You are a mystic if:
1. Personal experience is more important to you than doctrine. Mystics want to experience divinity/peace/the universe/God/Goddess/Allah/nirvana/the Tao/enlightenment (or any other word you like) themselves. We might like reading about other’s experiences as a guide, but we generally aren’t satisfied solely with spiritual explanations put down by others.
2. You ask a lot of questions. Mystics are curious. We want to know how the universe works, and why, and are usually very interested in the structures underneath the visible world. We are the researchers of the spiritual world.
3. You won’t take ’cause I said so’ for an answer. Mystics don’t like to be told ‘this is the way it is’, or even ‘this is what the holy book/God/some prior saint’ said. That might serve as a starting point for our explorations, but we want more backup before we will adopt a spiritual tenet as our own belief.
4. You value your intuition, and the intuition of others. Mystics rely on many forms of insight and knowledge besides language, rationality, and our physical senses. Intuitive perceptions are a powerful part of the mix during our spiritual seeking.
1. Personal experience is more important to you than doctrine. Mystics want to experience divinity/peace/the universe/God/Goddess/Allah/nirvana/the Tao/enlightenment (or any other word you like) themselves. We might like reading about other’s experiences as a guide, but we generally aren’t satisfied solely with spiritual explanations put down by others.
2. You ask a lot of questions. Mystics are curious. We want to know how the universe works, and why, and are usually very interested in the structures underneath the visible world. We are the researchers of the spiritual world.
3. You won’t take ’cause I said so’ for an answer. Mystics don’t like to be told ‘this is the way it is’, or even ‘this is what the holy book/God/some prior saint’ said. That might serve as a starting point for our explorations, but we want more backup before we will adopt a spiritual tenet as our own belief.
4. You value your intuition, and the intuition of others. Mystics rely on many forms of insight and knowledge besides language, rationality, and our physical senses. Intuitive perceptions are a powerful part of the mix during our spiritual seeking.
5. You are uncomfortable with religious and spiritual hierarchies. Mystics
tend to have a ‘flat’ view of the world. We believe anyone can experience
divinity to some extent – that it’s not limited to those who take a vow, join a
religious order, or spend years studying scripture.
6. You tend to be a rule-breaker. Mystics are often spiritual
rebels. Even those that are now revered historical figures – such as St.
Theresa of Avila
7. You believe in internal, rather than external, measures of spiritual
growth. Mystics believe it’s all about awareness. External rituals and
spiritual practices are meant to trigger internal insights and transformation –
we don’t perform them to ‘please’ a higher power, or to accrue spiritual
brownie points.
8. You believe power comes through you, not from you. Mystics see
themselves as one wave in the ocean of existence. We recognize ourselves as a
conduit for power, but not its ultimate source, and acknowledge the
connectivity of everyone and everything.
9. You believe love comes through you, not from you. Love is the
ultimate source of life, for every mystic I have ever studied, regardless of
their religious tradition. And mystics know that our individual loves – the
people and experiences we value in our own lives – are just a small reflection
of the larger love we are all capable of manifesting.
10. Like Shakespeare’s Hamlet, you believe “There are more things in heaven
and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.” Mystics
acknowledge that the universe is infinite and mysterious, and that there will
always be more that we don’t know about it than that we do know. This keeps us
humble, and open, to other’s experiences and explanations.
Natalia Levis-Fox
No comments:
Post a Comment