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.