Christian Mysticism is a Solo Journey
This solo mystical journey evolves from location to position, from view to vision onward towards total understanding. It is passed from mind to mind, a flame passed from candle to candle. There is nothing to buy, join or donate. A Christian vision beyond personality opens the eye to a new awareness, cultivating good qualities, internal clarity and introspection. It encourages one to believe the truth that is experienced and not necessarily to join. When one is tired of reading the menu, it is time for the inner spiritual meal to be experienced, a deeper reality beyond the normal worldly existence of guilt, pain and pleasure. Looking from the inside out the veil of ideological and religious conflict is parted giving clues to unity and wholeness.
Christian mysticism looks at the world from a different angle giving meaning to life, not rejecting anything or waving a fist with scorn and resentment. One does not have to point a finger when the experience is direct because the power of Christ consciousness is accessible to provide the means to love in every form, enjoying, not judging what is encountered. These deeper understandings value love and see more to the physical world than what is in it. These windows look out on the path we are traveling to our destination, a spiritual experience that sooths the personality.
Comment
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Comment by Spencer Perdriau on June 2, 2011 at 8:27pm
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... essentially, it is the mind that comes in line to, and direction with, the heart, not the other way around. The sheaths of reality are not layered in that way or order.
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As I said previously, the heart is far closer to God than what the mind is. The mind is the outer layer of the heart. It is the heart that is always deeper in Truth and Being, not the mind. The mind is far more prone to corruption and falsity than what the heart is. All ignorance about reality comes from the mind - personal and collective. This is the purification and redemptive process that happens for the mind (lower self) to come back in line with the Heart (The Higher Self) in God. As I said, I will always choose the way of the heart over the mind all and every days to come back into mystic union with The Lord. Being the Higher and closer principle to God, The Heart will always win and out will the mind on every and all occasions when it come to union with God - all ways.
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Comment by Mystic Tourist on June 2, 2011 at 9:08am -
Mystic Paths. This comment thread has focused on the heart as opposed to the intellect implying that the one is a better tool for mysticism than the other. In my walk these gifts are not at odds. They are meant to compliment and temper each other. The rational machinations of intellect can easily distract and the unchecked emotion of the heart can blind us and we loose sight of the path. I like to consider the heart as a bridge binding the higher and lower selves as one, as in the Kundalini. It is the seat of compassion and can illuminate the self and then we see we have always been on the path. Where else could we be?
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Thank you Ian, that was a lovely response. Yes, there are many paths we can take that will lead us back home to God. But all paths ultimately lead back into The Mystic Heart of God. For the more direct-immediate approach back Home, I will always choose the heart over the mind all and every day to come back into mystic union with The Lord. Being The Higher, The Heart will always win and out will, every time.
I see you are located in Melbourne. Globally speaking, that makes us practically neighbours.
Mystic Blessings from Spencer
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Comment by Ian Fraser on June 1, 2011 at 9:14pm -
There are many solo journeys along spiritual paths, the mystic path - within Christian or any other tradition, and the cerebral investigation that takes the traveller along many pathways both within and outside his/her own tradition. The cerebral path can be solo to the point of feeling alone because at least the mystic who has attained her/his goal is no longer truly solo - that goal being a place of love - by definition a place of being together with the Divine.
The traveller on the cerebral path is always reminded - and can be very aware - that this might well be the lesser path, as it is so often described. However, he/she must in honesty to self continue, thanking the Divine for giving the brain as organ, the intelligence as quality and inquisitiveness and openness as motivation, to stay on the path. Perhaps her/his search might develop into a mystical path in time, but just as a library geek rarely becomes a top athlete, so we must recognise that all paths are of value; all paths reflect the Divine's gifts to us; and all travellers can be thankful for those gifts as we move, however slowly and with however many detours and set-backs, to the Giver of those gifts.
Peace & Love
Ian
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Please do not presume too much about my familiarity of my choice of religion. I am mostly familiar with Christian Mysticism through my appreciation of the correspondence relationship of Eastern traditions of mysticism. Through appreciating Eastern mysticism it brought me back to my Western origins in Christian mysticism. As I said, where the East focuses on refining the personal mind to achieve redemption/liberation, Western traditions of mysticsm such as Christianity and Sufism focus more on the direct path of the heart to come into union with The Lord. Even though both approaches ultimately lead into Divine Love with The Lord, the main difference between East and West is that the East focuses very much on the mind before it reaches the mystic heart of Divine Love in/with God, whereas in the West we start very much in the area of the heart as our main reference point. As far as the sheaths of reality are layered, the heart is far closer to God than what the mind is. The mind is the outer surface area of the heart, and is far more prone to corruption than what the heart is. For me, I will always choose the heart over the mind any/every day to come into mystic union with The Lord. In comparison, the heart is like a direct arrow to God, whereas the mind is very harder and indirect like a seeming endless maze of personal "stuff" and baggage. Our true essential deeper heart will always get us there first of all.
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Comment by Ron Krumpos on May 22, 2011 at 10:44am -
Spencer, don't tell that to a bhakti Hindu, a compassionate Buddhist monk or any Rabbi. We are usually most familiar with our own religion, but divine love is an essential part of the mystical traditions of all faiths.
See the comments on Love on the group One Earth One Sky at http://www.peacenext.org/group/oneearthoneskyonehumankind/forum/top...
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...except that Christian Mysticism is very much the direct Way of the Heart, where the others (except maybe for Sufism) are very much the lesser indirect way of the mind - meditation, yoga, etc.
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Comment by Ron Krumpos on May 19, 2011 at 7:07pm
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As you and I understand, Soma, the word "Christian" could be replaced by Buddhist, Hindu, Islamic, or Jewish mysticism and your words would still ring clearly. As Rumi said, "The light is the same, it is the lamp which differs."
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That was really Lovely, Soma. Thank you kindly.
Mystic Blessings from Spencer.
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