supplemental material

I’ve included a link to two books that offer a substantial deep dive into the mystical tradition. The first offers a great introduction to the subject, along with a exploration of the contemporary significance of the tradition. The second offers a very clear and extensive anthology of the essential writings of the mystics.

reflection

Today I wanted to offer you a small sampling of quotes from various early mystics to give you a broader sense of their shared outlook. This will help to set up tomorrows reflection which, as mentioned in the seminar, will help us understand the intellectual grounding of the mystical approach to the notion of the Abolsute.

The Early Mystics

The Early Mystics is a term that is used to describe a loose collection of hermits, ascetics, nuns and monks who lived around 3rd century. Their monastic approach had a large impact on the development of Christianity, especially in the Orthodox Tradition, and has been an important resource in the development of various neo-monastic communities. 

The early mystics have an interesting and undervalued place in the history of atheism, with a theological approach that constantly deferred, delayed, destabilized and disarmed our understanding of God via a rigorous set of negations.

What you'll read today is a selection of sayings from some of the most prominent early mystics.