One
important quality that James identifies that makes these experiences mystical
is the strong sense of significance and knowledge that comes with them.Another
is their ineffability.They cannot
be captured effectively or completely in language and defy symbolic expression.Typically
they are transient.They come and
are gone, not to be willed again.While
they powerfully affect the person who has had them, they are not easily
re-experienced through memory.And
interestingly, while in the mystical experience, the individual having
it is not actively able to process the information.Instead
it is a passive experience, operating outside the will.Saul
was powerless before the forces that overwhelmed him and blinded him for
three days.
The
positive part of having a mystical experience is that it seems to expand
one's field of consciousness.They
sharpen perception and open the door to greater insight and understanding.They
breach the wall of self and leave behind a window that opens to a sense
of life and meaning beyond the self.Paul,
before his experience was only a Jew.Afterwards
he also became a follower of Jesus as well as remaining a Jew.
Abraham
Maslow also felt that mystical experiences occur universally, with or without
theistic or supernatural content.He
felt strongly that each experience was unique to the person experiencing
it.He called them "peak experiences"
because he thought they could be de-mystified, making them natural and
available outside a religious framework.He
felt a secular framework could be better used to understand and interpret
them.
Taking the mystery
out of mysticism would make many Unitarian Universalists happy because
of the disbelief among our members in the supernatural.Unitarians
have never liked the word “mystery.”It
is a dislike that springs from our historical dispute with the Trinitarians.Our
sixteenth century forbears read the Bible and could find no evidence for
a Triune God.How can there be three
Gods in one and still believe God is one?What
did our Catholic rivals say?"It's
a mystery."
Well we aren’t
quitters when it comes to the search for truth.Labeling
a broad spectrum of problems mysterious and presuming their intractability
implies ceasing all attempts to know or explain.We
don’t want to admit defeat or lapse into intellectual sloth.We
see mysteries opening doors of exploration rather than closing them.We
are not interested in accepting the status quo.We
want to penetrate mystery’s veil and reveal her true nature.
Take
the experience of John (1) which has both elements of mystery and mysticism
in it.John (not his real name)
has an MA in Psychology and a D.O. in medicine, and is board certified
in family practice. He has been an Associate Professor of Family Medicine
and is now in private practice. His totally unexpected and unusual visionary
experience took place when he was 30 years old in the most unlikely setting
of a military briefing.
In
the summer of 1984, fresh out of a Navy medical internship, he was assigned
as a general medical officer to a Marine Corps Air Station. The base was
here in the continental US, and was largely a training command. There were
no wars or deployments on the horizon.John
was and still is a straight arrow--no drugs or alcohol.He
had no spiritual practice or special spiritual training.
In
a modern, well-lighted auditorium, John was listening to a completely uninspiring,
mundane orientation by base officers in a room three quartersfull
of Marines and sailors.After several
hours of tedium, he noticed the presenter's feet were melting into the
floor.They appeared to merge with
a very large, living structure, that he recognized as the back of some
sort of truly enormous reptile.As
he looked around he saw everyone, even himself connected to the back of
this reptile, as if they were all the same living organism.
Soon
came a flood of extremely positive emotions.He
felt vibrantly alive, safe, warm, and in harmony with all that exists.He
felt he was being shown the fundamental reality of our interconnectedness.The
vision was as solid and as clear as any normal waking experience.The
walls became mildly translucent and he could see the enormous head of the
reptile turning to look at him.In
its eyes, he saw tremendous compassion and humor almost as if it smiled.It
wordlessly communicated the message, "So, for a moment, you see.Relax.Don't
take yourself so seriously!All is
well.We are forever one."
After
about 10 minutes, the vision faded away, as if the curtain that had been
drawn back, closed again.Nothing
even remotely mystical or mysterious has happened to John since that day.
What
do you think of this experience?What
if it had happened to you?John
waited years before sharing it with anyone.The
emotion and the message are clearly mystical but the images of the huge
reptile are very mysterious.
A
more psychological and scientific example of the intersection between mystery
and mysticism comes from the life of Dr. James V. Hardt.Dr.
Hardt has a B.S. degree in Physics and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Psychology.
He has been employed as an Assistant Professor at the University of California,
San Francisco and published research in such journals as Science, the Journal
of Experimental Psychology, and Psychophysiology. This experience occurred
while he was a graduate student.
In
1968, Hardt was a subject in biofeedback research.This
was his forth session trying to generate alpha waves while a computer monitored
his electroencephalogram through electrodes on his head.The
experiment was conducted in a low-light, soundproof room. The only feedback
he had was a tone and an electronic readout that calculated the magnitude
of the waves.If the tone got louder,
and his numbers increased, he was making more alpha waves.
The
lab technician wired him up and started the electronic equipment.Then
she ran an errand upstairs and became involved in another task.Apparently
she forgot that Hardt was still in the chamber and went out to lunch with
some friends.3 1/2 hours later,
she suddenly realized he was still in there and rushed back to see what
had happened.
Over
that time interval, Hardt had had quite an inner adventure.The
practice from the first three sessions of biofeedback had shown him some
good methods of relaxation and mind control to generate alpha waves.As
he worked at it, he was able to make the tone stronger and stronger.If
he moved or allowed himself to become distracted, the tone diminished.
He
noticed breathing slowly seemed to help.Opening
the eyes made things worse.Sometimes
the tone would get very strong.But
if he reached for it with his mind to try to control it, it vanished.As
he experimented with different states of mind, he noticed he had gaps in
consciousness that he couldn't account for that registered positively in
the readings and sound.He noticed
that thinking itself was blocking the alpha waves.The
gaps in thinking produced a burst of alpha wave activity!
Hardt
worked at letting go of thoughts until he could sustain the tone during
that gap.He found himself watching
the process of consciousness rather than being absorbed in the process
of consciousness.As he got better
and better at it, he noticed a strange sensation of lightness.Whenever
the 'I', the sense of self, started thinking about the sensation of lightness,
it became heavy again.Gradually
he felt himself floating to the ceiling and looking down at his body.If
he started trying to analyze the experience or felt self-congratulatory,
down he came.The more he was able
to empty his mind, the more he was able to float, and the more ecstasy
he felt.
It
was as if he could exist outside the flow of time, almost unrippled by
his presence.The faltering of the
tone indicated any self-centered brain activity.He
began to peel the onion and see the multi-leveled dimensions of thought
as it arose and disappeared.
By
the time the lab techs came bursting in to see what had happened to him,
Dr. Hardt had had a near ego-death experience and was ready to spend the
rest of his life researching biofeedback.
I
love this story because it suggests where the intersection of mystery and
mysticism can go.Dr. Hardt was having
what many would categorize as a mystical experience.But
because of the laboratory conditions and his keen observation and insight,
he was slowly unraveling the mystery of that mystical experience.
Yes,
we all love a good mystery.But
we love even better discovering the meaning and method behind it.I
could recognize in Dr. Hardt's retelling of his experience, elements of
my meditation practice techniques.I'm
now becoming fascinated with the idea of biofeedback as a tool for accelerating
my meditation practice.
This
is the vision today's scientists are taking seriously.Instead
of rejecting mystical experience as supernatural or unworthy of study,
scientists are using the new tools available to peer into people's brains
and remove some of the mysteries about how they work.
While
science cannot reveal the meanings behind mystical experiences, it may
be able to reveal the mechanisms.Whether
that will bring us closer to a higher truth or not, I’m afraid is still
a mystery, for now.What we do know
is the transformative power of mystical experience to bring meaning and
purpose to people's lives.Saul
was transformed from a persecutor to a peace-loving religious leader.Dr.
Hardt has developed effective healing tools through his research in biofeedback
that transform the lives of people suffering the scourge of addiction.There
is no mystery about using the power of mystical experiences to help people,
particularly those who have lost their way.
There
will always be mysteries.And always
the urge to know why rises from the deepest part of our being.Let
us respect, even enjoy, the persistence of mystery while continuing our
quest for truth and meaning.
And
as we do, the great reptile, upon whose back we ride, connecting us all
together, will continue to smile and laugh.“So,
for a moment, you see.Relax.Don't
take yourself so seriously!All is
well.We are forever one."
Benediction
The
pink orange hues peeking
over
the frozen horizon
trumpeted
the arrival of the sun god’s chariot.
So transfixed was I
as
night began lifting the curtain on a new day.
Yes, photon receptors, neurotransmitters, and
endorphins
may explain it all . . .
All,
except my strengthening resolve
to
love it all with all my mind, heart and strength
while
at the same time, letting it be.
May
all the mysteries in our lives
expand
our love and stimulate our curiosity
loving
that mystery
like
locked rooms and books written in a foreign tongue.
(1)
Both these stories are found on Charles Tart’s web site titled T.A.S.T.E.
The Archives of Scientist’s Transcendent Experiences http://www.issc-taste.org/The
stories are fascinating.
Copyright
© 2003 by Rev. Samuel A. Trumbore.All
rights reserved.