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This chapter is divided into two major sections covering Underhill's last two stages of purification and union. Purification signifies the second transformative night, and it prepares the mystic for the crowning stage of union. Underhill considers purification as something that naturally flows from the stage of illumination; yet, within this night, the initiative of supranatural grace predominates. Several mystics and commentators compare this night with clinical depression. In examining the discussions in this comparison, I shall identify the dialectical features characterizing this second night, which distinguish it from depression. With the help of Underhill and others, I sketch out the form of the second night as serial oscillations and as coexistence of light and darkness, with the light–darkness metaphor carrying diverse meanings. I shall also attempt to show that it is possible to read excerpts of Kant's and Otto's writings into this sketch and identify features of the sublime that subsist within this phase of purification. While exploring the contours of this second night, I shall raise and address some challenging questions hinging upon the rationale behind persevering through apparently unnecessary suffering. The section on "unitive life" is bisected into the exploration of the experience of mystical union and that of the more stable life of communion with God. Given that mystical union is a singular experience of major consequence to the tradition of mysticism, I am compelled, in this first subsection, to embark on a meticulous review of this experience. Following this, I endeavour to foreground Underhill's consistent definition of mysticism as a holistic and productive life of intimacy between the finite self and infinite God. In assessing the elements that constitute such a life, I grapple with the problem of preserving individual free will that is supposedly submerged in the will of God.

DOI: 10.1007/978-981-287-484-9_5

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