Asceticism by itself does not make a mystic. Meditation and focus do not make a mystic. Attempting to see the "reality" behind this false world and transcend, usually through a dedicated path that has been demonstrated by a Master, is what makes mysticism different.
In most paths (real world and Glorantha), attachment to mundane concerns, relationships with people and communities and concerns of the body all inhibit the ability to "see" beyond the false world and move along the path of transcendence. Sufficiently detached masters can probably ignore the world as they pass through it, only "existing in the now", doing but not caring about what they do. Novices are greatly aided by seclusion, hence monasteries.
On Wed, Dec 16, 2009 at 3:40 PM, John Machin <orichalka_at_zOoAaDrJMq15sqD0IlND5sA4AHWwMbNY12VG_0_pyxakAaR0pN-4cFMRr6IDxfz4Xvhs6E-6UFsV.yahoo.invalid> wrote:
>
>
> Hi Peter,
>
> Another one from me...
>
> I was wondering if a Wizard who methodically studied the texts of his
> school
> in a monastic or hermetic seculsion would be considered a mystic?
>
> Kabbalistic practices that involve study of texts are sometimes considered
> mystical practices in our world; would this be the case in Glorantha? Or is
> this scholar "just" a very dedicated magician? [Admittedly, Kabbalism did
> not endorse extreme asceticism or isolation from the mundane world but it
> was an attempt to obtain spiritual understanding of the transcendent which
> makes me wonder about what this would be considered in Glorantha?].
>
>
> --
> John Machin
> "Nothing is more beautiful than to know the All."
> - Athanasius Kircher, 'The Great Art of Knowledge'.
>
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>
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