Igniting The Modern Mystic
I've always adored the great mystics - Hafiz, Rumi, St. Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross. Their writings transcend our mundane human perception and give glimpses into the rapturous experience of a higher reality. Truth be told, I fancy myself a modern day mystic, someone weaving together these worlds of the mundane and the magical.
When asked at dinner parties or social events what kind of work I do, I find it an awkward question. The simple answer is that I'm an entrepreneur, investor, teacher, speaker and writer. But, there's far more to it than that. As Khalil Gibran once wrote, "work is love made visible." I find building social ventures and connecting with people in a teaching environment as ecstatic as love-making. The ultimate reason to create, teach, speak or write is to dissolve the veil of separation and reveal the intimate union of all existence...to awaken a recognition of ourselves as One with all that is.
So when Arianna Huffington asked me to write a column on conscious living and spirituality I was simultaneously thrilled and tentative. Thrilled because these topics provoke great joy for me. Tentative because authenticity demands a level of revealed public dialogue that I've previously saved for engaged audiences or private circles. It demands an even deeper level of "love made visible."
Lest this sound trite, let me add that the mystic's love is not blind to the complication and suffering in the world. It is all-embracing, using the full human experience as fuel for the raging fire of awakening. Our modern lives are difficult. We face social injustices, environmental crises, war, economic imbalances, poverty, hunger, a vast array of suffering across our planet.
By comparison, it would seem rather easy to check into a monastery or convent and pursue a peaceful life of contemplative practice. In my quiet moments I've considered this path, but know it will never be. The hour is late and the crises of our world too great. We have a profound responsibility to awaken from our slumber and re-ignite our creative energies in service to a more sustainable (and ecstatic) human existence. We can do this through the substance of our everyday lives - in our work, in our relationships, in our politics, in our homes -- if we are awake.
This column is about the necessary commitment to conscious awakening and the resulting possibility of collectively re-imagining and repairing our world. It is a sacred journey born in the mystical fire of our modern lives - families, children, careers, health, relationships, finances - where our uncensored experiences are the fuel for the transformation.
We will explore how, through that transformation, we can walk in the world with a greater sense of wonder, delight, humility and compassionate action. How we can at once surrender to the greatness of the flow of life and find our power there, navigating the grand paradoxes - those that would have us believe we need to struggle, fight, and effort our way forward, when in fact our most powerful purpose emerges when we lay down that effort. How we can reside in the moment, being fully present with the creative currents that arise right now, and follow them without a plan for where they might take us.
This is the delight of the soul's unfolding and fertile ground for a new collective wisdom. If we let it, the divine voice will seduce us from our self-imposed limitation, from the narrow sense of our possession of life, into the vastness of all Being.
Over the coming weeks I hope to beckon, encourage, and inspire this soul's journey - a journey together of making love visible.
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Thank you my dear Stacey for your wonderful article. Articles of this kind and quality should be much more often published within Huffingtonpost. The world needs to practice more gratitude and express more reverence for all life on Earth. In such event, the world would be indeed a much better place. Our thoughts and each of our feelings are our tools in which we shape our personal and collective future; from moment to moment. Each one of us is a creator and therefore fully responsible for the circumstances of his own life. We all are Gods with the full power of creation. It depends on each one's standpoint to decide whether he/she creates constructive or destructive circumstances. Each of us is the magician of our own life. "I wish... So it be!" I look forward to further reading your inspiring articles and making love visible.
"Each of us is the magician of our own life. "I wish... So it be!" "
The magician creates an illusion.
Real magic is making the illusion disappear.
Nothing is an illusion. As soon as you think or imagine something, it exists and is a reality... When you think "illusion", it will become an illusionary perception for you, but de facto, it is not an illusion but a reality you name "illusion." But thank you for your wise comment!
Thanks for coming out of the "mystic closet."
Will dissenting voices be allowed? Will we be able to challenge assertions made in articles under this heading?
Quite honestly, some of us feel that promoting mysticism in the 21st century is dangerous, if not odd. Where will our concerns be addressed?
"Will dissenting voices be allowed?"
If you have to ask the quesiton then the answer is "no". True dissent never has the luxury of permission.
You've said more than you'll ever know.
Right here, as always. I too (since the 20th century) recoil at the term 'mysticism'. It turns what should be the normal function of the human brain- self exploration, and the subsequent growth of conciousness it engenders - into something clouded by past religions. The trouble is that the majority of the universe, including the very nature of our own existence, is indeed a mystery; perhaps we need a new word to refer to the probing of this 'dark matter'. My own assertion under this heading is that religious fundamentalists and scientific atheists are two sides of the same narcissistic coin. They both promote the idea that intelligence in the universe is unique to human beings. One need not defer to a designer or deify the accidental to acknowledge the unimaginable complexity of the very words we speak. That the universe which grows my brain is (mysteriously!)suffused with intelligence is to me an unassailable given. How this matters/relates to the messy, often painful reality we experience every day is a much vaster topic, and will have to wait for future posts...
The Bible uses plenty of Jesus' own experiences like "water to wine"... or Moses burning bush experiences.
The Bible thumpers want to re-frame this as "MIRACLE"-yet it's the same as MYSTCISM-simply something that is unexplainable-but believed to be proof of a Higher Being.
Catholics have hidden gnostic texts for years,Mary Magdalene, St. Teresa, Joan of Arc..perhaps becasue they were women and that threatened them. Maybe we are framing this in the wrong words...mysticism is thinking freely-which would be a threat to many churchleaders-but for those who are ethical and moral-I don't see why it would be a problem to work with the mystical experience.
OK, I'LL ASK:
Why is promoting mysticism in the 21 century dangerous?
What type of concerns create this impression?
What is your definition of mysticism?
I gladly look forward to the contributions awaiting us about modern spirituality.
But I admit that I have some restraints about this project. After having read some of the comments denouncing science I already fear that this project will degenerate into a sort of religionist, Capra- universal or worse, ID and creationist forum.
That, for me, would be the ultimate disappointment and the end of my Huffingtonpost respect - and reading. We already have had this in "On Faith" with Wapo. If this modern spirituality does not embrace science, it will simply join the superstition crowd.
If it embraces the awe and wonder our universe offers, and science tries (sincerely tries!) to describe, to every halfway thinking, feeling and observing person, it will be fine.
"After having read some of the comments denouncing science I already fear that this project will degenerate into a sort of religionist, Capra- universal or worse, ID and creationist forum."
You have to give us a little more credit than that. Remember, this is huffingtonpost.
I'm part of the science community and am mystic. Part of the reason I'm for "spirituality" over religion-is that it is NOT an extremist point of view that will keep science from going forward on research like stem-cell...It's this kind of tunnel-vision by fundamentalists that I believe, are keeping progress in the fields of science from going forward. This is why I would like religion to be returned to "spirituality" instead of religion where you don't have corrupt, uneducated people at the top of their churches-influencing the scientific progress with politics.
In my experience, the vastness of the internal divine voice doesn't means much until it addresses something concrete like politics, and then reality kicks in and it really doesn't mean anything. I look forward to hearing the next installment of another point of view.
When I clicked on the "fan" button, I discovered that I'm already a fan of this blogger.
I confess that after reading your blog my brain hurts a bit - you're inviting me to go places that the angry, disillusioned world I mostly live in seldom takes me.
Still, I'm willing to give it a try if you're willing to come back.
My first thought - I wonder what her favorite books list looks like?
THIS WHOLE THING IS A SUBJECT...
About which very little intelligent can be said, by its very nature. Discussions of so-called "spirituality" always grade into dogmatic theologizing of one sort or another, to wit, sheer bullshit. And I'm not just talking about fundamentalists either, although they're certainly guiltier than most.
People -- Meditate by all means, pray, connect with the divine however you will BUT DON'T BLOODY ***TALK*** ABOUT IT! Want to know why, as Nietzsche proclaimed, "God is dead?" I'll tell you why. GOD WAS ***TALKED TO DEATH***, that's why!
The rest is silence....
wmbear I noted how silent you were in your post with all the shouting by using caps.
sorry not a nice thing to do but my ego could not pass it up. darn ego.
The reason it's difficult to talk about is becasue people are on different levels of Enlightenment right now. There is eventually a "crossover" or a "growing up" for those who have- to understand the world as being more than black and white. Or arguments less about being right or wrong.It's about letting your mind be 2 places at once-inside yourself (feeling) and looking from outside as an observer of yourself(actions and words). Once this happens,you become more tolerant of others and more curious about absolute "truth" in others and yourself. Make sense wm bear?
hello bethinCary,
"It's about letting your mind be 2 places at once-inside yourself (feeling) and looking from outside as an observer of yourself(actions and words)"
That's called empathy, and it does not require any "spirituality" or "mysticism" whatsoever. It only requires one to be a thoughtful human. Why is it so hard for some to believe that one can be morally good _without_ any supernatural beliefs?
The idea of Work in the world rings a bell. So many of us struggle with trying to give the world what we don't have. Sort of like trying to bring democracy to Iraq when we don't have it at home.
Can we expect to foster peace of the world when we are unwilling or unable to cultivate peace within ourselves?
One key, I find, is forgiveness. Actually practicing forgiveness exercises is time well spent. It is a purgative for a constipated psyche ... and one of the salient results is losing the sense of being victimized. When you are no longer a victim, you feel empowered. The applications in the world are countless, both microcosmic and macrocosmic.
For example, if we are victimized by Bush, or the political system in general ... well, then there is little we can do about them. If, on the other hand, we assume responsibility both for him and his actions, then we can have some influence to change things ... and we find ways to take action.
The ideas of self-awakening through constructive engagement in the world are not new. Gurdjieff, Ouspensky, Bennett ... many others ...
... and I look forward to your future posts, Stacey
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Dear wmbear,
Undoubtedly, much discussion about spirituality is on the level of mind, with is the root cause of suffering (as well as that which allows us to know separation from being and thus the state of enlightenment).
However, the prepared mind and true spiritual discourse serves as an essential jumping off point which can point us to the vibrant alive presence within that is beyond mind. It can serve as the ladder, which, once used, we can let fall behind us as we dwell in the now and only utilize the mind as an effective tool that is aligned with presence.
Good luck along the way.
-Twilight
"One key, I find, is forgiveness. Actually practicing forgiveness exercises is time well spent. It is a purgative for a constipated psyche ... and one of the salient results is losing the sense of being victimized. When you are no longer a victim, you feel empowered. The applications in the world are countless, both microcosmic and macrocosmic."
-Nyland8
Very well said. Thank you.
Mike, I wonder if you have read Fritjof Capra, Ph.D., noted scientist, also from Berkeley, who would not think that mystical teachings are not to be feared. For me they are a great source of nourishment, beyond belief. I know of many scientists who would fully agree with Ms. Lawson and I'm sure that they would wonder about your "...read up on any true scientific and metaphysical literature."
Thank you for your articles, Ms. Lawson. It is time for humanity to be mindful; to awaken to our true nature; and, to take responsibility for our actions if we are ever to be free.
I look forward to reading your comments. We all seem to be lacking spiritually.
Speaking about the notion of reality, what is real and what is unreal, no one's chiming in with "A Course in Miracles" that defines this world as unreal because of its impermanence and the real is the spiritual permanence and that this world disappears one awakening at a time.
Sufi Rev. Simon-Peter
easy to state the world is unreal but if I pick up a rock and throw it at you and hit you in the leg all of a sudden the world becomes very real.
my point: god gives us a very realistic play with lots of drama.
god gets to play producer director and takes on all the acting roles. pretty neat gig if you can get it.
for all you men out there if you ever catch you wife or girlfriend having sex with another man dont get upset just say to the guy no worry no problem the world is not real just keep on doing what you are doing nothing is real because this is an impermanent world.
stating the world is unreal is an intellectual statement that sounds good but our perceived realty is a whole lot different.
Strawberry fields forever.
erotic passion and love is no more spiritual than fighting, or eating, or defecating, etc.
furthermore, bliss is a spiritual trap. "I'm so blissful, I am so full of love, oh the poor starving dying suffering people who don't go to the dinner parties I go to."
there are six ways to connect to people in an awakening way:
1. giving without concepts
2. tolerance without concepts
3. fairness without concepts
4. vigor without concepts
5. meditation (prayer) without concepts
- aka "God facing meditation"
6. wisdom without concepts
- aka "awareness with nothing added or taken away"
"without concepts" is not thinking "this is Me being so generous, so fair, so tolerant, etc"
I couldn't tell you much about what spirituality is, but I could write a huge book on what spirituality is not.
if we dont know much about spiritually then what can we know about what spiritually is not.
if we compare is with is not dont we need a reference point?
)))))))))))))))))) NO ((((((((((((((((
Sigh. Ms. Lawson, I look forward to your posts, however, I must admit that I find that the "mystical" and "spiritual" as practiced by those that share my chosen political stance nearly as upsetting as the pseudo-spirituality of the fundamentalist wing.
Ignorance of science and technology, and the difference between them, has caused a great deal of harm when that ignorance "informs" political decisions.
My hope and desire is that humanity itself will finally realize that we hold our fate in our own hands. To trust in the "One", in whatever manifestation d'jure you wish to evoke, to make things right for us is to abdicate each individual's responsibility for making this world a better place in some small way, every day.
The ignorant attacks on knowledge and science that comes from the whacked out wing of the GOP (actually, that's redundant) is sometimes more than matched by the ignorance of the left of what science has done for humanity.
The hear shengirl actually call-out the Enlightenment as a bad thing is to shudder in disbelief that somebody is really so unaware of what a difference to the life, health and happiness of billions of people the Enlightenment had on humanity in general; and then to hear her evoke Quantum Physics as somehow coming into agreement with ancient mystics is to know that she has not bothered to read up on any true scientific literature.
That kind of thinking is truly scary -- and it will usher in a new dark ages if humanity really allows the Enlightenment to die.
Mike
googoo: you mentioned ignorance several times have you ever thought about where that ignorance came from or why ignorance even exists.
with all the suffering in the world and much of it due to ignorance would it not be benefical to find the origin of that ignorance?
any comments?
Oh yes, I know where much of ignorance comes from. It comes from fear; it comes from wishful thinking; it comes from only believing what you are told by some authority figure; it comes from people in power controlling the avenues of thought and learning; it comes from willfully ignoring information that does not conform with preconceived notions of what is reality; it comes from laziness, envy, and jealousy.
The origin of ignorance is not hard to find, and usually you can see some greedy spider in the middle of it who depends on people maintaining their ignorance in order to thrive. That spider can be an organization (e.g. the church); an individual (e.g. a guru); or even from within oneself (e.g. an unwillingness to challenge ones own prejudices).
Before I'm accused of the latter point, let me say that I have already been on a spiritual journey of discovery, over many, many years. What I discovered, through the study of history, art, science and religion, is that the rational viewpoint as begun under the enlightenment has meant more freedom, health, happiness and longevity for more people than ALL of the other human conceptual and spiritual endeavors and processes combined. Nothing else even comes close, as one would discover if one were to truly study the history of humanity.
However, this is not to say that we abrogate our responsibilities as a human being to recognize the failures, horrors and corruptions that are the result of fallible humanity actually wielding the powers that have been discovered. All to often, these horrors are the result of propagandizing a mass of people to conform to some idealistic philosophy. Once that "ideal" has penetrated into the belief systems of a large enough population, the slings and arrows appear force conformity -- which is so much easier that to have to actually convince people.
I try to conform to only one very simple, very ancient idea: Don't do to others what you wouldn't want them to do to you. As the wise, old Jewish rabbi stated: Everything else is commentary.
-- Mike
Ignorance, as it’s most often defined and thought about, is considered to be the lack of knowledge. However, the lack of knowledge is more accurately termed innocence. Ignorance isn’t so much the lack of knowledge as the possession of and attachment to false knowledge. Someone who has no knowledge whatsoever regarding the shape of the Earth is innocent, whereas someone who clings to the idea of a flat Earth is ignorant. It’s much easier for an innocent person to acquire correct knowledge than it is for an ignorant person, for the ignorant person must first let go of their false knowledge before they can know the truth.
As things stand, almost none of us is innocent with regard to what we know ourselves to be. Rather, we’re almost all ignorant in this regard because almost all of us possess and cling to false knowledge regarding our nature. That is, our self-ignorance isn’t simply a lack of self-knowledge but rather the result of our active engagement in knowing ourselves as that which is the opposite of our True Nature, as that which we are not. If we were simply innocent with regard to our True Nature, then the acquisition of self-knowledge would be fairly easy. However, as it stands—i.e., because we’re actively engaged in knowing ourselves as we are not—the acquisition of self-knowledge is actually quite difficult, as attested to by the fact that it’s so rarely attained.
If you build a cage, lock yourself inside it, and then stick the key in your pocket, are you really trapped? You are if you want to get out but can’t remember where you put the key. Such is our existential situation. The cage in which we find ourselves trapped, the cage that we ourselves have built and continue to maintain, is constructed of false knowledge regarding our nature; and the only key that can release us from this cage is the knowledge of our True Nature, i.e., self-knowledge.
)))))))))))))) BINGO (((((((((((((((((
Okay. I'll play the devilish advocate.
"The simple answer is that I'm an entrepreneur, investor, teacher, speaker and writer."
Somehow, I suspect certain "mystics" are a little too comfortable in the roles that "Being" has landed them. Were one's business to fail, investments go South, students and audience dry up, and books be rejected...well, just how well-attuned to the ineffable would one continue to be?
Just smacks of too much West Coast designer reality. Too little of non-attachment to the modes of everydayness that suck everyone into the maw of Mammon.
Now, someone like Roky Erickson -- there's a mystic!
Carlton Pearson is taking a more traditional road, but he's on his way also....
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14337492/
lest we all end up like Modonna......exchanging the Popes ring for Olmert's.
Those who say don't know. and
those who know don't say.
*bling!
I'll say ...
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