Embracing Everyday Mysticism: Awakening to Our True Self

In his book towards the psychology of being abraham maslow describes 16 attributes of a person who has mystical experiences so there is a personality type of a person that would have more mystical experiences but with 49 of the population you would think that um it wouldn't be a specific personality type but he decided that there was he said that there that people who have these mystical experience have a a more defined sense of unity so they are all with one with all things they have this connection they have a oneness with the environment so not just with each other but with everything in this world. [00:10:44]

they experience peak power so they understand that they have their own inner strength and they tap into that to be able to express that into the world they do not force they're non-forcing so they allow themselves to allow this to happen to them instead of forcing it to be they have self-determination they know what they want they have defined ideas of what's important to them they're free of inhibition now they are more open and they're more accepting they are willing to explore explore and they're curious they have some spontaneity so they're willing to be in the moment and to move from that space to the next. [00:11:26]

they are they do and i this is what i love about unity especially here at unity of tacoma they have purposeless creativity so they create just because they can and that's what's wonderful about it they they create for the sake of creating it's there's a sense of timelessness that they they live in they be present in the eternal now they're not spending too much time in the future too much in the past they spend time in the present they are self-actualized so if you're in to abraham maslow they understand that is the peak of your consciousness development that you have become the pinnacle of your individuality. [00:12:14]

there is a merging of i and other so again there's not just a unity but there is a there is no separation between you and i they are unmotivated by their needs so they're not they don't go after things because they need them they feel that they have this want they feel like they have this deep want or a deep need they do it because of the reasons they have compassion or they have joy or or whatever they're driven by it's not a need that they have to fulfill they're artistically expression they have artistic expression and they appreciate that so all types of art they enjoy that. [00:12:54]

there's a sense of completion feeling and being full and abundant at all times and they're playful and they're open to joy and having fun and they're opening to inviting synchronicity and having things be a surprise and so all of these things you would think that if 49 of the population walked around with all these attributes life would be a little bit better that all of these people with all of these wonderful attributes would be making our lives much better but i also believe that not everyone holds that attribute just because you have a mystical experience or you have an attribute like that does not mean it's not causation it doesn't mean that it's a causal effect it means that there's a correlation between those two things. [00:13:36]

a mystical experience is ineffable it's difficult to describe it defines the expressions of expression of words and it's hard to fully describe in depth there's you can't relay the meaning and intensity of the experience the moment actually just has to be experienced in order to be fully understood and there is a sense of awe and wonder that that is beyond what can be explained there's also a noetic quality to mystical experience so not only is it beyond words but it brings to you a sense of understanding a knowledge that you didn't have before during a mystical experience you may receive insight or a knowing or a deep truth that was not otherwise available to you unless you had this experience. [00:14:57]

now william james believed that those having those two ex two attributes the ineffable and the noetic equality those two would define a mystical experience but he also had two more that would add on to it he believed that they were transient there's something that you can't hold on to those of us that have had mystical experience really want to have them again and so we want to hold on to that beauty that we're in the moment and yeah they're transient they they at the outside the longest probably for for normal people would be 20 minutes maybe half an hour uh on the outside it would be maybe an hour two hours but that is very rare a mystical experience is transient. [00:15:52]

however even though they're transient and they happen very for a very short period of time once you have one you have a propensity towards having another one and when you have another one then you're easily recognize them even though they were short-lived or they might have been a blip in time you do know when you have a musical experience especially if you've had one before and also they're passive so no matter how hard we try or how much meditation that we do or how much prayer we perform we cannot bring on a mystical experience we would like to i'm sure there are other ways to get into a mystical types experience state that wouldn't require other things to assist you in that process. [00:16:39]

gurus and mystics and spiritual teachers and religious icons have been trying to explain this mystical experience for years and knows they knew that you had to be present and with that individual while they're going through this process and as i told you earlier when i read the the reading by ken wilbur he had this wonderful forward in the book that's from carolyn mace that beautifully summarized what a mystical experience was and what they were for and why we have them to begin with because that who wants to go through their lives and all of a sudden have this crisis of faith or some kind of of something that changes your consciousness in your everyday life but it happens so we need to embrace it and there's a reason why. [00:22:14]

so ken wilber believes that the reason we have these awakenings is to realize and to remember who we truly are that we are housed within this human form that we do not come from this human form so mainstream science believes that consciousness comes from the brain but mystics and and gurus know that consciousness comes from outside and we are the vessels for that consciousness and you can remember when jesus said i am not of this world he knew where he came from we are not objects we are an essence that comes into the world in human form we are the expression of the divine here on earth and the small awakening awakening experiences that happen are there to remind us who we are. [00:23:12]

he says that each of us has an outer self and an inner self so the outer self our ego self is the self that can be seen that's what we walk around in we walk around in ourselves in this world while we have an inner self a transcendental self the i am it can never be that i am-ness that essence can never be objectified it can't be solidified it is always there without physical form it is in the essence of who we are there is freedom and liberation in that space of awareness and from the finite that we are are in this world we go past our egos and understand that we are infinite. [00:24:46]

the inner self lives in a timeless now eternity does not mean that it's everlasting time it's a moment that is without time so which happens every time we get into the now moment and in this now moment we see that there is an endless awareness of what things are it is encompassing of all time yet it is without time the true awareness of this is ever present it never ends and it's an eternal moment and we can no matter where we are in time we can get into that eternal present now and that is where we come from we are come from a space of time place where there is no time there is only the eternal. [00:25:10]

so the inner self is a great mystery and we are often not aware of it and without this either training or having these mystical experiences we walk around mostly without an awareness that this is even there but i'd like you to take for a moment just a moment and think of something that you've done today maybe you got in the car you drove here or you turned on your or your camera for the youtube and just think about that and now who is the person who is watching you think about that your mind thinks about that your mind is is embed embedded within that experience but you see yourself doing that you see that you had did that you can run that through your mind like a movie who is witnessing that that is the great witness of the inner self. [00:26:26]

the definition of hell is an identification with our outer selves and the material world so hell is actually a horrendous case he says of mistaken identity we have forgotten who we are we forget as we move through the day where we come from and who is actually moving through us and as us we are not in touch with that transcendental the i am-ness self and when we get plugged back into that source that idea that that essence that is us and moves through us then we get out of this idea of suffering in hell when we identify only with the finite self with the material things then we get lost we the seer cannot be expressed through us. [00:28:55]

heaven is a discovery and realization of the inner divine self the supreme identity the kingdom of heaven is within jesus taught us over and over again the i am-ness within us the essence that we i am talking about that is beyond physical form is christ consciousness it is spirit itself it is part of source it is the representation in the expression of the true divine within us jesus of nazareth he realized that i and the and the father are one there is no separation between the essence of who we are and the essence of source that is be that is beyond our understanding quite simply transforms this idea transformed jesus from jesus of nazareth to the eternal christ that we have heard about and talked about and we preach about or we share with each other. [00:29:50]

these spiritual awakenings and mystical experiences are really hard to describe so i really am still struggling to explain to you what they really are but psychologists and philosophers and poets and musicians and mystics have been trying to express it in their own unique ways because they are beyond words but when we know that these experiences are pointing towards something that is beyond something that we can explain we understand that we are not who we are in our physical form we are beyond that and it reminds us of that each and every time the essence of who we are and where we came from is inviting us to remember with these experiences. [00:32:59]

when you have some moment of clarity of opening of awakening remember who you truly are they allow you to glimpse eternity in the now to be one with source to be one with god and and in the eternal now one moment begins and ends at the same time this is who we are we are not objects in this world we are the expression of essence of god in this existence and so if you've had a mystical experience continue to seek continue to be continue to express and if you haven't had a mystical experience open yourself up to one because it is a reminder of who you are and just bask in that moment. [00:33:47]

he says there is only the radiant all-pervading deeply divine i am-ness within which all the world's worlds arise and fall all are born and die there explode into being and fade into oblivion carried along by the one and only thing that is always ever present even unto the ends of the world this ultimate mystery and emptiness and release freedom and fullness ground and goal grace and glory the self of mine that i can no longer find. [00:52:49]