What is Christian Mysticism?

I’m still learning that myself. They are words provided to me for a path that appears to be natural to me. A path that I have long been on but without much thought. Leaning more to wandering than focusing on and developing what is natural for me.


If you have to read this about 30 times to understand it, you’re doing better than I have.  I think I’ve read this about 30 times but understand most of it now.  But it has helped to give terms to the path I’ve been nudged into.

The path is wonderful, it has already changed my life.  If things don’t work out for me here in the Philippines, I want to become a monk or go to a place where all I do is study about and think about God.  I don’t know if that is possible and I don’t know if I can succeed, but it is what I want to do.

For Christians the major emphasis concerns a spiritual transformation of the egoic self, the following of a path designed to produce more fully realized human persons, “created in the Image and Likeness of God” and as such, living in harmonious communion with God, the Church, the rest of humanity, and all creation, including oneself. For Christians, this human potential is realized most perfectly in Jesus and is manifested in others through their association with Him, whether conscious, as in the case of Christian mystics, or unconscious, with regard to persons who follow other traditions, such as Gandhi. The Eastern Christian tradition speaks of this transformation in terms of theosis or divinization, perhaps best summed up by an ancient aphorism usually attributed to Athanasius of Alexandria: “God became human so that man might become God.”

Some of the terms involved with this are difficult for me to grasp and retain. After all, I have difficulty in remember my right from my left and I often get it wrong. :) Words like esoteric and exoteric are difficult for me to keep straight. It will take effort. If I don’t review and explore these ideas on a regular basis, i will have to relearn them.

Much like when I build a new computer, I have to refresh my knowledge of the names and types of components for each item. I have so much going on in my life, it is difficult to find the time. I suppose that is why almost all mentors say you must set a time aside to train. Most don’t call it training, they call it quiet time, study time, bible study time or other such words. That too is hard for me, a schedule is hard for me. That is why I retired early. My doctor actually explained to the officials deciding if I qualified for disability that I would have to be allowed to come and go as i please if I was to continue to work.

So do I give up before I start. Not me. I don’t like the idea of giving up. I gave up on life once and I was angry with myself for years over it but I couldn’t bring myself out of it. I hope that never happens again and this process will aid me with that.

Mysticism (from the Greek – mystikos- ‘seeing with the eyes closed, an initiate of the Eleusinian Mysteries; – mysteria meaning “initiation”) is the pursuit of achieving communion, identity with, or conscious awareness of ultimate reality, the Other, divinity, spiritual truth, or God through direct experience, intuition, or insight.

Exoteric refers to knowledge that is outside of and independent from anyone’s experience and can be ascertained by anyone. It is distinguished from esoteric knowledge. Exoteric relates to “external reality” as opposed to one’s own thoughts or feelings. It is knowledge that is public as opposed to secretive or cabalistic. It is not required that exoteric knowledge come easily or automatically, but it should be referenceable or reproducible.

Esotericism or, more neatly, Esoterism, the holding of esoteric opinions, derives from the Greek (esôterikos), a compound of (esô): “within”, thus “pertaining to the more inward”, mystic. Its antonym is exoteric.

Esoteric knowledge is that which is available only to a narrow circle of “enlightened”, “initiated”, or specially educated people. Esoteric items may be known as esoterica. In contrast, exoteric knowledge is knowledge that is well-known or public; or perceived as informally canonic in society at large.

In Western, English-speaking societies today, the term does not necessarily refer to “esotericism” in the sense of mystical knowledge or practice but has come informally to mean any perception or knowledge that is difficult to understand or remember, such as theoretical physics, or else that which pertains to the minutiae of a particular discipline, such as “esoteric” baseball statistics.

The above appears to be implying that the path to enlightenment is only through esoteric means. If so, I disagree. There are other paths to become enlightened. The path that is right for you may not be the same path for me.  When I say enlightened, I am saying in the light of God.  In contact with God, perhaps in Constant Contact with God.

When I use the term esoteric, I am not using it in the meaning that is often implied in today’s western society. Instead, i am using it in the more original meaning. That is coming from within. While I think it is true, the more contemplative one is, the more enlightened they may become. I think there are other paths.  This path is the one that is right for me.

[Mystic] traditions may include a belief in the existence of dimensional realities beyond empirical perception, or a belief that a true human perception of the world goes beyond current logical reasoning or intellectual comprehension. A person delving in these areas may be called a Mystic. Though the terms mystic and monk are often used interchangeably, they are not synonymous as mysticism does not necessarily entail separation from mainstream society.

The above appears to be a very good definition of faith. Knowing what cannot be proven but still others can gain the same knowledge from within.

Mystics hold that there is a deeper, more fundamental state of existence hidden beneath the appearances of day–to–day living (which may become, to the mystic, superficial or epiphenomenal). For the authentic mystic, unity is both the internal and external focus as one seeks the truth about oneself, one’s relationship to others and reality (both the world at large and the unseen realm). The mystic’s motivation for such an arduous endeavor appears to be unique to the individual and culture, and sometimes a new religion, order or sect may be the legacy. Generally approached through the purification processes of prayer, meditation, contemplation (communion with Reality), ingestion of entheogens (to raise consciousness and loosen the ego), and a wide variety of other means, the mystic seeks to transcend any constraint to his direct experience of the divine.

This idea of purification or perfection has haunted me for years.  A Methodist minister told me in order to become a priest they are asked a series of questions and one of them is something like “do you expect to achieve perfection in this life time?”  Until the student says yes, they cannot be a Methodist Minister.  The minister will not give me the answer.  He just wont say that Christ dying on the Cross made us perfect is the correct answer.  I also thought the answer was if one has found God and loves God and believes in God they will not die, they will have everlasting life.  That seems like the right answer.  He didn’t’ tell me these were wrong though.  I just got the feeling I hadn’t got it yet.  Maybe he can’t say or maybe the answer is not the same forever one.  It would seem that prayer could be a part of the process of purification.  By staying in contact with God, in perfect union with him, which is the goal, one would become literally perfect.  I just can’t say that I expect to achieve it.

I have pretty large ego but not that large.  :)

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