We can all agree that meaning is essential to human life and health. Culture and religion are methods to provide meaning, providing stories and structures that define values. But what happens to the individual that for some reason doesn't fit with the culture or can't stomach the religion in their environment?
Most people are pretty agreeable and they want to fit in. They don't question too much and join the parade. They can have fairly meaningful lives adjusting to the status quo. The issue of meaning isn't challenged because they adapt to the culture and religion provided. But what happens to the people that can't adjust?
Mystics through the ages have always been somewhat disagreeable. There a hundreds of stories of them being burned at the stake, forced to take poison, or simply banished from their homeland.
It's quite easy to see that for the mystic, accepting what has been handed down without examination or critique is anathema to their being. It's not that their religion isn't pointing to the truth, it's that they want to go deeper, to experience the truth for themselves. They don't want God, or Being, mediated to them by a priestly cast, they want to know God or Being directly.
This insistence most certainly puts them at odds with the culture, especially the religious aspect that has hardened into beliefs. The church says "This is what you must believe to belong, to be good, to be worthy." For the mystics, belief is not enough.
The mystic is the not the "true believer." The mystic is the one whose inside is screaming, "I want to know myself, as I am, in the ground of my Being." This demand cannot be mediated by any priest. It is a journey of the self to the Self. It is a lonely journey, a journey into the desert, into the wastelands. A journey of discovery.
The mystic's search for meaning goes beneath the platitudes and insists that meaning must come directly from the Source itself. There must be in them some intuition that there is more to this life, this existence, than meets the eye, or is told in the town square.
Spiritual journeys are singular, and much of the journey is not pleasant. But, whatever the individual path, the mystics come to the same Source, the same fountain of profound truth. That is why their writings have been called "The perennial philosophy." The mystic finds that all the world's religious come from a single source, the being of existence itself.
The discovery of the mystic provides the authority with which they speak. The humility of their knowing shows they have transcended the personal self. That combination of authority and humility attracts seekers of wisdom. They do not put a price on sharing. They are available to all.
The mystic has tapped into the ground of Being. They speak of instantaneous knowledge, a direct download from Source. It comes with such authority that to question it seems absurd. Meaning pours through their souls like water after the years in the desert, making their journey worthwhile.
The mystic, knowing source directly, as the Beingness that they are, have the joy of meaning that they need not understand. In other words, knowing they are that which they sought, they know longer need to question their existence or justify it. The world is their creation.
Whatever travails the mystic endured, he comes to know the essence he is, is non other than the being that created this universe. As an individual they know their limitations, and they may not have all the answers, but the answer to the big question is complete. In that they rest.
Most people are pretty agreeable and they want to fit in. They don't question too much and join the parade. They can have fairly meaningful lives adjusting to the status quo. The issue of meaning isn't challenged because they adapt to the culture and religion provided. But what happens to the people that can't adjust?
Mystics through the ages have always been somewhat disagreeable. There a hundreds of stories of them being burned at the stake, forced to take poison, or simply banished from their homeland.
It's quite easy to see that for the mystic, accepting what has been handed down without examination or critique is anathema to their being. It's not that their religion isn't pointing to the truth, it's that they want to go deeper, to experience the truth for themselves. They don't want God, or Being, mediated to them by a priestly cast, they want to know God or Being directly.
This insistence most certainly puts them at odds with the culture, especially the religious aspect that has hardened into beliefs. The church says "This is what you must believe to belong, to be good, to be worthy." For the mystics, belief is not enough.
The mystic is the not the "true believer." The mystic is the one whose inside is screaming, "I want to know myself, as I am, in the ground of my Being." This demand cannot be mediated by any priest. It is a journey of the self to the Self. It is a lonely journey, a journey into the desert, into the wastelands. A journey of discovery.
The mystic's search for meaning goes beneath the platitudes and insists that meaning must come directly from the Source itself. There must be in them some intuition that there is more to this life, this existence, than meets the eye, or is told in the town square.
Spiritual journeys are singular, and much of the journey is not pleasant. But, whatever the individual path, the mystics come to the same Source, the same fountain of profound truth. That is why their writings have been called "The perennial philosophy." The mystic finds that all the world's religious come from a single source, the being of existence itself.
The discovery of the mystic provides the authority with which they speak. The humility of their knowing shows they have transcended the personal self. That combination of authority and humility attracts seekers of wisdom. They do not put a price on sharing. They are available to all.
The mystic has tapped into the ground of Being. They speak of instantaneous knowledge, a direct download from Source. It comes with such authority that to question it seems absurd. Meaning pours through their souls like water after the years in the desert, making their journey worthwhile.
The mystic, knowing source directly, as the Beingness that they are, have the joy of meaning that they need not understand. In other words, knowing they are that which they sought, they know longer need to question their existence or justify it. The world is their creation.
Whatever travails the mystic endured, he comes to know the essence he is, is non other than the being that created this universe. As an individual they know their limitations, and they may not have all the answers, but the answer to the big question is complete. In that they rest.
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