The Mystic Way

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"A human being is a part of the whole, called by us “Universe,” a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separate from the rest—a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. The striving to free oneself from this delusion is the one issue of true religion. Not to nourish it but to try to overcome it is the way to reach the attainable measure of peace of mind.”  Albert Einstein

My professional career was that of an engineer, scientist and academic but nowadays I sometimes describe myself a mystic when talking on spiritual matters. Some have inquired what that means and if it same as a religious person. No, a mystic is just as different from a religious person as a religious priest is different from a business man, although some of the much evolved ones have been recognized as saints by different religions.

A mystic may have originally belonged to a religion and would therefore be called for example a Christian mystic or a Buddhist one, the reference being to their original religion. However, mystics move beyond beliefs, practices and rituals of their religion. They are independent spiritualists out to understand the non-material and hidden side of life and the Universe, some through study, some from a teacher if an evolved mystic can be found to be one, but largely through contemplation and meditation. Their focus is the mysterious side, hence the title mystic. Returning to my self, one may ask - how can a professional scientist be a mystic?  The answer is that just about anyone can be as long as they are human or more and some of the best of scientists did become one even though the world may not have recognized them as such. All it requires is to make the spiritual side, the prime focus of one’s attention. Spirituality was something I have always been interested in as far back as I can remember. During a professional career it took a second position to professional work, but now that I have retired from it, it has the first place. I have not given up professional work altogether and do that too at times but it is not my primary occupation anymore.

While most humans focus on worldly pursuits, one of them being the acquisition of wealth, the mystic focuses on understanding life, the universe and the relationship between the two. This interest arises from a realization that worldly life is a mixture of joy and sorrow and it is impossible to have one without the other. As a result any worldly pursuit, howsoever successful, cannot result in sustainable peace and happiness and just in case it did, it shall end in death.. On the other hand, a mystic soon realizes that there is a universe full of peace, happiness and bliss outside normal worldly pursuits and that one does not have to struggle for any essential need that most humans struggle for most times. The Eternally powerful Universe that created all co-operates in meeting all their needs. Even a moderate progress on the mystic path frees a human from the greatest fear that humans hold either consciously or suppressed – the fear of death.

Mystics do not change their original religion. How can they, when they have moved out of the very confines of religion that many humans subscribe too. They are content with the label of their original religion that comes to them mostly through their parents and do not oppose it but rather support it for others. However, they move beyond what is taught in various religions. They accept the truth and good that exists in all religions as well as the existence of God, for He is the same in all religions, it is the same God that all religions seek to worship albeit with different names, but God has no name, just many different ones that different humans have Given to Him or refer to him by. Mystics ignore what has been erroneously interpreted by humans propagating different religions including their own, rejecting it without getting in to an argument about it, as Meister Eckhart a Christian Mystic has said,

“Theologians may argue but mystics of the world speak the same language” Meister Eckhart

Saint Giles
A mystic need not be a hermit in sacks or robes living in forests or caves but by what has been described in preceding paragraphs. Indeed, they may dress and look like ordinary humans and live in an ordinary town or city although it true that they delight in forests and mountains because they find greater joy in company of nature than of humans. Their lives are marked by simplicity and their human relationships and interactions are minimal even when they live in society. While the ordinary loner may fall into depression, the mystic attains happiness, knowledge and bliss through his or her lonely pursuits, for in truth it is not lonely pursuit but in company of stars and all life or the universe itself. Mystics realize that the Infinite God can never be understood by a finite mind but they draw comfort from the fact that He is ever loving and delights in those who attempt to function in accordance with His will.

Through the deeper understanding that mystics attain of life and the universe, they have a deeper and truer understanding of the problems humans face daily. They are always willing to offer solace, knowledge and advice to those who seek it from them. Since they understand the root causes of human misery, they also offer suggestions and ideas to make the world a better place for all through whatever means of easy communications that are available to them, for in this way, they are able to repay the debt they owe to the world for the very life and everything physical the world has granted them and they need for their survival as long as in a body of flesh and blood, or to act as instruments of the Lord in any way that He may desire for nothing delights them more than to serve the Lord, their Love. However, they do this while keeping their human interactions to a minimum. While a following and monasteries may develop around some mystics and they live in them, even here they keep themselves aloof from personal human relationships and a mystic teacher living in a monastery will almost never talk of their personal or previous lives, not even their names they bore when they were not mystics, for none is born a mystic, although one may be born with those tendencies.

A mystic as he progresses on the path, develops deep compassion for all life and also realizes and regrets the selfish or careless thing they may have done while they were still engaged with the material world but they focus on this to repent and learn from it, not dwell on it. They realize that adverse karma may be in store for them too as it is for all humans because of any wrongs done by them but this does not deter them from their path, for they realize that it is through God they would either find forgiveness for it or the strength to bear it. As mystics they generate little bad or good karma whenever they succeed in acting in accordance with Universal will but draw closer to the Ruler of Karma Himself.

A mystic may study books and the work of mystics not just of their own religion but  the primary source of their knowledge is their own contemplation and of all contemplation the one in which one does not think at all, for as all mystics of all religions have said repeatedly that it is by stilling thought that one may reach the core of knowledge that lies within the depths of their own being, for it is a part of the Universe, and it is a unity with this universe, that is their ultimate goal.


Those who have been inspired enough by this note to wish exploring mystic pathways may ask where to begin in a simple way, the answer is: Begin here:
http://someitemshave.blogspot.in/2010/08/simple-technique-for-empowerment.html

For more on the Mystic way in this blog see:
http://someitemshave.blogspot.in/2012/10/the-mystic-yogi.html 


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