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.
