Mystical Pantheism

It is really amazing how many misconceptions are associated with the word mysticism. This is partly due to the popular press and as a result, the average person who is not familiar with the subject will think of mysticism as being weird, occult and mysterious. These erroneous ideas are mainly caused by words that are similar in form such as mystify which, as defined in the dictionary, is quite contrary to mysticism in meaning. It is the resemblance in spelling of the two words that is the cause of the problem .

       Mysticism is the doctrine and practice where we attempt a personal union in consciousness with our concept of God, or the Absolute, the Cosmic, the One or the Supreme Mind. The important element of mysticism is that it maintain that mankind does not require an intermediary to have the awareness of a transcendental power. A mystic does not necessarily need to belong to any particular religion. The doctrine of mysticism postulates that we posses an innate link with the divine from which all things emanate and upon which they are dependent. No one human has the attribute to a greater extent than any other. If one person is more successful than another it is due more to the technique applied than because of any innate difference in their faculties .

         Many sects attack any organisation or group teaching mysticism. These attacks in themselves reveal an ignorance of mysticism or a prejudice against any group whose thought do not conform to the sect's own doctrines. It is obvious to any student of mysticism that most of the great mystics, eg. Meister Eckhart, Jan van Ruysbroeck , Jacob Boehme, and Abu Hamid Muhammad al Ghazzali, were devout advocates of one of the great world religions .Not all mystic were Christian ;there were prominent Jewish and Islamic mystic as well. For instance, the Suffis are Islamic mystic whose writings are very illuminating .


                               The Supreme Being

These renowned mystics and many others like then knew through personal experience that the enlightenment and ecstasy provided by mysticism are an individual attainment . There is no need for any religious creed. However, if a mystic is also a member of a religious sect he will then be inclined to define the transcendental power with which he personally seeks union in the terminology and images of that particular sect.

       However, there are mystics who are non-sectarian. They do not consider the Supreme Being to be some divine person. To these mystics a metaphysical and abstract term represent the power they consider universal and which they believe infuses their being. To them such terms as Cosmic Mind and Universal Consciousness have a significant meaning. The term Supreme Being, is not construed by mystics to mean a single entity ;rather,  it refers to the whole , the Absolute , the One of which all is an integral part.

          Mystic have often been contemptuously called atheist by illiberal clergy. In effect, they imply that we can have no personal experience of reality through the medium of our own senses and mind, and that it must be experience through the specific channels determined by their religion. This attitude denies the possibility of so called Afflatus of the Soul or spiritual attainment outside the bounds of a religious creed .

        There have long been men and woman, termed pagans , who do not belong to any of the established religions yet have shown reverence for the magnitude and grandeur of nature . They too are awed by the finite nature of man in comparison with that mysterious infinity of phenomena existing in, around and beyond humankind. They also have the desire to know and understand this phenomenon. Out of these feelings of intermingled awe and reverence there emerged magic and thereafter religion .

    Those more liberated mystics, who want to know, to become aware of the great infinity thorough personal experience, are often also pantheists. To pantheists such as Spinoza there is an indwelling divine power, an intelligence or order that permeates all nature. Everything is conceived to be of this reality. Pantheist may say that all things are infused with God or some Intelligence . Yet , like Spinoza, the pantheist will say that the totality of all thing is not God. The real Pantheist will say instead that all manifestations of nature are impregnated with the infinite or divine quality, yet no total of such can ever equal it . The reason given is that this Cosmic cause, or whatever term you may use, is not limited by any number. It is infinite and therefore, no finite number can represent its entirety .

      As mystical pantheists , we do not worship any particular object or phenomenon of nature. We seek a union with that of which all nature consists , and of which we are one of its creations. Through our observation of nature we experience a mystical attunement which cause us to feel that we are embracing the infinite even if but momentarily .

      Giordano Bruno, who was burned at stake in Rome in 1600 for his views , is an example of a pantheistic mystic. Bruno extolled the idea of the unity of all expression of reality :"It is not reasonable to believe that any part of the world is without a soul life, sensation and organic structures .From this infinite all, full of beauty and splendor , from the vast worlds which circle above us to the sparking dust of the star beyond, the conclusion is drawn that there are an infinity of creatures, a vast multitude which, in its degree, mirrors forth the splendid wisdom and excellence of the Divine Beauty ."

      Who can truly separate the finite from the infinite ? where does one being and the other leave off? if this separateness is not evident, then is not oneness their nature ?