Practical Mysticism · Chapter
III: The Preparation of the Mystic explained
This chapter outlines the preliminary stages of mystical experience, focusing on the purification of the senses and the will as essential preparations for union with Reality.
What happens
This chapter outlines the preliminary stages of mystical experience, focusing on the purification of the senses and the will as essential preparations for union with Reality. It emphasizes self-simplification, the cleansing of perception from egocentric judgments, and the practice of Recollection—the disciplined withdrawal of attention from the time-world to the unity of the spirit. The chapter addresses the 'practical man,' arguing that contemplative acts are natural to all humans and that fleeting moments of involuntary contemplation reveal a deeper, more valid Reality.
Themes in this chapter
Self-Simplification and Purification
Central to the chapter: purification of the senses and will as the essential preparation for mystical union, described as a stripping away of egocentric judgments and distractions.
Contemplation and Action
Explored through the contrast between the practical man's busy life and the need for contemplative discipline; contemplation is presented as a natural human activity requiring deliberate training.
Perception and Illusion
Discussed in terms of how thought, convention, and self-interest 'smear the windows of the senses,' creating a distorted view of reality that must be purified.
Characters to notice
- The Practical Man
Addressed directly as the reader and potential contemplative; challenged to recognize his own capacity for mystical experience.
- St. Thomas Aquinas
Cited for the teaching that contemplation is proper to all men and the characteristic human activity.
- John Keats
Quoted for the line 'All which I took from thee I did but take...' in the context of purification.
Key passages
“the preliminary of all mystical experience, that gathering of the scattered bits of personality into the one which is really you—into the 'unity of your spirit,' as the mystics say”
The first step in any mystical experience is to collect the fragmented parts of your personality into a single, unified self—what mystics call the 'unity of your spirit.'
Describes the foundational act of self-simplification.
“To 'purify' the senses is to release them, so far as human beings may, from the tyranny of egocentric judgments; to make of them the organs of direct perception.”
Purifying the senses means freeing them from self-centered judgments, allowing them to perceive reality directly.
Defines the goal of sensory purification.
“This is the process which the mystics call Recollection: the first stage in the training of the contemplative consciousness.”
Recollection is the mystical term for the first stage of training the contemplative mind—withdrawing attention from the world to focus inward.
Introduces Recollection as a key preparatory stage.