Mystical Education

Modern society has seen a dramatic change toward the sacred. The prevalence and availability of mystical techniques and practices along with specific economic and social conditions have created a base for the revitalization of a spiritualized, mystical consciousness: a veritable mystical society. This chapter examines the effect of such changes on education and pedagogy. The central hypothesis of the paper is that whereas the commodification of the social relations of school and pedagogy is the hegemonic socioeducational tendency, classical and contemporary movements in mystical religion and spirituality also offer an educational counterpoint and challenge. This second, "mystical" model of social relations is transferred to the educational encounter and questions are raised about how a counterhegemonic social alternative is practically feasible in the context of the social structure of commodified schooling.