To see and taste God (Ps.34:9). What is mysticism?

There is little doubt who the great mystics in history are. A number of names immediately come to mind. There are Hildegard of Bingen and Bernard of Clairvaux from the 11th century, Meister Ekchart from the 13th century, Jan van Ruusbroec and Juliana of Norwich from the 14th century, Ignatius van Loyola from the 16th century and many others. These authors were key figures in the history of mysticism.

It is interesting that they are described as “mystics.” We read their texts and we know intuitively that they are about mysticism. But at the same time differences come to the fore as soon as we start discussing the nature of mysticism, It is clear that mysticism can be understood in different ways. Scholem (Die jüdische Mystik; 6-7)who wrote important publications on mysticism, thinks that we can begin to understand mysticism by noting the simple remark in Psalm 34:9. “Taste and seeing that the Lord is good.” Mysticism is about the intimate way in which the presence of God is experienced directly and immediately. The goodness of God is tasted and seen.


This verse makes us aware of what may seem like a contradiction. God who is so completely different than creation, can be so intimately in a relationship with creation that the divine goodness can be tasted and seen.

This focus on an intimate relationship with the divine is a general trend in mysticism. On the one hand mysticism has to do with what is unthinkable – it brings us before the divine which transcends our reality. It has to do with experiencing the divine presence. And then, secondly, this amazing phenomenon, that Creator and creation interact in an intimate way, is then to be expressed in human language.

Here we have to do with the conflict between mystical thought (human thoughts and words) and mystical experience (our experience of faith). We struggle with this already on a most elementary level when we triy to explain to others what happened when we experienced the divine touch.

I liked the Scholem’s remarks about this. He wanted to emphasise that people have a religious experience which is unique. It is an experience which transforms and changes everything. Someone is distanced from his or her own being (an ecstatic experience). It is an infinite experience. The inner being of someone is lifted up to the highest level (“den endlichen Aufschwung der Seele zur höchsten Stufe).

And yet Scholem writes, one should be careful about reducing mystical texts to this insight. There are some authors who do not like to speak of mysticism as "unification with God." They think that such an understanding eliminates the borders between God and humanity. They are wary of associating the mystical experience with the divinisation of a human being – something which is often the case in contemporary contexts in which pantheism has become so prominent.

This description of mysticism as unification is in any case very wide. There is not really something like an experience of unification with God in religions. This abstract formulation is an attempt to help us in a general way to understand mystical texts. In reality we have a mystical authors who wrote in language of the time about their experience of faith. Mysticism always has a specific character and context. We should therefore always ask how Jews, Buddhists, Muslims, Anglicans, Lutherans, Calvinists, wisdom teachers, rabbis, laity, monastics, Desert Fathers and any others spoke about their mystical experiences. It is similar to music. Music is about an octave of eight notes which produces sound and which has an impact on people. But music will sound very differently where Bono and U2 or a symphonic orhestra or a jazz band perform.

But there is also another important facet which must be emphasised. Anyone can play a few notes on the piano and think he or she is on the way to stardom. Music, however, is more than loosely connected notes. Mystics did not have a vague feeling of divine intervention or some relationship with God. They also did not have one or other vague feeling of divinisation. For them it was not a matter of a human being reaching an extraordinary state. They thought in the language of their time and context about the indescribable, unfathomable touch of God which transformed someone and changed his or her life completely. And each of them expressed their unique experience in a particular form.

Taken as example Jewish mysticism. Scholem writes that the early Jewish mystics never spoke of unification with God, although we could say that this is what their texts are about. It is a vital characteristic of Jewish mysticism that God remains completely different in the divine relationship with humanity. God is so overwhelmingly different that the one who sees God, dies – as is remarked in Hebrew Scriptures. And yet, mystics experienced God in an intimate manner. They spoke of special, personal experiences which brought them, in mystical ways, to seek God. Mystical authors would express fundamental experience in different ways according to the context and time.

An example of this would be Jewish mystics of the second century. They expressed their mystical experience of God in terms of language from their time and context. They used especially Isaiah 6 and Ezekiel 1 with their throne visions. In both these visions the visionaries stand in awe before the transcendent majesty and glory of God and experience their own unholy existience in an acute manner. The point is that, like Isaiah and Jeremiah, these mystics express their experience by speaking of their journey to the heavenl y regions and their presence before the throne of God. In these regions they are given heavenly secrets which are vitally important for their future existence. God is transforming them and bringing new life to them.

Later on, however, the Chassidim used much lesser symbolic language in their depiction of their mystical experiences. One of them explained his mystical experience as follows, “Many people serve God with their human understanding. Others, however, contemplate the divine ‘ nothingness.’ The special mystical experience given to people who are regarded as worthy, is beyond all human comprehension. But after this vision and experience of God en returns to one's normal state and comprehension, but now one is filled by divine glory.”


Mysticism is therefore not a simple matter of speaking about an encounter with God. It is a special experience which is expressed with much difficulty in human language. Where these texts are finally written down and read, they have an extraordinary impact. In them people recognise the deepest meaning of life. They contront the reader with the Mystery of our existence. It is only in the direct, mystical encounter with the divine that humanity finds complete peace.