' The Mystical and Shamanic Paths '...

The mystical path is an internal journey of contemplation and surrender. It moves toward a level of consciousness where physical experience is subsumed in a much larger reality. ..................................... Mysticism seeks to disengage from the burdens of physical existence and the limitations of emotion, hunger, mental striving, and the ego in order to move toward the beauty and love of God, the Divine, Source, or Universal Awareness. In Buddhism the goal is to be free from samsara, the wheel of karma and the cycle of death and rebirth, to reach a state of nirvana; in Christian mysticism it is to attain union with the Divine. ............................... In my explorations of mysticism I practiced no-thought meditation as well as more intentional experiences such as mindfulness meditation and loving-kindness meditation. I resonated strongly with the yearning for the Divine in the stories and poetry of both male and female mystics in both Christian and Eastern traditions.[1] ............................... Mystical poetry, Christian and Eastern, contains a theme of yearning for what is known (language is so very limited!) as The Beloved. This term is wonderfully evocative, and remarkable because it is almost completely absent from Christian dogma. ................................... On the other pathway, the term “shamanic poetry” is pretty much unknown. This illustrates well the different character and orientations of the two paths. .................................. In “my” experience of mysticism, consciousness progressed through experience of larger and more absorbing energies and perceptions to a level where all that exists was seamlessly unified consciousness, and individual identity felt like a tiny spark that existed within that vastness only for the purpose of allowing the experience to be perceived. The feeling was of being surrounded by a universal and impersonal Love of everything for everything, including oneself. Then that too passed into the ultimate experience of being that Everything, including Source................................. Wes Gietz