The Pursuit of Truth From the earliest times in humanities existence there are those who continue to search for ultimate truth. Why are we here? Who are we? What is the meaning of life? Such are the questions asked by these spiritual explorers the mystics. Now in this present time the need to answer these questions looms ever larger as our world explodes with supercilious information and dubious dialogue. Everyone has an opinion but no one has an answer. We live in a time of unrest and conviction. Unrest in our pursuit of personal fulfillment and conviction in the traditional belief systems handed down from those who came before us. Which Reality? On the one hand you have those who claim that knowledge is king and that if we study enough or read enough or think enough the answers will surely come. These individuals tend to believe only what they can see. There is nothing outside of the visible universe or the world in which they live. Their faith is based on sets of rules and creeds that should never be questioned. On the other hand there are those who, with a childlike awe, listen to the music of their spirit. These are the ones who go beyond the veil and welcome the unknown and the unknowable into their world. Such are the Mystics, men and women throughout time who seek to glimpse the living forces moving through and around human existence. Their faith is based on the exploration of their inner selves and the mysteries they find there. Toward the Divine Through the ages many have endeavored to define the role they play in the cosmos. Searching within themselves and studying human nature their explorations have lead to some interesting possibilities. One such way is a psychological and spiritual journey called the Tao or the Mystic Way. It is an adventure that culminates in the condition called identification with the divine ground, cosmic consciousness, self actualization, nirvana or spiritual conversion. An illuminating episode which may be deep or superficial, sudden or gradual resulting in the reorientation of personality into a new order of being. A Deeper Reality Many people have followed the Mystic Way and in spite of individual personalities the same basic processes are involved. No matter what the social or economic status of the seeker their path to enlightenment is always the same. Common to all of them is the awareness that life is larger, or deeper, or more mysterious than it appears at first glance. That's how it begins. It begins with an innate knowledge that normal life is wrong, out of step with reality. That there exists a deeper reality than the one of which we are normally aware, an insight into something that does not appear on the surface. A mysterious longing to find that place of being where we are at peace with ourselves and the cosmos. Remember when you stood on that high place or at the seaside or in a forest and felt something stirring inside you, a subtle joy and a feeling and an awareness that you could not describe but none the less somehow felt that you understood. A sense of belonging to something greater than yourself and at the same time being a part of it, this is the threshold of the Mystic Way. Revelation If the desire to know is great enough and we are diligent in the pursuit of understanding this enigma, in time, there comes a moment of great revelation and illumination. Sometimes this is a gradual process and often occurs without our knowledge in the deep recesses of our soul. Or, maybe it bursts forth in an episode of illuminating brilliance. However it manifests itself here is a sense of joy which seems to lift us out of ourselves. Then follows a state of peace and harmony that words are barely able to describe, a perception of power and a personality integration, we become one with the cosmos and ourselves. We feel a sense of harmony, peace and a release from the historic and genetic bonds that bind us. We become ourselves, the way we were meant to be. For that moment we are life risen to a higher power. This is the point at which most people stop. Refreshed by this experience they return to their lives with a new perspective and a better understanding of themselves and the world around them. However, in time, the pressures and pursuits of life dim the memory of this event and eventually it fades into the background noise of day to day existence. The Path to Enlightenment The mystic is constantly striving to subdue the old nature and replace it with the new pattern. Having experienced the infinite the mystics can not be satisfied with life as they knew it before. This paradox becomes a driving force, a quest if you will, toward a closer union with this nameless reality. They wish to posses this new found truth and become one with it. The trek toward the light leads through what many mystics call the "dark night of the soul". A time of recurring darkness in the mind and depression of the spirit that can go on for years. A time of questioning everything yet never quite finding any answers. The memory of their moment of enlightenment is the sole force that drives them on, but even this eludes them. Then in the fullness of time a new order begins to emerge. The pieces of the cosmic puzzle begin to fall into place. Understanding replaces confusion and with it comes a new view of reality. Personality changes shape and soon a new inner harmony takes root, this time forever. For the rest of their lives the mystic maintains that sense of peace and power that began their quest. This is the goal of the Mystic Way. Reaching the Summit Like that first moment of revelation, no matter if it is sudden or slow, the mystic makes the leap into a new and permanent pattern of being. Peace and inner harmony lead to new and exciting insights into themselves. Their vision is so vast that perspective does not allow them to see themselves as anything but a poor representative of something much greater than themselves. It is this that makes divine growth possible. From here forward the mystic is involved in the active attempt to conform to this great mystery, to mold themselves into the divine. It is possible that we humans have powers of which we are only barely aware. Our lives are full of signs that such powers and possibilities do exist. It would be a tragedy for the human spirit to stifle such musings. We can never become what we were meant to be living with the dogma of a flat cosmos. Human life may well be a far more enhanced, magnificent, and subtler endeavor than we yet realize. |
