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Mysticism: Difference between revisions
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The word ''mysticism'' is thought to be derived from the Greek word meaning to close the eyes or lips. It was first used in connection with the Greek [[mystery religions]]. The “mystics” were those who promised to keep secret the rituals of their religion. | The word ''mysticism'' is thought to be derived from the Greek word meaning to close the eyes or lips. It was first used in connection with the Greek [[mystery religions]]. The “mystics” were those who promised to keep secret the rituals of their religion. | ||
Neoplatonic philosophers who later applied the word mystical to their doctrines taught their pupils to shut their eyes to the external world and go within, in profound contemplation, to discover mystical truths. Closing their eyes meant they had to go to a plane of consciousness apart from the concrete mind. They had to go beyond the intellectual mind to levels of both the superconscious and the subconscious where the soul has direct awareness of her identity in God beyond the confines of the physical/intellectual self. The Neoplatonists sought to take their pupils to the compartment of being where the soul speaks to God and where God speaks to the soul. | Neoplatonic philosophers who later applied the word ''mystical'' to their doctrines taught their pupils to shut their eyes to the external world and go within, in profound contemplation, to discover mystical truths. Closing their eyes meant they had to go to a plane of consciousness apart from the concrete mind. They had to go beyond the intellectual mind to levels of both the superconscious and the subconscious where the soul has direct awareness of her identity in God beyond the confines of the physical/intellectual self. The Neoplatonists sought to take their pupils to the compartment of being where the soul speaks to God and where God speaks to the soul. | ||
Philo, the Jewish religious thinker and contemporary of [[Jesus]], used the term ''mystical'' to refer not to secret rituals but to the hidden meaning of God’s word. The early Greek Church Fathers Clement and [[Origen of Alexandria]] applied the word ''mystical'' to the allegorical interpretation of scripture. Origen believed there could be no real understanding of the scriptures without communion with God. For Origen, interpretation of the scriptures was a religious experience. He was the first to use the word mystical to describe a way of knowing God. | Philo, the Jewish religious thinker and contemporary of [[Jesus]], used the term ''mystical'' to refer not to secret rituals but to the hidden meaning of God’s word. The early Greek Church Fathers Clement and [[Origen of Alexandria]] applied the word ''mystical'' to the allegorical interpretation of scripture. Origen believed there could be no real understanding of the scriptures without communion with God. For Origen, interpretation of the scriptures was a religious experience. He was the first to use the word ''mystical'' to describe a way of knowing God. | ||
In later centuries, Christians used the word ''mystical'' to indicate the hidden and sacred presence of Christ in the scriptures, sacraments and liturgy. The influential writings of the fifth- or sixth-century writer known as Pseudo-Dionysius established the word ''mystical'' as part of the Christian vocabulary. He didn’t just use it to discuss the interpretation of scripture. He also encouraged the exercise of “mystical contemplation”—leaving behind “the senses and the operations of the intellect” in order to gain union with God.<ref>Hervey Egan, ''Christian Mysticism: The Future of a Tradition'' (New York: Pueblo Publishing, 1984), pp. 2–3.</ref> Eventually the term ''mystical theology'' was used in the Church to denote knowledge about God gained through contemplation. | In later centuries, Christians used the word ''mystical'' to indicate the hidden and sacred presence of Christ in the scriptures, sacraments and liturgy. The influential writings of the fifth- or sixth-century writer known as Pseudo-Dionysius established the word ''mystical'' as part of the Christian vocabulary. He didn’t just use it to discuss the interpretation of scripture. He also encouraged the exercise of “mystical contemplation”—leaving behind “the senses and the operations of the intellect” in order to gain union with God.<ref>Hervey Egan, ''Christian Mysticism: The Future of a Tradition'' (New York: Pueblo Publishing, 1984), pp. 2–3.</ref> Eventually the term ''mystical theology'' was used in the Church to denote knowledge about God gained through contemplation. | ||
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There are several elements common to the mystical paths of the major world’s religions. Among these are (1) the mystics’ pursuit of the indwelling Presence of God; (2) their pursuit of direct intercourse with God through prayer and contemplation; and (3) their pursuit of a threefold path of ascent to God. | There are several elements common to the mystical paths of the major world’s religions. Among these are (1) the mystics’ pursuit of the indwelling Presence of God; (2) their pursuit of direct intercourse with God through prayer and contemplation; and (3) their pursuit of a threefold path of ascent to God. | ||
[[File:The-Last-Supper-large.jpg|thumb|''The Last Supper'', Carl Heinrich Bloch (late 19th century)]] | |||
== (1) The indwelling presence of God == | == (1) The indwelling presence of God == | ||
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To the mystics, prayer is not just a prescribed set of devotions and petitions to God. It is an interior prayer wherein we speak with God from the very depths of our soul. It is concentration upon God. It is a profound communion free from distractions within and distractions without. | To the mystics, prayer is not just a prescribed set of devotions and petitions to God. It is an interior prayer wherein we speak with God from the very depths of our soul. It is concentration upon God. It is a profound communion free from distractions within and distractions without. | ||
Everyone who maintains this relationship with God is holding the Spirit cosmos and the Matter cosmos together, because in that dialogue and in that union he has come to the point of the center of the Chart | Everyone who maintains this relationship with God is holding the Spirit cosmos and the Matter cosmos together, because in that dialogue and in that union he has come to the point of the center of the Chart of your Divine Self, the point of the Son of God. | ||
The mystics taught that true prayer does not take place just at peak moments of the day or week. True prayer is unceasing communion with God even in the midst of daily activities. Teresa of Avila said we should talk with God about even the smallest concerns of our day. Our conversations with him can take place anywhere. | The mystics taught that true prayer does not take place just at peak moments of the day or week. True prayer is unceasing communion with God even in the midst of daily activities. [[Teresa of Avila]] said we should talk with God about even the smallest concerns of our day. Our conversations with him can take place anywhere. | ||
Unceasing prayer is like being in love. When you are in love, you are always thinking of the beloved. When you are in love with God, you can never take your attention from him. You are consumed by a spiritual passion. Moments apart from him are an agony. Nothing else will comfort you but his love as he rekindles the fiery ecstasy of heart-to-heart communion. | Unceasing prayer is like being in love. When you are in love, you are always thinking of the beloved. When you are in love with God, you can never take your attention from him. You are consumed by a spiritual passion. Moments apart from him are an agony. Nothing else will comfort you but his love as he rekindles the fiery ecstasy of heart-to-heart communion. | ||
Saint Germain is the great adept who has made the mystical path available to all who will apply themselves by teaching us the path of devotion through the | Saint Germain is the great adept who has made the mystical path available to all who will apply themselves by teaching us the path of devotion through the science of the [[spoken Word]]. | ||
== (3) The threefold path of ascent to God == | == (3) The threefold path of ascent to God == | ||
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=== Purgation === | === Purgation === | ||
Purgation comes to the soul only after she has experienced her awakening in God. This awakening brings joy to the soul. But when God’s Light suddenly enters the world of the mystic, he becomes acutely aware of his faults and weaknesses. More importantly, he sees that his imperfections (or | Purgation comes to the soul only after she has experienced her awakening in God. This awakening brings joy to the soul. But when God’s Light suddenly enters the world of the mystic, he becomes acutely aware of his faults and weaknesses. More importantly, he sees that his imperfections (or [[sin]]s, to use a traditional term) are what separate him from God, and he can no longer tolerate the gulf. | ||
To truly face and conquer the lesser self is arduous. We should not underestimate the challenge. We should know what we are getting into when we want to go all the way back to God in this life. | To truly face and conquer the lesser self is arduous. We should not underestimate the challenge. We should know what we are getting into when we want to go all the way back to God in this life. | ||
This is what Paul meant when he said, “I die daily.”<ref>1 Cor. 15: 31.</ref> Paul saw a part of himself dying daily, and some of those parts he was attached to. Some of those parts he didn’t necessarily want to see die. But by having Christ be formed in him, something else that was not the Christ had to die. | This is what Paul meant when he said, “I die daily.”<ref>1 Cor. 15: 31.</ref> Paul saw a part of himself dying daily, and some of those parts he was attached to. Some of those parts he didn’t necessarily want to see die. But by having Christ be formed in him, something else that was not the Christ had to die. | ||
[[File:Zurbarán St. John of the Cross.jpg|thumb|''St. John of the Cross'', Francisco de Zurbarán (1656)]] | |||
==== The dark night ==== | ==== The dark night ==== | ||
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When the soul is “carried away and absorbed in love,” said John, it is “as if she had vanished and been dissolved in love,... passing out of self to the Beloved.”<ref>Saint John of the Cross, “The Spiritual Canticle,” 26.14, in ''Collected Works'', p. 514.</ref> | When the soul is “carried away and absorbed in love,” said John, it is “as if she had vanished and been dissolved in love,... passing out of self to the Beloved.”<ref>Saint John of the Cross, “The Spiritual Canticle,” 26.14, in ''Collected Works'', p. 514.</ref> | ||
[[File:Teresa of Avila dsc01644.jpg|thumb|Teresa of Avila, Peter Paul Rubens (1615)]] | |||
== The spiritual marriage == | == The spiritual marriage == | ||
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The mighty angel [[Justinius]], Captain of Seraphic Bands, says: | The mighty angel [[Justinius]], Captain of Seraphic Bands, says: | ||
<blockquote>I ask for you to consider this goal for yourself, the goal of the ascension, and not to postpone it to another lifetime or some undefined future. The ascension is this day. It is every day. And you are ascending moment by moment, erg by erg, as you give back to God the energy that he has given to you—as you give it back in good works, in word and deed, and in the flow of the Holy Spirit that you achieve magnificently by the Science of the | <blockquote>I ask for you to consider this goal for yourself, the goal of the ascension, and not to postpone it to another lifetime or some undefined future. The ascension is this day. It is every day. And you are ascending moment by moment, erg by erg, as you give back to God the energy that he has given to you—as you give it back in good works, in word and deed, and in the flow of the Holy Spirit that you achieve magnificently by the Science of the Spoken Word in your [[decree]]s.<ref>Justinius, March 6, 1977, “The Army of the Hosts of the Lord.”</ref></blockquote> | ||
== See also == | == See also == | ||
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[[Dark night]] | [[Dark night]] | ||
[[Kabbalah]] | |||
== For more information == | == For more information == | ||