Zen's demystifying of mysticism

How to cultivate the soil

In the last post, I distinguished mysticism (understood as “spiritual” or “contemplative” practice) from four categories of associations with which it’s sometimes confused. The first two categories I addressed (esotericism and metaphysics), as we saw, are doctrinal and intellectual in nature. Esotericism is characterized by intellectual arrogance, dubious “revelations” and teachings understood only within a circle of “cognoscenti,” and immaturity. Metaphysics, in comparison, underlies all our beliefs and is a universal, perennial “conversation” about first principles; but when it takes the form of philosophical debate, not only can it have no final resolution (because there are immense areas of reality that we can never know on this side of things), but – pragmatically speaking – it can effectively dam up the flow of genuine spiritual practice. Few things are more antithetical to the exercise of contemplation in silence and stillness than a head crammed full of “exciting ideas,” prolixity, and complex abstractions. The latter two categories I discussed (“contempt for the world” and stifling one’s “ego”) are moral and ascetical errors. Despising physical nature, the mass of humanity, and one’s own consciousness of self are forms of loathing and nihilism, no matter how overlaid such notions may be with “spiritual” rhetoric – even when attributed to “saints” or regarded as hallowed tradition.