“We are living at a time of great transformation. The spiritual awakening that began in the 1960s needs to mature to its next level, which is a deepening into devotion to a mystical practice while remaining an effective force in the world. And by that I mean remaining in your skin, in your role as who you are. Mystics knew how to channel grace through prayer and they knew the power of that. They knew how to receive guidance through reflection and contemplation; they knew how to share the gift of illumination with each other. These are great gifts of life and profound grace that we are capable of providing for each other and the world. This is what it means to be a mystic without a monastery. You make a commitment to your own interior illumination and through that discover the “sacred” part of your “contract” and the true meaning of your highest potential.”

Caroline Myss

 

As a student of mysticism, I enjoy reading the writings of Teresa of Avila, Parker Palmer, St Francis of Assisi and Thomas Merton. Each individual is from very different times in history, but all had the benefit of mystical experiences. The commonality amongst all of these wonderful teachers was the necessity for transformative challenges. Each had to walk through the fire of uncertainty in order to have a true mystical experience, a step on the very personal road to spiritual discovery. Where they began was not at all where they ended up, and all that was in between represented the difficult work of life, and ultimately salvation.

 

Transformation is one of the only constants of this life. Nothing remains stagnant and everything must change. Transformation is also not for the faint of heart. It involves the examination of the soul in a deep and meaningful way. Each individual will approach this examination uniquely, no one path exists. The difficulty for mystics is that the cultural norm for spiritual transformation often involves very set rules of engagement, predetermined by centuries of religious practice. This can create a barrier to the completeness of the experience.

 

Transformation in my life has always represented a period of difficult change and a painful birthing of the new. Moments like the birth of my first child, living in an emotionally disconnected marriage, betrayal, divorce and illness. During those times I would never had believed that I was experiencing divine intervention and ultimately a transformation of the soul. I think back and feel a deep sadness. I feel the desire for what I did not have, the inability to find true and lasting love, the overwhelming responsibility of raising a child and finally the total rebellion of my body in illness. How could such difficult times be in any way transformative in nature?

 

Nowhere did any historical figure ever say that true change would be easy. Why then do we believe that we are marked for failure when challenges present themselves? Why do we not celebrate change as an opportunity to teach us?  Discomfort is not something that people cherish in this generation. Everything is about immediate gratification. The work of the soul is neither immediate nor gratifying.  It is messy, ugly work that leaves us spent and completely exhausted from the trying. Here enters the mystical experience, in the moments of despair when we are brought to our knees and become humbly aware of the Divine. In those moments, we are closer to finding our true self then in any other time that came before.

 

Teresa of Avila says it well with,  “For if the will has nothing to employ it and love has no present object with which to busy itself, the soul finds itself without either support or occupation, its solitude and aridity cause it great distress and its thoughts involve it in the severest conflict.” Conflict in this sense can be a dark period in one’s life. A calling to take some time to assimilate what is happening. Times of deep reflection are often followed by intense transformation. They are one in the same. The beauty of mysticism is to be comfortable with the uncomfortable, to sit calmly in the storm, to be misunderstood and to misunderstand. It is all an opportunity to grow in ways only a personal experience can allow. In retrospect, I am grateful for these life experiences. It is only with the wisdom that comes from transformation that the soul can stretch and become more authentic. I look forward to the next “great transformation” with a sense of anticipation and wonder for what will become known.