Mysticism

he first Samadhi is nature mysticism, which I shall introduce with a longish quote from Wordsworth's "Tintern Abbey."

s a child and a young man, I knew this state. Nature mysticism shows us that the Soul is distinct from the Mind, since nature is inanimate, and thus has no Mind, but nonetheless has mood and feeling, although not words or ideas. Nature Mysticism is the first step towards the Illumination of Fire.

he second Samadhi is "advanced daydreaming," or more poetically, "oceanic consciousness." It is sometimes called "bathing in the waters," and baptism probably was a symbol for this state.

hose who enjoy solitude are day-dreamers, and find their inner imaginative life richer than the pedestrian everyday conversation of their peers. I had plenty of opportunity for daydreaming as a child, in monotonous farm chores which required no concentration, such as plowing. Monotonous and repetitive physical activities which require no concentration are perfect for finding this ecstatic state of reverie. The best ideas come, unbidden, when doing something mindless, monotonous, and repetitious, such as driving to work, shaving, or doing the dishes. It is when the hands are busy that the Mind is free. Many mystic traditions had rules of silence, and emphasized "carrying wood and water" or other outside chores that require no concentration, freeing the Mind to roam where it may. I call any such situation "work-meditation."

n a state of reverie, one enters a trance-like, luminous state of creative exaltation, the state of genius, even though inspiration can pop up from the unconscious in more ordinary states of consciousness. When "bathing in the waters," one has entered the collective unconscious, the source of the universal language of symbolism, a realm of consciousness that underlies all ordinary consciousness.

hy don't all day-dreamers enter the oceanic consciousness of genius? Perhaps it is no more complicated than this: few people are allowed to day-dream for at least part of the day, from childhood to late middle age. I always volunteered for the really boring tasks on the farm, those which required no concentration. Plowing, or herding cows. As an adult, I made my lunch walk my meditation time. I never permitted friends to accompany me, gently explaining that this was my meditation time. At school, I was reading high school books in 4th grade and most of my teachers were smart enough to just leave me alone. I could lose myself so completely in a book that I only gradually returned from the great depths when I realized the class was laughing, and had been laughing for some time. The teacher had asked me something. I found that I could rummage through my short term memory and recall the question. I gave the answer, and then it was back to the book.

ay-dreaming is the opposite of concentration. Work-meditation as an approach to meditation is opposite to those schools of meditation which require constant repetition of a mantra or focusing on a single point or idea. Work-meditation is complete freedom of Mind, without worries or mental tasks, where the Mind is not forced into any mental routine. School's out when day-dreaming. Those other forms of meditation are necessary for people whose Minds automatically fixate on some worry, fear or tragedy, when turned loose.

any years of "carrying wood and water" are necessary before one can experience the illumination of fire, the third Samadhi, the one that shows us the meaning of life. All mystical states are ecstatic and luminous, in that one feels almost as if a spotlight were turned on you, without consciously being aware of any particular color of light. It is unmistakable in the illumination of fire. I had the distinct impression that I was filled and surrounded with fiery orange-red light. I was thirty-one years old.

he illumination of fire is often called "cosmic consciousness," for instance, by Richard Bucke in his book Cosmic Consciousness, one of the classics of Empirical Metaphysics. It feels like a god's eye view of one's own life and knowledge. The Illumination of Fire is concrete, a single gestalt, the way we take in all the details of a familiar face and recognize them as a whole.

hat I saw is that a single pattern runs through all things, the meaning of life, the divine purpose of spontaneity, creativity, innocence, joy, love and grace. This is the divine purpose, not a divine plan. There is no one word for it in English. It is the glow of innocence of a state of grace. It is the first crisp evening of fall or the first warm day of spring, with the Mockingbird singing ecstatically and the first flush of green on the trees. It runs through all things. It is the spontaneity of a child playing alone in her sandbox, inventing the game as she goes. It is the grace of a flower, far more beautiful than it needs to be.

he illumination of fire not only shows one the meaning of life, it shows in particular why difficulties are put into our path, and why loss and destruction are a necessary part of the divine purpose. Without obstacles, there would be no creativity. Without renewal, there would be no freshness, spontaneity, youth, innocence, grace. So, the mystic can view the destruction of civilizations with equanimity, knowing that without the Dark Ages there would not be the youthful Western Civilization that we presently live in.

he mystical path does not require schools and classes, much less gurus. Meditation is not necessarily concentration. Meditation can be "carrying wood and water." It is when the body is occupied with monotonous and automatic activity that the mind is free to grow in its own way and to find ecstasy without giving up scientific method or the critical mind that distinguishes the West. If you want to know about meditation which allows you to sit, here is a good source.

he mystical path does not require gurus, although teachers and schools may be useful. Two thousand years ago we gave up our western critical mind and took up a guru-disciple tradition from the East, and a Dark Age resulted. I would like to avoid that this time. This time let us have a brilliant old age, as did the Chinese, who were contemporaries of the Greco-Roman Civilization. It is quite possible to be both a scientist, a philosopher and a mystic, and this is attempted in the academic discipline of Transpersonal Psychology. It would be a good thing if this discipline were to become part of the curriculuum of universities. I would not call it a science, exactly, because it makes use of transpersonal techniques from all 7 ways, from Shamanism, Yoga, Native American Medicine Path, African Voodoo, Buddhism, Taoism, and even scientific method. Mystical states are reproducible, as William James discovered. Symbolic revelations from the depths of Self are reproducible as C. G. Jung discovered. So, William James and C. G. Jung have laid the groundwork for a possible spiritual science. We shall just have to wait and see if anything comes of it.

Copyright © Dr.H 2002

Home