James K.A. Smith:

The monastic and mystical contemplative tradition is the ek-static alternative to Stoicism’s egocentrism. If the Stoic injunction is to master oneself, the mystical invitation is to lose oneself and thereby be found. If the Stoic telos is self-sufficient magnanimity, the mystical telos is union, communion, nothing less than Love—a form of self-transcendence in which we let go of control in order to find ourselves indwelling a Love at the heart of the cosmos and in communion with the beautiful, mysterious neighbors with whom we call it home. Instead of apatheia, the mystic pursues contemplation for the sake of compassion.