The idea of a community between different religions, and between religion and the tradition of the esotericism is not a trivial concept. Sure that have being build with failures, well, that failures could been fixed. As the post points, Mysticism is full of possibility of error or of sloppiness. But the question is if there is a will of correcting that errors and that sloppiness.
I am not sure I understand your post.
In my experience with and view of Theosophy, it is not a community-builder between religions, mystical traditions, or esotericism - or any combination of the three. Madame B was a chain-smoking, obese woman who "borrowed" heavily from Hinduism, and then added on to it with her self-serving interpretation of
herself as instrumental in bringing in the next phase of spiritual evolution for mankind.
I think reality is weirder than we can imagine, and that the paranormal is a big part of that. Some aspects of the paranormal can be considered mysticism. I have experienced that paranormal, but do not consider myself a mystic. Decades ago, I told reality/God/whatever to stop giving me precognitive visions if they were not accompanied by the ability to change them. Reality obliged.
Most major religions which I am aware of have some strands which delve into mysticism. Many books exist which explore, compare, and contrast those strands.
@AmStramGram,
@Victory, and
@SimonBurchell have given thoughtful pointers about Buddhism, Judaism, and Christianity.
Jack Kornfield has written much on incorporating a meditation practice into normal life of family, working, taking out the garbage, etc. In his books which I have read, he discusses
spiritual hubris and the seduction of the ego while pursuing mysticism. I found much to reflect on in terms of my personal goals and circumstances.
Years ago, in Bloomington, Indiana, I had a series of one-on-one discussions over several months with (Thubten Jigme) Norbu and Helmut Hoffmann in Professor Hoffmann's home. These gentlemen were humble, smart, cheerful, and poked fun at everything. I did not experience these qualities in the Theosophists I met. The Theosophists exemplified spiritual hubris.
(BTW, the American government via the CIA was responsible for bringing these two to the US, and endowing the Indiana University chairs which employed them. This essentially established the Uralic and Altaic Studies Department. Life is fucking weirder than we can imagine! Even now 60 years on, one can see the Tibetan monks in their maroon and yellow gowns at Nick's English Hut, chugging beer with the best of them. Norbu, the Dalai Lama, and “anonymous” donors established a major stupa and school for Tibetan Buddhism a few miles south of Bloomington.)
In this life, for myself, I have no strong inclination to mysticism. I think I have other goals to accomplish. Others may have mystical goals - and that is fine. As
@Mr Bleak has written, sometimes pursuing mysticism is a postponement of our real work on earth in this lifetime.
I still remember those discussions from 45 years ago with Hoffmann and Norbu, and have periodically hauled them out of my memory's attic and replayed them. I think my approach to life struck the right balance between action and reflection, even though I have fallen short of kicking ass, conquering the world, and freeing the masses. Hoffmann told me that, by either the path of knowledge or the path of love, one may achieve enlightenment. These two paths are equally difficult and equally worth doing. I think that the path of knowledge has more intrinsic temptations to mystical errors, and the path of love has more intrinsic temptations to carnal and emotional attachment errors.
If one has the premise that reality is everywhere and everywhen, then different views of reality denote either different experiences or different interpretations. Different traditions of mysticism reflect both of these.
I am content with my experiences and my interpretations. I view mysticism for myself as full of dangerous risks of spiritual hubris, ego seduction, and an invitation to not-benign entities to come play with me – all because I know my weaknesses really well. The Buddhist approach to mysticism and spiritual dangers seem to me to be very similar to the Roman Catholic approach. The RC contemplatives who pursue knowledge of God, and the RC believers who devote themselves to serving others - the path of love: both are honorable.
I hope this long-winded response is useful.
Edited for spelling.
