Mystical Religion
"For with much wisdom
comes much sorrow; the more knowledge, the more grief." ― Ecclesiastes, 1:18
There is a common evolutionary thread running
from matter to life to mind. Common patterns are found and repeated within the human domains of Beauty (‘I’),
Truth (‘It’) and Goodness (‘We’) (Plato’s Natural Theology). The secret to these patterns or higher stages of
consciousness is spiritual.
The Self can be viewed as a ‘climber’ in
life. We learn and struggle to overcome life’s challenging (and sometimes embarrassing) stages; akin to
climbing up a ladder. Abraham Maslow's well known ‘self-needs’
ladder is a 5-rung ladder model: 1) safety, 2) belongingness, 3) self-esteem, 4) self-actualization and 5)
self-transcendence.
Another ‘people model’ is the simple
'3-rung ladder' of consciousness: 1)
Pre-Personal (birth to 24mos.), 2) Personal (2 ~ 15yrs), 3) Trans-Personal. Within each major ‘rung’
are sub-rungs. Another way to view the the '3-rung' ladder is the conventional expression "Body,
Mind & Soul".
The basic trend of consciousness is to become
less narcissistic. The lower and earlier ‘rungs’ or stages of moral development are
egocentric, narcissistic, me-only-oriented, very impulsive and hedonistic. The middle stages tend to be
conformist – my country right or wrong. The higher stages transcend conventional or conformist modes
and center on universal pluralism and individual rights.
Higher than this are the spiritual stages, also
known as the ‘Trans-Personal’ stages. Mr.
Wilber labels them ‘Psychic’, ‘Subtle’ and ‘Casual’.
They all relate to the mystical – ‘having a spiritual meaning or reality that is neither apparent to the senses
nor obvious to the intelligence’. ‘Mystical’ is a loaded word, in that people typically take that
something that is beyond grasp, or above God’s law. It is not. If you are uncomfortable with
'mystical', another word is ‘metaphysical’ – a term the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle used to describe
things ‘beyond the physical’.
The worldview of the ‘Psychic’ Mind is Nature
Mysticism. Union of Nature & Self (worldsoul). ‘Subtle’ Mind is Deity mysticism. Union of God &
Self. The worldview of ‘Etheric Mind’ or Christ-Consciousness. Mystical
Christianity or Gnostic
Christianity is ‘Subtle’ Mind or Deity mysticism. The
world view of the Casual Mind is Formless Mysticism. Where Pure (Real) Self is pure Emptiness. Nirvikalpa
Samadhi. Classic Nirvana. Witness I-I. Timeless, spaceless, objectless, the
unborn.
In the three-level model of consciousness there
is a very interesting worldview that is kind of an island – the Existential. The Existential sits between the
Personal and the Trans-Personal. They have a somewhat sad pathology -- they do not recognize levels of
consciousness above themselves. To do so is to be inauthentic (ie, immortality projects, bad
faith). The Existentialist has all the senses, the
creativity, deductive and inductive reasoning. They are blind in that they can’t (or won’t) access the
higher power of the Passive. Love & Energy Flow; link to one’s Akashic Records; Communication to
God; connection to the God-Head.
Journey of the Soul, Book 3 (Tools of
Perfection), presents an excellent discussion on the ‘Proper Map of the Mind’.
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