The Trouble With Mystics

Wayne Teasdale, a Catholic contemplative monk and interspiritual pioneer whose mentor was Bede Griffiths, observed that the convergence of religions rests in mysticism. The trouble is that mystics of all religions tend to draw the wrath of orthodox religionists. This is because mystics perceive a fundamental Source that is beyond, even, the dogmas of the particular religion they are faithful to.

The result is that mystics have often suffered the ultimate persecution at the hands of orthodox practitioners of their own faith, including burnings at the stake, torture, and death by dismemberment. Ironically, most of these victims later regain a high standing in their faith, even sainthood, as in the case of Joan of Arc in the Catholic Church. Christian mystic Meister Eckhart, who proclaimed that the soul and God are of the same substance, spent the last years of his life on trial for heresy.

Sufi mystic Al-Hallaj said that, when his ego disappeared in fana (self-annihilation), the only existent being was God. This lead to his ecstatic utterance, “I am He,” which is comparable to the words of the Hindu Upanishads, “That thou art.” The closest Christian parallel would be, “I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.” (Galations 2:20)

For the orthodox religionists of the time, this was a heresy, and Al-Hallaj was condemned to a protracted death by torture and dismemberment. Yet he said–while he was still able to speak–”Though I am killed and crucified, and though my hands and feet are cut off–I do not recant.” (Nicholson, Idea of Personality, 32)

Fortunately, such actions are illegal now, but the mystics are still vigorously attacked today by orthodox religionists. The objection seems to be that the perceptions of the mystics undermine the fundamental doctrines of orthodoxy. Nevertheless, the three examples of Joan of Arc, Meister Eckhart, and Al-Hallaj were all faithful to their religions.

The problem is that mystics are able to perceive truth on different levels–the literal level and at the level of the Absolute, which is beyond the symbols of religion–whereas their persecutors function only at the literal level.

Al-Hallaj spent years studying spiritual traditions other than Islam and had this to say:

I have meditated on the different religions, endeavoring to understand them, and I have found that they stem from a single principle with numerous ramifications. Do not therefore ask a man to adopt a particular religion (rather than another); for this would separate him from the fundamental principle; it is the principle itself which must come to seek him. (Divan: Muqatta’at)

This is very interesting because it implies that, once we are fortunate enough to discover the Source that is beyond all dogma, we remain adherent to the faith to which we were called.

For this very reason, whatever religion I may be studying or writing about at a particular time–and I am an enthusiast of many–I remain a Christian, and I affirm the Apostle’s Creed.

God bless.

Interspirituality: Seeing With God’s Eyes

There is a Sufi saying that declares, “When I see with the eyes of God, I see God everywhere.” Christian mystic Meister Eckhart proclaims, “The same eye wherein I see God is the same eye wherein God sees me.” In the religion of Vedanta, God says, “Whoever sees me in all beings hates no one.” Jesus teaches us that seeing with God’s eyes is to see every being, high or low, rich or poor, as a child of a loving Father, wherein we are all brothers and sisters. Like the Buddha, Jesus looks upon all beings with compassion. Compassion is his response to the human condition. When Mohamed first went to Medina, he desired to unite Jews, Christians, and Arabs under a religion of the God of Abraham.

As an interspiritual Christian, it is my mission to recognize truth in whatsoever religion it occurs; and all the while to see with the eyes of Jesus. When I see with the eyes of Jesus, I see Him in every being and in every religion, even those that do not recognize Him in the same manner which I see Him.

This process has taken me more years than I care to say. It is my fervent prayer that younger Christians–and young people of every religion–will take a much shorter time than I did to become interspiritual. For us Christians, this does not mean that we “compromise” on our own faith, as some fundamentalists claim. Nothing could be further from the truth. Studying other religions–looking beneath the surface waters of dogma and deep into the eternal waters of the Spirit–has given me a greater love for Jesus Christ than ever before.

I have discovered that, underneath the differences, every religion–in its highest expression–teaches us to die to self in order to be reborn into the Divine will. The Sufis speak of a drop of rain finding its path to the river and making its way into the ocean. Zen Buddhist master Shunryu Suzuki speaks of an individual drop of water going down a surging waterfall until at last it joins the vastness of the river below.

We Christians can speak of dying into Christ, being resurrected through Him, and ascending with Him into Heaven. While still on this earth and in this very body, we can pray, “May I no longer live so that Christ lives in me and through me.”

The prophet Isaiah spoke of a time when the lion will lie down with the lamb. He prophesied that God’s people will take their intruments of war, forge them into plowshares, and cultivate the earth in peace with all the nations. Every thoughtful person knows that this is what the nations of our globe must learn to do if we are to survive as a race.

As Hans Kung has pointed out in books, speeches to the United Nations, and talks to religious groups around the globe, “There will be no peace between nations until there is peace between religions.” Every religion must refuse to be used as a tool to facilitate war.

All religions must be examples of how nations can coexist peacefully by peacefully coexisting with each other in love and mutual respect. This is, after all, what every religion teaches in its highest expression, and I believe that this vision is to see with the eyes of God.

God bless.

Christianity and Sufism

Sufism is the mysticism of Islam. Mysticism is the direct experience of God. It is possible that Sufism was inspired when Muslims came in contact with the Christian ascetics of the desert. The meaning of the word sufi is related to the wool garments that Sufis wore in imitation of the Christian ascetics.

Many religious thinkers have observed that the common thread of mysticism runs deeper than doctrinal differences, and this is why the mystics of different traditions can learn from each other. While the earliest Sufis learned from the Christian ascetics, today’s Christians can learn a great deal from Islamic devotion to God.

The meaning of Islam is “submission” to the will of God. Three elements of Islam are faith, submission to the divine will, and virtue (or, the spiritual life). A saying often quoted by Sufis is “Die before you die.” According to R. A. Nicholson,

“fana, the passing-away of the Sufi from this phenomenal existence, involves baqa, the continuance of his real existence. He who dies to self lives in God, and fana, the consummation of  this death, marks the attainment of baqa, or union with the divine life.” (Reynold A. Nicholson, The Mystics of Islam, pg. 149)

We can recall the words of St. Paul, “I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.” (Galations 2:20, NIV)

One of the doctrinal differences Islam has with Christianity is that, while it recognizes the “son of Mary” as a great prophet and gives Jesus the utmost respect, the God of Islam does not have a son, because He “is neither begotten not begets.” (The Holy Koran) This is no small doctrinal difference, but in my view there is grounds for inter-religious dialog, as the Koran, within the confines of Islam, shows absolutely no disrespect whatsoever towards Jesus.

And the two religions find a common thread in the mysticism of both our great faiths. The Islamic poet Jalaluddin Rumi says,

If there be any lover in the world, O Muslims, ’tis I,

If there be any believer, infidel, or Christian hermit, ’tis I.”