Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction -- Psychological understanding of the Scriptures -- Mystics' ways of understanding the Scriptures -- Secrets of mystical life -- Different forms or stages of prayer -- Prayer in general -- Meditative prayer -- Discursive mental prayer -- Affective mental prayer -- Contemplative mental prayer -- Studies by medical science and transpersonal psychology -- A much shorter version -- Brain hemisphere studies and meditation -- Study of the central nervous system -- Psychological studies on levels of being -- Concentration versus relaxation -- Mystical meaning and mystics -- Literal, moral, allegorical, and unitive meaning -- Contemplative meditation leading to the unitive level -- St. Francis of Assisi -- St. Catherine of Siena -- St. Ignatius of Loyola -- St. Teresa of Avila -- St. John of the Cross -- Mortification of the appetites -- The journey of faith -- The dark night and the communication of God -- Implications for insightful scriptural reflections -- A word of caution -- It is not about doing it right -- You will be hated because of my name : love your enemies -- The blind man was spiritually able to see Jesus even before being restored -- More will be given to the one who has more -- The criminal who believed in God dying by his side -- A Gentile had more faith than all of Israel -- Judge not and you will not be judged -- The invisible is present in the visible -- Blessed are the poor and the not so poor -- Our hearts will not rest until they rest in God -- Grateful means transformation within and without -- Last judgment has already begun -- Forgive in order to be forgiven -- The kingdom of God is more about generosity than justice -- God loves us not out of justice but mercy and generosity -- Believers can reject God through resistances -- Acting with mercy is more important than doing it right -- Believers can be paying lip service to God -- Earthly matters are not so significant as heavenly ones -- Law means love -- What we say and do versus who we are -- It is more about being rather than about earning -- Watchful means embrace uncertainties -- Be open-minded, nonjudgmental, and unprejudiced -- Living in the now -- For nothing will be impossible for God -- God is not at the top but at the bottom -- Even believers will have to search for God -- Suffering and humiliation will lead to a now-resurrection -- Faith is more important than healing -- Forgiveness is as unconditional as love -- The kingdom of heaven is in your cross.

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This study presents a psychological understanding of the prayer exercises of the mystics. It examines the spiritual unconscious, supporting its assertions with clinical evidence. The work asserts how contemplative prayer practices affect brain hemispheres by quieting the left brain and enabling the right brain to journey to the deepest part of consciousness.