Who here is a Christian mystic? And do you agree with this quote...?

Question

(Encyclopedia Britannica) The History of Christian Mysticism, where it reads: “Although the essence of mysticism is the sense of contact with the transcendent, mysticism in the history of Christianity should not be understood merely in terms of special ecstatic experiences but as part of a religious process lived out within the context of the Christian community. From this perspective mysticism played a vital part in the early church. Early Christianity was a religion of the spirit that expressed itself in the heightening and enlargement of human consciousness”.

Answer 1

This was written by someone that wasn't an early Christian. Mystic Christians are as rare as bird teeth. It's hard to have communion when you can't find people that understand you. There is a presumption by some that God is found by knowledge and in part there is truth in that belief but knowledge by experience is the only "Truth"
One can read about love all day and become sour and cynical to the concept or one can love and KNOW the truth. It's not a knowing that requires much education since a child can do it. The entire point is to die to your ego and become a creature of love. When we become love we join God and all creatures of love are one being. It is in the order of things. It seems like love is "unicorns and rainbows" but love is "sacrifice and labor." I tire of having to prove things by scripture, although I can and do. The truth is simple and obvious. So simple people miss it. They search for a divine king not a spiritual experience. They respect authority and rules to the point they can't understand this simple path. Once you "Get it" you know everything and nothing more is required.

EDIT "A Gnostic monk was an intellectual elitist" this is propaganda put out against the Heretics to justify the genocide of 1307 against the Cathars. The knowing that they had was the knowing of experience not elitism. The Cathars were called the Buddhist of the West, were pacifist, believed in reincarnation and were killed for their faith. Please don't believe the lies from the people that murdered them.

Jon... This is something I talk about here, not in my life. It's better to show love than to speak love. Try walking into a room full of people and say "Sit down" while sweeping your hand up as if to say "Stand up" and almost everyone stands, this is a truth about love as well. Showing is better than speaking and random acts of kindness speak volumes especially if no one knows who you are and you never tell..

Agape

♥Blessed Be♥
♥=∞

Answer 2

I'm not sure if there's more to that quote or of the larger context; but I'll say the only thing I disagree with is the last sentence. Early Christianity *had* a core of mysticism in *some* of its followers. But it's a gross mistake to think they constituted a majority or even a large part of the Early Church. In fact it would seem Early Christianity was largely characterized by its reaction to persecution; hardly anything mystical about it. Still, the influence of the mystics is always beyond their numbers; take the Johannines as the greatest example. The Gospel of John is purely mystical, as is the 1st Epistle of John. Yet they are perhaps the cornerstone of all Christian theology.

Peace to you.

Answer 3

I qualify, even though many Christians would feel I am more Buddhist than Christian (and from certain levels for using those words, they're right ... but enough with that).

The quotation you've provided us is better than most in respect to speaking about mysticism. The word gets lots of applications -- different folks using the same words ("mystic," "mystical," "mysticism") can be referencing different things. Overall, though, "the sense of contact" as used in this quotation is OK as a definition. Mysticism by and large can and should be understood as simply an interest in, a practice of, and a direct realization of truly meaningful experience. And such meaningful experience is typically of such depth that it more or less naturally brings spiritual language into it when people offer to try and communicate and talk about that experience.

Mystical experience is natural. Indeed, in a very important sense, mysticism is nothing other than our most natural experience. That's all it is -- deep, natural, simple, engaged experiences of and as what is most matter-of-factly actual.

A best example today of Christian mysticism, for both its natural simplicity and spiritual depth, is Quaker worship.

It doesn't have to be bright lights and paranormal visions, though it can include those as well. At its fundamental and most healthy heart, it is a manifestation of a loving immediacy and a kind of honest wisdom. And as has already been alluded to above, there can often be a kind of childlike innocence and sensitivity in it all.

The word "mystical" itself came into use with more or less the meaning that it has for us today in the writings of Dionysius the Areopagite, somewhere around the year 500 C.E. But, of course, those sorts of deeply meaningful experiences and the prayerful practices associated with them have been with us always, in all times and all cultural traditions.

Including today. So I'm personally less than enthusiastic about conceding to the Encyclopedia Britannica implying here that Christian mysticism is somehow to be associated mostly with the "early church." It's still with us, although the rise of scientistic outlooks in the West in recent centuries has somehow gotten most of us folks thinking that "mysticism" is not empircal and not modern (and definitely not "science"). But it is, can be, and ultimately must be.

Contemporary examples are the many churches now incorporating Thomas Keating and others' teachings for the practice of Centering Prayer.

And through the centuries there have been many, many, many Western and Christian individuals and groups who have undertaken and realized profoundly meaningful spiritual and contemplative experiences -- "mystics," in a word. Here's a webpage that lists a couple hundred ("Who's Who in the History of Western Mysticism by Professor Bruce B. Janz"):

http://www.religiousworlds.com/mystic/whoswho.html
.

Answer 4

Most Christian mysticism was borne out through Gnosticism.

You can read about it here

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gnosticism

It borrows a lot from the Kaballistic traditions; there are direct parallels between the Emenations and the Tree of Life.

A Gnostic monk was an intellectual elitist, who spent a lot of time researching both canon and non-canon Jewish and Christian religious material. It's because of them and their work, and the influence of Augustine and Rome, that mysticism became so prevelant throughout the dark ages; the smartest and most educated people were also the most superstitious and clandestine, and the elitism caused schisms between ordinary peasants and the clergy, which resorted in many book burnings, accusations of witchcraft and wizardry, and humanity just not getting very far for about a thousand years in general.

Answer 5

i starred this question last night and thought about it all day at work. i had never really thought of myself as a ''mystic,'' but i guess i am, at least to a degree. i'm a confessional lutheran (or lcms lutheran, to be more specific), meaning that my church is the most conservative protestant church and closest to catholic doctrine. that means that i believe in the transsubstantiation (the real presence of Christ) in the Eucharist, the bestowment of the Holy Spirit upon Baptism (when combined with the reading/ preaching of the gospel), the maginified presence of the Holy Spirit during mass- all kinds of things that most protestants don't believe in. in addition to what my church teaches, i also practice meditation (not *eastern* meditation, mind you) and fasting, so i guess that in a sense, i'm ''mystical.'' as i said, i was thinking about it today, and your quote makes perfect sense. i think most protestants are lacking in the fullness of their christian faith by deeming ancient, God-given (and i use that term quite literally) practices as being ''too ritualistic to be truly christian.'' i've found that most people who damn these kinds of practices simply don't take the time to learn about them. they just believe what their biased and equally uneducated preacher told them.

as far as heightening human consciousness goes, i think it's pretty clear, by examining the preaching styles of different denominatiions, that catholic and anglican priests and lutheran ministers tend to seem as though they're in some way on a higher, more spiritually centered level than say, a southern baptist or an apostolic preacher. not there's anything wrong with what they believe, or the way those guys preach- so long as it's christian, and effective, that's great, and apostolic preachers have arguably the most powerful of all preaching methods- but perhaps that's a good way to measure how far we've strayed from the original ''mystical'' version of christianity.

i've been studying ancient liturgical worship forms lately, so this came along at a perfect time for me. thanks for posting a great question.

Answer 6

I hope you get some answers from your target group.

From what I've read, I would certainly think that that quote reflects the reality.

Hi Gnostic,
Isn't it the case that Christian mystics who realised the Truth tended to keep their mouths shut? The alternative being the Auto Da Fe.
It seems to me that in their guarded language you can still see the bright bliss of the homecomer.
Don't you think?

PS
Yes Gnostic, who we are and what we do is so much more real than what we say.
Like that lovely guy who tells his followers, 'go out and do random acts of kindness'
X

Answer 7

Sounds about right, but all true Mystics of what ever religious path they started on see eye to eye with one another for they see with the same eye, the Christians call it God but really it can not be named in the normal way. Unity is the truth but it really should not be named in the normal way either.

Answer 8

Most mysticism that I'm aware of is asking to Holy Ghost to be part of my life and let me have a better understanding of God.
Some say speaking in tongues and such, but I have not experienced that. Also the Laying on of hands to heal people, I haven't seen it happen, but I believe in it.
I was sick with stomach flue one and could not walk cause it afected my ear balance. I read in the Bible sin was a form of sickness, I prayed for forgiveness. And about 5 hours later most signs of my illness was gone and I could walk again.

Answer 9

Many people consider me a mystic. And I agree with the quote.

Answer 10

I am. You can't define who I am. I have no definition but this. I am a child of the creator because He is my Heavenly father. Sometimes I call him God the way I sometimes called my Earth father 'Ed'. I call 'God' Dad in my mind and right out loud. People think I'm crazy. People are strange with strangers. I am even stranger than they can imagine. What if I am the soul of Eve?