only the mystics will survive notes

7/29/2019 Only the Mystics Will Survive Notes

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ONLY THE MYSTICS WILL SURVIVE

Are You Ready for the Quantum Leap?

Reflections onDeveloping a Mystical Consciousness

Based on notes taken from the Teachings of

Sister Ishpriya


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SATSANG Seeking Together-Helping to Create-A planetary Vision-A UniversalHeart of Compassion

Peter Creagh (2013) [email protected] Please seek permission to re-produce 1

ONLY THE MYSTICS WILL SURVIVE

A series of reflections based on the authors notes taken whilst listening to a series ofPravachan/ Conference Sessions by Sister Ishpriya the founder and President of theInternational Satsang Association. Further detail on the Association can be accessed on thefollowing two websites

www.international-satsang.org and www.satsang-companionship.org.uk

CONTENTS

Introduction 3

Theme 1 Listen to the Spirit - A movement into Mystical Consciousness. 6

Theme 2 Face to Face - A Direct Experience of the Mystery 9

Theme 3 The Signs of Mysticism. 14

Theme 4 Our Common and Universal Spiritual Inheritance 20

Theme 5 Responses to Question Part One - Developing a Mystical Consciousness 25

Theme 6 Responses to Question Part Two - Developing a Mystical Consciousness 32The Importance of Meditation

Conclusions 37

Acknowledgement :- I would like to acknowledge the support and companionship of myAnam Cara ( Soul Friend) - my wife Angela. Her encouragement, sharing and wisdomhelp to inform the content of all SIX POSTS in this series.

I merely collated and composed the material from the wisdom of Sister Ishpriya, mysharing with Angela and my own experiences. Now to conclude this series of Mysticism.

NOTE: These reflections are one perspective of the teaching of Sister Ishpriya. They areas honest and accurate as one persons perception can be. However, they do notnecessarily represent the official views of either Sister Ishpriya or the InternationalSatsang Association


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ONLY THE MYSTICS WILL SURVIVEThe eye through which I see God is the same eye through which God sees me;

My eye and God's eye are one eye, one seeing, one knowing, and one love.

Meister Eckhart (13thCentury Christian Mystic)

INTRODUCTION

These are some notes and reflections based on twomain sources. The first, and primary source, is aseries of talks delivered by Ishpriya Mataji, (the

Spiritual Guide and Founder of the InternationalSatsang Association) at a John Main Conferenceheld in Dublin, Ireland. The second is personalreflection and lived experience by the writer ofthese reflections. The Conference talks wererecorded and, along with some of these notes, wereused to support a series of Satsang Meeting (inWolverhampton, UK). These meetings focused onthe crisis currently facing most formal ReligiousTraditions in this post-modern era.

Many leading figures of the modern mystical movement contend that only those who face thechallenges and questions that arise out of our modern era will survive. We are currentlyundergoing major shifts in our consciousness and a massive growth in our scientific,cosmological and theological awareness and knowledge. This faces us with many challengesand opportunities. The Faith Traditions can help but very often, in their struggle to maintain andretain their influence, they merely give formal and ready packaged theological answers to thequestions. Very often these answers address questions which seekers are neither seeking norasking. But first let us look at the word Mystic. The following dictionary definitions of MYSTICare:-

Of or relating to mysticism or mystics.

Inspiring a sense of mystery and wonder.

A person who seeks by contemplation and self-surrender to obtain unity with orabsorption into the Deity or the Absolute

These definitions give some sense of the essence of mysticism and mystics. They alsoindicate the root connection with the word mystery. Spiritual sages, saints and prophetsthroughout time and from different traditions, all indicate that there is a MYSTERY behindCreation. It is this Mystery that has enthralled, and still enthrals, mystics in all cultures and

Faith Traditions.


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Ishpriyas Conference Talks were delivered in six separate sessions. Over the next few weeks,our Satsang Blog will present a series of Blog Posts which reflect on each of these talks. Theywill also include quotations and readings from a variety of Mystics to support the theme or topic

being addressed. The following are the six themes:

Theme 1:- Listen to the Spirit: A movement into Mystical Consciousness.

Theme 2:- Face to Face: - A Direct Experience of the Mystery

Theme 3: The Signs of Mysticism.

Theme 4:- Our Common and Universal Spiritual Inheritance.

Theme 5:- Responses to Question Part One -Developing a Mystical Consciousness

Theme 6:- Responses to Question Part 2Developing a Mystical Consciousness The Importance of Meditation

Conclusions

In the time since we used these Conference talks we have focused on many aspects of theSpiritual Journey and looked at a variety of Sadhana Practices (Spiritual Practices) that assistus in developing both our awareness of, and relationship with, the Mystery we call God. We allhave a 'mystical part' and each of us has experienced times of being mystic. These Blog Postswill expand on the previous notes.

The first of these Blog Posts will appear shortly on the Satsang Blog which is fed from the UKSatsang Website. http://midlands-satsang.blogspot.co.uk/ Meanwhile, if you are interested in

the Spirituality of the Satsang then visit the following websites:

www.international-satsang.org

www.satsang-companionship.org.uk


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Only The Mystics Will Survive

Theme 1: Listen to the Spirit

A movement into Mystical Consciousness.

Aum bhur bhuvah svah Tat savitur varenyamBhargo devasya dhimahi Dhiyo yo nah pracodayat

We meditate on the transcendental glory of Savitur (God)

Who creates everything.

May He stimulate and illumine our minds.

Om Shanti , Shanti, Shanti

The Gayatri Mantra (an ancient chant or prayer from the Hindu Vedas)

This is one of many translations

Welcome to this the first in a series of 6 Blog Posts that explore the topic of Mystics. One

definition of a Mystic ( which appeared in the previous, introductory, Blog) is defined as apersonInspiring a sense of mystery and wonder. The brief chant of the Gayatri Mantraabove, which can be heard in Ashrams all over India, is a translation of what is perhaps theoldest recorded Mantra known. It is recorded from the Rig Veda, the ancient scriptures ofHinduism. It conveys the awe and wonder of the Deity and the purpose of any relationship wehave with this Mystery we call God ( Savitur ). Our theme in this 1st Blog is Listen to theSpirit - A movement into Mystical Consciousness.

Now Only the Mystics will survive is a statement for our current world situation. It isstatement that has been made by several modern Christian theologians e.g. Karl Rahner,Matthew Fox, Raymundo Pannikar and many more. But it implies certain questions and these

are ; what is it we need to survive and how come only those who are mystics ?

Now these are questions which members of the International Satsang Association , whoseTeacher is Sister Ishpriya, have been reflecting on for over 20 years. One of the centralthreads that run though Ishpriyas teaching, and the spirituality of the Satsang, is the urgentneed for everybody to remain awake, with open and listening hearts and remain ready toread the signs of the timesBut what are we staying awake for and what are we listening forand how can we develop this listening heart. ? Ishpriya reminds us that deep listening is anattitude we all need to develop. However, all too often, We hear what we are listeningfor.So she encouraged each of us to be open to listening to the Spirit.


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So to return to the question, What is it that Only the Mystics will survive? She reviewed themany dramatic and recent changes in our human understanding of the Cosmos and of PlanetEarth. We had now 'moved off the Planet'. This was a Quantum Leap. As a species we hadlooked back , from space, at our World, our Home and this was a big change in our collective

and individual consciousness. There was now no going back to old understandings. This facedus and also some of the formal Faith Traditions with many new challenges.

The first challenge was and is our need to acknowledge and recognise the challenge and riskfacing our human family and the world. Will we survive the global change the greed anddestruction facing our Planet and necessary the quantum leap is our awareness andconsciousness ? Physically the quantum leap has happened. We, as a species, have left thisplanet and looked back. We have 'left our house and walked out into the garden of space'.We are watching creation unfold as science discovers more about our cosmos , its make-up,its beginnings and its unfolding evolution. Whether we have recognised or accepted theemotional, psychological and spiritual aspects of this Quantum Leap is debatable.

However, even the fact that the physical leap has taken place challenges much of ourtraditional and fundamental Theology and thus our understanding of God the Reality This isnot a new challenge, the spiritual masters of all traditions have advised us to learn to discernthe unreal from the Real. This is succinctly put in the following translation of an ancient HinduMantra :

Om .. O LordLead me from the unreal to the Real.

Lead me from darkness to Light.Lead me from death to Immortality.

Peace Peace Peace

In Western Theology we have faced similar changes and challenges in our past. When wethought the world was a flat plate, then our theology had a simple model that suggested Godwas in the heavens above and hell was below. Then, after many attempts to either deny orsuppress the truth, scientists discovered and proved that our world was a globe and thus wasnot the centre of our Universe. This led to a change in our concept of God and we had toreconfigure our view of God, our world and our species. The next challenge was evolution, stilltoday many try to deny this. However, for the many it has led to an entirely new and awesomeview of creation and thus our view of the One who created all this !

In the recent past with giant strides and advances into themacro- spaceof the cosmos and the nano-space of the interiorand small, we have a much better view and understanding ofthe vastness of space and the diversity of flora, fauna andspecies. We now have the concept of an ever-expandingCosmos. All these advances in knowledge challenge ourconcept of God. It requires us to re-think the nature of TheSource or Mystery and our relationship with God who is this

Source , by whatever name we call it.


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Ishpriya, emphasises , along with so many Integral and Spiritual Teachers , that it is Only theMystics who could survive this challenge andthus chart a safe course through thesechanges. It is important to acknowledge that we all have the capacity to be mystics.Mysticism is not an exclusive call or gift for the few.

But how could we begin to accept this truth, that we all have a mystical capacity?. We canalltoo easily take the comfortable and mistakenly 'safe' way out and claim that only ' special andholy people' had this capacity. Ishpriya suggested we needed to pause and challengeourselves and that the lines inPsalm 8, from the Hebrew Scriptures could be of assistance.

Lord, our Lord,How great is your name in all the earth!You have set your glory in the heavens.

When I consider your heavens,

The work of your fingers,the moon and the stars,

Which you have set in place,'Who am I

that you should create & care about me?'

Reflecting on these words could help us to both create and convey awe and wonder atCreation and the Cosmos. She further suggested that this 'awe' was, and is, a typical exampleof a mystical experience. We have reached a stage where we need to recognise and acceptthat Our theology is influenced by our Cosmology. This affects all cultures, civilisations and

everybody on our planet. Mystics are people who are wide awake, discerning and willing toaccept responsibility to respond to the challenge and change. This is ultimately what liesbehind each of us having the courage and awareness that enables us to read the signs of ourtimes .

We live in a world and a Universe of such great beauty,complexity and wonder. Everything is inter-connected andshares the seeds of DNA. The English poet Blake, like manyothers through time, has seen the inter-connected beauty.Blake wrote about this in his poem Auguries ofInnocence. Below are the first and last verse which captures

something of the wonder of Creation and the power and lightof the Mystery.

To see a world in a grain of sand,And Heaven in a wild flower,

Hold infinity in the palm of your handAnd Eternity in an hour.

God appears, and God is light,To those poor souls who dwell in night;

But does a human form displayTo those who dwell in realms of day


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In facing this challenge we begin to both recognise andacknowledge the quantum leap that faces us at theemotional, intellectual and spiritual levels. These arestormy times for both our Planet and our HumanFamily. Ishpriya used an analogy to vividly highlightthese times. She likened our planet to a small boat inthe vast seas of the Cosmos. We are all in this smallboat and only the Mystics can help chart a safe coursefor the crew and passengers. In addition, when a boatis in peril and in danger of sinking, it requires all onboard beginning 'bailing out!

The preceding reflections focused on the challenges and choices facing us all as we enter avitual stage where a great quantum leap in consciousness is taking place . We live in times ofgreat change. All around us we both see and are increasingly becoming more aware of greatclimatic, intellectual, emotional and financial changes . These both require and demand ourfocused attention. We are being challenged to accept the responsibility to develop ourmystical awareness of the Reality we call God. Ishpriya ended this theme by posing somequestions to guide our reflections. Readers may find the following questions helpful :

What is it that causes me to get that sense of awe?

How wide awake, discerning and responsive am I to the challenges that face our human

family ?Where do or could I feel uncomfortable in all this?

Postscript

Our understanding of who or what God by whatever name we call it; is extremely important inour efforts to make sense of ourselves, our environment, creation and the cosmos. This theneffects how we relate to ourselves, others and our environment.The next part of this series isTheme 2 :- Face to Face :- A Direct Experience of the Mystery.

The second instalment of these Blog Posts will appear shortly. Meanwhile, if you are interestedin the Spirituality of the Satsang then visit the following websites: www.international-satsang.org www.satsang-companionship.org.uk


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Theme 2 - Face to Face

A Direct Experience of the Mystery

Face to Face

Day After Day, O Lord of my life,I stand before You face to face.

With folded hands, O Lord of all worlds

Will I stand before You face to face ?

And under Your great sky, in solitude and in silence,With humble heart, I stand before you face to face.

In this arduous world of YoursTurbulent with toil and struggle.

Among hurrying crowds. I stand before You face to face.

And when my work shall be done in this world, O Lord of all worlds.Alone and without the need of words I will stand before You face to face.

Rabindranath Tagore

At the moment humanity is searching for its soul

Ishpriya opened this Theme on Mystics and Mysticism with Rabindranath Tagores poem,Face to Face. This poem expresses the intimacy of our unique relationship with the Sourceand that ultimately we will stand face to face. She then reiterated and reminded us of thecrisis and challenge facing our world and summarised this with the statement At the momenthumanity is searching for its soul.

Now for some personal reflections which are not directly connected with IshpriyasConference Talks but arise out of lived experiences and reflections.

This searching for soulhas become more prevalent and urgent in most recent times. Thegreat changes in both Science and Technology have challenged and changed many of the oldcertainties that have held sway for centuries. The growth in modern communications, allied tothe exponential growth of computers, means that we have more information at our fingertipsand that this information can be shared in seconds around the world. We are living in timesthat are changing faster than either individuals or institutions can either keep up with ormanage and this can be both challenging and unsettling.


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For many of our Institutions, particularly Religion, these unsettling times can give rise to greatanxiety and panic. Thus we see an ever increasing growth in fundamentalism andconservatism as Institutions and Organisations try to avoid the chaos of change and clingrelentlessly on to old and outdated theology, worship and ideas. This is particularly true of male

dominated Institutions, which applies to most of the formal Faith Traditions and certainly inWestern Religions. These resist and even deny any ideas and advances that suggest that wecould benefit by acknowledging the on-going evolution of Creation and the importance ofbalancing the patriarchal dominance with the feminine aspect of our humanity.

Yet both Science and the Universal Wisdom of the Mystics, along with the wisdom of theaboriginal peoples of the world, acknowledge and recognise that there is both Chaos andConservation. Chaos and conservation are a natural part of nature, the environment and thehuman experience. At the moment, modern humanity is over-focused, and arguably obsessed,with the patriarchal and masculine side of its psyche. Part of the solution could be for humanityto tap into and balance its feminine and masculine gifts in order to find a new and wiser way

through this quantum leap. In this respect we have much to learn from the wisdom of theancients and the aboriginal peoples who both recognise and celebrate the feminine aspect ofthe Divine. This could result in us finding the balance required that will enable us to cherish,respect and appreciate the richness of both the feminine and masculine. In this way mutualrespect will grow and the oppression, abuse and failure to acknowledge and accept the greattalents and gifts of women will cease.

There is nothing too surprising in all this if we just look at history. In the middle ages theinvention of the printing press brought about terrific changes. The spread of information andideas was rapid and played a huge part in the turmoil and chaos of the Reformation in WesternChristianity. At that time the Catholic Church tried to cling on to the old ways and to suppress

the growth and spread of new reformist ideas. However, like the famous story of King Canute,the (formal) Church failed to stem the tide. Instead it resisted the necessary reforms and theensuing conflict let to centuries of war, dispute, torture and general disharmony betweenpeoples and Faith Traditions...

Now we have entered the Digital Age, with rapid changes in technology and communication.Information and ideas move around our planet in seconds and all forms of authority arestruggling to contain and control the pressure for reform and change. Modern people do notcommunicate in the old ways, hence the dying spasms of post (snail mail) and the growth ofemail, ipad, blogs etc. Yet, in the West, our Churches still rely on written texts and outdatedand outmoded rites and rituals which fail to appeal to so many, particularly both the young and

the discerning older people. Little wonder that churches are almost empty and cinemas,shopping malls and dance studios and clubs are filling up. Many people find worship boringand irrelevant to modern times. They are searching for answers to questions that very often themain stream churches dont or wont address.

But now to return to aspects of Ishpriyas Conference Talk. Focusing on this search for thesoul, Ishpriya went on to address the fact that many people hunger for the direct experienceof the Mystery that is mysticism. The modern search, which initially focused on Meditation,began in the 1960s. This was a time of great change in music, culture and ideas. The childrenof the Second World War , the Baby Boomers, entered adulthood and began to challenge andreject many of the accepted norms. People outside the mainstream Religions began to search

for meaning in their life. They were not convinced by the certainties of their parents and


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therefore were looking for something different and more authentic. With the growth of moderntechnology and travel , they began to look further a field. This led to searches in places likeIndia which had a rich heritage of spirituality and its long tradition of Gurus ( Teachers). InIndian Spiritual Traditions it is the Guru ( Master) who is more important and spiritually relevantthan the priests. The latter merely perform the rites and rituals but the Guru is the reservoir of

spiritual truths. In addition, the Guru never seeks disciples, it is the disciple who must first seekand recognise the Guru. In Christianity this is similar to the disciples of Jesus, they recognisedthe Master and followed him.

Like so many people today (50 years later) , they too had the desire for that Face-to-Faceencounter with a Friend, that is reflected in Tagores poem.

Ishpriya suggests that in this search for the Reality, for adifferent relationship at every level of being, the word GODcould be a block. This was certainly true for many of the younggeneration, who were inclined to reject the God Concept as it

was being presented by both the formal Religions and the oldergeneration. This was also true for many of us. Many of us have abecome too used to the 'God' word. She told us about a lovelyCanadian Childrens Prayer Book with a title WHAT IS GOD?This introduces the difficult question of whom and what is Godusing language and ideas that could and would appeal tochildren. It uses language that they can readily understand.

Perhaps we can learn from this. Because the question posed inthe title of this childrens book, is the first and most important

one to ask on our Journey towards being human. As we journey and mature it is inevitable

that the answer to that 1st question will keep changing because the entity we so glibly refer toas God is so immense and unknowable, that our sense and vision of this entity changes.Similarly, it is hardly surprising that our 'image' of and our answer to the Who and What of Godwill grow and shift as they are informed by our direct experiences of the Ultimate Reality.

However, many feel challenged and threatened as this view of God emerges from humanreflection, understanding and consciousness. This is entirely natural. Humanity has alwaysbeen wary of great changes, in fact Neuroscience shows that we are hardwired for flight,fight or freeze. We are also hard wired to resist or feel wary of great changes. However we canmanage small to medium changes. Therefore we need to see this wariness and reluctance asa sign of genuine growth in our spiritual relationship. Any time we feel a resistance to change

it is a sign that we have accessed some fear and/or anxiety about one of our core beliefs

This is O.K. It is a sign of growth and it merely invites and challenges us to examine theresistance and the core belief. If after reflection we still wish to hold on to our core belief, that isO.K. Otherwise, we drop the false belief and have a deeper and more rooted picture of andrelationship with the Mystery we call God.

We live in a dynamic world, which is part of an ever changing and ever expanding cosmos.Everything changes both in this dynamic world and in our dynamic inner and outer life.Therefore, so too must our understanding and responses to the perennial questions of What


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is God and Who (for me) is God? Only be being aware of all the above can we find a wayto re-assess our understanding of our relationship with God, who is Truth and Mystery.

To assist us to both recognise and better manage this change, Ishpriya suggested, that it could

be very helpful if we were to go for one year WITHOUT the word GOD. This could force us toget to grips with Whator Whoit is that we want to come Face to Facewith. For example wemight be guided by Meister Eckhart the great (arguably the greatest) Christian medievalteacher and mystic. He doubtlessly shocked his congregation when he exhorted them Youmust discover God as God is. You must come upon him naked in His dressing Room!Eckhart seems to be advising us to drop all the pre-conceived ideas we have of God and bewilling to face the 'naked' truth.

Whether God is He, She or It, our 1st challenge is to dropthe language and images of Godandbe opened up afresh to the experience of Reality. This requires us to have anunmediated, direct encounter with this Absolute whose various names are Truth, Reality, the

One without a Second, and the Source of All Life etc. Daoism, manages this as it calls TheDao, - (the Way) a word for what we cannot name. Therefore anything we can name cannotbe the Absolute Experience or the Dao. Ishpriya she reminds us, that there is a SOURCE,an Unchanging Reality a Mystery, at the heart of everything. This (Mystery) is somethingwe cannot know and the question for each us is; Do I have a conviction of theexistence of this Source?

This question requires a personal and not a group or institutional response. We need toremember that Faith comes before belief. Beliefs are very often secondary because faith(i.e. a deep understanding and experience of the existence of God, Ultimate Reality) is deeplypersonal and based on our experience of the presence of God. In addition, we are advised by

both modern psychology and the mystics to remember that many of our beliefs are false ormisguided and borrowed from others. They are not truly our beliefs. To paraphrase the GreekPhilosopherthe unexamined belief is a wasted belief. Thus, faith that is based on livedexperience is rooted in truth and therefore not easily tossed and turned around by changes inscience or accepted beliefs.

And yet, as Meister Eckhart and all the Mystics remind us, there is an underlying paradox inour relationship to this Mystery or Source. Even though it is a Mystery, paradoxically, it is aMystery that each of us can experience to some degree or level. The Mystics of all ages haverecorded this paradox and this experience and ever person has had moments or glimpses ofthis experience. She reminded us of St Pauls prayer that we may be Filled with the

absolute fullness of God.

Ishpriyas reference to St Pauls prayer in Ephesians, both reminds me of another occasionwhen she spoke about the In-Filling Presence of God and also how Pauls great prayer soaptly describes the wonder and awe of the In-Dwelling Presence of the Mystery or Spirit. Thetext appears below. St Paul prays:

that [God] may grant you in accord with the riches of his glory to be strengthenedwith power through his Spirit in the inner self, and that Christ may dwell in yourhearts through faith; that you, rooted and grounded in love, may have strength tocomprehend with all the holy ones, what is the breadth and length and height and

depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may befilled with all the fullness of God.


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Returning to the thread of Ishpriyas input. She reminded us that we can be assured that theMystery willreveal ITSELFto us. In other words, the self-revelation of God at a soul-to-soul,spirit-to spirit can come to each of us and can be known at some level. But this knowingISNOT an intellectual knowing it is experiential revelation of The Mystery.

She challenged each of us to try telling your children that God is that, whatever thatis. Thepitfalls in this approach; i.e. telling children that God is is that nobody can define God!God IS NOT a super person hidden in the skies. God is a Mystery and this Mysterycannot be defined at either the intellectual, emotional or imaginative levels. The AbsoluteReality merely IS! Personal experience reveals that our understanding of God (at our fairlysimple level) is constantly changing as we grow and experience this revelation in life.

All Traditions have great respect for those who experience the Mystery and all Faith Traditionsaccept the existence of this Absolute Reality, this Source, and this Mystery. How can we knowof this experience of the Mystery? Now, the mystics of different Traditions can tell us about

this. Interestingly, regardless of their cultural or Faith Traditions, all indicate some commonaspects. They all seem to talk about, reflect on and record much the same thing. There is OneSource, One Mystery, One God and He, She or it can be found in a Face to face encounter.

The next question is this. How do we know and experience this encounter and not just at anintellectual level? Well, the first thing to realise is that being a Mystic does not mean havingvisions. The mystics, even those who had visions will tell us that visions are not the thing. Thatis not living in the mystery. So if not visions then how can or do we experience the Mystery?This is the subject of the next set of reflections. (To be continued in Theme 3: - Signs ofMysticism)

Ishpriya ended this theme by posing some questions to guide our reflections. Readers mayfind the following questions helpful :

I could take a look at my picture(s) and name(s) for God. What are these?

How many of these have I ever looked at and/or challenged, particularlysince childhood?

How can or might some of these get in my way of encountering the RealityFace-to-Face?

Postscript

Our understanding of who or what God by whatever name we call it; is extremely important inour efforts to make sense of ourselves, our environment, creation and the cosmos. This theneffects how we relate to ourselves, others and our environment.In developing that relationshipwe need to seek a face-to-face encounter with God. However, this requires much soulsearching. Modern humanity is drifting away, both from formal religion and authority but alsofrom themselves and their soul. The challeange was much greater than previous challengesand the example given was the Reformation struggle in Western Christianity in the 15 th to 17thcenturies. The next part of this series is Theme 3 :- The Signs of Mysticism .


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Theme3: The Signs of Mysticism.In mysticism that love of truth which we saw as thebeginning of all philosophy leaves the merelyintellectual sphere, and takes on the assured aspectof a personal passion.

Where the philosopher guesses and argues, themystic lives and looks; and speaks consequently, thedisconcerting language of first-hand experience, notthe neat dialectic of the schools.

Hence whilst the Absolute of the metaphysiciansremains a diagram Impersonal and unattainableThe Absolute of the mystics is lovable, attainable, and alive.

Evelyn Underhill,Mysticism

This is the third reflection in this series on Only the Mystics Will Survive. It continues thejourney with Sister Ishpriya which started with Listen to the Spirit- A movement intoMystical Consciousness , then looked at our Face to Face Encounter with God and now

begins to explore the signs of mysticismthat exist in everyday life for every person. But firsta simple quote from Sr. Ishpriya which sets this reflection in its context.

We need to remember that mystical moments happen every day

Sister Ishpriya

Before we begin to focus onSigns of Mysticism it is important to return to some aspects ofPart 2. Part 2 focused on the natural balance of Chaos and Conservation in Creation. Thisimpacted at all levels and certainly on humans and their Institutions. It focused on the tendencyof people, when change occurs, to give way to their fears and to try to cling on like limpets toold and familiar ways. This explains the growth in fundamentalism not only in Faith Traditionsbut in Politics, Education and many Institutions. The ensuing struggle leads to a rise inintolerance and a tendency to adopt rigid thinking. In the old days, when the Christian Churchhad real power, it had a simple way of dealing with maverick thinkers. It either declared theirideasheresyor used its self- acclaimed power to excommunicate them. There is nothing newin all this and today, many fundamental people in all the Faith Traditions are trying to do thesame. The result is they can often 'project' their fear of change and chaos onto the other and inso doing demonise the other.


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However, Christians need to hold on to the fact that Jesus the Christ was a maverick preacher.In addition many of the great prophets and founders of other Faith Traditions were radicalthinkers. Most advances in human understanding, knowledge and wisdom have come fromand through radical thinkers. e. g. Mohammed the Prophet (Peace be upon him), Guru Nanak

the founder of Sikhism and of course Gautama the Buddha. This reinforces the need for eachand every person to face the challenge of facing their fears and core beliefs and seeking andreclaiming their inherent mystical spirit. Consequently, we need to be on the alert for signs ofmysticism in our life. So now to return to Ishpriya and her reflections.

Ishpriya opened with an intriguing question when she asked What does theexperience of the Mystery do? Ishpriya answered this rhetorical questionby suggesting that it could help if we looked at some signs of being amystic. She made it plain that the signs she intended to briefly explore didnot constitute a definitive list. However, these were signs to be found for andin all of us. So she suggested that we relax, listen deeply and then reflect on

how these could apply to, or be experienced by, each of us. She then beganto outline and reflect on some of the signs of Mysticism.

Some Signs of Mysticism

The first of these was sense of harmony at certain moments. These moments of harmonyresulted in a sense of union, wholeness or completion. Experiences like this begin inchildhood. It is an experience that can be likened to and summarised as a sense of being athome with my source. These experiences both demand and require that we wake up andget rid of our sense of separateness She quoted the great Christian Mystic, Lady Julianaof Norwich concerning our failure to realise just how inter-connected we were with the Mystery

and all creation. Juliana said, Between God and me there is no between. She thenreminded us of a famous Hindu saying God is closer to me than myself .

Both of these quotations, one from a Western and the other from an Eastern Faith Tradition,speak of a sense of oneness, union and completion between human beings and the Mystery orSource. They tell of a relationship of oneness.

This reminds me of the story by Anthony De Mello an IndianJesuit from his bookOne Minute Wisdom

The master became a legend in his lifetime.It was said that God once sought his advice: I want to play agame of hide-and-seek with humankind. Ive asked my angelswhat the best place is to hide in. Some say the depth of theocean. Others say the top of the highest mountain. Others stillthe far side of the moon or a distant star.What do you suggest?Said the Master, Hide in the human heart. That is the last placethey will think of!

Each of us could pause and respond to the following question


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What is our chosen or favourite ending to the game of Hide and Seek we too can playwith God? It can help if we use immediacy and respond to the question quickly and writedown our response. This can often lead to intriguing, surprising and challenging responses.This question is not designed to imply that we deliberately avoid the Oneness that is the

Mystery although it is a common and shared universal response.

No, it is to encourage us to face our fears about being too intimate with God the Mystery. TheJewish Scriptures have this wonderful phrase It is terrible ( awesome) to fall into thehands of the living God As in many human relationships, we can all struggle with the issuesand dilemma of the intimacy and its dangers or anxieties regarding its restriction on oursense of independence.

Permanence Non- permanence. The second of these signs required us to look at ourexperiences of permanence. She reminded us that we needed to avoid the mistake of lookingfor the permanent amongst the non-permanent. We all too often place our trust and

energy in the wrong places. We are on a journey back to the Source and if we cling ontoearthly and ego-centred things they can so often turn to dust in our hands.

Students of either Hinduism or Buddhism will readily recognise the importance of the teachingabout permanence and non-permanence. Certainly this is a central teaching of Buddhism,where the Buddha taught that all is Dukka (suffering)and that seeing life and things aspermanent was essentially a poison. Although we can intellectually accept that nothing in life ispermanent the truth is we can so easily live our life as ifit is permanent. He Buddha was wisewhen he suggested that we could all benefit from reflecting on our own death.

Then there is the experience of relaxing into loving others This is that the experience

and result of true love is one that enables us to bond with others but NOT try to possess them.This is not an easy thing because love takes us out of the ego and encourages us to think ofthe other and not just our own selfish needs or wants.

In my work as a Relationship Therapist I often am guided by and also use this lovely quote onlove by Kahil Gibran author of The Prophet.

Love possesses notNor would it be possessed;

For love is sufficient unto love.

And think not you can direct the course of love,If it finds you worthy,It directs your course.

Love has no other desire but to fulfil itself."

A further sign was a keen awareness of the inter-dependence of all things.

Both the Mystics and modern science have revealed both the wonder of the on-going creation

and the inter-connectedness of all things. Everything has come out of star dust and ourunderstanding of DNA etc reveals that we share more than we realise with everything in


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creation. As humans we are all Inter-related and come from a common source. This challengesand reduces to insignificance all the barriers we erect of culture, creed, ethnicity and evengender. This returns us to the wisdom and truth of the Triple Commitment of the Satsang. Inaddition, I am reminded of the famous quote from HinduismHe, who sees only the diversity

and not the underlying Unity, wanders on from death to death

Ishpriya reflected on how Buddhism recognises the underlying unity and calls this abilitycompassion ( karuna). She pointed to the Buddhist example of the Boddhi Satva (this is onewho has achieved enlightenment but remains to help others on their way). This was anexcellent example of this sense of inter-connectedness and oneness with all.

This sense of Oneness at the Heart of Creation is at the heart of spirituality and every majorFaith Tradition. In Hinduism it is seen as the central concept and pillar of the Vedas andparticularly the Upanishads and that wonderful Scripture the Bhagavad-Gita (The Song of theLord). Throughout these scriptures the underlying theme of Unity at the heart of Diversity is

propounded. A famous quote from the Kena Upanishad outlines this clearly.

Who sees all beings in his own Self, and his own Self in all beings, loses all fears

This clearly shows that having the courage to face ones fears will lead to a state of awarenesswhere we see the underlying unity of the self in all beings. This is the real state of inter-connectedness humanity requires if it is to survive, live in harmony with self, others and theenvironment and safely navigate the quantum leap of change in consciousness.

This led to the realisation that my choices affectothers.

We are part of the on-going evolutionary journey ofcreation. Our current knowledge, technology andunderstanding gives us answers that suggest ourUniverse is 13.5 billion years plus or minus 2 billionyears. This puts things in perspective. We as a speciesare, at the most 7 million yearsandhomosapiens sapiens , modern humanity which is part of a long lineof descendants of Homo Erectus, is a mere 350 - 500thousand. With this in mind we return to Ishpriyas reflections.

Our Universe

Shesuggested we pause and reflect on what is our, around, 85 years of existing in this body-psyche compared to the 15 billion or so years of this Universe . And yet in this vastness ofcreation and time-space, each of us are unique, we will never occur again. Consequently, itgives rise to the importance of my choices.

All this should reduce us to silence. Bearing in mind all thepreceding signs, she moved on to a further sign a growingsense or need for solitude and silence. This also led to reluctance

to even attempt to describe our experience of the Mystery. Shequoted Theresa of Avila, who in commenting upon her mystical


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experiences merely said I cant describe this. Theresa also used the butterfly as thesymbol of mysticism; this is also used in other Traditions. Ishpriya then, focusing on all herpoints suggested that this combination of signs inevitably leads us to a realisation thatSilence is the fullness of all; it is not the emptiness.

The fruit of Silence is prayer.The fruit of Prayer is faith.The fruit of Faith is love.

The fruit of Love is service.The fruit of Service is peace.

Silence of the eyes;Silence of the ears;

Silence of our mouths;Silence of our minds.

In the silence of the heartGod will speak.

Teresa of Calcutta

These signs are always full of paradox and this is a comment often made by those mysticswho have entered into the Mystery. In fact paradox is at the heart of spiritual life andexperience.

Ishpriya then recounted the story of Swami Chidananda and Swami Abishtiktananda, the first a

Hindu Master, the second a Christian Monk, both renowned humble and holy people. At theirinfrequent meetings, they would look in silence at each other and there in that silence, theycould sense the Joy which mystics have encountered. This led to both laughing with eachother. Because both had tasted in the silence, the unity, the compassion of that Face-to-Faceencounter with the Mystery and this led to pure joy, or the ananda, which is Sanskrit for bliss.For God is joy

Mystics are people who are not at war with anybody, they live in peace, justice and respect forothers. They are prophets, who do not set about forecasting the future, but can read thesigns of the times. In addition they possess great humility and this leads to great wisdom.Ishpriya reminded us that,there is a tendency (certainly in Christianity) to be more

concerned with the doing than the being and also Its not what I have done but howI have lived. She reminded us of the richness of Buddhism and its Universal Wisdom andhowZen Buddhists have an approach which starts with the basic ethos that it is a mistake totry to do somethingwith our life instead of living it.Life is for livingis a well known Zensaying.

Raymundo Pannikar (a renowned Christian Theologian) suggests that some signs of themystic are that they are people who make ineffective administrators, impossibleecclesiastics, unpredictable leaders and unreliable followers. In short, they aremavericks, at peace with themselves and more fully focused on the Mystery.


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In conclusion, if we can recognise any of the above in us then we have reached the beginningof wisdom. Ishpriya ended this theme by posing some questions to guide our reflections.Readers may find the following questions helpful :

How alive have I been minute by minute in my life?

How do I respond to the idea that mystics are counter-culture and arewilling to take responsibility for their choices?

Which are and were the mystical moments of my life & do I recognisethem?

What are the experiences in my life that I never have to make an effort toremember?

Postscript

Both accepting and recognising that every individual has a mystical capacity isextremely important. Only then can we remain open to those mystical moments which asIshpriya suggests happen every day (We need to remember that mystical momentshappen every day Ishpriya). These moments can be recognised by various signs of

mysticism which present themselves in our daily lives. We need to beware of false humilitythat suggests that only special and holy people can be mystics. This is a lie and one that canprevent us from remaining open to the gift of mystical moments.

The next part of this series is Theme 4 :- Our Common and Universal Heritage.

This fourth part will appear shortly on our Satsang Blog http://midlands-satsang.blogspot.co.uk/. Meanwhile, if you are interested in the Spirituality of the Satsang then visit the followingwebsites:




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Theme 4: Our Common and Universal Spiritual Inheritance.

To have seen me is to have seen the Father (The Source of all life)

An important Pre-Amble

This topic and its conference talks were delivered to, and focused mainly on, a Christianaudience. Consequently, the following theme draws mainly from the Christian Tradition andfocuses on some of the reasons that the formal Christian Churches are struggling to retainmembers in the West and that many are either losing all contact or looking for spiritual wisdomin the East...

Another point about these reflections is that they are the authors response to Ishpriyas words.It is a well known fact, that if 30 people attend a talk, there are at least 30 differentinterpretations. These reflections are honestly made and directly connected with Ishpriyastheme. However, they are filtered through the cultural eyes and ears of the author. Wherereflections are not directly rooted in Ishpriyas talks, these are shown in brown type.

Finally, although these brief reflections focus on Christianity, readers from other FaithTraditions could find many of its points familiar with their lived experience and certainly theoverall conclusions apply to all.

For what is Mysticism?It is not the attempt to draw near to God, not by rites or ceremonies,

but by inward disposition? Is it not merely a hard word for 'The Kingdom of Heaven iswithin'? Heaven is neither a place nor a time. Florence Nightingale

Humankind has not woven the web of life; we are but one thread init. What we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are boundtogether. All things connect.

Chief Seattle a Native American 1780-1866

In this part of her reflections, Ishpriya addresses

some of the issues and reasons surrounding the factthat many Christians, and those from a ChristianCulture, have turned to the East when searching for aspiritual path. She began by re-examining ourcommon (Christian) Western spiritual inheritance, aninheritance which is very often unknown or forgotten.She provided a sketch of the growth in westernspirituality and reminded us that (initially) it grew outof its Palestinian context, where ideas from bothEastern and Middle Eastern mysticism were well known. Jesus was an itinerant Teacher who,like the Gurus of India, attracted the marginalised of society with his deeply spiritual, yet

radical, teachings on love and a way of being.


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However, after 2 or 3 centuries the scriptures of the Christian Traditionwere chosen, settled and closed. This led to what Christians now call theBible, with its Old Testament, which is the heart of the Jewish Scriptureand the New Testament which portrays the accepted norms of the Early

Christian Church. By this time, the followers of Jesus, who were firstcalled Followers of the Way had grown into a series of communitieswhich together formed a recognisable Church. This Church had itshierarchy and a set of sacraments, rites and rituals but with the Bible acentral platform for teaching and spreading the faith.

All other books or scriptures, some reputedly written by disciples who knew Jesus were literallysuppressed. The Council of Nicea in 325 a.d, convened to provide the Emperor Constantinewhich a formal Church doctrine, finally decided the books that were to be included or excluded.Thus the modern Bible was formed. At the time of the Reformation, Protestant Churches

refused to accept the Apocrypha and thus the Protestant Bible was formulated. Only fairlyrecently with the discovery of the Qumran ( Dead Sea) Scrolls , a collection of 972 textsdiscovered in the mid 20th Century, which amongst other things , contain a series of alternativetexts from the Jewish Scriptures ( Old Testament), have offered some new interpretationswhich are now widely published on the Internet. Another significant find was that of ancientCoptic Scrolls. These were found in 1945 in the Nile Valley and are known as the NagHammadi Documents. These contain four Gnostic Gospels, plus other Christian writings,which throw a more mystical light of the life, teachings and life of Jesus.

In addition, the revelation of the Mystery, which can never be fully known by mere humans,is ongoing. Each generation is best advised to understand that much of Scripture is written in

mythical language. Now a myth is not a fairy tale, it is a mystical, symbolic, metaphorical formof writing about deep truths that need careful reading, contemplation and reflection. In everygeneration, each individual has to take the text of the Scriptures and apply 4 modes ofreading it. These are to first read the literal text and then to test it out by reading it throughthree further lens These lens are the spiritual message of the text, then the moral ( presentday) message and finally the mystical message. This method of examining Scripture is veryancient and certainly goes back almost 2000 years. Unfortunately, many modern day readersof Scripture have lost this and rely solely on a literal reading of the text.

It is advisable to be aware that Scripture merely gives guidelines and these guidelines have tobe interpreted in the light of other aspects of the unfolding revelation. For those who believe in

Creation and the Mystery behind it, then we know that no words can fully describe this Mysteryand that all revelation from whatever profession is part of the unfolding of Creation and the on-going revelation. Therefore, Science and Cosmology have a part to play in humanitiesunderstanding of the Mystery and therefore, they too are part of revelation. In short, modernscience is re-telling the Creation story and adding to our understanding and awareness of theMystery or Source of Creation.

In addition, like love, spiritual wisdom is a universal quality. The Scriptures and writings fromother cultures and traditions form a vast reservoir of wisdom. They are a Universal Heritage.They form part of the vast banquet of spirituality which each culture and tradition offers.Christianity has its offerings to make but we need to feel free to make use of texts and

teachings from this vast reservoir and so we return to Ishpriyas theme.


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All this led to two reasonably unique aspects which underpin the Christianapproach to mysticism. The first are its heavy reliance on Scripture, andacceptable Scripture at that. The second is its ecclesiastic tradition, which isone of structure, hierarchy, central control, sacraments and its sacraments

and rituals which only the hierarchical priests can perform.

NB This is not an exclusively Christian trait but is part of all themainstream patriarchalreligions.

These two ways or two main pillars are seen as the almost exclusive means of accessing themystical. Historically, other approaches were, and are, frowned upon or discouraged. Thisdiffers from the Eastern Tradition, with its emphasis on the relationship between the Guru andthe disciple and its emphasis on the experiential nature of mysticism. In the Christian Traditionaccess to the immediate experience of God is through the two main doors of Scripture and the

Ecclesiastical.

In addition, Christianity has always been cautious and wary of an individuals mysticalexperiencesand frowned upon individuals experimenting in mysticism. It has, in this way,blocked this avenue of access to the Mystery, albeit at times unconsciously. Therefore, unlikethe East, we have not developed a tradition of spiritual guides and gurus and this may explainwhy westerners who are seeking guidance look to the Eastern Faith Traditions.

Note: - Thereis exceptions in Western Christianity. This spring from Celtic Spirituality(Which is my cultural root). Celtic Christianity, which retained many of its pre- Christian roots,was less influenced by mainstream Roman Christianity. It retained the practice of encouraging

the Spiritual Aspirant to find an Anam Cara ( Soul Friend). These were people of wisdom andnot necessarily members of the established Ecclesiastical order.

Many from the East feel that Christianity is merely involved and pre-occupied with Sin andSocial Workand less interested in how individuals can be guided and supported on and intheir own unique spiritual journey. Increasingly, with the growth in our multi cultural society,Christians are being both challenged and enriched by their contact with other traditions. Part ofthis challenge is to find the roots of our own Christian mysticism and its tradition. This requiresus to revisit Scripture and to realise that We find God in the life of Jesus the Christ.

There are numerous examples of this tendency of the Institutional Church opposing and

persecuting Mystics. Two famous ones are St John of the Cross and St Teresa of Avila. Johnof the Cross, a great Spiritual Master, was tortured and persecuted by his own Religious Order,because of his mystical writings and teachings. Teresa, who recognised the great need forreformation in both the Church and her Order, she too faced great opposition. Anotherexample is that of Meister Eckhart. He is arguably the greatest mystic of the Medieval ChristianChurch. He was persecuted and threatened with excommunication because of his radicalteaching on the nature of the Mystery and how we can relate to and with this Mystery.Eckhart preached about the paradox of the Mystery, there is nothing we can really say thatdefines the Mystery, his teachings have some resonance with those of Daoism, and one of itsgreat Teachers Lau Tzu wrote this The Dao (the Way) that can be named cannot be the Dao Two of Eckharts quotes are shown below. These demonstrate his radical theology and why

many conservative and fundamental Christians, both in his time and now, find him challenging.


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My Lord told me a joke. And seeing Him laugh has donemore for me than any scripture I will ever read.

God cannot be referred to as "good", "better", or best

because He is above all things. If a man says that God iswise, the man is lying because anything that is wise canbecome wiser. Anything that a man might say about God isincorrect, even calling Him by the name of God. God is"superessential nothingness" and "transcendentBeing"..."beyond all words and beyond all understanding.

The best a man can do is remain silent, because anytime he prates on about God, he iscommitting the sin of lying. The true master knows that if he had a God he couldunderstand, He would never hold Him to be God.'

Now to return to further points from Ishpriya.

Ishpriya suggested that we could begin this by examining three texts from Scripture. Thesewere from the New Testament and St Johns Gospel, namely John 10:30, John 14:9 and John16:7. These, she contended, were great sentencessimilar to the great sentences andsutras of Hinduism, Buddhism and Taoism. Sentences that required study, reflection andcontemplation, because they contained great truths and were examples of a mysticalexperience. She then focused on each of these in turn and examined them and their mysticalmeaning and context.

She then both reminded and emphasised to listeners that in Johns Gospel the Source isreferred to as Abba the Father. But first the three texts which reveal great truths that are at

the heart of revelation about the Mystery.

I and the Father (The Source of all life) are one John 10:30

To have seen me is to have seen the Father (The Source of alllife) John 14:9

I must go (disappear) otherwise the Spirit will not come to youJohn 16:7

Ishpriya explored these and suggested that they were deep and great mystical sayings. Theydemonstrated the mystical experiences of Jesus the Christ who felt an oneness with theSource (Abba the Father).

A potential problem for Christians is that they could be so blown away by Jesus and thusbecome too pre-occupied with Him and his earthly life. This could result in our failure to bothrealise and thus fail to see a mystical and deeply helpful and wonderful truth. This was, thatthrough the life of Jesus and His way of Being we could find a medium through which wecan see the Source, the Mystery, the God Jesus referred to as Abba ( Daddy).


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Ishpriya then looked at some of the signs and qualities of Jesus and His teaching; sheparticularly focused on compassion, hope and joy. She remarked on how, in their anxiety tofind answers to the critical challenges facing them, Church Authorities and Leaders werefrantically into re-organisation and trying to find more resources. She ended we a reflection on

what was really needed for ourselves, our world and our spiritual future.

What the world needed was people of compassion, hope, joy and understanding. It did notneed re-organising or more resources etc. It merely required each of us to develop ourholiness (wholeness) and mystical awareness.

How aware am I of my own spiritual inheritance and do or could I make useof this?

How helpful could I find spiritual inheritance from other Traditions i.e.Universal Wisdom?

What else struck me about the concept/idea of the phrase Our CommonInheritance?

If I could only do one thing different in my spiritual practice, what ONETHING would I choose?

Postscript

Our understanding of who or what God by whatever name we call it; is extremely important inour efforts to make sense of ourselves, our environment, creation and the cosmos. This thenprepares us to be open to the signs of mysticism in our life. Ultimately, the more we begin torealise and know about the Mystery , we so easily call God, the less we either can or want tosay. Ultimately, our mystical journey leads us into silence and solitude.

The next part of this series is Theme 5 :- Responses to Questions Part 1 - Developing aMystical Consciousness

This fifth (5th) part will appear shortly on the Satsang Blog http://midlands-satsang.blogspot.co.uk/ . Meanwhile, if you are interested in the Spirituality of the Satsang thenvisit the following websites:




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Theme 5 Responses to Question Part One -Developing a Mystical Consciousness

Have patience with everything that remains unsolved in your heart.Try to love the questions themselves,

Like locked rooms and like books written in a foreign language.Do not now look for the answers.

They cannot now be given to you because you could not live them.It is a question of experiencing everything.At present you need to live the question.

Perhaps you will gradually,Without even noticing it,

Find yourself experiencing the answer, some distant day. Rainer Maria Rilke,Letters to a Young Poet

Pre-Amble Asking questions are a natural and important part of being human. Questionsare often fuelled by our desire to explore, to understand and to gain knowledge. When wewere children we learned a lot from asking questions. Any of us who have any experience ofeither raising and/or teaching children will know how they incessantly ask questions. They alsoask a lot of WHYquestions. Little do they realise that it is the Why questions that are so oftendifficult to answer.

Only as we grow and mature do we begin to realise that definitive answers to difficult questionsare rarely simple, straightforward or constant. Science and Technology can, and increasinglyare, providing answers to the Who, What, Where, When, Whichand Howquestions.However, many of the Whyquestions provide us with more challenge and mystery.Traditionally, Philosophy, Religion and Spirituality have attempted, albeit with great hesitancy,to address the Whyquestions. Very often their tentative responses reveal the paradox ofmystery and the Ultimate Mystery.

All the above reveals the wisdom of the poet Rilkes quotes that opened this reflection. Also, onthe Spiritual Journey, which is a journey into the heart of awareness, a journey ultimately into

our very soul and source, we are very often like children asking why?! This leads me to thenext quote from CS Lewis, which I hope some readers will find comforting and re-assuring

When I lay these questions before God I get no answer. But a rather special sort of 'Noanswer.' It is not the locked door. It is more like a silent, certainly not uncompassionate,gaze. As though He shook His head not in refusal but waiving the question. Like, 'Peace,child; you don't understand. C.S. Lewis

So this brings me to the wisdom, not only of Rilke and Lewis but also of Ishpriya, when,opening these sessions she reminded listeners that she could not provide answers but

merely some responses.


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In this conference talk, Ishpriya responded to a series of questions from the audience. This isthe first of 2 sessions with responses to questions. In this the first session she tackles severalmain themes. Initially she addresses questions on What it is we mean by survival,(A question implied in the Title of the Conference Only the Mystics will survive)

I can only give a response to questions and not an answerSister Ishpriya

What do you mean by Survival? Her response addresses this question on several levels.The first level is that the physical survival of mankind and the planet. The 2nd level is about thepsychological survival and the third, and ultimately the most important, is the survival of ourawareness of our responsibility for spiritual survival. She reminded us that Creation has beenunfolding for almost 15 billion years. This is vastly longer than the minute time span whichencompasses the arrival of humanity. Addressing the first two levels, those of the body-

psyche; Ishpriya talked about the challenges facing humanity.

As a species, a human family, we are being severelychallenged. This is because of the growth in knowledgeabout the perilous state of our planet and the amazingand remarkable story of our species- homo sapiens-sapiens. This growing understanding denies us theluxury of feeling totally helpless and unable to doanything.

Certainly, in the vastness of the Cosmos and the

remarkable diversity of our planet Mother Earth- weare small but not we are not insignificant beings. We have

the amazing gift and ability of self-reflection. This demands that we reflect seriously our co-responsibility for the on-going evolution of creation, our planet and the Cosmos. We now havethe technology and capacity to influence who or what survives. Therefore, every individual hassome responsibility and we cannot opt out of this responsibility with an immature attitude thatwe can just leave it to God. We have to face the challenge and opportunity that our role asCo-Creatorsin this continuing evolution of Creation brings to us.

The third level of our survival involves the spiritual. This is ultimately the real or true level.This will be more fully addressed later in this reflection/session and in the next.

But first it is important to return to the whole question of our responsibility. Arguably, a crucialchallenge facing us all is that of RESPONSIBILITY. This requires us to be adult and to resistthe temptation to regress into a childish refusal to accept responsibility. In fact, many stay inChild Mode and merely apportion Blame and Shame and fail to take responsibility. The greatpsychologist Viktor Frankl, the father of Existential Therapy and a survivor of 4 NaziConcentration Camps, developed a form of psych-therapy that is primarily rooted and foundedon responsibility. He contended, in a paper written in 1947, that mans failure to acceptresponsibility would inevitably lead to a society that begins to lose meaning and purpose in life.


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For countless generations people have struggled with this concept as the tried to relate to thespiritual and to God. The following quote from the Bhagavad-Gita ( The Song of the Lord) aclassic if Indian Spirituality , demonstrates this perennial search, where Arjuna the IndianWarrior- asks Krishna an incarnation of Vishnu- the Lord- this question ..

Those who in oneness worship thee as GodImmanent in all;

And those who worship the Transcendent,The Imperishable

Of these, who are the best yogis?

Bhagavad- Gita Chap 12: 1

Note the duality or Either: Or nature of Arjunas question

The answer or response is then given in the remainder of the Bhagavad Gita. But to return toIshpriyas conference talk Wake Up to Reality and our way of relating with God.

Ishpriya reminded us of the difficulty we can have in relating with an abstraction. Our challengeis that as humans in this body-psyche , we are hard wired to relate to an Intimate Reality. Butboth the Immanent and Transcendent , as the Bhagavad Gita points out, are necessary andessential parts of the imperishable God who is the Ultimate Reality and Mystery.

She cautioned us about the way we related. Relating exclusively to either the Mystery or thePersonal the transcendent or immanent- can very often merely be a product of our emotionsand thoughts and not necessarily of the spirit. In other words, we can be in danger of relating

to the non-permanent, to the perishable. This results in us developing weak spiritual roots.Consequently, when a crisis of faith comes, our weak roots cannot stand and our faithcollapses and perishes.

Speaking to a mainly Christian audience, she advised us to wake up to Reality.Beware ofdeveloping aneither: or faith , either a faith based on atotally human Jesusor one thatfocused on an Ultimate Mystery both can be false securities. Acceptance or faith- rootedin hope can guide us through to the Reality which is ultimatelyLove and Trust.

None of this is ultimately in our control. We are rooted in hope but this is a hope that can guideus through the thoughts, emotions, imaginations and fantasies of our human psyche to a

firmer spiritual reality. She advised us to be guided by the thousands of years of our universalinheritance the spiritual writings and scriptures of the Faith Traditions. . This section onIshpriyas other talk Wake Up to Reality- ends with two quotations which can provide uswith useful guides to developing a non-dual relationship with God.

If your capacity for love is not increasing, then you are probablycreating a perishable (i.e. non-permanent) God

Sister Ishpriya

It is You, the Innermost One, who awakens myself with deephidden touches which I learn to trust

Rabindranath Tagore ( Hindu Poet and Mystic)


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What about the importance of developing a Mystical Unconsciousness ?

Ishpriya briefly recapped the evolution of humanity until our

present species Homo Sapiens-Sapiens. She contended thatthe change in human consciousness ( our capacity forawareness or awake-ness) is the important start in developing amystical consciousness. She reminded us not to make themistake of thinking of the psychological terms of consciousnessand unconsciousness. It is better to think of AWARENESS orMindfulness. She chose to expand on the concept of Awareness.She then looked at four simple and basic levels of awareness .

These are simplistically outlined in an attempt to form a common ground for further reflection.They are not meant to provide a detailed psychological explanation of human awareness.

1. Pre- Consciousness: - This is our early (infant) state of consciousness. This is very oftendominated by undifferentiated awareness. Very often we can cling to this state in adult life.

2. Magical or Dreaming World: - As we grow throughout childhood we develop the abilityto create a world of imagination. This is a world of heroes and heroines of fairy tales andfantasy .

3. World of Abstractions: - Then our awareness moves on and grows into the world ofabstraction. This results in the development of the ability to be aware of intellectualabstractions.

4.Trans-personal Awareness: - This begins when we develop a sense of being not just thisbody. We begin to have moments when we get a sense of being something other. These aremoments of transcendence.

Mystical Consciousness In this part of the session she focused on the importanceDeveloping a Mystical Consciousness and , to assist in this, she outlined the Indian Yogictraditions that emphasised the different levels of consciousness.

Now mystical consciousness goes beyond the personal, the physical and the psychological to

a much deeper and more truly permanent level. This is the level of consciousness that we allneed to develop. Because, as we do, eventually we develop an awareness that is beyond thepsyche. This leads to further levels of human consciousness and eventually leading to acollective consciousness. As people we have lost that sense of connectedness towards theenvironment and each other. This is something we urgently need to re discover. This was thenext Quantum Leap for humanity , it was a leap within, into the centre of our being. It was aleap that could take us into a new consciousness.


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Ishpriya then reminded us of the 4 Indian Yogic levels of consciousness and very brieflyoutlined these as:

1. Our Awake State This is mistakenly thought to be the most aware but its the leastwakeful state! In fact we can spend most of our life asleep!

2. Dream State - This is a state that enters inner consciousness. It is a state that can allowhidden and unaware reality to surface in our lives.

3. Beyond Dreams & Images - This is a deeper state where we no longer require images.

4. Beyond all the Above - Beyond all these is mystical consciousness.

One way of reaching this 4th state is through Meditation but there are other ways.She then went on to make some initial comments upon the importance of Meditation Practice( Silent Prayer ) . We cannot wake up mystically by ourselves. God has to wake us upfrom withinSister Ishpriya

This topic or theme of Meditation / Silent Prayer will be covered more fully in the next post(Theme 6) However, before we look at a summary or postscript , a longer quote from theHindu Upanishads on the 4 Levels of Consciousness is provided.

This is taken from the Mandukya Upanishadwhere the Seer or Spiritual Guide is attemptingto explain that Brahman ( God) is all both Transcendent and Immanent and also Brahman

is nothing or no-thing. This lengthy quote is taken from the Penguin Classic The Upanishads translated by Juan Mascaro). This quote not only reveals the richness and depth of IndianSpirituality, it also pre-dates and reinforces much that Western Mystical sources intuitregarding the nature of God.

Om - the eternal Word is all: what was, what is and what shall be, and what beyond is ineternity. All is Om.

Brahman (God) is all and Atman (the Spirit) is Brahman. Atman, the Self has four conditions.

The first condition is the waking life of outward moving consciousness.

The second condition is the dreaming life on inner moving consciousness, enjoying the sevensubtle inner elements in its own light and solitude.

The third condition is the sleeping life of silent consciousness, when a person has no desiresand beholds no dreams.

The fourth condition is Atman in His own pure state: the awakened life of supremeconsciousness. It is neither outer nor inner consciousness, neither semi-consciousness norunconsciousness. He is Atman, the Spirit Himself that cannot be seen nor touched. That isabove all distinctions, beyond thought and ineffable. In the union with Him is the supremeproof of His Reality. He is peace and love.

(Extract taken from Juan Mascaro The Upanishads ISBN 0-14-044163-8)


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Postscript

Our understanding of who or what God( by whatever name) is, is extremelyimportant in our efforts to make sense ofourselves, our environment, creation andthe cosmos. This then prepares us to beopen to the signs of mysticism in our life,both within and without.

We need to beware of duality i.e, aneither:orconcept of God. This is not onlya false dichotomy but also can lead us

into developing a false or idolatrousimage of God. Waking up to Reality is very important and involves an holistic journey. Thisrequires us to develop our awareness of, and access, the 4 levels of consciousness aboutwhich Hindu Philosophy teaches us.

Developing a reflective attitude can aid us in our quest to both better understand and relate tothe Mystery we call God. The more we begin to realise and know about the Mystery , we soeasily call God, the less we either can or want to say. Ultimately, our mystical journey leads usinto silence and solitude.

The next part of this series on Only the Mystics Will Surviveis Theme 6 :- Responses to

Questions Part 2 - Developing a Mystical Consciousness The Importance ofMeditation. This sixth (6th) part will appear shortly on the Satsang Blog http://midlands-satsang.blogspot.co.uk/ . Meanwhile, if you are interested in the Spirituality of the Satsang thenvisit the following websites:




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Theme 6 Responses to Question Part Two -Developing a Mystical Consciousness

The Importance of Meditation

Preamble. This reflection opens with the following quote concerning the state of Meditation.

We cannot wake up (mystically) by ourselves. God has to wake us up from within

What is Meditation? In this talk, which was Part 2 of audience questions; Ishpriya carriedon the theme of Mystical Consciousness but focused particularly on Meditation and MeditationPractice. She reminded us that We cannot wake up (mystically) by ourselves. God has towake us up from within. However, as in any relationship, we too need to play our part in thisawakening. She then reminded us that meditation practice IS Not the same as the actualstate of mystical consciousness called meditation. However, our meditation practice can leadto this state of transcendence. But it is ultimately gift or grace.

In our Meditation Practice we are invited into a deeper relationship with God, Ultimate Reality.We enter a period of practice (or silent prayer) which involves us in reaching deeper levels or

states of silence. Ishpriya often reminds us that our meditation practice is an invitation tofollow the sounds of our life into the inner silence.


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A dictionary definition of meditation states that it means to reflect upon, ponder, orcontemplate. It can also mean a devotional exercise of contemplation in either a religious orphilosophical context. The word meditate comes from the Latin meditari, which means to thinkabout or consider.

Our meditation practice is a gateway into the actual meditative state. In both Hindu andBuddhist spirituality, these two states have distinctive names and outcomes. Whilst I am not anexpert in either Tradition, I am a little more familiar with Hinduism. Let us look at Hinduism andthe Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. Here we find the two stages or states more clearly outlined. Thequote below gives us some clues to both Meditation and Meditation Practice. Let us start withthe latter.

Even as fire without fuelFinds peace in its resting-place,

When thoughts become silenceThe soul finds peace in its own source.Maitri Upanishad

Dharana Concentration Patanjalis 2nd Sutra suggests that our practice is meant to leadus to a quiet or still point. When that point is reached then the mind becomes quiet. Thismental stillness is created by bringing the body, mind, and senses into balance. This processor state is referred to as dharana, the art of concentration and precedes the actual meditativestate.

Meditation - dhyana, The actual meditative state is Dyana. This is defined more specificallyas a state of pure consciousness. It can also be referred to as a state of transcendental bliss.The quote at the beginning of these reflections is one used by Ishpriya to introduce her CD ofMeditation (see the ISA Website for further details). Its words are a classic definition of bothstages firstly Dharana concentration and then Dyan Meditation.

How can we best prepare for Meditation Practice? To prepare ourselves we need toprepare at the physical and psychological levels. The body position or posture does notmatter. Although it is helpful to sit with a straight back, as this assists regular and deepbreathing, the most important thing is to feel comfortable.

The practice can be done in a variety of ways. It can be Zen Walking or Kinhin, Sufi dancing orthe classic Hindu, Buddhist or Christian sitting meditation. But, whatever method or practice weintend to do then we have to prepare ourselves for this. Ishpriya, commenting on the classicsitting meditation remarked that We cannot simply park our bodies like we park a car.We need to find a way to be still and to bring the body and mind to an attentive inner stillness.Then through our meditation practice we can open ourselves up to developing our mysticalconsciousness.


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The above is not merely a matter of (necessarily) changing our lifestyle but it demands wechange the way we are alive. In the speed of todays changing world any practice that helpsus to come back to the Unchanging Reality helps us and all those whom we meet and relateto. This requires us to learn to live with the sense of an Unchanging Security. In this way we

can remain firmly rooted in todays rapidly changing world. This is not just a matter of physicaland psychological awareness of our environment, us and others. It requires us to access ourown sense of the Mystery and our own mystical quality. The mystic feels totally at one withnature, the environment and all creation. So therefore, mystics care for the environmentbecause Gods life is there in the environment and they also care for all of creationbecause they are more fully aware of the role as a co-creator.

Ishpriya warns us that our society is losing touch with its mystical inheritance and is beingdestroyed by intolerance, fear, greed and panic. It is important that we regain a sense ofdignity for what it means to be human. The dignity of the ordinary and unique human being isparamount and we need to re-discover this. The only way this can occur is if we discover this

sense of unique dignity in ourselves. Meditation practice is one way of creating an opportunityto do this.

The world does not need more oil, it needs more wisdom

Ishpriya spoke about the rapid increasingglobalisation of Industry, Finance and Commerce.This was driven primarily by a focus on accumulatingwealth and power. This drive has led many on to apath which involves the incessant pursuit of wealth.

This has resulted in work being seen by many as themost important aspect of life. Using the example ofthe globalisation of the oil industry, its importance foralmost every aspect of modern daily life and ourfrantic search