‘The most beautiful and profound emotion we can experience is the mystical… To know that what is impenetrable to us really exists, manifesting itself as the highest wisdom and the most radiant beauty - this knowledge, this feeling, this is religiousness. In this sense, and in this sense only, I am a devoutly religious man.’
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein might not have called himself a mystic but he clearly had a significant mystical experience which had a profound impact on him. In a sense, all of us are mystics as all of us have the capacity for such experience. To be a mystic is not about living in some rarified state of being, reserved only for saints and spiritual masters. To be a mystic is to have caught a glimpse of what the philosopher, William James, called ‘the more’. It is to pay close attention to such glimpses, to acknowledge them for the sacred gift they are and to be open to what they can teach us. It is to awaken to the reality of a world suffused with the More and to long for oneness with this mysterious Presence which we encounter only fleetingly along the way. It is to seek ways of awakening our mystical consciousness that we might learn to see with sacred eyes and to hear the heartbeat of the More in all that is. Finally and most importantly, to be a mystic is to come to know in every fibre of our being that the nature of this Other Reality is Love. It is to have known, however fleetingly, the embrace of such love and to allow that knowing to transform our seeing, our being and our loving. As writer, Mirabai Starr puts it, it is about entering into ‘the dance of love’.
What we can learn from the mystics
The mystics among us are often the most progressive thinkers for such mystical encounters bring us insights that that our logical, rational minds could never have discovered. They transcend ordinary human knowledge and understanding. They question our perceptions. They challenge our theologies, our doctrines and our small gods. They offer us new ways of making sense of our sacred experience.
As Einstein discovered, mystical experience shows us that that the world around us is more intensely real, vibrant and beautiful than our normal perception allows us to see. It teaches us that there is a mysterious, benevolent energy which flows through everything that is, that is present in all things, in rocks, trees, plants, the earth, the sky, the universe and in each one of us. It points not only to the the sacredness of all things but also to their 'onedness' as the 14th century Christian mystic, Julian of Norwich put it. It enables us to recognise that our sense of ourselves as separate beings is an illusion and that at a deeper level, we are inter-connected with everyone and everything that exists and with the More - a reality that is not ‘out there’, but within and around us, permeating and enfolding all that is and all that we are.
'Theologians may quarrel, but the mystics of the world speak the same language.'
Meister Eckhart
Self-reflective and creative activities
Below is a list of self-reflective and creative activities that I and others have found helpful in our search for the More:
Make a list of any experiences you have had over your lifetime which you would consider to be encounters with the More. This may include experiences which you would not previously have thought of in this way.
Write an account of one (or more) of your most significant experiences, telling the story of it in as much detail as you can remember, considering how it impacted on you both psychologically and spiritually and reflecting on what you have learnt from it. You may want to give your account a title which in some way captures what the experience has meant to you. Take your time over this. You may find it helpful to stay focused on a particular experience for a week or two until you feel you have learnt as much as possible from your reflections on it.
Create a collage, drawing, painting, wordmap, story, poem or song that captures something of the nature of a particular mystical experience. It is often easier and more powerful to capture such experiences creatively than it is to use words alone.
Spend some time sharing and exploring your mystical experiences with one or more friends or colleagues or with a spiritual companion. This can be a very good exercise to do in a small group setting if others in the group are also willing to share their experiences.
Spend some time reading the stories of others' mystical experiences. You can read accounts of such experiences in the books mentioned in the bibliography amongst others. As you engage with others' stories, notice and reflect on your own reactions to them.
Bibliography
David Elkins (1998) Beyond Religion: A personal program for building a spiritual life outside of the walls of traditional religion. Quest Books
David Hay (2006) Something There: The biology of the human spirit. Darton, Longman and Todd William James (1985) The Varieties of Religious Experience. Penguin Classics
Steve Taylor (2010) Waking from Sleep: Why awakening experiences occur and how to make them permanent. Hay House Publishing
©Copyright Kaitlyn Steele 2024
Kaitlyn Steele
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