What is a Mystic
by Dr. Ernest Holmes
A mystic is not a mysterious person but is one who has a deep, inner sense of Life and of his unity with the Whole. Mysticism and psychism are entirely different. One is real while the other may, or may not, be an illusion. There is nothing mysterious in the Truth, so far as It is understood, but all things seem mysterious until we understand them.
A mystic is one who intuitively perceives Truth and, without mental process, arrives at Spiritual process, arrives at Spiritual Realization. It is from the teachings of the great mystics that the best in the philosophy of the world has come. Who was there who could have taught such men as these? By what process of mentality did they arrive at their profound conclusions? We are compelled to recognize that Spirit alone was their Teacher; they were indeed taught of God.
Our great religions have been given by a few who climbed the heights of spiritual vision and caught a fleeting glimpse of Ultimate Reality. No living soul could have taught them what they knew. The great poets have been true mystics who, through their poems, have revealed the Presence of God. Men like Robert Browning, Tennyson, Wordsworth, Homer, Walt Whitman, Edward Rowland Sill, and others of like nature, have given us poetry which is immortal, because they had a spiritual sense of life.
Great spiritual philosophers are mystics. The old prophets were mystics—David, Solomon, Jesus, Plotinus, and a score of others, all had the same experience—the sense of a Living Presence. The greatest music ever composed was written by the hand of a mystic, and the highest and best in art has come from men of spiritual perception.
Man has compelled nature to do his bidding. He has harnessed electricity, caught the wind, trapped steam, and made them do his will. He has invented machines to do the work of thousands. He has belted the globe with his traffic and built up a wonderful civilization; but in few cases has he conquered his own soul. The mystic has revealed things that do not pass as ships in the night. He has revealed Eternal Verities and has plainly taught us that there is a Living Presence indwelling ALL. This constitutes the greatest intellectual and spiritual heritage of the ages. The balance of our knowledge of God must come as a direct impartation from Him. We must learn it for ourselves.
The Science of Mind: The Definitive Edition: The Complete Edition (pp. 327-328). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.