The Mystagog

I belong to no religion.  I am a mystagog - a teacher of religious mysteries - a guide to the "Perennial Philosophy." This rare term marks the uniqueness and flexibility of an interfaith viewpoint. There are no academic degrees offered on this path, a path that must be supplemented by a dedication to contemplation and a rigor of examination that does justice to those who have gone before.

I study the wisdom teachers - the gnostics, the mystics, the shamans and healers rather than the theologians. They offer insights and methods of approach into the Great Mystery as an experience rather than belief.

The first and obvious teaching is that something' is happening, but we do not know what it IS. That something is generally called Reality. However in practice, any description that may be put in words is of necessity incomplete or fanciful error. Thus it is said: those who speak do not know, Those who know do not speak.

There are benefits in approaching reality as an experience rather than a concept. Some of the benefits reported by mystics traveling this path of experiential knowing include greater peace, joy, love for the whole of creation, healing and the perception of beauty - often said to be highest knowledge of G-d's imanence that a mortal can behold.

Reality is that which IS and is prior to any interpretation and not adulterated by interpretation. This has been expressed as: before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood carry water. The only difference is the clarity of the light by which we see the duty or dharma (law) of the present moment. In Tibet this light is called rigpa and is said to be "clear" to indicate this clarity of perception. Reality is a mater of what you can experience. (What we cannot experience is of course unreal to us.)

The attainment of this clarity is traditionally and logically by removing the obscurations to it. Thus the simplest way to realization is one of releasing all concepts which filter and color our direct perception. This includes primarily the persona's or masks we identify with and are organized as "ego" that occlude the core of what subjective essence or nature there may exist to be disclosed in the process.

In the Christian tradition this has been expressed by Jean-Pierre de Caussade as:

"We attain to God by the annihilation of self. There is no way more secure than that of abandonment [releasing, letting go - the "annihilation" called nirvana, or "emptying" called sunyata (Buddhist), and the "passing away" called fana (Sufi)] and none more easy, sweet, clear, and less subject to illusion and error. God requires an empty space even in the most remote recesses of our nature in order to communicate Himself to our souls. In the degree in which we banish all that is not God, we shall become filled with God...."