It seems clear to me that while some discussions of metaphysics and mysticism clearly attempt, through metaphor or direct description, to explain spiritual or physical phenomenon in the world of objects and actions, the real divide between rationalism and mysticism can be dispensed with as follows:<br>
<br>1) Admitting, as MB does, that mysticism is a state of mind that relishes in the mystery of events that do not follow strict rules (or are simply irreducible), but doesn't dismiss or deny the right of the curious mind to attempt to understand and explain those events. Clearly, their exists for any society and for each individual a balance between the value of experiences of wonder and experiences of keen insight.<br>
<br>2) Explaining mystery not as an alternate method of explaining or approaching events, but as a means of relating to intangible truths which have no urgent need for explanation or relationship to the objective description of events or processes. For example, chomer and tzura can be explained as relating to ideas present in the Platonic philosophy of forms--which Plato believed to be real ontological entities and Aristotle explained away as a priori constructs in the mind--but instead as a way of viewing and appreciating the dichotomy between raw material and finished form, or between given resource and ideal end, or between reality as it is and the value or meaning we provide it in context, etc.<br>
<br>To further illustrate this meaning of mysticism, I will quote, as I'm fond of doing, that very spiritually attuned person, Mr. Lincoln:<br><br>"The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and
patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad
land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as
surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature."<br><br><br>The use of "mystic" here, and the physical metaphors of "stretching," "swell," and "touch" arte not meant to convey some attribution of credit for human memory to the infathomable nature of Divine wisdom, nor are they meant to be explanations--rational or otherwise--for the phenomenon of memory and its significance, but rather a means of creatively expressing emotional experiences of yearning that are entwined with the meaningful experience of memory. No conflict whatsoever here with physics, psychology, religion, or neuroscience, just beautiful poetic words that evoke a deeper appreciation and experience of common humanity. Oh, and by the way, the words are the chomer, and the poetry the tzurah, or is it that the battelfields and patriot graves are the chomer and the memories and angels of our nature are the tzura? You decide.<br>
<br>