Christian mysticism is the very aim and endeavor of every Christian heart, though not everyone knows that. It is simply a method of reverence and devotion to God. It teaches us how to have individual, empirical, enlightening experiences. These must grow naturally, from Living the Life with ever-growing dedication. Striving for a greater union with God will bring us to deeper devotions and insights that will illumine our consciousness.
The goal of every religion is to bring man to mysticism. But what is mysticism? Let us first think of what it is not. Many people think it refers to phenomena through psychism. Some think it means fanaticism; to others it means occultism. Mysticism has no relation whatever to any of these. It is a unique way all by itself, and rich and blessed in consciousness is a person who touches this great river of spiritual experience. A mystic is interested primarily in one thing, in loving God so completely, so wholeheartedly, so beyond everything else that a direct first-hand contact is made with the Divine Spirit of the ever-present God.
Mysticism is often called the path of spiritual union, the way of spiritual love, the path of devotion. Some call it the path of the heart. These terms depict partially and very superficially what mysticism truly covers. Mysticism is the endeavor of the soul to draw nearer to God. For that reason it uses all of an individual, and claims his total being. Of all the approaches to God, it is the only one that knows synthesis. There are some who reach God through the intellectual path. Their theories are abundant and most interesting, but they do not appear to Live the Life until they come to the practice of mysticism. Those who are approaching the philosophical path find that they have a noble concept of being and the value of the Godhead, but again, so often their living is very arid. The artist, who is inspired, gets closer to Divine Union in his realization and appreciation of the divine spirit of beauty.In Christian mysticism there is the possibility of realizing a state which transcends normal consciousness and which puts us in touch with those faculties within that make real our communion with God.
In mysticism we come upon the term "rebinding." It is a description of man's nature being bound again to the Presence and Will of God. We also come frequently upon the term "regeneration." This brings man into courageous single-mindedness and to depth of inner understanding. To know God firsthand is the feat of highest attainment, one worthy of incarnation. Mysticism is a path of that attainment which leads to the Divine Reality and enables one in this lifetime to be blessed with contact from the Highest. The critics of mysticism have been those chiefly with an intellectual orientation who have been dissatisfied with the visions of mystics and their reliance on symbolism, especially among the first Christians. However, it is their own lack of contact with the Living Light that limits the Reality of God to their minds through intellectual analysis. Absent the illumination experience itself, it is beyond their ability to appreciate it.
No comments:
Post a Comment