Seeking The Mystical

At a recent dinner get together with friends, a couple approached me with a worried look on their faces. Seeing my clerical collar they felt I was the one who could perhaps help.

They told me that their twenty something son was giving up his middle class Christian life style and was leaving for Amsterdam, Holland to study Oriental Mysticism. The way they phrased it, sounded like he was going there to be treated for some rare disease. I asked them why their son had come to this decision, and they told me that he was bored with conventional Evangelical Christianity, and according to them, he was burned out on "hand clapping, hand waving, cutting edge musical WOW worship and pastors prancing around a stage, waving a bible." He wanted to experience the sublime mystical element. He wanted a deeper spiritual experience. The mother glancing about the room lowered her voice as not to be heard by the others asked: "What is a mystic? What is mysticism? We're worried for our son."

This isn't the kind of question I get everyday and I told her that from the Eastern Orthodox Christian point of view, "mysticism" was not something weird or exotic but a genuine part of Orthodox Christianity going back to the beginning of the Faith. The term unfortunately has been hijacked by those enamored with the so called trendier parts of Eastern religions and new age movements.

The Eastern Orthodox Faith teaches, and that is exclusively from where I am speaking, that a mystic is a spiritual person who has the Holy Spirit within and this is confirmed by the uninterrupted remembrance of God. The mystical life is a life in which the gifts of the Holy Spirit are pre-dominant over human effort. This life is not just for the elect. It is open to all who wish to discipline themselves in prayer, contemplation and meditation on the divine. It is to seek the transcendent God in the immanent person of Jesus Christ.

I'm not sure I satisfied the question of my two new friends, but at least I encouraged them to seek a deeper understanding of Christianity in the unending wealth of writings from the fathers and great saint theologians of the Eastern and Western Church.

I wish I could have spoken to that young man to at least introduce him to the writings and thoughts of the great Christian mystics of our Holy Tradition. St. Simeon the New Theologian, the 11th century saint and mystic of the Orthodox Church would have understood his spiritual hunger and yearning. For the great saint said: "We each carry within our hearts a divine element. Torn from the womb of existence and ushered, crying, into this world, we spend all our energies in the pursuit of a state of happiness. This restless, incessant drive is no more than that divine element within us seeking its origin."

Indeed in one form or another we are all seeking a deeper, more meaningful and personal experience of God. It seems that divine element is within all of us. We can never be truly content until the creature-us-connects with the creator-God.

Jesus beautifully reminds us of this in the Gospel of Matthew 6:33. "But seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you." Even for the mystic, the Kingdom of God is to experience the rule of God, to acknowledge the authority of God, to recognize God's right to be the formative and final voice for the decisions we make in our faith and practice. It is simply the power of the Holy Spirit leading us to the uninterrupted remembrance of God.

Comments

[DrJenniferHoward]

For many of us the spiritual connection that we receive in the evangelical churches of hand-waving, bible waving, and cutting edge music, is not meeting our deeper needs. I agree with Father John Bakas that mysticism seems to have a bad name with the average person. It denotes magical spells and scary ritual dances. Mysticism actually is a continuum in every religion.

Although the Kabbalah, the Jewish mysticism, has been touted by celebrities like Madonna as being a “set of rules and a life-plan,” study of the early Kabbalistic text charts a beautiful path to follow our yearning for an ever-present God. The numerous Christians mystics were all monks and priests who took the time, energy, and focus to achieve this connection, experiencing the oneness with God.

A poem by the Islamic mystic and teacher Mevlãnã Jalãluddĩn Rumi expresses the love that is experienced as we learn to embody the experience of this oneness with God..

The Meaning of Love
Both light and shadow
are the dance of Love.

Love has no cause;
it is the astrolabe of God’s secrets.

Lover and Loving are inseparable
and timeless.

Although I may try to describe Love
when I experience it I am speechless.

Although I may try to write about Love
I am rendered helpless;
my pen breaks and the paper slips away
at the ineffable place
where Lover, Loving and Loved are one.

Every moment is made glorious
by the light of Love.

http://www.DrJenniferHoward.com

[KillgoreTrout43]

"Accept the injurious impositions of our early catachetical instruction, and even honesty and self-denial were but slpendid sins, if they did not wear the Christian name. One would rather be a pagan suckled in a creed outworn than to be defrauded of his manly right in coming into nature, and finding
not names and places, not land and professions, but even virtue and truth foreclosed and monopolized."

R. W. Emerson

[OtayPanky]

It's been an interesting experience watching this thread unfold - a microcosm, really, of religious (and anti-religous) sociology.

From what I can see (with my own admittedly limited vision), there are two things we can all agree upon:

First, that there is a lot of mystery "out there" - everything from spontaneous remissions of terminal incurable disease, to people's claims about fortean phenomena of various sorts, to the kind of wonderment you hear from theoretical physics when trying to wrap their understanding around a unvierse with more dimensionality than we can currently perceive.

And second, that the mystical experience - however it is named or described - is just as universal a state of consciousness for our race as - say - romantic attraction.

The meanings we ascribe to these two facts will vary - widely - from person to person. Some hold their convictions with certainty, whatever they are. Others do not.

What's fascinating (to me at least) is not how so many people are not simply convinced of their own beliefs - whatever they are - but how easily that sense of certainty morphs into an "I'm OK - You're not OK" state of mind.

* Father Bakos accuses other religious traditions of hijacking.

* Several declare that even hearing others talk about Christianity makes them emotionally ill.

* A member of a Buddhist sect with documented challenges with hierarchalism derides Christians for having the same problems.

And so it goes...

Thus endeth the lesson.

[KillgoreTrout43]

Who asked ya? Just kidding. Threads such as these are such a nice change from the the purely materialistic political threads.

[OtayPanky]

I think that if we choose to be reflective rather than simply reactive, there something important to learn here.

In Father Bakos' earlier blog, on the subject of confession, I noted that same tendency of his to think that others were "hijacking" something that somehow belongs to his Orthodox Christian tradition.

There, like here, he fell into that "I'm OK - You're not OK" meme.

And there, like here, the responses were just as predictable: people with other belef systems - whether atheism, eastern or whatever - reactively flashing back that same meme.

It doesn't take much imagination to see how such common human behavior - writ large - can shape history, often in grotesque ways.

And no - it's not just RELIGIOUS fundamentalism that can fall into a vortex of pre-meditated (and in their own minds justified) violence against others. In the 20th century it was militantly IRRELIGOUS folks who were responsible for more violence than anyone else - as they sought to suppress any sort of spritual or intellectual thinkers who didn't see things their way.

The meme is an equal opportunity virus - afllicting the religious and irreligious alike.

Until we've purged our own minds from the reactive "I'm OK - You're not OK" pre-disposition, we remain at risk to replicate past mistakes that have caused GREAT suffering.

[joebiz]

The greatest business is religion. The religion agents: the priestly classes, shamans, reverends, fakirs, imams, rabbis gain new followers and converts (believers) from the fact that they weave, make-up, and mis-interpret falsehoods, create myths, and retell fables. All for a high price of obedience to their nonsense. Obviously, these stories cannot be proven, just like they cannot prove the existence of god or any god. T

The huckster ideals of their business model is that they are seldom proven wrong in part because humans seek a “raison d’être” a reason for being, for existing, for a meaning of life and are willing to believe tall tales for some peace of mind. It’s unfortunate that the marketing efforts of these religious peddlers are to prey on the young, lonely, and “lost.”

Mysticism is another word for meditation, “oneness,” or seeking a higher good through looking inward. One can reach these goals through the martial arts, yoga, deep meditation, studying philosophy, or just doing good. Religion must not play a part of this process.

On a side note:

Does “mysticism” help women become priests in the Catholic Church or imams in Islam? What part did mysticism play in the lives of the pedophile priests and the sexually abused Catholic children? Did mysticism enlighten televangelists’ claims that 9/11 was caused by god because the US is tolerant of homosexuality?

When your religious leaders drive more expensive cars than their congregation don’t think mysticism, think ROI: return on investment.

[KillgoreTrout43]

I don't think shamanism should properly fit into your list. Shamans are those in the, "Nature," religions.

[wondering]

Every time I hear (or read) an adult talking about "gawd" and "jaysus" with a total lack of embarassment (or humor), I get dizzy. How can a fully-functioning post-teen look themselves in the mirror each day and say, "I choose to believe in a petty, angry Santa-god who created me as an amusement. I choose to enslave myself to irrationality, and indoctrinate any children I should spawn into the same illogical nonsense. I choose to base my morality on the fear of a supernatural spanking, rather than on reason and human compassion. I abdicate my right as a sentient being to seek my own answers to all the Big Questions - instead, I grovel before your infinite wisdom, O bearded lightning-thrower."

Religion is the enemy of humanity.

You say, "Indeed in one form or another we are all seeking a deeper, more meaningful and personal experience of God. It seems that divine element is within all of us. We can never be truly content until the creature-u­s-connects with the creator-God."

Umm, no. Many of us have moved beyond the god concept. We reject enslavement to the irrational. You should too.

Remember, the slave often develops a love for his slave-master. But he is still a slave. Throw off the chains of religion and become a fully-realized, sentient, adult human being.

[OtayPanky]

wondering: Every time I hear (or read) an adult talking about "gawd" and "jaysus" with a total lack of embarassment (or humor), I get dizzy.

===

There's a cure for that disease. It's called mindfulness. It involves watching your thoughtstream compassionately and dispassionately, rather than getting swept away in it.

Of course, getting swept away has it's own pleasures - in this case, mostly of the "I'm OK, you're not OK" variety.

[wondering]

Ah, you seem to have taken an interest in my spiritual development. How nice.

Perhaps you have already done so on Huffpo, but please describe your own views on this matter. Are you a True Believer (if so which religion), an agnostic, or an atheist? If I am going to take you on as my personal guru, I need to know.

You seem to be of the school that says, "Atheists must never voice an opinion about religion or faith. As soon as they do, they become intolerant."

Is that your position? Or do you think I'm just a cranky atheist gad-fly who is giving god the finger? Do you think you are the only "student of comparative religion"? Does every atheist who dares to speak out reveal themselves to be an unschooled boor? Please enlighten, O wise one - I am all atingle with anticipation.

[OtayPanky]

Father Bakos: This isn't the kind of question I get everyday and I told her that from the Eastern Orthodox Christian point of view, "mysticism" was not something weird or exotic but a genuine part of Orthodox Christianity going back to the beginning of the Faith. The term unfortunately has been hijacked by those enamored with the so called trendier parts of Eastern religions and new age movements.

===

As a student of comparative religion, I know that mysticism is not just a part of ORTHODOX Christianity, but of all branches of Christianity, be they Catholic, Protestant or Orthodox.

Mysticism is also part of all the major eastern religions, as well. And it undergirds the "new age" seekers as well.

In fact, the only people who don't find any use for the mystical impulse are the hard core materialists among us - folks like Christopher Hitchens, Richard Dawkins and the late Carl Sagan.

What I don't understand is why you would say that anyone has HIJACKED that mystical impulse. Your church certainly didn't invent it. It's been a part of human consciousness since the dawn of recorded history.

[KillgoreTrout43]

With answers like the one by the priest, no wonder the boy is left unfullfilled and spiritually starving.
When will evangelicals stop being evangelicals??? Why must they insist that thier's is the only true God?? It sickens me.

[OtayPanky]

This insistence is one of the peculiar quirks of the three abrahamic religions.

Since you're a fan of Old Lao, you might want to allow the waters of the Tao to flow over your disgust, and soften it.

[Jonahson]

How can you develop a deeper understanding of God when your mind is attached and stuck in conventionality? How can you develop deep understanding when you are afraid to question?

[mbaty]

It's like you are on the right track, but you still seem to need "authority" structures and rules to live by. That is all fine, if that works for you, but I sense that you yourself (the author) are questioning your own mystical experiences or lack thereof. Often times when pastors are preaching (I grew up in church, and was devout until several years ago) they are being very Right, capitol R, and really getting off on how well they intellectualize their particular belief system; that is to say, their minds are racing, but their aura is not expanding with light. All searches for god are honored, though, however you interpret the word "god." It sounds like the boy is seeking something authentic, even if vague or doubtful, rather than something intellectual, something here and now rather than something written ages ago. The mystical experience, I believe, happens in the moment, rather than in past understandings being applied to current situations.

[lovingkindness]

Δεν ελπίζω τίποτα. Δε φοβούμαι τίποτα. Είμαι λεύτερος

"No hope, no fear, I am free"..Nikos Kazantzakis, who was refused burial in Orthadox cemetaries.

There is work to do to make your phase "it is open to all" actually inclusive of all, regardless of race, gender or other superficial differences.

Children of the West have well developed "hypocrisy detectors", which, in part, explains their looking elsewhere.

[mckinley]

Am I the only one who thinks it is comical that this couple's son is going on a spiritual pilgrimage to find "Oriental Mysticism"... in Holland?


Anyway, like this young man, I have rejected my Catholic roots and upbringing (and dominating culture, and reverence, in my city) and found what I was looking for in Buddhism.

The Christian tradition of the West has become nothing more than that -- a tradition: entrenched in its hierarchy, fossilized in its schooled reverences. The sect of Buddhism I belong to has no need for priests, much less a monastic class; no one has a closer connection to the power of the universe than anyone else, and it is BASED on the idea of constant growth - daily - both personally and as a congregation. It fights stagnation and thoughtless -- or worse: magical -- ritual.

I have left the automaton Catholic church, and ineffectual empty Christianity, behind.

[OtayPanky]

mckinley: The sect of Buddhism I belong to has no need for priests, much less a monastic class; no one has a closer connection to the power of the universe than anyone else, and it is BASED on the idea of constant growth - daily - both personally and as a congregation.

===

As a student of comparative religion I find that interesting. What sect is that?

[mckinley]

The Soka Gakkai independent lay organization of Nichiren Buddhism.

[CarmenCameron]

The message of Christ has been almost completely obscured by mainstream Christianity - the Prince of Peace needs "armies for Christ" and preemptive wars? Complete cognitive dissonance!

The yearning for our own completion cannot be filled with the treasures of the world. And once we get that to be a fact, we each begin our search.

For myself, I finally found a totally UNCONFLICTED and loving God with Whom I can connect on a moment-to-moment basis in the practice of "A Course in Miracles."

Like this young man, I had to leave my church-based rituals to find my God through direct experience. The journey is well worth it, even if (as these parents do) we are seen as "weird".

[wm1066]

Interesting how the son pegged what is going on in American Christianity.
And rejected it. There is Hope!
I grew up in a very restrained but liberal Christianity and I am very glad of it.
What I see of these big church's and thier rock concert services repulses me.

[KillgoreTrout43]

Amen Brother!

[bethinCary]

Thank you Father for this post..

From comments, unfortunately, it can be seen how stereotypes have been carried down through the ages-of Christianity and mysticism..
I actually do understand in such a patriarchal society-full of technology and science worship of facts--how objective truth gets undermined by subjective truths..
iow: looking for facts over ones' self-inter­pretation.
I find it unfortunate that people either don't recognize this 1-dimensional thinking in themselves in a 3-d world or refuse to even try to look--finding it easier for to let someone else tell them or dictate some sort of "easy button" for happiness...
If people don't want to look-fine.
But don't dare have the audacity to blame God for not performing "miracles" or jumping through their subjective truth hoops..
What is needed is a clearing of the mind-weeding out out the from-birth instilled stereotype of God..
to create that transpersonal relationship on an individual basis from scratch..
One also has to want it-to choose it, to be openminded enough to recognize it (that relationship with a higher Being)--so attitude has much to do with it.
If a person is not looking or openminded about it--how can he/she expect to find it?
And why should anyone deserve to think that they should?
God is not some magical Genie who appears whenever anyone wants something--and maybe people should stop thinking God is all about providing material goods,good fortune, or an ATM..

[Dave24]

Science looks at reality and sees it for what it is. Science is a process of observation, it isn't a thing nor a worldview. Religious lunatics look at the world through a lens and pretend to have the answers, or at least the proper direction. Your arrogance is quite overwhelming. No one is blaming God, because before you can blame something, its existence first has to be proven. And fairy tales don't validate anything except humanity's ability to write fables.

I'm open-minded to anything and everything: but I will not believe anything without evidence.

The only evidence for God is the claim that God exists, which isn't evidence.

[bethinCary]

Disagree Dave.
A scientist sees a cloud and calls it water vapor-objective.
Someone else sees the shape of a horse or a cross in that same cloud--and may relate some symbolism to that as their subjective truth..
Both are belief systems--neither one is more important or correct than the other.
In daily life a person may tell him/herself they are happy-that's conscious.
But in sleep, meditation, trance,day­dreams(muc­h of what mysticism is opening)...this is the window into ones' soul..the unconscious..
The unconscious is what is triggered by symbolism,imagery in dreams to make a persons' conscious aware that "umm, I got your soul right here....and I'm telling ya your conscious isn't telling you the truth.."
U can get prophetic dreams, can have dreams of the dead--it's one's soul connecting to a universal awareness through time/space.
One doesn't need to go to India or anywhere else to outwardly look for ones' soul--one needs to look inward--by exploring thier own dreams, mind in mediation..to bring that unconscious soul experience into thier conscious daily living---to find a way of life more in tune with a higher Consciousness.
It also serves to create a sense of purpose in ideals--to find bliss in knowledge of creating the world one wants to live in.
Peace Dave.

[fairwitness]

I thought you were on a nice roll until:

"...the Kingdom of God is to experience the rule of God, to acknowledge the authority of God, to recognize God's right to be the formative and final voice for the decisions we make in our faith and practice."

"...rule..­.authority­...final voice..." Sir, you are hung up in an authoritarian relationship with your idea of God.

Mystics see through that, to the true identity of God and man, the insufficiency of "rule..authority" (Pharasees, anyone?). Then insecure, fearful, authoritarians interpret the mystic realization into control and submission--ego stuff. And project it all on their God.

Keep your authoritarianism, sir--THAT's the self-evidently bogus "tradition" that drive your young away, seeking authentic mystical experience in gardens more conducive to its flowering.

[InformedSources]

Mystics have always been a threat to established religion, because the mystic receives his or her knowledge of the divine directly through his or her own experience. Mystics cut out the middle man, ie., the priesthood. And mystical experiences have a way of crossing the nice, orderly lines set down by church orthodoxy. The priesthood knows this, and that's why they are so often on the defensive, as reflected by this piece.

[Cat999]

Bravo... and a relief it is that the young man's journey was not disturbed.

[shoabear]

Yes, InformedSources. Well said.

[irisda]

I personally feel that organized religions are like prisons. Your spiritual evolution will be limited. They know that if you seek beyond what you've been dictated you will just exit the church/org­anization. I like thinking that with increased access to spiritual resources people will question the current state of affairs. However we've got to admit that not everyone is ready for that. Some folks just need to be told what to do, too reluctant to do the big work themselves.