The perception of life in the mystical traditions


 

The classic mystical traditions of the great religions are diverse and complex, their stories about reality are very different and their perspectives on life are unique. Still, in its core, there seems to be common ground and a universal experience and perception of life.


One gateway into this perception of life may be a quality of radical presence - a letting go of attachments and beliefs from the past, opening up and receiving the flow of life in its newness and wonder. Life as a continuous gift, carrying us as grace. Life as a work of art, forms constantly being created and changing. Life as a timeless eternal ground, emptiness and fullness. 

In his book The mystic heart W. Teasdall points out that for the mystic, human identity is not something we own, but something we receive - we dont own our consciousness, we inhabit it. This implies a concept of consciousness as a community of interconnected being to which we all belong. "Reality, cosmos, life and being are one vast system created by and sustained in consciousness or mind.(...) The totality is the divine consciousness in which all things, all levels of awareness, ar held in ultimate awareness." P. 67. The mystic have access to more than local awareness, and may experience transcendental realms and being touched by something ultimate. 

The perception of life of the mystic implies less identification with who we are as individual historical subjects, replacing it with the sense of being a vessel for the evercreating flow of life. The attitude to life changes - its less about what I can achieve and have, and more about being in service for that which is greater than ourselves. Its not about mindfulness but Lifefullness, tasting life for the sake of life, its holiness and meaning. 

This opens up radically new opportunities for experiences of connection and the preciousness of life. Experiences of the deeper layers in our identity point to oneness and wholeness beyond the separatedness and polarities. As the sufi mystic Rumi says in a poem: "Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing there is a field. I will meet you there. When the soul lies down in that grass, the world is too full to talk about. Ideas, language, even the phrase each other doesnt make any sense."    


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