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Evelyn Underhill
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Practical Mysticism Paperback – January 31, 2010

4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 106 ratings
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In this book, Evelyn Underhill goes into detail concerning the practice of mysticism and how it can be used to increase the spiritual consciousness.
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  1. Print length
    102 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Connecting to God
  4. Publication date
    January 31, 2010
  5. Dimensions
    6 x 0.21 x 9 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1609420063
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1609420062
  8. See all details
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Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Connecting to God (January 31, 2010)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 102 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1609420063
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1609420062
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 5.3 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.21 x 9 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 106 ratings

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Evelyn Underhill

Evelyn Underhill

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Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars
4.2 out of 5
106 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Eddie Vortex
5.0 out of 5 stars This is a wonderfully written book on a subject that seems to be ...
Reviewed in the United States on February 1, 2016
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This is a wonderfully written book on a subject that seems to be difficult for most people to understand. The writer is from another time and classically trained. Some seem to think her writing style is too flowery or too wordy. That is unfortunate, much could be learned about how to write and appreciate the English language just reading and studying this book The author's use of the language is eloquent and beautiful. I think many of those who gave unfavorable reviews of this book just don't understand the subject matter and therefore can't get beyond being stuck in the writing style. It's easier to complain about something they can get a grip on. I am not trying to undermine anyone Mysticism is a tough subject to pin down. That being said I find this book to be enlightening and invigorating to read. Make sure you are wide awake and focused when you read it. I believe the reward is worth the effort.
18 people found this helpful
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Kent Nicolai Scheer
5.0 out of 5 stars CRYSTAL CLARITY
Reviewed in the United States on August 4, 2017
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A stunning doorway to the understanding of mystical consciousness, if you can be serious in applying yourself.
This is nearly the simplest language that has ever been applied to mysticism, yet, if you drift away for one second you can lose the thread and your entire opportunity. The text relies on certain arcane Christian terms which will alienate many due to their modern implications of stress and strife. But, for those who will read this with focus the pathway is layed-out with precision. However, when you finally understand the nature of the preparations you will run. These steps are contrary to every single empty value beloved by 21st century man.
11 people found this helpful
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professor
4.0 out of 5 stars mysticism? yes. practical? yes!
Reviewed in the United States on October 15, 2010
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Underwood moved from agnosticism to neo-platonism to Anglo-Catholicism, all the time being an intuitive and practicing mystic. Here she teaches me, step by step, how to "do" it. She is a Christian and draws on mostly Christian sources for her techniques and illustrations, but her emphasis on theology is so minimal that she can be used easily by, i think, as large a variety of people as can have any interest in contemplative spirituality. The fact that this was written in 1914 stops being a problem about two pages in. It is now part of my essential library.
9 people found this helpful
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Dean
5.0 out of 5 stars Powerful Conversation
Reviewed in the United States on October 10, 2018
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The narration and content are extraordinary. It feels so conversational and personal as the content is conveyed. The language and writing style are beautiful and almost poetic. The best part, though, is how powerful the principles are. The word "practical" that's part of the title is spot-in... it can be applied to one's life immediately.
4 people found this helpful
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Kindle Customer
1.0 out of 5 stars Never mentions Jesus, Christ, or the Holy Spirit, but mentions Brahma.
Reviewed in the United States on December 23, 2021
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It tries to describe mysticism for the inexperienced and i guess it does a decent job. It omits God from bible verses and seems to avoid mentioning God as much as possible and never mentions Christ or the Holy Spirit. It is not a good book. It states a lot of truths, and more than a few perfect descriptions of experience, but it is wrong a lot as well. For example it quotes a psalm and it says "be still and know." But the psalm states "be still and know that I am God."

Read it for your entertainment, but don't follow it's advice. Read instead "The Imitation of Christ", or "The Ascent of Mount Carmel'

I (for what it's worth) can vouch for the description of union with God. What this book lays out in a very long series of steps, descriptions, and methods that results in Union with "Reality", I had happen to me in a few minutes spontaneously 4.5 years ago. I have devoured spiritual books looking for answers to the Darkness that follows such an experience, and this book provided no answers at all. But the ones I list above did help me.
6 people found this helpful
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hon
3.0 out of 5 stars Three Stars
Reviewed in the United States on August 11, 2017
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Gary D.
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent and might I say "practical" in the specific way ...
Reviewed in the United States on June 3, 2016
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Excellent and might I say "practical" in the specific way it explains mystical contemplation. And it is well written, even with poetical phrases.
2 people found this helpful
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Donner C. S. Tan
5.0 out of 5 stars Mysticism for Everyone!
Reviewed in the United States on August 2, 2009
Some people say 'mysticism is a dangerous thing. It begins with mist and ends in schism' (haha)! Evelyn Underhill defuses this myth with this artistically written book addressed to the 'practical man who has lived all his days amongst the illusions of multiplicity'. She calls mysticism 'the Science of Love' - it asks us to stop seeing the world through our egoistic lenses and see it instead as it is. The world in fact for all its parts and diversity points to the Whole, the Real that gives unity to everything. The path of mysticism needs not be as ethereal and mystifying as it sounds to many people. It is a practical skill, to put it simply, of learning to see - a skill that the great theologian Thomas Aquinas reckons proper to all people, if only they get some training!

This is what the book is about. It invites us and tantalizes us with the rudimentary steps of learning to *see*..with our inner eyes/ the eyes of the heart - a spiritual discipline mystics call 'contemplation'. The great obstacles of spiritual perception are 'thoughts, convention and self-interest'. We need to stop asking the instinctive, selfish question 'what's in it for me?' and see things as they really are and adjust ourselves to that reality, which we will discover far transcend the narrow confines of our self-centred, parochial world!

Underhill gently invites us to some basic preparatory exercises of contemplation, training our eyes to see again by taking some simple objects to gaze upon, ceasing all habits of analysing, dissecting, measuring or labelling. As Teresa of Avila taught her disciples, 'I want you to do no more than to look.' That simple exercise when persisted long enough will gradually alter our way of looking at things, ourselves, others and the world around us. She then takes us through the three forms/phases of contemplation - the 'natural, the spiritual and the divine'. In short, they are (a) contemplation of the physical world, (b) inward contemplation in stillness and silence and finally (c) infused contemplation where we let go and God takes over and removes the last vestiges of our pride and self-interest, leading to union.

In the last chapters, she eloquently handles the practical man's greatest resistance: 'what is this all about? is it not another navel-gazing exercise fit for the idle?' No, she contends, the mystical life far from being an escapist exercise, a dreamy pastime, an altered state of consciousness or simply a 'spiritual' experience as an end in itself, is in fact a most practical life-transforming discipline that will overhaul one's vision and unleash our God-given energy for the world! We become what we were meant to be! That is, to become all flame - energised by the vision of the Whole as well as the well-exercised muscles of our will and love, 'nakedly stretched out through long periods of boredom and trials' and directed towards the mending of the broken, the union of the estranged, saving of the lost and the redemption of the world!

While Underhill clearly acknowledges and draws from the common discoveries of the mystical vision and insights in various religions, her contemplative worldview (if i can put it that way) remains firmly rooted in the Christian story that speaks of the telos of our communion with God as well as the renewal of the space-time cosmos for which her life and energy had been generously poured out!
6 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Unique Insights on the path
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 1, 2024
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Wonderful short book that illuminates many of the mysteries clouded in indigestible language of many traditional books of East and West. That are embedded in esoteric language that have lost their divine vision for the modern language and age. This gem assists in the demystification of the Enlightenment path.
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William Keller
5.0 out of 5 stars A must!
Reviewed in Germany on March 13, 2014
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This book is a life-changing experience. Get it now, if you have any interest in mysticism. The author explains things in depth and in language that makes the concepts easily understandable. I highly recommend this book.
One person found this helpful
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JF
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 16, 2014
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fascinating book; can see why it is still in print 100 years on
7 people found this helpful
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