What is Mysticism (part 1)

 Mysticism, it is such a loaded word, is it not? It conjures up all sorts of images within our minds. For example, images of men in hooded robes initiating members in some sort of secret or occult practices. Or even some new age sort of pick and mix spirituality, where you take pieces from Islam here, or Hinduism there.

However these parallels couldn’t be further from the truth. So as a typical seeker of spiritual truth I turned to, you guessed it, Wikipedia. The definition that they gave for mysticism is...

“Belief that union with or absorption into the Deity or the absolute, or the spiritual apprehension of knowledge inaccessible to the intellect, maybe attained through contemplation and self surrender.”

So let’s unpack this definition a little and see where it leads.

Mysticism at its very core is union and absorption into the Deity and absolute. This concept of union has been at the heart of many of the world’s major religions. Religions such as Buddhism and Taoism have more abstract notions of the divine, contrasted with the Abrahamic tradition which sees God as more of person. Different approaches have lead to different spiritual traditions arising, but the goal has always remained the same.

Mystical knowledge in the definition is described as being inaccessible to the intellect, meaning it is something that cannot be learned. Only through spiritual practice can a person gain further knowledge and insights into the spiritual realm such as contemplation, prayers, meditations and so on. In order to achieve the goal of union various religious traditions have laid out certain guides for practitioners involving various forms of religious practices. When you look at it closely they all seem to be eerily familiar, especially when describing the different stages along the way. 

 Mystics (those who practice mysticism) have on many occasions been seen as being controversial figures by religious authorities. They were not always orthodox in their approaches to Religion and were able to see past dogma and various legalistic traditions. When you take a close look at their lives there are signs present of men and women who had an intimate relationship with God.

This leads me onto my next point, which is that Mysticism is about complete intimacy and surrender to the Divine. It’s about a love relationship as us the lovers and God the beloved. This parallel can be seen within mystics from different faiths.  For example, the Christian Mystic Julian of Norwich described her relationship of God as unity

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“I must see myself so bound in love as if everything that has been done has been done for me. That is to say that the love of God makes such a unity in us that when we see this unity, none is able to separate oneself from another.”

We can see here how she has described her union with God as absorption of her very essence, into the essence of the Divine.

To a person who has never heard of such things before, mysticism can look like something forbidden, blasphemous and exciting all at the same time. The whole idea that we, as limited beings can swim into the endless ocean of divinity can seem impossible due to our perception of God. We have created this sort of barricade in which God is somewhere far in a distant heaven, whilst we are here on Earth all alone.

Mysticism aims to break down those barricades of separation, and destroy all illusions and images of God that we have created, till we’re left with only what’s real. 

The only real thing that exists is God.

Once that has been realised, then can a mystic achieve union.

I hope this article gave you a good taste of Mysticism. I hope to further expand of the topic in future posts.

Like the ancient Chinese lesson says, if a man is thirsty give him half a cup to drink. If he remains thirsty, only then supply him with the other half. When it comes to spirituality, you must first thirst for God, then bit by bit he will slowly reveal himself to you. 

So I hope to speak about Mysticism in small doses, so for those who have not approached the subject will be able to understand it.