Dear Bard
I too once held the belief that the the words 'mystic' and 'mysticism' were
counterproductive, but now am reasured after beginning to read Lila again,
that they are not, now they quite rightly relate to me an absolute reality,
the pre intellectual, in other words dynamic quality, and we therefore
cannot have any meaningful discussion without reference to them.... all of
the eastern philosophies you mention are related to this reality, the
reality of 'is' , 'being' , not to science which is the study of empirical
experience
Be Good
Rod
on 16/3/02 1:59 pm, Stephen Paul at thracianbard@worldnet.att.net wrote:
> Dear Colleagues,
>
> In an effort to propel this group's important discussions into a
> universally more meaningful realm for all of the members globally, I
> feel that it is important to poll my colleagues to find out if I am the
> only one disturbed by the frequent use of the word "mysticism" and its
> derivatives. Since these discussions are meant to be potentially
> enlightening, I find it very perturbing to constantly hear a word that
> by definition means "other-worldly" or "mysterious" used to describe
> practises and beliefs that are anything but other-worldly or mysterious
> to its practitioners. Judeo-Christian practises are far more other
> worldly than Taoism, Zen, Buddhism, Confucianism ever were. In fact, the
> Eastern approaches that I have just listed are among those that are more
> integrated with the physical world and everyday life (therefore,
> science) than the majority of Western practises. IMHO, Lao Tze would
> never have considered himself as a mystic, nor would Confucius, Buddha,
> the Dalai Lama, or Krishnamurti, to name a few. For that matter, neither
> would Jesus - and his teachings are remarkably similar to those of the
> Eastern teachers mentioned. Is not the use of "mysticism" (particularly
> when describing eastern belief systems) merely a cultural bias by many
> of our members (and yes, by Pirsig too in his writings)?
>
> I encourage all of the participants across the globe to respond to this
> poll, and if enough of us find this term less than dynamic and
> meaningful, possibly, as a society, we can find a better, less
> prejudicial, way to describe these fundamental beliefs and practises.
>
> With all respect,
>
> The Bard
>
>
>
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