Dear Scott and others,
I appreciate your comments. And I agree that there isn't one word that would
describe the myriad images that seem to be invoked by the word "mystic", et.
al.
Maybe there shouldn't be one word to describe so many things of which so many
people conceive with such variety. Some colleagues might hear or use the word,
"Mystic" and think of a Zen disciple; others, a Druid; others, a Christian
gnostic; others, a Wiccan; others, a Kaballah scholar; others, a Sufi dancer,
and still others of us might be mystified that such a vast number of
"mainstream Christians" profess their belief in a Dionysian-based sacrament
that bread and wine transubstantiates into the actual body and blood of their
Galileean teacher. Well, that practise certainly mystifies me, but I would
venture to guess that many of them are prone to bandy around the word "mystic"
to describe those that they don't understand - but not themselves. Aye,
there's the rub.
The Bard
Scott Roberts wrote:
> Stephen Paul 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.
>
> If you have an alternative, I would consider it. But the problem is
> here:
>
> >... possibly, as a society, we can find a better, less
> > prejudicial, way to describe these fundamental beliefs and practises.
> >
>
> There are other words for the practises, but what other word would you
> suggest for beliefs (and that's not the right word either) such as "The
> tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao" or "Form is not other than
> emptiness, emptiness is not other than form" and so on? The point of
> using the word "mysticism" with its "mysterious" connotations is to
> acknowledge that the truth to which the people you mention (Lao-Tse et
> al) are alluding, defeats all attempts at description, but are
> nevertheless vital.
>
> One can also state it as: if you understand it (without having gone
> through the radical change of consciousness called Awakening or
> Enlightenment or whatever), then you're wrong.
>
> I would agree that any "other-wordly" connotation is misplaced, but that
> is more about correcting the typical mistake of thinking that mysticism
> (or religion in general) is about escape from the world. Rather,
> "nirvana is samsara".
>
> 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.
>
> If they are so "integrated with...everyday life", why do they have such
> a rich monastic traditions? Then there's the word "maya" to consider.
> However (see above), the point is not to deny normal experience but to
> change our consciousness so that we are no longer ignorant of its "true
> nature".
>
> 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)?
>
> Again, what do you suggest as a replacement, one that will allow not
> only a distinction between mainstream Christianity on the one hand and
> the writings of, say, the pseudo-Dionysius or Meister Eckhart on the
> other, in the West, but also distinguish between the teachings of
> Confucius and the Buddha in the East?
>
> - Scott
>
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