Was Heidegger a Mystic?

Jeff Guilford
North Carolina State University
Faculty Mentor: Marina Bykova
North Carolina State University
ABSTRACT
The goal of Martin Heidegger’s philosophy is to lead his readers to an experience of Being. Because
Being is not conceived of as a thing, but as that which ‘transcends’ things, thinking and talking
about it in traditional terms becomes impossible. Such a goal is strikingly similar to the goals of
many of the world’s most prominent mystical traditions, and prompts the question, was Heidegger a
mystic? In this paper I seek to answer this question by comparing the ways in which Heidegger be-
lieves that an experience of Being may be attained to the ways that mystics from many cultures have
gone about bringing themselves to an experience of the transcendent. After demonstrating the strong
analogies between the methods of Heidegger and of the mystics, I conclude that Heidegger is indeed
a mystic and that the experience that he hopes to help people attain is probably the same experience
toward which the mystics have traditionally striven.

“There is a thinking more rigorous than the not red,’ the house is presented as an ob-
conceptual” ~Martin Heidegger ject that lacks the property of redness.
Similarly, in the statement, ‘Being is not a
“The Tao is beyond is and is not. How do I thing,’ Being is presented as an object that
know this? I look inside myself and see.” lacks the property of thing-ness. But this is
~Lao Tzu a misunderstanding, and we must learn to
think differently if we want to understand

A dmittedly, grasping the objective of

Heidegger’s philosophical inquiries
is not easy. When we are first approached
and experience Being. In short, this is the
primary goal of all of Heidegger’s philoso-
phizing: He hopes to lead those who will
by his question, “What is the meaning of listen to him into a new mode of thinking
Being,” many of us smile at such a seem- and speaking in which Being can be fully
ingly naïve question. “Being is obvious”, thought and clearly spoken, and thus truly
we laugh, perhaps pointing to a rock in experienced. Essential to this goal is his
order to prove our point. But according to critique of metaphysics, which he claims
Heidegger that rock, and indeed any thing, has been mistaken in the West for thought
is not Being, but a being (note the capi- itself ever since the time of Plato, and which
talization). Being is not a thing, but that he claims can deal only with beings and
which‘transcends’things,“thetranscendens never with Being. In place of metaphysical
pure and simple” (Letter on Humanism, thought he proposes a different way to ap-
251). Without Being, no thing could be. But proach Being. But Heidegger is not the first
in the very fact that being is not a thing, to abandon the metaphysical project and to
not an object, it becomes difficult to talk pursue an underlying reality through alter-
about, for the structure of language forces native means. In fact such pursuit has ex-
whatever we speak about into a state of isted for at least as long metaphysics itself,
objectivity. In the statement, the ‘house is and has been given the name of mysticism.

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Like Heidegger, mystics reject metaphysi- appellation, for he himself once said that
cal thought as an inadequate means by “the most extreme sharpness and depth of
which the Absolute may be pursued, and thought belongs to genuine and great mys-
seek different routes by which this pursuit ticism” (Caputo, 6).
may be carried out. Still the question remains, what exactly
In this paper I will demonstrate that is mysticism? Doubtlessly, giving a concise
the affinity between Heidegger’s philoso- definition of this rich and multi-cultural
phy and mystical thought is so deep and phenomenon will result in over-generaliza-
thoroughgoing that one may accurately tion, but unfortunately the boundaries of
label Heidegger’s philosophy as mysti- this paper demand that we treat the subject
cal. At their hearts, both mysticism and briefly, and, therefore, I offer the definition
Heidegger’s philosophy have direct knowl- that was put forth by a prominent expert
edge of an ultimate reality as their final on the subject, Evelyn Underhill, who says
goal, but since both Heidegger’s Being and that “what the world calls ‘mysticism’ is the
the mystic’s Absolute are held to be inef- science of ultimates… The science of self-
fable and transcendent, and thus impos- evident Reality, which cannot be‘reasoned
sible to express in ordinary language, a di- about’…” (25). A mystic is one who yearns
rect comparison of these goals cannot be for firsthand knowledge of that which is
performed. Instead I will compare the ways Ultimate, but one who recognizes that
in which Heidegger and the mystics claim this Ultimate may not come to be known
that the Ultimate may be recognized and through the use of the intellect alone.
approached. Because there are so many Rational thought is, as a general rule, seen
striking analogies between the methods of by the mystics as an inadequate guide to
Heidegger and those of the mystics, I will the spirit, and so they employ other types
conclude that Heidegger’s philosophy is in of mental activity in order to approach the
fact mystical, and that it is reasonable to elusive Absolute. Every culture has its share
think that the experience of Being to which of mystics, and though the names given
Heidegger seeks to lead us, is essentially the to the Ultimate and the means by which
same as the experience of the Absolute to- it is sought vary, the core of each tradi-
ward which the mystics of all cultures have tion remains true to Underhill’s definition.
persistently striven. Vedanta Yogis seek Moksha (the realiza-
Before initiating this comparison though, tion of the soul’s oneness with Brahman)
we must take a moment to clarify what is through ascetic and meditative practices;
meant by the word mysticism. Often in Zen Buddhists seek to attain Satori (cos-
philosophical circles the word is used as an mic consciousness) through strict medita-
insult for a system that is deemed vague or tion in which dualistic thought is willfully
overly sentimental. In this paper, however, eliminated from the practitioner’s mind;
such derogatory connotations are not in- Sufis seek to experience the “transport of
tended, and indeed, for a system to garner the soul” (direct experience of the divine)
the label of mystical is, if anything, to be through lives of solitude, poverty and piety,
considered an honor, for such a label would which are intended to “[detach] the heart
signify that system’s participation in one of from all that is not God” (James, 455);
the oldest and most venerable of human- and Catholic saints, seek the Unio Mystico
ity’s intellectual and spiritual traditions. (unification of the soul with God) through
Perhaps Heidegger himself might have ob- prayer, contemplation, and fasting. These
jected to being labeled a mystic, but he cer- are only a few of the most well-known
tainly would not have taken offense at the branches of mysticism, but the list could be

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extended indefinitely. The question now is supplement to a life otherwise centered in
whether Hedeggerians, who seek to experi- the natural world. For the mystic, on the
ence theTruth of Being through“meditative other hand, the experience of this feeling is
thought”, disentanglement from the world so intense that when it occurs it initiates a
of things, and distinction from das man, total reorganization of her world view and
also participate in the mystical tradition a reorientation of her priorities around the
(Discourse onThinking, 46). A more detailed transcendental Reality that the experience
comparison of Heideggerian and mystical reveals to her. Underhill calls this acute
thought should yield our answer. experience awakening, and says that this is
The first strong analogy that exists be- almost always the catalyst of the mystic’s
tween the mystical quest for the Ultimate journey from “things of the flesh … to
and the Heideggerian quest for Being is things of the spirit”. She describes it in the
that even before a true understanding following way:
and experience of the Transcendent is at- Theawakeningusuallyinvolvesasuddenand
tained, it may be sensed in a preliminary, acuterealizationofthesplendorandadorable
partial way. It is this initial “taste” of the Realityoftheworld—orsometimesofitsobverse,
Transcendent that motivates the subse- theDivinesorrowattheheartofthings—neverbe-
quent, ardent, often life changing search foreperceived.InsofarasIamacquaintedwiththe
for total attainment of it. In the mystical resourcesoflanguage,therearenowordsinwhich
tradition and in Heidegger’s thought there thisrealizationcanbedescribed1.Itisofsoactual
are two ranks of these preliminary experi- anaturethatthenormalworldofpastperception
ences of the Ultimate, a lesser one, which seemsbuttwilitatbest.Consciousnesshassuddenly
is mild but commonly experienced, and a changeditsrhythmandanewaspectofconscious-
greater one, through which the person’s en- nessrushesin.Theteasingmistsaresweptaway
tire perception of the world is transformed andrevealthesharpoutlineoftheEverlasting
and a strong desire for an even more com- Hills (178).
plete experience is kindled. This quote highlights three essential as-
In her general study of mysticism, pects of the awakening experience: it is
Evelyn Underhill calls “the power to per- sudden and powerful; it leads to a detach-
ceive the transcendent Reality” “a power ment from worldly concerns; and motivates
latent within the whole [human] race.” an intense drive toward further knowledge
and says that “few people pass through life of that which has been revealed in the ex-
without knowing what it is to be touched perience. It is important to remember that
by the mystical feeling” (Underhill, 73). while the awakening experience is often de-
Be it triggered by the sight of the sun on scribed as joyous and liberating, it can also
distant mountain peaks, the sound of a be a fearful and sorrowful realization. Two
symphony, the embrace of a long missed examples, one joyous, one anguished, will
loved one, or the sight of a suffering beg- serve to illustrate this phenomenon. The
gar, this “transcendental feeling wells up first is that of a little known monk named
from another part of the soul and whispers Brother Lawrence, who reported that in
to Understanding and Sense that they are his youth, as he was “seeing a tree stripped
leaving something out” (74). But though
this feeling is familiar to many, the mystics
are distinguished from the common folk by 1  Heidegger’s anxiety also is a phenomenon that
occurs beyond the realm of language. He says that
their exceptional attunement to it. While “Anxiety robs us of speech. Because beings as a whole
for the common person this feeling may be slip away, so that just the nothing crowds around, in the
momentarily edifying, it remains at most a face of anxiety all utterance of the ‘is’ falls silent” (What
is Metaphysics? 103).

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of its leaves and considering that within a characteristic of Da-sein, tends nowhere
little time the leaves would be renewed … else but “in the direction of bringing man
he received a view of that Providence and back to his essence” and this essence is
Power of God, which [had] never since called “the ecstatic inherence of the Truth
been effaced from his soul” and that “this of Being” (Letter on Humanism, 245) So,
view had set him perfectly loose from the for Heidegger, every human being has an
world…” (190-191). The second is that of instinctual notion of Being and a drive to
St. Catherine of Genoa, whose “inward experience the Truth of Being, i.e., to grasp
revelation” was characterized by ... “its “the transcendens pure and simple”(Letter
anguish and abruptness, its rending apart on Humanism, 251). This is strongly anal-
of the hard tissues of I-hood and the vivid ogous to Underhill’s observation that hu-
disclosures of the poverty of the finite self.” manity has an instinctual attraction toward
Catherine herself describes this experi- the Ultimate.
ence as the “wound of Unmeasured Love” Heidegger also speaks of a greater type
(196). An additional example of an awak- of preliminary transcendental experience,
eningexperiencefromanonwesternsource calling it “original anxiety” which “re-
is that of The Buddha, who after seeing veals the nothing” lying ‘within’ all inner-
earthly manifestations of age, sickness and worldly beings (What is Metaphysics, 103).
death, realized the ephemeral nature of This type of experience can be seen to be
worldly pleasures and gave up his luxuri- strongly analogous to the experience of
ous life as a prince to practice asceticism in awakening as described by Underhill, and
the forests of India. These three examples could be considered an example of it. Like
show that the awakening experience is trig- awakenings, original anxiety is a sudden,
gered suddenly, can be either rapturous or oftenunexpectedoccurrence,whichcauses
unpleasant, and leads one away from ma- a withdrawal from worldly things and of-
terial, worldly pursuits, toward spiritual ten results in the long term rearrangement
work. of a person’s activity toward transcenden-
Heidegger also describes two levels of tal goals. Original anxiety, he says, “Can
experience in which Being itself may be awaken in existence at any moment [and]
revealed, which can be seen to be highly needs no unusual event to arouse it” (108).
analogous to the awakening experiences During this experience beings “become
described by Underhill. Of the lesser, more wholly superfluous”, “slip away” and “pure
common experience he says that an “av- Da-sein is all that is there”3 (103). During
erage and vague understanding of Being such an experience there is only there-be-
is a fact” and defines Da-sein2 as the be- ing. It is precisely during this sudden and
ing that has “a relation to the question of unsettling occurrence, when beings slip
Being itself” (Being & Time, 5). Elsewhere away, that Da-sein awakens to a new under-
he says that care, which is an essential standing of reality and of its potentialities
within it. “In the Clear night of the noth-
2  Da-sein is an important, but confusing term in ing of anxiety”, for the first time, Da-sein
Heidegger’s philosophy. It literally translates to here-
being or there-being, and he believes that Da-sein is the
essence of a human being. What is special about humans 3  Similarly to St. Catherine’s experience, the
is that they are capable of being here, in a situation, in experience of pure anxiety undoes “I-hood,” for
relation to other things. He also believes that Da-sein as Heidegger says, “we ourselves … slip away from
stands in relation to Being itself, but that this relation is ourselves. At bottom therefore it is not as though ‘You’
usually veiled by our everyday mode of relating to things or ‘I’ feel ill at ease; rather it is this way for some ‘one’”
in the world. (What is Metaphysics? 103).

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experiences beings as they really are, as Absoluteofthemysticislovable,attainableand
things that are distinct from the nothing- real (Mysticism, 24).
ness that it has just witnessed. Additionally In a similar tone, appealing to philoso-
it reveals to Da-sein that it itself is not a phers on behalf of all mystics, Coventry
mere being, but is instead a transcendence Patmore says:
of beings in that it is a “being held out into Leaveyourdeepandabsurdtrustinthesenses,
nothingness,” or, as Heidegger puts it in withtheirlanguageofdotanddash,whichmay
a later work, “a standing out in the clear- possiblyreportfactbutcannevercommunicate
ing of Being” (What is Metaphysics, 105; personality.Ifphilosophyhastaughtyouanything
Letter on Humanism, 248). Thus it is only ithastaughtyouthelengthofitstether,andthe
through original anxiety that man can real- impossibilityofattainingtothedoubtlessadmi-
ize Being for the first time, realize his “en- rablegrazinglandwhichliesbeyondit.Oneafter
snarement” among beings and his “forget- another,idealistshavearisenwho,strainingfranti-
fulness of Being”, and then to begin to take callyattherope,haveannouncedtotheworldtheir
up an “authentic” relation to Being itself. approachingliberty;onlytobeflungbackatlast
From all this, it should be clear that what intotheworldofsensation…Philosophytellsyou
Heidegger calls original anxiety can accu- thatitisfoundedonnothingbetterthansensation
rately be labeled as an awakening experi- andthetraditionalconceptsoftherace.Certainly
ence as described by Underhill: it is a sud- itisimperfect,probablyanillusion;inanyevent;it
den acute experience; it reveals the relative nevertouchesthefoundationofthings(Mysticism,
unreality of worldly beings; and opens one 24-25).
to a transcendent reality, often motivating Mystics from every tradition can be seen
one to attempt to relate oneself to this real- to be in agreement with the two above
ity more fully. quotes, and acknowledge the impotence
This leads us to our next point of anal- of conceptual thought in bringing the indi-
ogy between Heideggerian and mysti- vidual into contact with the Ultimate. The
cal thought. In both types of thinking the Sufi writer Al-Ghazali says:
transcendent reality that the awakening Irecognizedthatwhatpertainedmostexclusively
reveals is understood as being unattainable totheSufi’smethodisjustwhatstudycannotgrasp,
by means of traditional rational or meta- butonlytransport,ecstasyandthetransformation
physical thought, because it is beyond any ofthesoul…Justastheunderstandingisastage
relational concept which such thought may inhumanlifeinwhichtheeyeopenstodiscernvari-
seek to enclose it within. Underhill says ousintellectualobjectsuncomprehendedbysensa-
that: tion;justsointhepropheticthesightisillumined
Themysticsfindthebasisoftheirmethodnotin byalightwhichuncovershiddenthingsandobjects
logicbutinlife:intheexistenceofadiscoverable whichtheintellectfailstoreach(TheVarietyof
‘real,’asparkoftruebeingwithintheseekingsub- Religious Experiences, 439-441).
ject,whichcaninthatineffableexperiencewhich The Neoplatonic philosopher Plotinus
they call the‘act of union’fuse itself with, and agrees, saying: “In seeing God, what sees is
thusapprehend,therealityofthesoughtObject… not our reason, but something prior to and
Inmysticismthatloveoftruthwhichwesawasthe superior to our reason” (458). St. John of
beginningofallphilosophyleavesthemerelyintel- the Cross does also: “We receive the mysti-
lectualsphereandtakesontheassuredaspectof cal knowledge of God clothed in none of
apersonalpassion.Wherethephilosopherguesses the kinds of images, in none of the sensible
andargues,themysticlooksandlives…Hence, representations, of which our mind makes
whilsttheAbsoluteofthemetaphysicianremains use in other circumstances” (444). As does
adiagram—impersonalandunattainable—the Lao Tzu: “The Tao is ungraspable/ How

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can [the master] be at one with it? Because concealed from metaphysics” (248). This
she does not cling to ideas,” and “My teach- realization in turn leads him to conclude
ings are easy to understand … yet your in- that “in order to learn how to experience
tellect will never grasp them”(Tao Te Ching, the … essence of thinking purely … we
21, 70)4. This list could be extended indefi- must free ourselves from the technical in-
nitely, for the Mystics are nearly unanimous terpretation of thinking” (238). What new
in their decision against the path of reason type of thinking must replace the techni-
as one that can possibly lead to the summit cal in order that the truth of Being may be
of the Holy Mountain. thought will be discussed in the subsequent
In a similar manner, Heidegger comes paragraphs, but what should be noted now
to denounce representational and meta- is that the transcendental experience that
physical thought as wholly incapable of Heidegger seeks to lead us toward is un-
leading man to an experience of Being. graspable by conceptual thought, just as
This attitude is perhaps most clearly seen the mystic’s Absolute is ungraspable.
in Heidegger’s condemnation in his later Now the question arises, how should
works of his early work Being and Time, in one go about seeking and attaining the
which he sought to lead readers into an Transcendent if not by means of traditional
understanding of Being. In this work, philosophical inquiry? Both Heidegger and
Heidegger sought to remain within the the mystics propose similar answers to this
“language of metaphysics,” in order to question: entering into a meditative men-
“make the attempt at thinking recognizable tal state in which the dualistic judgments
and at the same time understandable for of reason are muted and openness to the
existingphilosophy…”(LetteronHumanism, Transcendent is cultivated. Underhill calls
246, 263). But he later acknowledges that this state“contemplation,”and labels it“the
such language “falsifies itself” and fails education which tradition has ever pre-
because it “does not think the truth of scribed for the mystic…” (Mysticism, 302).
Being and so fails to recognize that there She describes this as a “humble receptive-
is a thinking more rigorous than the con- ness, [a] still and steady gazing, in which
ceptual (263)”. In his later works he recog- emotion, thought and will are lost and fused
nizes the inadequacies of traditional philo- … [in which occurs a] breaking down of the
sophical thought which leads to his saying: surface-self and those deeper levels of per-
“philosophy … always follows the course sonality where God is met and known ‘in
of metaphysical representation; it thinks our nothingness’…” (304)5. The revelation
from beings back toward Being,” which of the Ultimate through this state of recep-
“means that the truth of Being … remains tiveness is central to all mystical traditions.
St. Theresa reports such a revelation saying
“One day, being in orison, it was granted
4  Another relevant passage: “Above it isn’t bright/
to me to perceive in one instant how all
Below it is not dark/ Seamless, unnamable/ It returns
to the realm of nothing/Form that includes all form/ things are contained in God…”(Varieties of
image without an image/ subtle beyond all conception/
Approach it and there is no beginning/ follow it and 5  An additional aspect of contemplation that
there is no end/ You can’t know it, but you can be it/ Underhill notes is that it requires practice. “In its early
at ease in your own life/ just realize where you come stages,” she says, “contemplation is voluntary, deliberate
from/ This is the essence of wisdom” (Tao Te Ching, and difficult” (Mysticism, 302). Similarly Heidegger
14). It should be known that Heidegger was extremely says that meditative thought, “does not just happen by
interested in Taoist thought and at one point even itself any more than does calculative thought. At times
attempted to translate the work into German, but it requires a greater effort. It demands more practice”
abandoned the project having only completed the first 8 (Discourse on Thought, 47).
chapters. This fact helps to explain the striking affinities
that exist between Heidegger’s later thought andTaoism.

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ReligiousExperience,448),andSt.Johnofthe of indulging is a special sort of profundity
Cross confesses similarly“that a single hour and of building complicated concepts;
of meditation had taught him more about rather, it is concealed in the step back that
heavenly things than all the teachings of the lets thinking enter into a questioning that
doctors…” (447). Al-Ghazzali describes a experiences…”(LetteronHumanism,255).In
similar process, saying, “The first condition yet another work, Heidegger describes the
for a Sufi is to purge his heart entirely of all kind of thought which alone allows access
that is not God. The next key of the con- to Being, as a kind of will-less waiting, or
templative life consists in humble prayers as he says, a kind of “releasement,” and
which escape from the fervent soul, and says that only through this kind of thought
in meditations on God in which the heart can that-which-regions6 be experienced
is swallowed up entirely” (440). An addi- (Discourse on Thought, 62, 66). It should be
tional similar state is clearly recommended clear from these few descriptions that the
by Lao Tzu when he asks, “can you coax kind of thought that Heidegger proposes to
your mind from its wandering, and keep to be the means by which Being can be expe-
the original oneness… can you step back rienced is very similar to the contemplative
from your own mind and thus understand method of the mystic.
all things,” and again when he asks, “Do Let us now look back upon what has
you have the patience to wait till the mud been established. Three essential aspects
settles and the water is clear”(Tao Te Ching, of mysticism are, a sudden awakening to
10, 15). In all these varied instances of the Transcendent in which worldly beings
contemplation, the operations of the ordi- fall away, the acknowledgement that logi-
nary mind are suppressed, in order to cre- cal thought is incapable of bringing about
ate an openness to a greater reality which a full experience of this Transcendent, and
the ordinary mind cannot perceive. the prescription of a non-conceptual type
In order to experience Being, Heidegger of mental activity, which stresses receptiv-
prescribes the same sort of mental exer- ity, as a means by which the Transcendent
cise, which he sometimes calls meditative can be attained. Heidegger’s thought can
thought, in contrast to calculative thought. be seen to be strongly analogous to mysti-
Whereas calculative thought “computes cism on all three points: he speaks of origi-
ever new, ever more promising … possibili- nal anxiety as the experience by which da-
ties … races from one prospect to the next sein is revealed to itself in its transcendence;
… [and] never stops, never collects itself,” he condemns representational, metaphysi-
meditative thought, “contemplates the cal thought as capable only of thinking of
meaning which reigns in everything that is” beings, never of Being, and he proposes
(Discourse on Thinking, 46). This form of meditative openness and dwelling-with as
thought, he says, need not be “high-flown,” a means by which Being itself can be ex-
but can consist simply in “dwell[ing] on perienced. From these strong analogies
what lies close to us and meditate[ing] we can conclude that the transcenden-
on what is closest…” (47). Elsewhere, tal experiences, which both mystical and
Heidegger says of the kind of thought that Heideggerian thought seek to approach,
allows for the entering into the Truth of
Being, that “because there is something 6  In Heidegger’s later thought this term, “that which
simple to be thought in this thinking it regions,”seems to have replaced the idea of the“clearing
seems quite difficult to the representational of being” but functions similarly to it. So to experience
purely that-which-regions can be identified with the old
thought that has been transmitted as phi- goal of experiencing Being.
losophy, but this difficulty is not a matter

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are probably identical. Though there are and, therefore, we may conclude that these
surface differences between Heidegger’s experiences are of essential equivalence as
thought and the various forms of mysti- well. I have shown the method by which
cism, there are similar surface differences Heidegger seeks to experience the truth
between all the other forms of mysticism of Being to be essentially the same as the
as well7. And though Zen’s Satori and method by which the mystics seek to expe-
Christianity’s Unio Mystico are described in rience the Ultimate, and therefore we are
totally different terms, the means by which justified in concluding that the two experi-
they are attained are essentially the same, ences are probably one and the same.

7  One important disanalogy between Heidegger and

mysticism that deserves further study is that while all
mystics affirm that the Ultimate is absolutely ineffable,
one of Heidegger’s main goals is to bring the Truth of
Being to language. Does this mean that Heidegger’s goal
is different than the mystics? Possibly, but I rather think
that it is simply a reflection on the fact that Heidegger
seeks to restructure language so that it can speak the
truth of being, which is simply a task that no mystic has
ever thought to take upon himself. In terms of ordinary
language both are in agreement, that such talk never
touches upon the Absolute.

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Caputo, John D. The Mystical Elements of Heidegger’s Thought. New York: Fordham
University Press. 1986.

Heidegger, Martin. (1926). Being and Time. Translated by Joan Stambaugh. New York:
State University of New York Press. 1996.

Heidegger, Martin. “What is Metaphysics?” Basic Writing: from Being and Time to The Task
of Thinking. Krell, David Farrell. New York: Harper & Row Publishers. 1977.

Heidegger, Martin. “Letter on Humanism.” Basic Writing: from Being and Time to The Task
of Thinking. Krell, David Farrell. New York: Harper & Row Publishers. 977.

Heidegger, Martin. Discourse on Thought. New York: Harper & Row Publishers. 1966.

James, William. The Varieties of Religious Experience. New York: Modern Library. 1902.

Lao Tzu. Tao Te Ching. Translated by Stephan Mitchell. Perennial Classics. 1988.

Underhill,Evelyn.Mysticism:TheNatureandDevelopmentofSpiritualConsciousness.Oxford:
Oneworld Publications. 1911.

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