Mysticism

“Many people have negative attitudes toward mysticism and often use the word “mystic” pejoratively to indicate someone who is seriously and deliriously out of touch with reality. As a student of religion I say the opposite: Mystics are the ones who have actually gotten in touch  with what is real…They are porous and have the ability to be so open as to stretch beyond the usual small and protective ego.”

      I concur with author, psychotherapist, and former monk Thomas Moore’s assertion that mysticism is a frequently misunderstood and maligned word. Another who would agree with this assessment is comparative religions scholar Huston Smith who once opined that the word mysticism is cynically referred to as beginning with ‘mist,’ ending in ‘schism,’ and having ‘I’ in the middle!

     Like Moore, I think that those for whom ‘mystic’ is an accurate designation, have an unusual sensitivity to matters spiritual and to the spirituality of matter. These folks are not wandering the earth navel gazing or with their head in the clouds; rather, they are mindfully present to the divine depths of our everyday, earthy existence. These spiritually attuned people tend not to miss the Mystery that most of us pass by without notice. Mystics are prone to the likes of wonder and awe, and to experiencing the nothing-has-to-be–but-everything-is nature of life. Their lives are rich with the realization that although both we and our world are impermanent and imperfect, everyone and everything is, to quote poet William Wordsworth, “trailing clouds of glory.”

      I am convinced that there may be many more mystics than we might imagine, and that even you and I may be counted among them; for although relatively few may sense life’s spiritual depths, all of us are a dimension of a Mystery waiting to be realized. That being said, lest we become too taken with the notion of being mystics, keep in mind that mystics rhymes with fish sticks!