Psychologist Wilson Van Dusen explores the secret spaces of our inner world with clues drawn from his own personal experience, his work with psychiatric patients, and his study of Eastern and Western philosophy. Drawing from the insights of Swedish visionary Emanuel Swedenborg, Van Dusen discusses self-reflection, dreams, hallucinations, and the mystical experience.

"Beauty, Wonder, and the Mystical Mind" spreads before the reader a rich word picture of the spiritual realm. Wilson Van Dusen describes the mature mystic, enumerating the characteristics of those whose lives are shaped by the experience of God. He explains how religion fits within the context of culture and how mysticism fits -- or does not -- within the context of religion. He also compares the mystical to the aesthetic, noting the similar ways in which art and epiphany move and elevate the experiencer.

Believing that all have the potential to experience God, Van Dusen opens the...