When first presented with the idea of Mysticism, one may automatically think of terms such as demonology, witchcraft, occultism, or magic. Poossibly astrology or the determining of destiny by the signs of the zodiac comes to mind when mysticism is mentioned. Whatever comes to mind, mysticism clearly suggests a hint of the mysterious. All of these, however, are not true. Mysticism is defined in terms which are very familiar to all of us. Mysticism is a part of many religions. Collectively, mysticism means communion with a Being conceived as the supreme and ultimate reality.
             Mysticism is defined in the dictionary as "immediate consciousness of the transcendent or ultimate reality of God." The
             encyclopedia gives a much more detailed description: "immediate direct, intuitive knowledge of God or of ultimate attained through personal religious experience. Wide variations are found in both the form and the intensity of mystical experience. The authenticity of any such experience, however, does not depend on the form but solely on the quality of life that follows the experience. A mystical life is characterized by enhanced vitality, productivity, serenity, and joy as the inner and outward aspects harmonize in union with God." Either definition is correct but somewhat vague. We will discuss mysticism with much more detail.
             Mysticism has certain confounding beliefs, or presuppositions. The first of these beliefs is the thought that the five senses (smelling, seeing, touching, hearing, and tasting) are not the only tools that humans have to approach knowledge, or other goals of attainment. This not only implies the belief of a sixth sense, which mysticism does not define, but relies on this extra sense as a necessary tool for the perception of the spiritual realm. This leads us to the second belief, that there is a spiritual realm which is related to the material world, but is not identical with it. However, an important...