Back to Deikman. He seems to see mystical union in only in monistic terms. The individual is subsumed into the whole, losing its individuality, like a drop of water falling into the ocean. But unity need not imply singularity. In the mystical context it is dynamic, not static. When a pianist plays all the disparate elements of his body, his heart, mind and emotions become a unity. Likewise with an orchestra. The idea of God as the Lord of the Dance is not coincidental. We are all elements in the cosmic dance, only we are not aware of it for the most part. Union is one-mindedness, more than just co-operation and co-ordination. ‘Have the same mind in you as was in Christ Jesus,’ said Paul to the Philippians. Mystical union is not the realisation of an ontological primordial state. It is the realisation of one mind, one will. Hence the importance of conversion.
What I am trying to express here is not easy and needs a lot of working out. Although Deikman is often very clear, at other times he confuses things. In his chapter on Intuition he begins by treating mysticism as a science. Whatever it is, mysticism is not a science. An art? – better, but this does not include the moral element. Moran is quite right in asserting that a concept of what it means to be human, and what is involved in human development, must include the idea of conversion. We are, above all, moral creatures. There are plenty of descriptions of drug induced mystical experiences which agree, more or less word for word, with natural mystical experiences. The assumption by many, including I think Deikman, is that they are the same. My feeling is that this is too simplistic. There are other factors involved.
There are different types of mystical experience, a feeling of expansion, nature mysticism, soul mysticism, pan-en-henism, the numinous encounter with the mysterium tremendum, transforming union – to give a rough list. Some are natural states which do not involve a personal or moral commitment.
We are, above all, moral beings. Love is a fundamental driving force. The idea that the experience of union with the Absolute, with God, is amoral, i.e. does not require any moral commitment, does not seem correct. In other words, the experiences of Baudelaire, Rimbaud, Alduous Huxley, Timothy Leary, St. Teresa of Avila, St. Augustine are not equivalent although their descriptions of these experiences may be similar.
The scientific approach to mysticism is that of the detached observer. The mystical approach is one of engagement. The scientific approach is limited because it can only evaluate in a detached way from outside the context of the mystic’s experience. It cannot experience what it is to be the dynamic confluence of relationships that a person really is.