Mystical Bridge

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Permalink Reply by Ron Krumpos on February 17, 2011 at 1:36pm

In the last 30 days I have sent an email to 500 professors who teach mysticism at universities on five continents. To date 45 have responded. Most were in agreement, with some caveats, but there were a few notable exceptions. Here is the text of my original email:

 

Dear Dr. 

    Disputes between perennialists (essentialists) and contextualists (constructivists) divide some scholars of mysticism. That is unfortunate. We are already opposed by many within religions and those who are not religious.

    One compromise in my ebook* on comparative mysticism: "... mystics' consciousness in divine oneness, which may be considered the same eternal event viewed from various historical, cultural and personal perspectives, has occurred with different frequencies, degrees of realization and durations. This might help to explain the diversity in the expressions or reports of that spiritual awareness. What is seen is the same; it is the 'seeing' which differs." That applies to each mystic as well as between mystics.

    I tried to summarize it for a general reader interested in mysticism: "Whether mystical experiences vary in cultural contexts, or are similar for all true mystics, is less important than that they transform each one's sense of being to a transpersonal outlook on life." Do you agree or would you phrase it another way?

    Regards, Ron

*suprarational.org (revised for 2011)

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Permalink Reply by Grigori Rho Gharveyn on March 1, 2011 at 1:19am

Mysticism is a natural path of unity between faiths and religions.  Not all mysticism is traditional, perhaps the majority of what may be anyone's mystical experiences are not learnable, codifiable, repeateable experiences, at least, we find it often so.

Mysticism is not confusing, however, our efforts to understand the mystical experiences of anyone other than ourselves may tend to lead to confusion.

Each person has a unique experience of creation, an intimate connection to their own source of being however they choose to define this.  That is the root of all mystical experience and it is as ineffable and undefineable as God or Goddess, by whatever names you call them.

Mysticism is not confined to theists, agnostics and atheists may be mystics as well.  Mysticism is an approach to life that may be accidentally experienced, but which, over repeated exposure, can become an unconscious way of being.

 

Namaste

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