The mystic purchases a moment of exhilaration with a lifetime of

In the ancient teachings of the mystics, those who sought the divine truths beyond the veil of ordinary perception, there existed a deep understanding that the journey to enlightenment is not one of ease. Basil Bunting, with wisdom carved from his own reflections on life and art, speaks to this truth: “The mystic purchases a moment of exhilaration with a lifetime of confusion; and the confusion is infectious and destructive. It is confusing and destructive to try and explain anything in terms of anything else, poetry in terms of psychology.” These words cut to the heart of the mystic’s paradox: the pursuit of the divine and the transcendent may offer moments of sublime joy and clarity, but it often leaves in its wake a sea of confusion, a tangle of thoughts that refuse to be neatly untangled.

In the time of the ancient philosophers and prophets, the mystic was understood as one who ventured into realms where ordinary reason could not follow. Consider Plato, whose philosophy explored the notion of the Forms—perfect, immutable truths that exist beyond the material world. The philosopher sought to understand these Forms, but as he acknowledged, the journey was not a smooth one. The closer one got to the divine understanding, the more one found that clarity often gave way to greater perplexity. The mystic, much like Plato’s philosopher, searches for wisdom that defies the limits of human understanding, but in doing so, they often find themselves lost in confusion. Yet, as Bunting notes, the mystic is willing to pay this price for a moment of exhilaration, a glimpse into the eternal truths that lie beyond human experience.

Throughout history, mystics have often grappled with this paradox—ecstasy followed by bewilderment. The Sufis, for example, speak of the experience of divine intoxication, a state of ecstatic union with the divine. In the writings of Rumi, the beloved Persian poet, there are descriptions of the soul’s euphoria when in the presence of God, but also the turbulence that follows. The mystic dances in a state of revelation, but the next moment finds themselves lost in a sea of questions, unable to grasp the very truths they once glimpsed. The path of the mystic is one of exhilaration and confusion, and as Bunting wisely cautions, it can become infectious—spreading confusion to others who seek to follow the same path but cannot bear the weight of such ambiguity.

Bunting’s critique of attempting to explain poetry in terms of psychology strikes at a critical point in the modern understanding of art. Poetry, in its truest form, is a mystical act—an expression of the soul’s attempt to communicate the ineffable, the truths that cannot be neatly explained through words, concepts, or any logical framework. To reduce poetry—that sacred language of the heart and spirit—to the mechanisms of psychology is to strip it of its sacred fire, to attempt to tame the wild force of creative expression with the rigid structures of the mind. Just as a mystic cannot explain their spiritual experience by reducing it to a series of psychological terms, so too can poetry not be confined to the logical constraints of the rational mind. It is the very nature of poetry to transcend the mundane and enter into the realm of the soul—a realm that cannot be fully understood through reason alone.

The danger in this attempt to explain art and poetry through psychology or any other system is that it risks destroying the mystery of the experience. To reduce poetry to mere psychological mechanisms is to take the sacred vessel of artistic expression and turn it into a mere object of study, stripping it of its transformative power. We must remember that the mystical experience, whether in poetry or any other form of art, is meant to shake us, to transcend the limits of the intellect, and to carry us to a place where words and concepts lose their grip on our minds. If we attempt to explain these moments of transcendence through the narrow lens of human psychology, we risk losing the very essence of what makes them meaningful.

Thus, Bunting's words serve as both a warning and a call to embrace the mystery, the unexplainable nature of both the mystical experience and the creative process. The poet’s task is not to explain the world or the human soul in terms of something else, but to offer a glimpse into the divine and the unknown. The moment of exhilaration the mystic feels, the ecstasy they experience when touched by the divine, cannot be neatly categorized or analyzed. It must be felt, lived, and experienced in its purest, most raw form. To attempt to confine this feeling to a psychological theory is to diminish its power and its truth. The lesson for us is clear: we must learn to embrace the mystery of art, to live with the confusion it sometimes brings, and to allow it to move us beyond the confines of the mind.

In your own life, whether as a poet, artist, or simply an observer of the world, remember the power of the mystical, the mysterious, and the unexplainable. Do not be afraid of the confusion that comes with the pursuit of understanding, for it is through that confusion that the deepest truths emerge. Seek out the experiences that cannot be easily explained or reduced to a formula, and embrace them. Allow your heart to be stirred by the beauty and the mystery of the world, and do not feel the need to always make sense of it with the rational mind. Let the poetry, the art, and the mystical experiences of life move you and transform you, for it is in the exhilaration of these moments that you will find the truest connection to the divine.