Appreciate Your Life

Modern Mysticism
What is it?

Milky Way galaxy

Are you a mystic? You've probably never thought of yourself as one. You'll rarely find a mystic calling herself a mystic, though anyone who seeks to experience the Divine on a personal and intimate level could be on the mystic's path. The path of a mystic is one of the heart; it's for those who have fallen in love with the Creator or creation itself.

The word Mystic is from the Greek Mystkos - it means the pursuit of direct, personal communion with God. Surprisingly, half of all Americans report they've had a mystical or religious experience. Maybe you've had the momentary awareness of a deep connectedness with the Divine.

You might have felt a sense of an infinite intelligence or divine love as you watched a sunset, or gazed at a sky full of stars and galaxies, or as you sat by the creek in the canyon. Perhaps it happens while a baby smiles at you with twinkling, loving eyes, or as you gaze at the face of your beloved. It can happen while listening to a string quartet, or during a thunderstorm, or as the birds sing. It can even happen in a dream. Most of us don't give the experience much significance or even remember it. We simply enjoy it then dismiss it as a 'nice feeling', slipping back into a regular mode of everyday existence.

Mystical experiences don't happen because we wish them into existence, or because we're especially spiritual or special. They can happen to anyone, anytime and can even happen after a shock or loss in one's life.

Experienced by the religious and nonreligious alike, this wonder requires no arduous training, and it never leaves behind that feeling of misery and dejection. It can last anywhere from a few seconds to a few days. We can't wish these mystical experiences into happening or make them last longer than they do. Teresa of Avila says the same about her 'transformative union', the ecstatic experience she sometimes had while praying.

You might feel carried away or that you've lost your sense of self, but at the same time you feel truly present and clear. Your heart expands and embraces everything, great and small, every pebble on the trail and every star in the sky, including things near and far, and in the past and future. It can be a glimpse that there is more to life than meets the eye, or any of our senses for that matter. It's a spontaneous moment of grace: one's heart is touched and opened, it's blissful, and there is a deep peace. It can be overwhelming, eliciting tears and laughter at the same time. Even though all one's problems remain unsolved, and all one's questions remain unanswered, everything suddenly makes sense.

Mystical experiences can be marked by these common features:

It's expansive and transcends time and space.
One's self-image is overshadowed by the experience of the Divine.
There's a total abandonment of consciousness of the senses and material reality.
There's a realization of the perfection of life and intelligence of creation.
There's a sense of sacredness and a realization of deep inner peace.
There's a deep sense of interconnection with the whole universe and its Creator.

Whether Hindu, Christian, Muslim, Sufi, Buddhist, Jew, Quaker, Agnostic or Atheist, a mystic is one who listens to that call and sets out on a path that can ultimately stitch their awareness to that of the Divine.