It is just as possible to live deep down in the innermost of the soul in the heart of ‘down town’ as it is in the quiet of a monastery cell. ‘Town’ and ‘soul’ are not in contradiction to each other. The mystics who agree on this are not the minor ones. And yet, as we read in the works of the same mystics, ‘town’ and ‘soul’ – the inner path and social engagement – do not go together easily. Of course, the mystic embraces the commandment of neighbourly love, but is his charity not merely an ‘instrument’ helping him – and only him – to come in closer contact with God?

This and similar questions are central to Down Town / Down Soul. Part One (‘Mysticism’) presents studies on the typically ‘mystical’ character of the inner life. Part Two (‘Down Town’) reflects upon the relationship between the mystical and the political, while Part Three (‘Down Soul’) returns to the soul and its abysmal – ‘mystical’ – condition.