Ethics and Philosophy of Religion'' (Indiana University Press 2007] {{ISBN|978-0-25311676-5}}), pp. 8, 89; [https://books.google.com/books?id=224SntQu9mcC&dq=theoria+contemplatio&pg=PA63 Steven Chase, ''Angelic Spirituality'' (Paulist Press 2002] {{ISBN|978-0-80913948-4}}), p. 63</ref> was noted by [[John Cassian]], whose writings influenced the whole of Western monasticism,<ref name="britannica.com">{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-John-Cassian|title=Saint John Cassian &#124; Biography, Theology, & Facts &#124; Britannica|website=www.britannica.com|date=21 February 2024 }}</ref> in his ''Conferences''.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=k3CrvJJZkqEC&dq=cassian+theoria+contemplation&pg=PA47 John Cassian, ''The Conferences'' (English translation by Boniface Ramsey, Newman Press 1997] {{ISBN|978-0-80910484-0}}), p. 47</ref> However, Catholic writers do sometimes use the Greek term.<ref> Christopher A. Dustin, [https://books.google.com/books?id=rWvJAAAAQBAJ&q=detached+observation&pg=PA266 "The Liturgy of Theory"] in Bruce T. Morrill et al. (editors), ''Practicing Catholic'' (Palgrave Macmillan 2005) {{ISBN|978-1-40398296-4}}), pp. 257–274;
* Thomas Bénatouïl, Mauro Bonazzi, [https://books.google.com/books?id=S46BpvjzQxUC&dq=theoria+catholic&pg=PA215 ''Theoria, Praxis, and the Contemplative Life after Plato and Aristotle''] (Brill 2012) {{ISBN|978-9-00422532-9}};
* Frans Jozef van Beeck, [https://books.google.com/books?id=kXdY2JwCWLMC&dq=theoria+catholic&pg=PA28 ''God Encountered: A Contemporary Catholic Systematic Theology''] (Liturgical Press 2001) {{ISBN|978-0-81465877-2}}; and in books dealing with Antiochene exegesis</ref>

===Middle ages===
[[File:Giotto - Legend of St Francis - -19- - Stigmatization of St Francis.jpg|thumb|''Stigmatization of St Francis'', by [[Giotto]] ]]

The [[Early Middle Ages]] in the West includes the work of [[Gregory the Great]] and [[Bede]], as well as developments in [[Celtic Christianity]] and [[Anglo-Saxon Christianity]], and comes to fulfillment in the work of [[Johannes Scotus Eriugena]] and the [[Carolingian Renaissance]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=LADNER |first1=GERHART B. |title=The History of Ideas in the Christian Middle Ages: From the Fathers to Dante in American and Canadian Publications of the Years 1940–1952 |journal=Traditio |date=1953 |volume=9 |pages=439–514 |doi=10.1017/S0362152900003822 |jstor=27830285 |s2cid=152099684 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/27830285 |access-date=14 October 2021 |issn=0362-1529|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

The [[High Middle Ages]] saw a flourishing of mystical practice and theorization corresponding to the flourishing of new monastic orders, with such figures as [[Guigo II]], [[Hildegard of Bingen]], [[Bernard of Clairvaux]], the [[Victorines]], all coming from different orders, as well as the first real flowering of [[popular piety]] among the laypeople.

The [[Late Middle Ages]] saw the clash between the [[Dominican Order|Dominican]] and [[Franciscan]] [[school of thought|schools of thought]], which was also a conflict between two different [[mystical theology|mystical theologies]]: on the one hand that of [[Saint Dominic|Dominic de Guzmán]] and on the other that of [[Francis of Assisi]], [[Anthony of Padua]], [[Bonaventure]], [[Jacopone da Todi]], [[Angela of Foligno]]. Moreover, there was the growth of groups of mystics centered on geographic regions: the [[Beguines]], such as [[Mechthild of Magdeburg]] and [[Hadewijch]] (among others); the [[German mysticism|Rhenish]]-Flemish mystics [[Meister Eckhart]], [[Johannes Tauler]], [[Henry Suso]], and [[John of Ruysbroeck]]; and the English mystics [[Richard Rolle]], [[Walter Hilton]] and [[Julian of Norwich]]. This period also saw such individuals as [[Catherine of Siena]] and [[Catherine of Genoa]], the ''[[Devotio Moderna]]'', and such books as the ''[[Theologia Germanica]]'', ''[[The Cloud of Unknowing]]'' and ''[[The Imitation of Christ]]''.{{citation needed|date=November 2019}}

===Counter-reformation===
The Reformation brought about the [[Counter-Reformation]] and, with it, a new flowering of mystical literature, often grouped by nationality.<ref>{{cite web |title=Counter-Reformation {{!}} Definition, Summary, Outcomes, Jesuits, Facts, & Significance |url=https://www.britannica.com/event/Counter-Reformation |website=Encyclopedia Britannica |access-date=14 October 2021 |language=en}}</ref>

====Spanish mysticism====
{{Main|Spanish mystics}}
[[File:Bernini - Santa Teresa em extase.jpg|thumb|''[[Ecstasy of Saint Teresa]]'']]
The Spanish had [[Ignatius Loyola]], whose ''[[Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius of Loyola|Spiritual Exercises]]'' were designed to open people to a receptive mode of consciousness in which they can experience God through careful spiritual direction and through understanding how the mind connects to the will and how to weather the experiences of spiritual [[religious ecstasy|consolation]] and [[spiritual dryness|desolation]];{{sfn|Holmes|2002|pp=94–97}} [[Teresa of Ávila]], who used the metaphors of watering a garden and [[The Interior Castle|walking through the rooms of a castle]] to explain how meditation leads to union with God;{{sfn|Holmes|2002|pp=98–99}} and [[John of the Cross]], who used a wide range of biblical and spiritual influences both to rewrite the traditional "three ways" of mysticism after the manner of bridal mysticism and to present the two "dark nights": the dark night of the senses and the [[Dark Night of the Soul|dark night of the soul]], during which the individual renounces everything that might become an obstacle between the soul and God and then experiences the pain of feeling separated from God, unable to carry on normal spiritual exercises, as it encounters the enormous gap between its human nature and God's divine wisdom and light and moves up the 10-step ladder of ascent towards God.{{sfn|Holmes|2002|pp=99–102}} Another prominent mystic was [[Miguel de Molinos]], the chief apostle of the religious revival known as [[Quietism (Christian philosophy)|Quietism]]. No breath of suspicion arose against Molinos until 1681, when the Jesuit preacher Paolo Segneri, attacked his views, though without mentioning his name, in his ''Concordia tra la fatica e la quiete nell' orazione''. The matter was referred to the Inquisition. A report got abroad that Molinos had been convicted of moral enormities, as well as of heretical doctrines; and it was seen that he was doomed. On September 3, 1687 he made public profession of his errors, and was sentenced to imprisonment for life. Contemporary Protestants saw in the fate of Molinos nothing more than a persecution by the Jesuits of a wise and enlightened man, who had dared to withstand the petty ceremonialism of the Italian piety of the day. Molinos died in prison in 1696 or 1697.<ref>{{cite web |title=Christian Mystics Full Library Part Two Revelations of Divine Love in... |url=https://www.slideshare.net/SharingGodsDream/christian-mystics-full-library-part-two-revelations-of-divine-love-in-christian-mysticism |access-date=6 October 2021 |date=1 October 2015}}</ref>

====Italy====
[[Lorenzo Scupoli]], from Otranto in Apulia, was an Italian mystic best known for authoring ''The Spiritual Combat'', a key work in Catholic mysticism.{{sfn|Gardner|1910}}

====France====
[[File:Maerjelensee Stollen 04.jpg|thumb|Sculpture of [[Our Lady of Lourdes]] in Valais]]

{{Main|French school of spirituality}}
French mystics included [[Francis de Sales]], [[Jeanne Guyon]], [[François Fénelon]], [[Brother Lawrence]] and [[Blaise Pascal]].<ref>{{cite web |title=A medieval mystic untimely born? {{!}} Christian History Magazine |url=https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/magazine/article/lawrence-a-medieval-mystic-untimely-born |website=Christian History Institute |access-date=6 October 2021 |language=en}}</ref>

==Protestant mysticism==

===Reformation===
The [[Protestant Reformation]] downplayed mysticism, although it still produced a fair amount of spiritual literature. Even the most active reformers can be linked to Medieval mystical traditions. [[Martin Luther]], for instance, was a monk who was influenced by the German Dominican mystical tradition of Eckhart and Tauler as well by the Dionysian-influenced ''Wesenmystik'' ("essence mysticism") tradition. He also published the ''[[Theologia Germanica]]'', which he claimed was the most important book after the Bible and Augustine for teaching him about God, Christ, and humanity.{{sfn|Holmes|2002|pp=125–127}} Even [[John Calvin]], who rejected many Medieval ascetic practices and who favored doctrinal knowledge of God over affective experience, has Medieval influences, namely, [[Jean Gerson]] and the ''Devotio Moderna'', with its emphasis on piety as the method of spiritual growth in which the individual practices dependence on God by imitating Christ and the son-father relationship. Meanwhile, his notion that we can begin to enjoy our eternal [[Salvation in Christianity|salvation]] through our earthly successes leads in later generations to "a mysticism of consolation".{{sfn|Holmes|2002|pp=127–128}}
Nevertheless, Protestantism was not devoid of mystics. Several leaders of the [[Radical Reformation]] had mystical leanings such as [[Caspar Schwenckfeld]] and [[Sebastian Franck]]. The Magisterial traditions also produced mystics, notably [[Peter Sterry]] (Calvinist) and [[Johann Arndt]] (Lutheran). An original thinker, formally in the Lutheran tradition but a forerunner of Christian theosophy, was [[Jakob Böhme]].

As part of the [[Protestant Reformation]], theologians turned away from the traditions developed in the Middle Ages and returned to what they consider to be biblical and early Christian practices. Accordingly, they were often skeptical of Catholic mystical practices, which seemed to them to downplay the role of grace in redemption and to support the idea that human works can play a role in salvation. Thus, Protestant theology developed a strong critical attitude, oftentimes even an animosity towards Christian mysticism.{{sfn|Cornuz|2003|p=149}} However, [[Religious Society of Friends|Quakers]], [[Methodists]], [[Episcopal Church (United States)|Episcopalians]], [[Lutherans]], [[Presbyterians]], [[The Local Church (affiliation)|Local Churches]], [[Pentecostals]], [[Adventism|Adventists]], and [[Charismatic Movement|Charismatics]] have in various ways remained open to the idea of mystical experiences.{{sfn|Fremantle|1964|p=}}

====England====
The English had a denominational mix, from Catholic [[Augustine Baker]] and [[Julian of Norwich]] (the first woman to write in English), to Anglicans [[William Law]], [[John Donne]], and [[Lancelot Andrewes]], to Puritans [[Richard Baxter]] and [[John Bunyan]] (''[[The Pilgrim's Progress]]''), to the first "Quaker", [[George Fox]] and the first "Methodist", [[John Wesley]], who was well-versed in the continental mystics.{{citation needed|date=November 2019}}

An example of "scientific reason lit up by mysticism in the Church of England"{{sfn|Sencourt|1925|p=126}}is seen in the work of Sir [[Thomas Browne]], a Norwich physician and scientist whose thought often meanders into mystical realms, as in his self-portrait, ''[[Religio Medici]]'', and in the "mystical mathematics" of ''[[The Garden of Cyrus]]'', whose full running title reads, ''Or, The Quincuncial Lozenge, or Network Plantations of the ancients, Naturally, Artificially, Mystically considered''. Browne's highly original and dense symbolism frequently involves scientific, medical, or optical imagery to illustrate a religious or spiritual truth, often to striking effect, notably in ''Religio Medici'', but also in his posthumous advisory ''[[Christian Morals]]''.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Coulehan |first1=Jack |title=Everything in Its Proper Season: Sir Thomas Browne's Religio Medici |journal=Journal of General Internal Medicine |date=May 2010 |volume=25 |issue=5 |pages=478–479 |doi=10.1007/s11606-010-1307-z |pmid=20229138 |access-date=|pmc=2855008 }}</ref>

Browne's [[latitudinarian]] Anglicanism, [[Hermeticism|hermetic]] inclinations, and [[Michel de Montaigne|Montaigne]]-like self-analysis on the enigmas, idiosyncrasies, and devoutness of his own personality and soul, along with his observations upon the relationship between science and faith, are on display in ''[[Religio Medici]]''. His spiritual testament and psychological self-portrait thematically structured upon the Christian virtues of Faith, Hope and Charity, also reveal him as "one of the immortal spirits waiting to introduce the reader to his own unique and intense experience of reality".{{sfn|Huxley|1929|p=}} Though his work is difficult and rarely read, he remains, paradoxically, one of England's perennial, yet first, "scientific" mystics.{{citation needed|date=November 2019}}

====Germany====
Similarly, well-versed in the mystic tradition was the German [[Johann Arndt]], who, along with the English Puritans, influenced such continental [[pietism|Pietists]] as [[Philipp Jakob Spener]], [[Gottfried Arnold]], [[Nicholas Ludwig von Zinzendorf]] of the [[Moravians (ethnic group)|Moravians]], and the hymnodist [[Gerhard Tersteegen]]. Arndt, whose book ''True Christianity'' was popular among Protestants, Catholics and Anglicans alike, combined influences from Bernard of Clairvaux, John Tauler and the ''Devotio Moderna'' into a spirituality that focused its attention away from the theological squabbles of contemporary Lutheranism and onto the development of the ''new life'' in the heart and mind of the believer.{{sfn|Holmes|2002|pp=136–137}} Arndt influenced Spener, who formed a group known as the ''collegia pietatis'' ("college of piety") that stressed the role of [[spiritual direction]] among lay-people—a practice with a long tradition going back to [[Aelred of Rievaulx]] and known in Spener's own time from the work of [[Francis de Sales]]. Pietism as known through Spener's formation of it tended not just to reject the theological debates of the time, but to reject both intellectualism and organized religious practice in favor of a personalized, sentimentalized spirituality.{{sfn|Holmes|2002|pp=136–138}}

====Pietism====
This sentimental, anti-intellectual form of pietism is seen in the thought and teaching of Zinzendorf, founder of the [[Moravian Church|Moravians]]; but more intellectually rigorous forms of pietism are seen in the teachings of [[John Wesley]], which were themselves influenced by Zinzendorf, and in the teachings of American preachers [[Jonathan Edwards (theologian)|Jonathan Edwards]], who restored to pietism Gerson's focus on obedience and borrowed from early church teachers [[Origen]] and [[Gregory of Nyssa]] the notion that humans yearn for God,{{sfn|Holmes|2002|pp=138–139}} and [[John Woolman]], who combined a mystical view of the world with a deep concern for social issues; like Wesley, Woolman was influenced by [[Jakob Böhme]], [[William Law]] and ''[[The Imitation of Christ]]''.{{sfn|Holmes|2002|pp=139–140}} The combination of pietistic devotion and mystical experiences that are found in Woolman and Wesley are also found in their Dutch contemporary Tersteegen, who brings back the notion of the ''nous'' ("mind") as the site of God's interaction with our souls; through the work of the Spirit, our mind is able to intuitively recognize the immediate presence of God in our midst.{{sfn|Holmes|2002|pp=143–144}}

==Scientific research==
Fifteen [[Carmelite nuns]] allowed scientists to scan their brains with [[MRI|fMRI]] while they were meditating, in a state known as Unio Mystica or ''Theoria''.<ref name=beauregard06>{{cite journal
 |first1=M.|last1=Beauregard |first2=V. |last2=Paquette
 |date=2006
 |title=Neural correlates of a mystical experience in Carmelite nuns
 |journal=[[Neuroscience Letters]]
 |publisher=Elsevier
 |volume=405
 |issue=3
 |pages=186–90
 |doi=10.1016/j.neulet.2006.06.060
 |issn=0304-3940
 |pmid=16872743|s2cid=13563460
 }}</ref> The results showed that multiple regions of the brain were activated when they considered themselves to be in [[Mysticism|mystical]] union with God. These regions included the right medial [[orbitofrontal cortex]], right middle [[temporal cortex]], right inferior and superior [[parietal lobule]]s, [[Caudate nucleus|caudate]], left medial [[prefrontal cortex]], left anterior [[cingulate cortex]], left inferior [[parietal lobule]], left [[Insular cortex|insula]], left [[Caudate nucleus|caudate]], left [[brainstem]], and extra-striate [[visual cortex]].<ref name=beauregard06/>

Further research in 2008 utilized [[electroencephalography]] (EEG) to examine the electrical activity of the brain during mystical experiences. This study found increased [[Theta wave|theta]] and gamma band power, as well as enhanced coherence between various brain regions, indicating a state of heightened neural integration during mystical experiences.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Beauregard |first=Mario |last2=Paquette |first2=Vincent |date=11 August 2008 |title=EEG activity in Carmelite nuns during a mystical experience |url=https://institutpsychoneuro.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Beauregard2008-Carmelite-EEG.pdf |access-date=26 September 2025 |website=Institute Psychoneuro}}</ref>

== Modern philosophy ==
In modern times ''theoria'' is sometimes treated as distinct from the meaning given to it in Christianity, linking the word not with contemplation but with speculation. [[Boethius]] ({{circa|480}}–524 or 525) translated the Greek word ''theoria'' into Latin, not as ''contemplatio'' but as ''speculatio'', and ''theoria'' is taken to mean speculative philosophy.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=9SNShKme-vsC&dq=theoria+philosophy&pg=PA35 Olga Taxidou, ''Tragedy, Modernity and Mourning'' (Edinburgh University Press 2004] {{ISBN|978-0-74861987-0}}), pp. 34, 79</ref> A distinction is made, more radical than in ancient philosophy, between ''theoria'' and ''praxis'', theory and practice.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=mdkods1_jN0C&dq=theoria+philosophy&pg=PA15 Donald Phillip Verene, ''Speculative Philosophy'' (Lexington Books 2009] {{ISBN|978-0-73913661-4}}), p. 15</ref>

==Influential Christian mystics and texts==

===Early Christians===
* [[Justin Martyr]] ({{circa|105|165}}) used Greek philosophy as the stepping-stone to Christian theology. The mystical conclusions at which some Greeks arrived pointed to Christ. He was influenced by [[Pythagoras]], [[Plato]], and [[Aristotle]], as well as by [[Stoicism]].
* [[Origen]] ({{circa|185}}–254) wrote ''[[On the First Principles]]'' and [[Contra Celsum|''Against Celsus'']]. Studied under Clement of Alexandria, and probably also Ammonius Saccus (Plotinus' teacher). He Christianized and theologized [[Neoplatonism]].
* [[Athanasius of Alexandria]] ({{circa|296}}/8–373) wrote ''The Life of Antony'' ({{circa|360}}).{{sfn|Schaff|1892|p=194}}
* [[Gregory of Nyssa]] ({{circa|335}}–after 394) focused on the stages of spiritual growth, the need for constant progress, and the "divine darkness" as seen in the story of Moses.
* [[Augustine of Hippo|Augustine]] (354–430) wrote ''[[On the Trinity]]'' and [[Confessions (Augustine)|''Confessions'']]. Important source for much mediaeval mysticism. He brings Platonism and Christianity together. Influenced by: [[Plato]] and [[Plotinus]].
* [[Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite]] ({{circa|500}}) wrote ''Mystical Theology''.
* [[Or (monk)|Abba Or]] ({{circa|400|490}}) was an early Egyptian Christian ascetic and mystic. See also [[Anoub|Anoub of Scetis]].

===Eastern Orthodox Christianity===
* ''[[Philokalia]]'', a collection of texts on prayer and solitary mental ascesis written from the 4th to the 15th centuries, which exists in a number of independent redactions; 
* the ''[[Ladder of Divine Ascent]];'' 
* the collected works of [[St. Symeon the New Theologian]] (949–1022); 
* the works of [[Isaac of Nineveh|St. Isaac the Syrian]] (7th century), as they were selected and translated into Greek at the [[Mar Saba|Monastery of St. Savas]] near [[Jerusalem]] about the 10th century.

===Western European Middle Ages and Renaissance===
[[File:Rothschild-canticles-fol-40r.jpg|thumb|right|Meditative mystical image of the Trinity, from the early 14th-century Flemish Rothschild Canticles, Yale Beinecke MS 404, fol. 40v.]]
[[File:Caterina - Libro della divina dottrina, circa 1475 - 2367969.jpg|thumb|right|[[Catherine of Siena]], '' Libro della divina dottrina'' (commonly known as ''The Dialogue of Divine Providence''), {{circa|1475}}]]
[[File:Apocalypsis nova (Veneto, c. 1500).png|thumb|right|The opening page of an illuminated manuscript of [[Amadeus of Portugal|Blessed Amadeus]]'s ''Apocalypsis nova'', {{circa|1500}}]]
* [[John Scotus Eriugena]] ({{circa|810|877}}): Periphyseon. Eriugena translated Pseudo-Dionysius from Greek into Latin. Influenced by: Plotinus, Augustine, Pseudo-Dionysius.
* [[Bernard of Clairvaux]] (1090–1153): Cistercian theologian, author of ''The Steps of Humility and Pride'', ''On Loving God'', and ''Sermons on the Song of Songs''; strong blend of scripture and personal experience.
* [[Hildegard of Bingen]] (1098–1179): Benedictine abbess and reformist preacher, known for her visions, recorded in such works as ''Scivias'' (''Know the Ways'') and ''Liber Divinorum Operum'' (''Book of Divine Works''). Influenced by: Pseudo-Dionysius, Gregory the Great, Rhabanus Maurus, John Scotus Eriugena. 
* [[School of Saint Victor|Victorines]]: fl. 11th century; stressed meditation and contemplation; helped popularize Pseudo-Dionysius; influenced by Augustine
** [[Hugh of Saint Victor]] (d. 1141): ''The Mysteries of the Christian Faith'', ''Noah's Mystical Ark'', etc.
** [[Richard of Saint Victor]] (d. 1173): ''The Twelve Patriarchs'' and ''The Mystical Ark'' (e.g. ''Benjamin Minor'' and ''Benjamin Major''). Influenced Dante, Bonaventure, ''Cloud of Unknowing''.
* [[Franciscans]]:
** [[Francis of Assisi]] (c.1182 – 1226): founder of the order, stressed simplicity and penitence; first documented case of stigmata
**[[Anthony of Padua]] (1195–1231): priest, Franciscan friar and theologian; visions; sermons
** [[Bonaventure]] ({{circa|1217}} – 1274): ''The Soul's Journey into God'', ''The Triple Way'', ''The Tree of Life'' and others. Influenced by: Pseudo-Dionysius, Augustine, Bernard, Victorines.
** [[Jacopone da Todi]] ({{circa|1230}} – 1306): Franciscan friar; prominent member of "The Spirituals"; ''The Lauds''
** [[Angela of Foligno]] ({{circa|1248}} – 1309): tertiary anchoress; focused on Christ's Passion; ''Memorial'' and ''Instructions''.
** [[Amadeus of Portugal]] ({{circa|1420}} – 1482): Franciscan friar; revelations; ''Apocalypsis nova''
* [[Thomas Aquinas]] (1225–1274): priest, Dominican friar and theologian.
* [[Beguines]] (fl. 13th century):
** [[Mechthild of Magdeburg]] (c. 1212 – c. 1297): visions, bridal mysticism, reformist; ''The Flowing Light of the Godhead''
** [[Hadewijch of Antwerp]] (13th century): visions, bridal mysticism, essence mysticism; writings are mostly letters and poems. Influenced John of Ruysbroeck.
* [[German mysticism|Rhineland mystics]] (fl. 14th century): sharp move towards speculation and apophasis; mostly Dominicans
** [[Meister Eckhart]] (1260–1327): sermons
** [[Johannes Tauler]] (d. 1361): sermons
** [[Henry Suso]] (c. 1295 – 1366): ''Life of the Servant'', ''Little Book of Eternal Wisdom''
** ''[[Theologia Germanica]]'' (anon.). Influenced: Martin Luther
* [[John of Ruysbroeck]] (1293–1381): Flemish, Augustinian; ''The Spiritual Espousals'' and many others. Similar themes as the Rhineland Mystics. Influenced by: Beguines, Cistercians. Influenced: Geert Groote and the ''Devotio Moderna''.
* [[Catherine of Siena]] (1347–1380): ''Letters''
* The English Mystics (fl. 14th century):
** Anonymous – ''[[The Cloud of Unknowing|The Cloud of the Unknowing]]'' ({{circa|1375}})—Intended by ascetic author as a means of instruction in the practice of mystic and contemplative prayer.
** [[Richard Rolle]] ({{circa|1300}} – 1349): ''The Fire of Love'', ''Mending of Life'', ''Meditations on the Passion''
** [[Walter Hilton]] ({{circa|1340}} – 1396): ''The Ladder of Perfection'' (a.k.a., ''The Scale of Perfection'') – suggesting familiarity with the works of Pseudo-Dionysius (see above), the author provides an early English language seminal work for the beginner.
** [[Julian of Norwich]] (1342 – {{circa|1416}}): ''[[Revelations of Divine Love]]'' (a.k.a. ''Showing of Love'')
** [[Margery Kempe]] (1373 - {{circa|1438}}): ''[[The Book of Margery Kempe]]''

===Renaissance, Reformation and Counter-Reformation===
* The Spanish Mystics (fl. 16th century):
** [[Ignatius of Loyola]] (1491–1556): St. Ignatius had a number of mystical experiences in his life, the most significant was an experience of enlightenment by the river Cardoner, in which, he later stated, he learnt more in that one occasion than he did in the rest of his life. Another significant mystical experience was in 1537, at a chapel in La Storta, outside Rome, in which he saw [[God the Father]] place him with [[God the Son|the Son]], who was carrying the [[Crucifixion|Cross]]. This was after he had spent a year praying to [[Mary (mother of Jesus)|Mary]] for her to place him with her Son ([[Jesus]]), and was one of the reasons why he insisted that the group that followed his 'way of proceeding' be called the [[Society of Jesus]].<ref name="loyolajesuit.org">{{Cite web |url=http://www.loyolajesuit.org/st_ignatius.htm |title=Life of St. Ignatius – Founder of the Society of Jesus |access-date=2011-04-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110211134640/http://www.loyolajesuit.org/st_ignatius.htm |archive-date=2011-02-11 |url-status=dead |website=Loyola Jesuit College}}</ref>
** [[Teresa of Ávila]] (1515–1582): Two of her works, ''[[The Interior Castle]]'' and ''[[Camino de Perfección|The Way of Perfection]]'', were intended as instruction in (profoundly mystic) prayer based upon her experiences. Influenced by: [[Augustine of Hippo|Augustine]].
** [[John of the Cross]] (Juan de Yepes) (1542–1591): Wrote three related instructional works, with ''[[Ascent of Mount Carmel]]'' as a systematic approach to mystic prayer; together with the ''[[Spiritual Canticle]]'' and the ''[[Dark Night of the Soul]]'', these provided poetic and literary language for the Christian Mystical practice and experience. Influenced by and collaborated with Teresa of Ávila.
* [[Joseph of Cupertino]] (1603–1663): An [[Italy|Italian]] [[Franciscan]] [[friar]] who is said to have been prone to miraculous [[Metaphysical levitation|levitation]] and intense ecstatic visions that left him gaping.{{sfn|Pastrovicchi|1918|p=}}
* [[Jakob Böhme]] (1575–1624): German theosopher; author of ''The Way to Christ''.
* [[Johann Arndt]] (1555–1621): German [[Lutheranism|Lutheran]] theologian and mystic, author of ''True Christianity''. 
* [[Valentin Weigel]] (1533–1588): German theologian, in his lifetime a Lutheran priest but because of his unorthodox views in his writings (published after his death) considered a forerunner of [[Christian theosophy]].
*[[Thomas Browne]] (1605–1682): English physician and philosopher, author of ''[[Religio Medici]]''.
* [[Brother Lawrence]] (1614–1691): Author of ''The Practice of the Presence of God''.
* [[Isaac Ambrose]] (1604–1664): [[Puritan]], author of ''Looking Unto Jesus''.
* [[Angelus Silesius]] (1624–1677): German Catholic priest, physician, and religious poet.
* [[George Fox]] (1624–1691): Founder of the [[Religious Society of Friends]].
* Madame [[Jeanne Guyon]] (1648–1717): Visionary and Writer.
* [[William Law]] (1686–1761): English mystic interested in [[Jakob Böhme]] who wrote several mystical treatises.
* [[Gerhard Tersteegen]] (1697–1769): German pietistic writer, hymnist and mystic, known for several influential writings of a spiritual and mystical nature.
* [[Emanuel Swedenborg]] (1688–1772): Influential and controversial Swedish writer and visionary.
*[[Rosa Egipcíaca]] (1719–1771): Afro-Brazilian mystic who wrote ''[[Sagrada Teologia do Amor Divino das Almas Peregrinas]]'' – the first religious text (or book of any kind) to be written by a black woman in colonial Brazil.

===Modern era===
[[File:Maria Droste zu Vischering.jpg|thumb|right|200px|The Blessed [[Mary of the Divine Heart|Sister Mary of the Divine Heart]] was a nun from the [[Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd|Good Shepherd Sisters]] who reported several revelations from the Sacred Heart of Jesus.{{sfn|Chasle |1906|p=}}]]
[[File:Padre Pio portrait.jpg|thumb|right|200px|A strong believer in [[Christian meditation]], [[Padre Pio|Padre Pio of Pietrelcina]] stated: "''Through the study of books one seeks God; by meditation one finds him''".{{sfn|Kelly|2009|pp=79, 86}}]]

* [[Domenico da Cese]] (1905–1978): Stigmatist [[Order of Friars Minor Capuchin|Capuchin]] friar.
* [[Maria Valtorta]] (1898–1963): Visionary and writer.
* [[Mary of Saint Peter]] (1816–1848): [[Carmelites|Carmelite]] nun.
* [[Marie Lataste]] (1822–1899): Visionary, nun and writer.
* [[Andrew Murray (minister)|Andrew Murray]] (1828–1917): Evangelical Missionary and Writer, Author of over 240 books.
* [[Marie Martha Chambon]] (1841–1907): Nun and visionary.
* [[Marie Julie Jahenny]] (1850–1941): Stigmatist.
* [[Mary of the Divine Heart|Mary of the Divine Heart Droste zu Vischering]] (1863–1899): [[Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd|Sister of the Good Shepherd]].
* [[Réginald Garrigou-Lagrange]] (1877–1964): French [[Order of Preachers|Dominican]] [[friar]], [[List of Catholic philosophers and theologians|philosopher]] and [[neo-Thomist]] [[Catholic theology|theologian]]. His magnum opus ''[[The Three Ages of the Interior Life]]'' (''Les trois âges de la vie intérieure)'' is a synthesis of previous theological thought of [[Saint#Catholic Church|Catholic saints]] and [[Church Fathers]].
* [[Frank Laubach]] (1884–1970): Evangelical missionary, author of ''Letters by a Modern Mystic''.
* [[Padre Pio|Padre Pio of Pietrelcina]] (1887–1968): Capuchin friar, priest, stigmatic.
* [[Sadhu Sundar Singh]] (1889–1929): Evangelical Indian missionary, ascetic.
* [[Maria Pierina De Micheli]] (1890–1945): Italian nun and visionary.
* [[Thomas Raymond Kelly (Quaker mystic)|Thomas Raymond Kelly]] (1893–1941): [[Quaker]].
* [[Alexandrina of Balazar]] (1904–1955): Visionary and writer.
* [[Dag Hammarskjöld]] (1905–1961): Swedish diplomat (Second Secretary General of the United Nations). His posthumously published spiritual diary "Vägmärken" (Markings) gave him the reputation of having been one of the few mystics in the political arena.
* [[Mary Faustina Kowalska]] (1905–1938): Polish nun and visionary.
* [[Eugenia Ravasio]] (1907–1990): Italian nun and visionary of God the Father.
* [[Simone Weil]] (1909–1943): French writer, political activist and ecstatic visionary.
* [[Flower A. Newhouse]] (1909–1994): American clairvoyant.
* [[Carmela Carabelli]] (1910–1978): Italian writer.
* [[Pierina Gilli]] (1911–1991): Italian visionary.
* [[A. W. Tozer]] (1897–1963): [[Christian and Missionary Alliance]]; author of ''The Pursuit of God''.
* [[Thomas Merton]] (1915–1968): [[Trappist]] monk and writer.
* [[Watchman Nee]] (1903–1972): visionary and writer.
* [[Witness Lee]] (1905–1997): [[The Local Church (affiliation)|Local Churches]] Visionary and writer, author of over 400 books.
* [[Sister Lúcia]] (1907–2005): Portuguese participant in the [[Our Lady of Fátima|1917 Fátima apparitions]], nun, and prophetess.
* [[Bernadette Roberts]] (1931–2017): [[Carmelite]] nun and writer, focusing on [[anatta|no-self]] states.
* [[Richard J. Foster]] (b. 1942): [[Evangelical Friends Church International|Quaker]] theologian; author of ''Celebration of Discipline'' and ''Prayer''.
* [[Richard Rohr]] (b. 1943): [[Franciscans|Franciscan]] priest, writer and prophet; author of "Falling upward" and "Universal Christ".
* [[Anneliese Michel]] (1952–1976): young German Catholic who claims she was [[Spirit possession|possessed]] to convert sinners; claimed to receive [[Visions of Jesus and Mary|religious visions]] and bring the [[stigmata]].<ref>[https://www.mysticsofthechurch.com/2015/06/anneliese-michel-unrecognized-and.html Anneliese Michel—A unrecognized and misunderstood victim soul. A closer look at her possession, exorcism and death]</ref>
* [[James Goll]] (b. 1952): [[charismatic]] writer and prophet; author of ''Wasted on Jesus'' and ''The Seer''.

==See also==
{{Portal|Christianity}}
{{div col|colwidth=18em}}
* [[Ambrose of Optina]]
* [[Anchorite]]
* [[Apodicticity]]
* [[Apotheosis]]
* [[Argument from beauty]]
* [[Aseity]]
* [[Beatific vision]]
* [[Bridal theology]]
* [[Chaplet in Honour of the Holy Spirit and His Seven Gifts]]
* [[Christian mythology]]
* [[Christian theosophy]]
* [[Christian views on astrology]]
* [[Christian views on magic]]
* [[Desert Fathers]]
* [[Diodorus of Tarsus]]
* [[Divine illumination]]
* [[Entire sanctification]]
** [[Methodism]]
* [[Esoteric Christianity]]
* [[George Gurdjieff]]
* [[Gnosiology]]
* [[H. Tristram Engelhardt, Jr.]]
* [[John Meyendorff]]
* [[Kenosis]]
* [[List of Christian mystics]]
* [[Michael Pomazansky]]
* [[Mind's eye]]
* [[Open theism]]
* [[Participation in Christ]]
* [[Pentecostalism]]
* [[Sacred mysteries]]
* [[Sobornost]]
* [[Sophrony (Sakharov)|Sophrony]]
* [[Soteriology]]
* [[Soul flight]]
* [[Kardecist Spiritism|Spiritism]]
* [[Tacit knowledge]]
* [[Thomas Merton]]
* [[Watchfulness (Christian)]]
* [[World Community for Christian Meditation]]
{{div col end}}

==Notes==
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
{{reflist|group=note|
{{refn|group=note|name="prayer of simplicity"|catholicculture.org: "Meditation replaced by a purer, more intimate prayer consisting in a simple regard or loving thought on God, or on one of his attributes, or on some mystery of the Christian faith. Reasoning is put aside and the soul peacefully attends to the operations of the Spirit with sentiments of love."<ref>catholicculture.org, [https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/dictionary/index.cfm?id=35703 Catholic Dictionary: ''Prayer of simplicity'']</ref>}}
{{refn|group=note|name="History of Russian Philosophy"|''History of Russian Philosophy'' «История российской Философии »(1951) by N. O. Lossky. Section on [[N. O. Lossky]]'s philosophy p. 262: "There is another kind of selfishness which violates the hierarchy of values much more: some agents who strive for perfection and the absolute fullness of being and even for the good of the whole world are determined to do it in their own way, so that they should occupy the first place and stand higher than all other beings and even the Lord God himself. Pride is the ruling passion of such beings. They enter into rivalry with God, thinking that they are capable of ordering the world better than its Creator. Pursuing an impossible aim, they suffer defeat at every step and begin to hate God. This is what Satan does. Selfishness separates us from God in so far as we put before us purposes incompatible with God's will that the world should be perfect. In the same way selfishness separates an agent in a greater or lesser degree from other agents: his aims and actions cannot be harmonized with the actions of other beings and often lead to hostility and mutual opposition.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lossky |first1=N. O. |title=History of Russian Philosophy |date=1970 |publisher=Intl Universities Press |isbn=978-0-8236-8074-0|page=262}}</ref>}}
}}
{{div col end}}
===Subnotes===
{{reflist|group=subnote}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

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{{refend}}

==Further reading==
===General===
* [[Bernard McGinn (theologian)|Bernard McGinn]]: ''The Foundations of Mysticism: Origins to the Fifth Century'', 1991, reprint 1994, {{ISBN|0-8245-1404-1}}
* [[Bernard McGinn (theologian)|Bernard McGinn]]: ''The Growth of Mysticism: Gregory the Great through the 12th Century'', 1994, paperback ed. 1996, {{ISBN|0-8245-1628-1}}

===Eastern Orthodox===
*[[Vladimir Lossky]] (1997), ''The Vision of God'' SVS Press. {{ISBN|0-913836-19-2}}
*[[Andrew Louth|Louth, Andrew]]. [https://books.google.com/books?id=aQpZU3tT6Y4C ''The Origins of the Christian Mystical Tradition: From Plato to Denys'']. Oxford, 1983 (repr. 2003). {{ISBN|0191608777}}.
*[https://books.google.com/books?id=CpPnSHWu5d8C Mattá al-Miskīn, ''Orthodox Prayer Life: The Interior Way'' (St Vladimir's Seminary Press 2003] {{ISBN|0-88141-250-3}}
*[[Aristotle Papanikolaou]], ''Being With God'' (University of Notre Dame Press February 24, 2006 {{ISBN|0-268-03830-9}})
*[[Marcus Plested]], ''The Macarian Legacy: The Place of Macarius-Symeon in the Eastern Christian Tradition'' (Oxford Theological Monographs 2004 {{ISBN|0-19-926779-0}})
*[[Tomáš Špidlík]], ''The Spirituality of the Christian East: A Systematic Handbook'' (Cistercian Publications Inc Kalamazoo Michigan 1986 {{ISBN|0-87907-879-0}})
*[[Dumitru Staniloae]], ''The Experience of God : Revelation and Knowledge of the Triune God: Orthodox Dogmatic Theology, Volume 1 : Revelation and Knowledge of the Triune God'' (Holy Cross Orthodox Press May 17, 2005 {{ISBN|0-917651-70-7}})
*[[Dumitru Staniloae]], ''The Experience of God : Orthodox Dogmatic Theology Volume 2: The World, Creation and Deification'' (Holy Cross Orthodox Press June 16, 2005 {{ISBN|1-885652-41-0}})
*[[Hierotheos Vlachos|Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos]] (2005), ''The illness and cure of the soul in the Orthodox tradition''. Levadia, Greece: Birth of the Theotokos Monastery Press. {{ISBN|978-960-7070-18-0}} (Hierotheos Vlachos)

===Catholicism===
* Aumann, Jordan. [https://books.google.com/books?id=TdaLXztTZvAC ''Christian Spirituality in the Catholic Tradition'']. Sheed & Ward, 1985; p.&nbsp;247. {{ISBN|0-89870-068-X}}. 
* [[Thomas Dubay|Dubay, Thomas]]. [https://books.google.com/books?id=zdEwDwAAQBAJ ''Fire Within: Teresa of Avila, John of the Cross and the Gospel on Prayer'']. Ignatius Press, 1989. {{ISBN|0-89870-263-1}}.

===Centering prayer===
* [[Thomas Keating|Keating, Thomas]]. [https://books.google.com/books?id=NeMPdvJcSpcC ''Active Meditations for Contemplative Prayer'']. Continuum International Publishing Group, 1997. {{ISBN|0-8264-1061-8}}.
* [[Thomas Keating|Keating, Thomas]]. [https://books.google.com/books?id=PAZrwk45NRkC ''Foundations for Centering Prayer and the Christian Contemplative Life'']. Continuum International Publishing Group, 2002. {{ISBN|0-8264-1397-8}}.
* [[Thomas Keating|Keating, Thomas]]. [https://books.google.com/books?id=pINxHWGTa6EC ''Open Mind, Open Heart: The Contemplative Dimension of the Gospel'']. Continuum International Publishing Group, 2002. {{ISBN|0-8264-1420-6}}.
* [[Thomas Merton|Merton, Thomas]]. [https://books.google.com/books?id=sUo9RdkroUIC ''Contemplative Prayer'']. Image Books, 1996. {{ISBN|0-385-09219-9}}.
* [[Evelyn Underhill|Underhill, Evelyn]]. [https://books.google.com/books?id=S6zDqyLbc_sC ''Practical Mysticism: A Little Book for Normal People'']. Read Books, 2006. {{ISBN|1406796328}}.
* ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20120206103358/https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM The Catechism of the Catholic Church]'' has a [https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P9M.HTM subsection on contemplative prayer] within its [https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P8Z.HTM section on prayer in the Christian life.]

===Other===
* Yungen, Ray. [https://books.google.com/books?id=JP5wtAEACAAJ ''A Time of Departing: How Ancient Mystical Practices Are Uniting Christians with the World's Religions''].  Lighthouse Trails Publishing, 2006, 2nd edition. {{ISBN|978-0-9721512-7-6}}.

===Diverse===

* Tito Colliander:  ''Way of the Ascetics'', 1981, {{ISBN|0-06-061526-5}}
* Samuel Fanous and [[Vincent Gillespie]], eds. [https://books.google.com/books?id=IkawIapJitQC ''The Cambridge Companion to Medieval English Mysticism''], Cambridge University Press, 2011
* Richard Foster:  ''Celebration of Discipline: The Path to Spiritual Growth'', 1978, {{ISBN|0-06-062831-6}}
* [[Patrick Grant (academic)|Patrick Grant]]. 1983. ''Literature of Mysticism in Western Tradition''. London: MacMillan. {{ISBN|0333287983}}
* Patrick Grant. ed, ''A Dazzling Darkness: An Anthology of Western Mysticism''. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans. {{ISBN|0-8028-0088-2}}
* Kathleen Lyons: ''Mysticism and Narcissism''. Cabbridge Scholars, 2016, {{ISBN|978-1-4438-8043-5}}
* Cheslyn Jones, Geoffrey Wainwright and Edward Yarnold, eds.: ''The Study of Spirituality'', Oxford University Press, 1986, {{ISBN|0-19-504170-4}}
* Tarjei Park, ''The English Mystics'', SPCK, 1998, {{ISBN|0-281-05110-0}}
* Thomas E. Powers:  ''Invitation to a Great Experiment:  Exploring the Possibility that God can be Known'', 1979, {{ISBN|0-385-14187-4}}
* Ryan Stark, "Some Aspects of Christian Mystical Rhetoric, Philosophy, and Poetry," Philosophy & Rhetoric 41 (2008): 260–77.
* William Thiele: "Monks in the World: Seeking God in a Frantic Culture", 2014, {{ISBN|978-1-62564-540-1}}
* Evelyn Underhill: ''The Spiritual Life: Four Broadcast Talks'', Hodder & Stoughton, 1937, x, 141 p.

==External links==
{{Wiktionary|θεωρία}}
{{Wikiquote|Christian contemplation}}
{{CE1913 poster|Mysticism}}
{{Wikibooks|Mysticism}}

* [https://www.britannica.com/topic/Christianity/Christian-mysticism Encyclopedia Britannica: Christian mysticism]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20150429004849/http://www.ccel.org/ccel/underhill/mysticism.v.html/ Evelyn Underhill: Christian Mysticism: A Study in Nature and Development of Spiritual Consciousness]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/19991127200621/http://www.christianmystics.com/ Christian Mystics: An online library of Christian Mysticism: Current Topics and Public Books]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20190612001626/https://thinkunity.com/ Christian Mysticism Post on the Realization and Consciousness of Christian Enlightenment]

===Ancient Greek===
* [https://satyagraha.wordpress.com/2018/10/13/aristotle-contemplative-life/ Aristotle: Why the Contemplative Life is the Happiest] ([[Nicomachean Ethics]] 10.7). English and Greek.

===Eastern Orthodox===
* [http://www.orthodoxinfo.com/inquirers/hierotheos_difference.aspx Differences between Orthodoxy and other religions]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110927020815/http://www.vic.com/~tscon/pelagia/htm/b12.en.the_mind_of_the_orthodox_church.06.htm#c3c  Eastern Orthodoxy – GOA]
* [http://www.oca.org/CHRIST-life-article.asp?SID=6&ID=59&MONTH=May&YEAR=2004  Eastern Orthodoxy – OCA]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20091119191939/http://www.monachos.net/content/patristics/studies-fathers/62-gregory-palamas-knowledge-prayer-and-vision Gregory Palamas' fight for the Vision of God]
* [http://www.myriobiblos.gr/texts/english/christou_partakers_glory.html Theoria, Tabor Light as Vision]
* [http://www.orthodoxinfo.com/phronema/patristic-theology-romanides-chapter-1-what-is-the-human-nous.aspx What is the Human Nous?] by [[John Romanides]]

===Catholic===
* [[Ignatius Loyola]], [https://www.sacred-texts.com/chr/seil/seil35.htm Contemplation to Gain Love of God]. From the ''[[Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius of Loyola]]''.

===Centering prayer===
* [http://www.centeringprayer.com/ Contemplative Outreach]

===Prayer of Quiet===
*[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12608b.htm Prayer of Quiet] at [[Catholic Encyclopedia]]
*[http://www.mrmatthewhenry.com/ Free eBook and audio book for Matthew Henry – ''A Method for Prayer'', 1710 edition]

{{Greek Orthodox Christianity}}
{{Christianity footer}}
{{Private revelation}}
{{RC consecrated life}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Christian Mysticism}}
[[Category:Christian mysticism| ]]
[[Category:Christian contemplation]]
[[Category:Christian prayer]]
[[Category:Hesychasm]]
[[Category:Roman Catholic prayers]]
[[Category:Eastern Orthodox theology]]
[[Category:Catholic theology and doctrine]]
[[Category:Christian terminology]]