Invitation to Mystics

From a 2015 article in the Walla Walla Union-Bulletin:

Those who have experienced and have come to recognize life in all its diverse forms to be One Being, without a second, are commonly known as mystics.  Because their numbers are small and their experience is contrary to our normal sense of the world as divided into separate things, over the centuries mystics have been reluctant to identify and explain themselves, and have often been the target of religious persecution.

While in the east mysticism has been more central to religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism, and Taoism and their scriptures, in the west Christian mystics have often been considered heretics, as have the Sufis and other mystics within Islam.

Aldous Huxley’s 1947 book, “The Perennial Philosophy,” brings together statements by mystics from most of the world’s religious traditions that describe their direct experience of and identity with the Divine, increasing our understanding of mysticism considerably.  A link to an online copy of this anthology is available on the website www.unitiveself.blogspot.com.

In spite of several well-known mystical sayings by Jesus in the New Testament, including “the Kingdom of God is within you,” and “What you do to the least of these you do to me,” as well as Old Testament sayings such as, “I Am What Am” and “Be still and Know that I am God,” not until more recent times has there been openness in the west to the presence of a single Being within all life.

In our current age of relative openness as well as our increasing acceptance of the unitary nature of the physical universe as demonstrated by modern cosmology and quantum physics,  the writings of Eckhart Tolle, a German-born mystic now living in Canada, have become #1 best sellers, even chosen as a book-of-the month by Oprah Winfrey.

Tolle’s teachings in “The Power of Now” and “The New Earth,” along with those of many other mystics, offer an experience of life that remedies the intense internal and external conflicts that alienate us from others and from our own identity.  In a world of increasing divisions and need for reconciliation, the realization of a deeper unity within and beyond our apparent diversity is an important potential for everyone that is also of current interest to many.

Those who have had either an intuition or a direct experience of this reality, or are simply open to this possibility, may be interested in a public Study Group on the Unitive Self  that has begun meeting on Thursday evenings at 7 pm.  The group meets at Wynmrh House, 233 S. Park in Walla Walla across from the YMCA gymnasium, and is sponsored by the recently formed Noetic Council, www.noeticcouncil.blogspot.com.

The goal of this group, which is open to everyone, is to increase public understanding and recognition of the one Self, and to deepen its direct experience.   As there are infinite facets to the Self, the group will meet weekly to consider selected topics, with each new topic announced publicly to encourage those with a particular interest to attend.  Topics will be led by different members and chosen by the full group.  In addition, there will be shelf space available for sharing books and other materials that may be useful to participants, as well as time available before and after meetings to look through or borrow those of interest.  The meetings will also include a period of meditation, which is an almost universal practice of those seeking to become more aware of the Self.

When mystics are asked to explain how they experience or seek to experience reality, in most circumstances they have difficulty being understood.  As one member of the Noetic Council active in a local church put it, “My Christianity is different from most.  While the goal of others is to have a relationship with God, my goal is identity with God.”

It is useful for all of us to have relationships with those who are capable of understanding and accepting us. If you are a mystic or are interested in mysticism but have been reluctant to talk about it, you are invited at this point to come out of the closet, and to share your experience and interest with others.  It will be a benefit to all of us if you do.

Daniel Clark is a retired lawyer and member of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers).  He has recently written several books on unitive consciousness, including "It's All the Self," “You are the Self,” “Notes to the Self” and "A Spiritual Journal." He can be contacted at clarkdn@charter.net.