If you read the religious scriptures of the world (the Bible, the Upanishads, the Baghavid Gita, the Koran, the Pali Canon, etc) you will see that the doctrines contained therein are very different, despite a certain common thought now and then. But read the writings of the mystics throughout history and you will notice that what they wrote is strikingly similar no matter what their religious tradition. Read the Hindu mystic Shankara, or the Sufi mystic Rumi. Read the writings of St John of the Cross, or the writings of the Jewish Rabbi mystics or Buddhist mystics. You will see that what they are all saying amounts to the same thing, though their manner of describing it is different.
It is an utterly astounding fact that we have, in every single geographic area on this planet, and at widely separated dates in history, people who have arrived at the same metaphysical insights through methods of controlling their consciousness, such as meditation. From the Buddha of North India circa 500BCE, to Socrates, to the Catholic and Jewish mystics of the Medieval period, to the native shamans of Central America, there is a common thread of mystical insight. Why is it that our exoteric traditions are so different, but our esoteric traditions are so similar? There is an important message here.
The purpose of religion is to give us a sense of meaning and purpose, and also to help us to grow spiritually. Unfortunately, when religion becomes institutionalized (as it always does), it becomes all too easily, a stumbling block to our spiritual growth. Do you want a direct experience of God and a deeper sense of purpose? How can you find your true self? How can you find God? The mystics have pointed the way.
And what is a mystic? A mystic is simply a person who has spent his or her life in quiet contemplation and meditation and has achieved a direct experience of a deeper reality than what is ordinarily perceived. He or she has turned his or her back on the distractions of the world. They give up material things and social status. They seek the divine with a one-pointed mind. The one defining feature that distinguishes the mystic from the rest of us, is that they have had an immediate, direct, intuitive experience of Divinity. One salient point is that every single mystic emphasizes that the experience of God, the cosmic consciousness, divine mind, or whatever they choose to call it, is ineffable. It cannot be conveyed with words. It has to be experienced directly. And this experience is universally reported by mystics as being a totally euphoric state.
Every mystic has emphasized the ineffability of the mystical state. Words can barely hint at what the experience is like. If you had never heard a Beethoven symphony, do you think I could make you understand and appreciate the power and beauty of the ninth symphony merely by telling you about it, no matter what length or attention to detail I treat such a description?
Despite the fact that the mystics have always emphasized the ineffability of their experience, many of them have attempted to describe it, while at the same time warning us that their descriptions can only fall quite short of reality.
Unfortunately mystics are misunderstood by the masses. They are feared by the authorities of religious institutions. It is inevitable that it would be that way.. Only the few are drawn to the esoteric teachings, those who by their nature are of a more spiritual temperament, or those who yearn for the spiritual experience, but are too intellectually advanced to be satisfied with mere dogma .
It is most disheartening to know that mystics have been beaten to death, stoned to death, forced to drink hemlock, crucified, and burned at the stake. Sometimes they are revered and sometimes they are persecuted, depending on the political/religious climate of the times, but persecution of mystics is much more prevalent throughout history than reverence and admiration for who are they are and what they have written.
One should not necessarily confer the status of mystic upon someone just because they happen to have some sort of psychic ability or other paranormal gift. People with the gift of heightened psychic powers may perhaps (and perhaps not) be able to achieve the state of union with the divine easier than most of us, but merely having such gifts is not in and of itself, an indication that they have.
It should be said that anyone can have a mystical experience. The survivors of a near death experience have reported some of the same things that mystics have written about, the feeling of unity with all that is, the sense of meaning, and the direct perception of a deeper reality than our day-to-day reality. Sometimes people in a deep crisis situation have suddenly been catapulted into the mystical state. Psychoactive drugs can cause a person to have a mystical experience, but using drugs for the purpose of mystical insight is strongly disapproved by mystics. You may catch a glimpse of the numinous from the use of drugs, but you will not be mentally or spiritually prepared for it, nor will you likely be able to understand it.
The writer, William James, listed four features that are found in every description of the mystic state given in the writings of mystics throughout history. The first quality is ineffability. The experience totally defies verbal expression. The second quality is that the mystic in this state seems to have access to a higher knowledge that cannot be reached by logic, reason, or discursive argument, but can only be accessed intuitively. The third quality is the ephemeral nature of the experience. It is rare for it to last an entire thirty minutes, although in extremely rare cases it may have lasted over an hour. The fourth quality is passivity. Mystics report that it seemed as if they were more or less under the control of a higher power during the experience.
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