Are you a mystic?

[Busby]

I tend to regret having put my main (admittedly short - on purpose) mystical experience (not having another word to call it) on view here (above).

The intention of SFs is or at least was to get an exchange of insights/information and to discuss those things which could, in some way, give some insight into that field where spiritual matters are appear obove the level of the mere physical.

We once had, here on SFs long discussions upon all manner of those moments we call metaphysical - current responses to many themes have dropped off to either one-line remarks or stem from people who have done little or no homework - or/and have no idea what they are talking about.

There are, fortunately, still those contributors who do take the trouble to explain their beliefs, point of views and ideas thus leading to new thought pastures - but these are becoming rare.

I would have thought - among all those members of the SF that their are those who have experienced things out of the ordinary. There seems to only a very few who have (reportedly) jumped out of the physical or mental 'plane' even for a few moments.

I did not under any circumstances claim to be a mystic and still don't but I know from other sources, both personally and culturally that others too have seen the overwhelming beauty of our cosmos.


Believing something has nothing to do with reality.

[AngelBlue]

Hi Busby. You seem a bit upset.

[Catsquotl]

Originally Posted by Busby

I tend to regret having put my main (admittedly short - on purpose) mystical experience (not having another word to call it) on view here (above).

I'm sorry you feel that way,

Myself I get filled with joy when people talk about the mystery or mystical they experience during their daily life, Heck even my Guru had her awakening whilst canning fish in a factory.

As for the mind is everything? Great mystics (tend to agree with you) thinking of the Buddha (first lines of the Dhammapada) or the Kybalion for those interested in hermetic mysticism.

With Love

[quote=Busby]We once had, here on SFs long discussions upon all manner of those moments we call metaphysical - current responses to many themes have dropped off to either one-line remarks or stem from people who have done little or no homework - or/and have no idea what they are talking about.

There are, fortunately, still those contributors who do take the trouble to explain their beliefs, point of views and ideas thus leading to new thought pastures - but these are becoming rare.quote] Busby,

I share your frustrations. There is little resemblance to a think tank. The one-line replies basically are votes..’I agree’…’I disagree’….with no supported reasoning. Thoughts are not pursued or developed.

Perhaps the limitation on quotes is part of the culprit….it is hard to do justice to a well presented posting with the restraint of only being allowed to quote 3 sentences. These various deficiencies discourage postings of substance. The rarity of thoughtful postings can only increase.

[snowyowl]

Originally Posted by sky

I see a Mystic as one who has an experience of spiritual 'Oneness' at the core of their being, sometimes it's through seeking and at other times it's spontaneous.....
Imo.

I voted 'yes' and I like this definition, although I don't go around calling myself a mystic in public which would sound rather pretentious. I'd probably broaden it out to include anyone who wrestles with the relationships between their individuality and their collectivity; wholeness and fragmentation; unity and diversity; oneness and duality; relative and absolute etc. For me it all began with an examination of the "mind-body problem" which is a classic philosophical conundrum.

My first mystical experiences were through meditation when the 'Oneness' was revealed, then they became more spontaneous and like a background to life, upon which the foreground of my everyday life is painted. I can see how my mind creates my ego and all the distinctions between myself and others, the in-groups and out-groups as a dance of life. All animals do this to some extent.

Mystic is such a difficult word to pin down with a standardised definition anyway - and that's perhaps the point, mysticism is pointing beyond words to something ineffable. That's why there's such a lot of negativity in the subject: via negativa, emptiness/void, neti neti etc.

[Altair]

I view a 'mystic' as someone who 'practices' spirituality outside of 'normal' culture, so in a spiritual context, that's outside of mainstream religion. The normal folk are concerned with pleasing a deity, having a tightly structured life created around the customs and traditions of ''holy'' book(s), and all of that, and it is integrated into mainstream culture and politics. They are Joe and Jane next door. They think ''Why change a winning team? This is how it's always been done...'' The mystic embraces a more chaotic and creative path, challenges those norms..

A mystic is not a Joe or Jane next door...

[Busby]

Originally Posted by Altair

I view a 'mystic' as someone who 'practices' spirituality outside of 'normal' culture, so in a spiritual context, that's outside of mainstream religion. The normal folk are concerned with pleasing a deity, having a tightly structured life created around the customs and traditions of ''holy'' book(s), and all of that. They are Joe and Jane next door. They think ''Why change a winning team? This is how it's always been done...'' The mystic embraces a more chaotic and creative path, challenges those norms..

A mystic is not a Joe or Jane next door...

More or less yes, Altair, to a certain degree.

In my search for (among other things) people who have experienced a 'mystic' moment or moments (or hours actually) Very few of them (that I found) were in any way members of any belief system.
Mysticism is like everything else, a part of nature - that is a part of our nature as we know of ourselves as human beings. It may well be that it can be called upon by meditation or prayer or whatever ritual is used to invoke such moments but in most cases it is a spontaneous opening of the constrained mind to the structure of the universe.

The billionfold aspects of our surroundings and our daily life suppress the realities which really make up 'our world(s)' we catch glimpses of these realities in beauty, art, music, scenery, emotions and so on.

The universe speaks to us all the time. We can't see it until we spring out of
our shell and taste the salt of the oceans.

[Redchic12]

BUSBY…..”The universe speaks to us all the time. We can't see it until we spring out of our shell and taste the salt of the oceans”

So how did you achieve that Busby?

[Busby]

Originally Posted by Redchic12

BUSBY…..”The universe speaks to us all the time. We can't see it until we spring out of our shell and taste the salt of the oceans”
So how did you achieve that Busby?

You are always in contact with the universe.
Your 5 senses hook into everything around you.

When you look at a tree the tree forms an impression on your eyes and then on your brain, so the universe contacts you telling you it is here.

When you sit on your couch the atoms of your bum are so compressed that you feel the counterpart which is the universe.

You are not separate from the universe you are part of it.

The centre in fact.

Until you were born the universe didn't exist.

[Redchic12]

Nice one. I like that Busby!

Thank you.