Though it validates religion, mysticism also tends to escape the fetters of organized religion

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Mysticism (Encyclopædia Britannica Article)

 

in general, a spiritual quest for hidden truth or wisdom, the goal of

which is union with the divine or sacred (the transcendent realm).

Forms of mysticism are found in all major world religions, by analogy

in the shamanic and other ecstatic practices of nonliterate cultures,

and in secular experience.

 

In the 20th century mysticism ( " the treasure hidden in the centres of

our souls " ) has undergone a renewal of interest and understanding and

even a mood of expectancy similar to that which marked its role in

previous eras. Such a mood stems in part from the feeling of

alienation that many persons experience in the modern world. Put down

as a religion of the elite, mysticism (or the mystical faculty of

perceiving transcendental reality) is said by many to belong to all

men, though few use it. The British author Aldous Huxley has stated

that " a totally unmystical world would be a world totally blind and

insane, " and the Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore has noted that " Man

has a feeling that he is truly represented in something which exceeds

himself. "

 

Nature and significance

 

The goal of mysticism is union with the divine or sacred. The path to

that union is usually developed by following four stages: purgation

(of bodily desires), purification (of the will), illumination (of the

mind), and unification (of one's will or being with the divine).

If " the object of man's existence is to be a Man, that is, to re-

establish the harmony which originally belonged between him and the

divinized state before the separation took place which disturbed the

equilibrium " (The Life and Doctrine of Paracelsus), mysticism will

always be a part of the way of return to the source of being, a way

of counteracting the experience of alienation. Mysticism has always

held—and parapsychology also seems to suggest—that the discovery of a

nonphysical element in man's personality is of utmost significance in

his quest for equilibrium in a world of apparent chaos....

 

There is obviously something nonmental, alogical, paradoxical, and

unpredictable about the mystical phenomenon, but it is not,

therefore, irrational or antirational or " religion without thought. "

Rather, as Zen (Buddhist intuitive sect) masters say, it is knowledge

of the most adequate kind, only it cannot be expressed in words. If

there is a mystery about mystical experience, it is something it

shares with life and consciousness. Mysticism, a form of living in

depth, indicates that man, a meeting ground of various levels of

reality, is more than one-dimensional. Despite the interaction and

correspondence between levels— " What is below is like what is above;

what is above is like what is below " (Tabula Smaragdina, " Emerald

Tablet, " a work on alchemy attributed to Hermes Trismegistus)—they

are not to be equated or confused. At once a praxis (technique) and a

gnosis (esoteric knowledge), mysticism consists of a way or

discipline.

 

The relationship of the religion of faith to mysticism ( " personal

religion raised to the highest power " ) is ambiguous, a mixture of

respect and misgivings. Though mysticism may be associated with

religion, it need not be. The mystic often represents a type that the

religious institution (e.g., church) does not and cannot produce and

does not know what to do with if and when one appears. As William

Ralph Inge, an English theologian, commented, " institutionalism and

mysticism have been uneasy bedfellows. " Although mysticism has been

the core of Hinduism and Buddhism, it has been little more than a

minor strand—and, frequently, a disturbing element—in Judaism,

Christianity, and Islam....

 

The founders of religion may have been incipient or advanced mystics,

but the inner compulsions of their experience have proved less

amenable to dogmas, creeds, and institutional restrictions, which are

bound to be outward and majority oriented. There are religions of

authority and the religion of the spirit. Thus, there is a paradox:

if the mystic minority is distrusted or maltreated, religious life

loses its sap; on the other hand, these " peculiar people " do not

easily fit into society, with the requirements of a prescriptive

community composed of less sensitive seekers of safety and religious

routine. Though no deeply religious person can be without a touch of

mysticism, and no mystic can be, in the deepest sense, other than

religious, the dialogue between mystics and conventional religionists

has been far from happy. From both sides there is a constant need for

restatement and revaluation, a greater tolerance, a union of free

men's worship. Though it validates religion, mysticism also tends to

escape the fetters of organized religion....

 

Prayer and worship may form part of mysticism, but they are viewed as

means and not as essence; also, they are usually continuations of

sensory experience, whereas mysticism is a pure unitary

consciousness, or a union with God....

 

Mysticism, among the many forms of experience, confirms the claims of

religion and is viewed as providing a foretaste of the life after

death.

 

" mysticism. " Encyclopædia Britannica. 2007. Encyclopædia Britannica

Online. 11 Aug. 2007 <http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9109481>.

 

 

Shri Adi Shakti: The Kingdom Of God

 

Since November 1993 the spiritual experiences of children witnessing

the mystical Kingdom of God thousands of times over the years have

been recorded. All have independently corroborated and irrefutably

identified Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi as the incarnation of the Divine

Feminine sent to deliver God Almighty's Divine Message to humanity.

 

" From the early biblical prophets who walked alone in the desert to

fast and pray for divine revelation to Native Americans setting out

in the wilderness to search for a vision, the pursuit of an inner

world beyond everyday physical reality is one of mankind’s oldest

traditions. For thousands of years humans have retreated into

solitude to find answers to life’s questions and to gain spiritual

wisdom. Though many of the old ways have been forgotten, there are

still a means by which anyone can step through the crack between the

two worlds and enter the mystical dimensions. This retreat, this

quest, is an ancient rite of passage; it is a journey to the center

of your soul. " (Denise Linn and Meadow Linn, Vision Quest)

 

In this Golden Age of the Last Judgment and Resurrection humans will

break free of centuries of false religious dogmas, destructive

indoctrinations, and absurd ideas about the Divine. The decadent

foundations of materialistic society and divisive religious regimes

crumble. The Last Judgment and Resurrection is not the signal of the

apocalyptic end of the world. On the contrary the Dark Age of death,

delusion and destruction humanity has endured for millennia ends. We

awaken to a new dawn of genuine spiritual rebirth and daily

experience of truth, consciousness and bliss (Sat-Chit-Anand).

 

Already people think, dream and work towards a world in harmony, a

world at peace. We no longer want to be tied up by international

boundaries, religious barriers or class chains. We now seek the

unification of all peoples and nations, and concern ourselves more

with humanity in general than with ourselves. In concerning ourselves

with all, we care for everyone in order to make our world a more

considerate, benevolent and accepting place. We seek spiritual paths

beyond the limitation of religion and mind. We are souls in search of

the meaning of life and freedom, only transient travelers to this

world to gain vision and purification, before moving on to other

worlds.

 

http://www.adishakti.org