To: K-list
Recieved: 2002/10/27 11:31
Subject: [K-list] Mysticism~
From: Kilia Meri~
On 2002/10/27 11:31, Kilia Meri~ posted thus to the K-list:
The thought of mysticism has endless ability to capture the
imagination. The immediate mental picture is of bliss, exalted
thought, and insights denied those not privileged to have the gift.
There is a certain truth to these concepts, but, as we shall see, the
definition of this reality may be far from what appears at first
glance.
The medieval mind was perhaps unequalled for imagery, romance, and
poetic expression. Until Petrarch began dedicating his poetry to an
earthly love, artistic and literary works focussed on religious
images. Those in the Middle Ages were frequently illiterate, and
undoubtedly uninfluenced by the writings of the great theologians of
the period, yet their entertainment, legends, ballads, and so forth
painted a vivid picture of God's active presence in the lives of His
creatures.
The true mystic will never be understood, and those honoured as
saints were likely, then and now, to be remembered more for what they
accomplished (or for what their intercession is thought to obtain for
their devotees!) than for their mysterious and often troubling focus
on the divine. Many a mystic, Francis of Assisi being a prime
example, is gifted in expression, yet the fullness of their union
with God leaves us puzzled. Total unity goes beyond the senses and
the intellect, and the greatest of poets is rendered silent by the
inability to fully share the inexpressible.
Christian mysticism sees growth in spirituality as involving an ever
deepening, personal relationship with God. The mystic, whose longing
for a total bond with the Beloved, is not seeking nothingness, nor
to "find the God within." His Lover is also a Person, albeit
one
Divine. Since true contemplation is a gift of grace from God Himself,
the mystic remains fully (and, perhaps, anxiously) aware that his own
accomplishments and efforts cannot attain this union.
Since our emphasis at this site is on delight, it is time to expand
the definition! The mystic indeed delights in his Beloved, but this
takes him into new realms. The human need for satisfaction of the
mind and emotions is ever part of our nature, yet the mystic is
dealing with pure spirit, unfathomable intellect, perfection beyond
human grasp. He will see the emptiness of the world and the limits of
our own perceptions. Thus, the lover's longing, which in itself is a
sheer gift of grace, meets with silence. Unchanging, eternal, perfect
love surely is the ultimate delight, but the mystic, hampered by the
clouded vision of mankind, has both total dedication and the
unrequited longing that cannot be satisfied in this world.
Growth in Christian spirituality involves several stages, described
as the purgative, illuminative, and unitive ways. An in-depth
treatment of these stages is beyond the scope of this essay, but a
brief reference is needed to place the mystic journey in perspective.
Where the thought of meditation or prayer brings to mind actions of
the mind, body (as in observing quiet), senses, and intellect, the
way of the mystic is based on submission of the will. His journey
begins with a renunciation of sin, that will, in time, lead to a
certain darkness. The mystic sees the Scriptures, the teachings of
Christ's Church and the writings of Her mystics, and so forth as
divine revelation - and, since they spring from a perfect source,
will intuitively realise that there can be no surer path to
happiness. His own heightened vision of divine love (of which he
usually is unaware) will leave him troubled, because the reality of
evil and indifference taps the human sense of futility and emptiness
in this world.
The mystic, of course, is totally unaware of his "stage of
development". The growing detachment, so essential to the
eventual
mystic union, will leave his senses and mind with further emptiness.
The will, which alone can choose and love, is assuredly turned to
God, yet there is much more to human nature - and that part remains
unsatisfied, until the level of detachment is one attained by few.
This is a process for a lifetime.
The mystic, who will begin with the self knowledge from which
humility is born, but eventually reaches the uncharted paths of that
heightened vision that only the divine can inspire, will have
continuously advancing awareness of his own nothingness.
This "nothingness" is real - and by no means negative, even
if it
appears so to our post Freudian eyes. If humans are created in the
image and likeness of God (that is, with a memory, intellect, and
will, and an immortal soul), and Christ Himself could assume human
nature, clearly humanity is a great treasure in itself. However, when
one has had a glimpse of the Perfect, the limits of human nature are
clear to him.
This void naturally is to be filled with that share in God that we
call divine grace. Still, when one burns with a love that cannot be
fully consummated except in a life beyond this one, the lover
naturally will endure trials and the fire of longing that only those
who truly love can know.
Looking for the God within, should a mystic fall into this error,
would satisfy none of the longing. The divine essence within each
creature is very limited. To turn the fire of mystic longing totally
within would accomplish nothing - except, perhaps, to lead him to the
error of worshipping himself. The constant striving for virtue,
whether through prayer or the sacrifices typical of the ascetic life
that alone is the bridge to the mystical, aims at pleasing the
Creator, with whom the personal relationship constantly grows.
Medieval man would hardly have grasped this concept, but he did
understand, in his homely fashion, that God's love cannot be placed
in a far off box. The Catholic concept of the "communion of
saints"
was known, even if all but the scholars would have been hard put to
define this. The man of the Middle Ages had a strong idea of there
being a life beyond this one - indeed, that awareness was sustenance
in a time when life was short and filled with trials. He also would
have the idea that all of those who shared in grace (in this life or
the next, the only exception being the devils and human inhabitants
of hell) merit graces and grieve for sin as a whole. He would not
have understood the depth of mysticism, of course, but he would value
the mystic for the graces that these chosen ones merited for the sake
of all, much as Christ had attained redemption for the sins of all
people (with no bounds of time).
The medieval imagination, coupled with the awareness of powers beyond
one's self, was hardly confined to divine truths! The occult arts,
the wee folk, the goblin and the "beasties" were forces to be
reckoned with - and much a part of the medieval viewpoint. Then as
now, the key difference between magic and spirituality is easy to
overlook. The magic arts, to use one inclusive term, all are
directed, in some fashion, at enhanced power for the individual. The
intentions are not necessarily evil, but always include knowing,
doing, or causing what is beyond normal human ability. Spirituality,
by contrast, and in a way that can be frightening to us since the
desire for control is so a part of our nature, involves abandonment.
With submission of the will being the key element of mystic union
(and one against which we all shall struggle!), abandonment is
transformed, in the mystic's vision, from a frightful struggle to a
loving union. The mystic's heightened awareness, so incomprehensible
to the rest of us, leads to a knowledge that nothing will satisfy him
except God. He will have the pain of being unable to take pleasure in
the worldly, but his will shall consider these well sacrificed in
light of the ecstasy of eternity.
As Saint Augustine wrote in his "Confessions":
"O Lord, do I love Thee. Thou didst strike on my heart with Thy word
and I loved Thee.... But what do I love when I love Thee? Not the
beauty of bodies nor the loveliness of seasons, nor the radiance of
the light around us, so gladsome to our eyes, nor the sweet melodies
of songs of every kind, nor the fragrance of flowers and ointments
and spices, nor manna and honey, nor limbs delectable for fleshly
embraces. I do not love these things when I love my God. And yet I
love a light and a voice and a fragrance and a food and an embrace
when I love my God, who is a light, a voice, a fragrance, a food, and
an embrace to my inner man.... This it is that I love when I love my
God...
That same voice speaks indeed to all men, but only they understand it
who join that voice, heard from outside, to the truth that is within
them. And the truth says to me: "Neither heaven nor earth nor any
body is thy God." Their own nature says the same They see that the
substance of a part is less than that of the whole. And now I speak
to thee, my soul. Thou art my greater part, since thou quickenest the
substance of my body by giving to it life, which no body can give to
a body. And thy God is the life of thy life to thee....
Late have I loved Thee, O Beauty so ancient and so new! Too late have
I loved Thee. And lo, Thou wert inside me and I outside, and I sought
for Thee there, and in all my unsightliness I flung myself on those
beautiful things which Thou hast made. Thou wert with me and I was
not with Thee. Those beauties kept me away from Thee, though if they
had not been in Thee, they would not have been at all. Thou didst
call and cry to me and break down my deafness. Thou didst flash and
shine on me and put my blindness to flight. Thou didst blow fragrance
upon me and I drew breath, and now I pant after Thee. I tasted of
Thee and now I hunger and thirst for Thee. Thou didst touch me and I
am aflame for Thy peace...."
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