Religious mystics place their trust in a higher power, a powerful being that creates and controls the world and the people in it. Sometimes, as in the case of Zen Buddhism, religious mystics will also place their trust in a practice, that asceticism and meditation are the truest way to understand the world. Mystics aren’t always religious, though they often are. The writing of quantum physicists and Jungian psychologists often borders on the mystical, the deeper it gets. Whatever system, being, or practice you’ve found in which to place your trust, place it there.
Regardless of your spiritual or religious leanings, it’s good to read and study a wide variety of mystical writings, across disciplines and dogmas. Christian writer Thomas Merton spent considerable time studying Zen Buddhism,
Avoid the showy materialist trappings of some religions. You don’t need an expensive rock garden, koi pond, and meditation pad to be a Buddhist mystic. You don’t need a 13th-century crucifix to be a Christian.
Avoid the showy materialist trappings of some religions. You don’t need an expensive rock garden, koi pond, and meditation pad to be a Buddhist mystic. You don’t need a 13th-century crucifix to be a Christian.
This can be surprisingly difficult, and it won’t happen right away. Buzzing text alerts and constant 21st century noise can make it hard to slow down and focus. Try to simplify your life as much as possible. Start small. Put your phone away, except when you actively need it to make a call or send a message.
Why are we here? What does it mean to live a good life? Who am I? What happens when we die? What does death mean to me?
Thomas Merton’s No Man is an Island St. Augustine’s Confessions of St. Augustine The Cloud of Unknowing, written anonymously Julian of Norwich’s Revelation of Divine Love DT Suzuki’s An Introduction to Zen Buddhism The Nasruddin Stories from the Sufic tradition
For some mystical Christians, living life as close to the way Christ lived is the most important aspect of practicing. For others, spreading the gospel is essential. Both ways of thinking can lead to mysticism and deep appreciations of the spiritual world.
For many people, being a mystic is an entirely solitary life. Most mystics are monastic for a reason. If you want to be a mystic, it’s hard to go out on Saturday night and have fun. Are you up to the challenge to commit?
To start praying, focus less on asking specific yes-no types of questions and more on focusing on feeling. How does it feel to get in touch with the higher power in which you believe? How does talking with your god affect your soul? For some monastics, time needs to be divided evenly between reading the great texts, meditating, and experiencing the world. As a rule of thumb, don’t spend more time praying than you spend studying the religious texts you study, and vice versa.
To start meditating, learn to still your thoughts and watch them float through your mind without identifying them actively. Just sit, focus on your breathing, and fix your gaze on the void. Try to hold onto your meditation-mind for as long as possible throughout the day. Notice the little things. Slow down.
In some traditions, finding a teacher, mentor, or guru is an essential part of practicing your own brand of mysticism and developing as a mystical thinker. If you’re ready to pledge yourself to a serious practice, consider finding a personal teacher.
