' Spiritual Mysticsim '...

What mystics hope to achieve differs from culture to culture.. Shamans,, theurgists,, Daoists,, Kabbalists,, Western esotericians,, and many others are primarily interested in mystical experiences as a means of performing magic.. The gnostics of late antiquity,, Hindu mystics,, and Buddhists have sought liberation from ignorance through the apprehension of truth,, and Christian and Sufi mystics seek consolation in God.............. For the most part,, mystics are engaged in acquiring a set of skills that will enable them to have visions,, unitive experiences,, possession states,, and so forth.. In a few cases,, however,, the purpose of mystical practice is to produce personal transformation.. Confucianism,, for example,, is aimed at the cultivation of sagehood. Fourteenth-century Roman Catholic meditations on the Passion of Christ,, which induced death-and-resurrection experiences that were considered mystical unions with Jesus,, were consciously aimed at reforming the soul in both faith and feeling.. Early English Methodism was aimed at the achievement of a state of “sanctification,”,, in which sin ceases to be tempting and virtue is effortless.. Tibetan Buddhism is directed toward the production of enlightened individuals,, called bodhisattvas,, who inevitably acquire compassion as a side effect of their progress toward truthful understanding..................Britannica