Mysticism is derived from the Greek word Mystikos which means an initiate of a mystery religion (Wikipedia). It has come to be known as characterized by direct experience of ultimate reality, or the Divine or God. These divine experiences can be attained deliberately through various spiritual disciplines and practices like meditation or contemplation, chanting, and disciplining oneself to manifest Godly virtues. Eastern religions are actually mysticism in concept and have various terms for this Divine experience such as enlightenment, awakening, self-realization, nirvana or samadhi.
Sometimes the experience suddenly occurs to certain individual under severe depression and stress due to seemingly unbearable problems in life, and he/she has learned to surrender his/her ego to the Divine. This could have happened to Eckhart Tolle, as he related in his books “The Power of Now” and “The New Earth”. Better if we would’nt wait for this unfortunate karmic circumstances to befall upon us for this is a hard way indeed and has no guarantee that we can experience the same; The opposite might turn out, that is to live in desperation.
Mystics in Judeo-Christian Tradition
If mysticism is direct knowledge or experience of the Divine, we can find a lot of Mystics in the Bible from Adam and Eve down to Jesus’ Disciples. They in one way or another have direct communication or conversation with God. Noah for example built the famous Ark under God’s direction in preparation for the great deluge. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph were known to communicate with God. Moses received the Ten Commandments from God and wrote the first five books of the Old Testament under Divine Inspiration. King David composed the Psalms and his son King Solomon composed the Songs and Proverbs also under Divine guidance. The many Prophets who are the mouthpieces of the Lord were known to prophesy, interpret dreams, and even exhibit Divine powers. Jesus himself can be called a Mystic of the Highest Order for He has attained oneness with God. His disciples too were known to have various gifts of the Holy Spirit and thus can be called Mystics.
I think we can’t say that mystical experiences are only confined to the Israelites. They, like any of us, are made of the same stuff; We are all created in the image and likeness of God. We can find Saints from different nations who were examples of Christian Mystics like St John of the Cross, St Theresa of Avila, St Francis of Assissi, St Claire, Padre Pio Alba, St Theresa of Lisseux and many others Their experiences are overwhelmingly Divine and mystical.
Nowadays, there are Charismatic Movements and Pentecostals throughout the world that are known to demonstrate the gifts of the Holy Spirit and as such can be labelled as Christian Mystics. Theirs is a path following the examples set by Jesus Christ and His disciples. Although, majority of them do not acknowledge the mystical path of other faith, nonetheless, in my view, they can be called partisans of mysticism.
Public Acceptance
In my own view, mysticism is gaining more adherents today and increasing in popularity. Esoteric teachings can be found widely in books, magazines, and the web. A lot of films too have mystical contents and esoteric meanings like Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Crouching Tiger to name a few. Books of Lama Surya Das, Deepak Chopra, Wayne Dyer, Gary Zukav, Neale Donald Walsch, Rhodora Byrne, the author of “The Secrets”, and many others contain mystical teachings and their books have sold millions of copies. (I’m simply giving these examples for I’ve read some of their books and have learned a lot of good things from them although there are some points that I don’t entirely agree with). The Theosopical Society, an International Organization, has published lots of books. There are many other Spiritual Organizations and Brotherhoods that follow mystical paths. Among these are the organizations of the Ascended Masters Teachings of which the Theosophical Society is one. Others are The I AM Activity, The Bridge to Freedom, The Summit Lighthouse and The Temple of the Presence. I myself have been a long time follower of the Ascended Master Teachings and much of my esoteric knowledge came from them. (I’ll talk more on this in my future topic). The Freemasonry are also known to be partisans of mystical practices. There could be millions of mystical organizations across the face of the earth which include eastern religions that constitute around 1/3 of world’s population. Followers of Charismatic Movements are growing at a rate of 9 million per year making the total adherents around 618 million by 2009 (Encyclopedia of Pentecostal and Charismatic Community by Stanley M. Burgess). Sufism is also a mystical path of Islam, which is gaining ground in the Islamic Community and the world. Kabbalah too of Judaism is another.
Pitfalls
Regardless of any Faith, it is a fact that mysticism has many practitioners and is gaining ground in today’s modern world. In this light, I think it’s better if we could discern which one is the true mystical practice for there are pitfalls and serious consequences. For example, the so-called divine experience that may have occurred to a person may not be divine at all but merely a psychic experience which energies only come from lower(astral) plane. This could happen even in religious charismatic circles who claim to have acquired healing powers or speaking in tounques purporting to be a gift of the Holy Spirit but in reality it only came from psychic entity or energies from the lower astral plane. Some may suddenly be possessed by these psychic entities/personalities masquerading to be one of Divine Being like Mother Mary or Jesus. There is danger in this because these astral/psychic entities could absorb or divest the victim of his/her own light/energies. Often, the person experiences tiredness after the occurrence. And if he/she continues to be victimized owing to his /her desire to have such phenomena and powers, he/she could shorten his/her lifespan. This thing happens because the so-called chakra/s or center/s in one of their subtle bodies were opened prematurely causing them to be vulnerable to the intrusion of these entities perhaps because of intense stirring of emotions causing emotional imbalance due to the erroneous guidance of the spiritual director. People who are emotionally sensitive and unstable and has not developed self-mastery may therefore be put at risk to this kind of phenomenon. There must therefore be a balance in spiritual, mental, emotional, and physical bodies as part of spiritual development.
There are also channellers or mediums delivering messages claiming to come from Heavenly Beings such as Archangels, Ascended Masters, and sometimes beings from other planetary systems. Some of these have become channellers for Aliens who can divert you from pursuing the true path of mysticism and direct communion with God Presence within. Others are channelling psychic personalities from the astral plane who are merely impostors of the true Ascended Masters and other Heavenly Beings. They imitate the delivery of messages given through the Anointed Messengers and Representatives of the Great White Brotherhood (The Brotherhood of Heavenly Beings). Usually, these impostors give certain twist of Truth in the end.
Moreover, there could be some who would like to acquire psychic powers or the so-called Extra-Sensory Perception or Sixth sense, through various forceful practices but setting aside the desire to pursue spiritual growth. Some of the fakirs in India can fall in this category as well. This is very troublesome for the powers may only be used for selfish and malevolent purposes. This is what Jesus refers to when He said “If the light that is in thee is darkness how great is that darkness” and “The Kingdom of Heaven suffered violence and the violent take it by force”.
Even if the mystical experience were real it can still be a stumbling block for the student on the path because the experience of the so-called awakening or nirvana could be so liberating and pleasurable that the subject may be too obsessed to desire it again and again to the extent of forgetting and foregoing the duties and responsibilities of everyday living. That’s why self-transformation and self- mastery should be paramount on the pursuit of mystical path.
True Mysticism
Therefore, if desiring to acquire spiritual powers and experiencing the divine is your only intent on mystical practices, those are dangerous. I think true mysticism is to develop one’s self spiritually, to become Christ-like, manifesting Christly Virtues of Love, Forgiveness, Mercy, Compassion, Humility, Leadership, etc. And that should be the purpose of different Spiritual Disciplines and Practices such as meditation, contemplation, dynamic decrees, prayers and songs - to be imbued by the Light of God Presence and Holy Spirit within us in order to change ourselves and grow spiritually to set a good example and render good service to others. That is true salvation: self-elevation through the self-conscious effort of man and by the grace of God.
In that way, you will be raising your vibration and consciousness. The higher you are in your spiritual development, that is, dissolving or getting rid of your negative qualities, and acquiring and nurturing Godly virtues, the higher your frequency/vibration of consciousness will be. Negative thoughts and emotions like anger, envy, jealousy, anxiety, and fear have lower frequencies while positive ones like Love, Joy, Forgiveness, Peace and Harmony have higher frequencies/vibrations.
I may admit that some of the Divine Experiences of common person are true for it depends upon the level of spiritual growth of the individual involved. If he/she has reached a level of vibration congruent to the Spiritual Octaves of Light and Divine Beings, his/her experiences can be considered Divine. It manifested because of the true practice of mysticism, and to him/her Spiritual gifts are secondary and should occur naturally like the opening of a beautiful flower.