Surely it is time that we demystify the mystical.
As I begin to compose this missive by titling it I do so with a recognition that most of my readers do not dwell upon the reality of mysticism per se. Mysticism within the collective consciousness is, well, too mystifying to contemplate. We have relegated it to be the experience of historical exceptions. A few beings, mostly who lived in far off prior centuries, were granted access to a level of consciousness that the rest of us scarcely aspire to. These beings were privy to something that remains remote to most living in current times. Mysticism was the domain of the theological elite.
And I think that is where most people want it to stay.
If we could summon the courage to demystify mysticism we could transform reality in a nano-second.
Mysticism loosely defined is the direct experience of what most people call God. It is spoken of in hushed tones when spoken of at all. Most exemplars that are referenced are from Christian origins. There are exceptions. But when naming such examples Christian saints will arise most readily. Many priests and nuns. This is one area in which women are granted status though they had little authority when they actually lived.
By keeping the mystical exceptional and historical we keep it at a safe distance. We put it outside of ourselves. This is both unconscious and deliberate. As long as it is long ago and far away it has no chance of changing us. Which is actually what mysticism does.
Mysticism changes us by deeply revealing what is most true about us.
Without elaborating I will say that the chief block to this direct experience of God are the theologies about God. Those theories are walls that few are able to scale. Perhaps this is why the mystics seem to be so few. The outmoded descriptions of God circumvent God. Even the name God is objective and distanced. As humans made God in our image, we seek to worship a faulty premise. This God has a personality disorder and is in serious need of anger management. Who wants to have a direct experience of something that smites and tempts, bullies and bludgeons, plagues and crucifies?
Religious myths are about Source. They are not Source. They are maps, they are not destinations. They are explanations, not experiences.
This Source is not something to get to. It is Something we live within.
That is mysticism.
Oh Taylor, that is far too simplistic.
Perhaps.
Yet the direct experience of our Source is indeed the simplest thing of all.
Consider loosening the grip on exceptions that distance or theologies that demote. What if simply breathing was a mystical act? What if each and every heartbeat is direct rhythmic evidence of the One thumping in me? What if every gasp at a sunset was a praising prayer? What if every raindrop was natures baptism? Every river a flowing of the One into the One?
What if the fact that we are here at all demystifies the mystical?
There are those who would frame such notions as arrogant, audacious, even blasphemous.
And I would say that those accusations comprise the armor and shielding that keeps us from the vulnerability and awe that deep mystical experience requires.
I choose to honor the mystics of the past by opening to the mystical in each of my present moments.
I have a deep love and reverence for all things mystifying and magical. They confound my mind, which is the starting point for direct sacred experience. The mystifying and magical fling me into my heart, which is the portal of my own mystical experience. Seeking to figure it out is a defense mechanism built on fear and mistrust. And we fear and mistrust what is truest and most real within ourselves.
In times such as these we need mystics. We need heroes. We need prophets. We need courageous, brave beings who can challenge the historical and make it personal.
In my often not so humble viewpoint, we need modern day mystics who recognize that we are here to demystify the mystical.
And we need them now.
And so, I invite you to breathe, be, see, give, experience, and extend the Source of All in each present moment openly and unabashedly. You are, after all, already a mystic.
The mystics of the past did their part.
And now it is time for us to do ours.
