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Mysticism 3
“Mysticism,
of all shades, is not to be seen as something remote
from religion. Essentially, it is a correlate of
religion. The term 'religion' is generally taken to
mean the observance of belief, which is commonly
identified with mere ritual. The mystic, however, does
not rest content with the bare externals of religion.
He seeks to attain an intimate, loving relationship
with the Divine - involving a personal 'encounter'
aiming at 'union'. He is at once drawn to the ultimate
Truth by a passionate curiosity and an ardent love.
His pursuit, therefore, inevitably involves the
religious feeling at its most intense. In this
respect, the great mystics of all times and climes are
closely akin to the very founders of various faiths.'
From the biographies of the renowned mystics of the
world, supported by what has come down to us in the
form of their sayings and writings, we gather that
while some of them remained mostly absorbed in
contemplation the majority also practised love and
piety as the benefactors of mankind in general. Unlike
religious zealots, tied to this or that creed, they
quietly pursued their own ways (as lone adventurers)
though they continued to stay within their traditions.
Only a small minority of them chose to dissociate
themselves from orthodox creeds, asserted their
freedom and even professed heretical views. Some of
these unfettered mystics, like the Persian mystic
Mansur-al-Hallaj, had to pay a heavy price for their
non-conformist views. The example of William Blake,
poet and visionary, also comes to mind here as a
unique mystic whose bold and unconventional
pronouncements were not palatable to the orthodox
Christians.
Across cultures, mysticism shares universal
characteristics despite the variety it comprehends.
That explains why the religious mystic is tolerant and
accommodating as far as his attitude to other faiths
is concerned. As the mystic advances in the spiritual
path, whatever his affiliations, he realizes that all
religions are one in essence and lead to the same
goal. We, in India, are proud of being the inheritors
of a rich culture, presenting a fine synthesis of
diverse strands. The Hindu ethos itself has been
largely responsible for this synthesis, conducive as
it has been to free inquiry into the nature of Reality
or Truth, and consequently to the flowering of the
mystical sensibility.
”
Prof. A. N. Dhar,
Religious Mysticism: Some
Observations on the Poetry of Shamas Faqir”
“Today
many seek to combine the mystical, pantheizing
teachings with Christianity. Yet we are dealing with
something much older than modern theology. It is found
in Plotinus, the Persians, Moslems and Hindus.
Warfield remarks,
What mysticism is, is, at bottom, just natural
religion. Its form has been constantly influenced by
pantheizing thought. So we should say its pantheizing
natural religion. Men are by nature religious and will
in any event have a religion; there has been implanted
in man a sense of deity (as Calvin has taught us to
call it) which inevitably becomes a seed of
religion...The mischief of mysticism lies not in its
claim to find God through the ineradicable natural
instincts of the soul but in its persistent efforts,
being natural religion, to substitute itself for
supernatural religion, that is to say, Christianity.
This is an extremely important insight for today.
The modern person does not cease being religious
simply because he or she is "modern." The
craving for religion certainly remains. The problem,
as Paul, Calvin and Warfield pointed out, is that the
truth is suppressed. One more question must be asked:
why do we see a rise in the new age dogmas at this
time? Warfield posited the answer. It is inevitable
with the present decay of confidence in the Christian
revelation. We have not provided the answers to honest
questions.”
B.
B. Warfield, Prophet
to the Children of the New Age, Volume
IV, Number 3 / October 1997
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