While it appears to be continuous, consciousness has distinct gaps. It allows for no permanent, abiding, essential self. We are part of the oneness of the cosmos. The left hemisphere of our brain persuaded us that we were otherwise. There are moments when the self uncovers its vast ground of being, its interface with all that exists.
Mystics have no monopoly on such moments.
This oneness and love is God. To be spiritual is to cultivate an appreciation of oneness, to be open to the possibility of love. The kabbalist, Isaac Luria, concluded that the first act of creation was not emanation, but withdrawal by which God made room for something other than God. First God withdraws, concealing Itself. This leaves a gap of spacetime, an arena for the universe and the self.