Mormon Mysticism or Spirituality

Mormon Mysticism can be best understood in the context that Hugh Nibley described:

“...[B]ut that is what Christ meant by the mysteries of the kingdom. He meant ordinances, which were necessary; and these he revealed to the apostles during his very confidential teachings of the forty days after the resurrection. The purpose of such ordinances is to bridge the space between the world in which we now live, the telestial world, and that to which we aspire, the celestial world.” [ Temple and Cosmos: Beyond This Ignorant Present by Hugh Nibley, pg. 28.]

Mystic traditions generally form sub-currents within larger religious traditions—such as Kabbalah within Judaism, Sufism within Islam, Vedanta and Kashmir Shaivism within Hinduism, Christian mysticism within Christianity. Within Mormonism the Temple is the embodiment of the mystical experience.
Mysticism is the pursuit of communion with, identity with, or conscious awareness of an ultimate reality, divinity, spiritual truth, or God through direct experience, intuition, instinct or insight. Mysticism usually centers on a practice or practices intended to nurture those experiences or awareness. Mysticism may be dualistic, maintaining a distinction between the self and the divine, or may be nondualistic. Differing religious traditions have described this fundamental mystical experience in different ways:

* Nullification and absorption within God's Infinite Light (Hassidic schools of Judaism)
* Complete non-identification with the world (Kaivalya in some schools of Hinduism, including Sankhya and Yoga; Jhana in Buddhism)
* Liberation from the cycles of Karma (Moksha in Jainism and Hinduism, Nirvana in Buddhism)
* Deep intrinsic connection to the world (Satori in Mahayana Buddhism, Te in Taoism)
* Union with God (Theosis in Eastern and Catholic Christianity or Exaltation in Mormonism and Henosis in Neoplatonism and Brahma-Prapti or Brahma-Nirvana in Hinduism)
* Innate Knowledge (Irfan and fitra in Islam)
* Experience of one's true blissful nature (Samadhi Svarupa-Avirbhava in Hinduism and Buddhism)

Enlightenment or Illumination are generic English terms for the phenomenon, derived from the Latin illuminatio (applied to Christian prayer in the 15th century) and adopted in English translations of Buddhist texts, but used loosely to describe the state of mystical attainment regardless of faith.

Also See:
Mormon Mysticism
MormonMysticism.com (A discussion of Mormonism, the Temple, Mormon Mysticism, Jewish Mysticism, and the meaning of life.)
Mormon Mysticism by David Littlefield (book-latest version)
Words: Mysticism & Orientation
Jewish Roots of Eastern Christian Mysticism