WELCOME to the most isolated monastery on the internet. Maybe anywhere. It’s hard to say.
The ‘monastery’ is a metaphor, to remind us to carry the values of calmness and stillness into our everyday lives. The ‘monastery’ is in all of us.
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‘Mysticism’ is about doing, rather than about thinking or feeling (some might say it is about being, which is true, but in the sense of how one’s state of being is transformed by exposure, experience and practice, rather than through trying to be a certain way, which is just imitation).
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We are living in an atmosphere of climate-denial, of divisiveness and hate. Working men and women are subjected to an unrelenting pressure — to produce more for less. In such an environment, how is it realistic to consider that we have a chance to robustly improve consciousness?
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The best practice is to look for life to be a way of practicing what you want to be more about - in everything you do.
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Many kinds of mystics
Not all mystics are the same. There are many types, including Christian mystics, Buddhist mystics, Jewish mystics and Sufi mystics. Some would never use the term ‘mystic’ in describing themselves.
All mystics are biased according to their predispositions. Some are conservative, some are progressive. Some put belief over experience, while others place experience over belief. Some meditate to achieve the stillness, while others meditate within the stillness. Some sit still, while others travel. Some are able to visit deep realms, and others are able to visit even deeper realms.
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We all have experiences with the state of ‘mushin’, or ‘empty mind’. Perhaps it’s just after we wake up in the morning, laying very still in bed. Or, maybe we drift into it as we watch the waves crash on a visit to the seashore.
But are these experiences simply isolated, only an occasional thing to somewhat haphazardly encounter as we thread our way through life? Or, can we find ways to extend these moments, eventually creating a continuous flow of inner calmness?
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