Defining The Mystical Energy
John L. Waters
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Third Paper for Jim Dodge
English 699
John L. Waters
November 13, 2000
Copyright 2000 by John L. Waters.
All Rights Reserved.
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1. Define Mystical Energy:
Mystical energy is what you sense when you are
inspired. You are inspired as you feel the absence of
blockage, negation, worry, shyness, anger, and stress,
and you are functioning at a level much higher than
before. In her book, "SuperMind The Ultimate Energy,"
Barbara Brown calls this higher-functioning mind
"SuperMind."(1)
After you start to feel mystical energy you often
perform tasks that you couldn't perform before. You
may be surprised that you are performing these tasks.
You feel that you are being guided by a higher
intelligence or power.
2. What are the distinguishing characteristics of
mystical energy?
(a) New-found and improved physiology and health:
Before you become a master of the mystical energy you
really enjoy eating meat, sweetened foods, and spicy
foods, but after you have become filled with the
mystical energy and integrated this energy into your
being you are perfectly satisfied eating simple, bland
vegetarian foods and you no longer crave any sweetened
foods, spicy foods, or animal matter. This
transformation is due to physiological changes, not to
your personal will, your conscious determination or
your so-called "higher" morals. To verify or disprove
this idea, more people need to test the idea under the
supervision of trained scientific investigators.
(b) New-found pleasure:
Before you become sensitized to the mystical energy
you may indulge in one pleasure after another and
still not really be satisfied. But when you become
filled with the mystical energy the perception of the
mystical energy itself is the sublime pleasure. To
verify or disprove this idea, more people need to test
the idea under the supervision of trained scientific
investigators.
(c) New-found humor and creativity:
Before you become filled with the mystical energy, you
sometimes scoff, joke, or are mean and destructive
and you sometimes attack something or someone to
relieve your own inner tension. After you become
filled with the mystical energy you lose this
tempermentalness, and you become more creative, more
empathetic, and more helpful to others. You become a
more childlike person. To verify or disprove this
idea, more people need to test the idea under the
supervision of trained scientific investigators.
(d) New-found talents developed and demonstrated:
After you have become filled with the mystical energy,
you demonstrate one or more special abilities that you
didn't demonstrate before you became filled with the
mystical energy. For instance, you may start creating
music on a musical instrument. You may begin to
produce art works or writings. You may take unusual
initiative and show special intuitive ability. To
verify or disprove this idea, more people need to test
the idea under the supervision of trained scientific
investigators.
3. How Is mystical energy perceived?
Many people report that they sense mystical energy as
they are using their eyes in a way that isn't seeing
different things in detail and in depth or at a
distance. In using the eyes in this extraordinary way
a mystic is sensing more than what he or she ever saw
before. This use of the eyes is itself a task many
people consider impossible. But some people have
become inspired and seen in this way.
Examples:
Brief Descriptions: Sensation of The Mystical Energy:
1. Quote from a devotee of the spiritual teacher
Gangaji:
"Two weeks ago I didn't know what satsang or Gangaji
was. But when I saw your tape and I looked into your
eyes, the longing was fulfilled. I didn't see form, I
saw my heart."(2)
2. Consider Austin Rust's experience in the presence
of Benjamin Creme:
"I was transfixed in eye to eye contact with Him. Then
I had the experience that He was in me and outside of
me simultaneously. I experienced Him within myself at
the very center of my Being. I then realized that He
was the one Whom I served. I was His servant and would
help pave the way for His reappearance to the best of
my limited ability." (3)
3. Quote in a recent letter from Phil Servedio who
has studied under several spiritual masters:
When asked in an e-mail, "In your article "Breaking
the Hymen Of The Heart" you describe "Gazing with
Lawrence was really a meeting in being, heart to heart
and wonderfully opening for me." Would you explain
what you mean by "gazing with"? Were you gazing at
the same scene together or were you gazing at each
other?"
Phil Servedio answered:
"John, We were gazing into each others eyes. This is a
common form of initiation and transmission in various
schools, eyes being the 'window to the soul', so to
speak, and more. Gazing is very powerful and moving
stuff."(4)
4. Quote from Molly Jones, a devotee of Adi Da
formerly Da Free John and Franklin Jones:
"It was as though someone had turned on 10,000 lights.
The actual physical light in the tent had not changed,
but the vibratory level of energy went way, way up,
and it was visible as a form of light emanating from
Avatara Adi Da's body..... Everyone was
singing and gazing at Avatara Adi Da. He looked
fiercely around the room, resting his Gaze on
different people as He slowly moved His head. I felt
His Love absolutely, without qualification."(5)
Mystical experiences associated with unusual visual
effects
1. As described by Jacob Boehme:
Jacob Boehme was twenty-five years old when he
happened to glance at the reflection of sunlight in a
pewter vessel. As he continued to gaze at the light
the shoemaker felt that he had seen into the very
heart of nature. Leaving his cobbler's shop Boehme
walked through a gate out into the green countryside,
where he continued to be struck by a change in his
perceptions. Quoting directly from Andrew Weeks,
"Abraham von Franckenberg gave an account that has
become legendary. Surprised by a gleam, presumably of
sunlight, in a tin or pewter vessel, the shoemaker
began to imagine that he was seeing into the secret
heart of nature, into a concealed divine world.
Intent upon clearing his mind of this "phantasy,"
perhaps so that he could resume his shoemaking labors,
the young man went out-of-doors. Since the city was
small, he could easily pass through a nearby gate and
into the green countryside. There, according to
Franckenberg, the rapt cobbler continued to see all
the more powerfully into the secret "center of
nature." Forms, lines, and colors now bore some new
meaning for him. In his own account, the strongest
emotional effect associated with the experience was
his sense of having been embraced by divine love: as
if life had been resurrected from death, he recalled
twelve years afterward."(6)
2. As described by Ruth Dahlen:
She gazed at a snowflake which had landed on a spruce
needle. The needle dissolved into flickering flames
of light. Soon the whole spruce tree was a pillar of
flame. She saw visions of a five dimensional geometry
behind the physical universe. She had repeated
visions of lessening intensity over a five day period
and then these visions left her.(7)
3. As described by Barry Stevens:
She was walking along a New York street and the sun's
reflection off a safety pin caught her eye. As she
gazed into the bright light she experienced a rapid
sequence of thoughts which culminated in her sensing
that she had arrived at "an explanation of the
universe."(8)
4. As described by Martinus:
"I looked right into a figure of flame...A wonderful,
elevated emotion seized me...In the white light , the
world became changed to God's Kingdom."(9)
5. As described by C.M.C.:
"The light and color glowed, the atmosphere seemed to
quiver and vibrate around and within me....On several
occasions, weeks after the illumination described, I
distinctly felt electric sparks shoot from my
eyes."(10)
6. As described by Gustav Fechner:
"Every flower beamed upon me with a peculiar clarity,
as though into the outer light it was casting a light
of its own....Indeed, one will hardly believe how new
and vivid is the nature which meets the man who
himself comes to meet it with new eyes."(11)
7. As described by Alan Watts:
"The sky was in some way transparent, its blue quiet
and clear, but more inwardly luminous than ever at
high noon. The leaves of the trees and shrubs assumed
qualities of green that were incandescent, and their
clusterings were no longer shapeless daubs, but
arabesques of marvelous complexity and
clarity...Flowers--I remember especially the
fuchsias-were suddenly the lightest carvings of ivory
and coral."(12)
8. As described by Orson Bean:
"The sky over the East River...was a deeper blue than
any I had seen in my life, and there seemed to be
little flickering pinpoints of light in it. I looked
at the trees. They were a richer green than any I had
ever seen. It seemed as though all my senses were
heightened. I was perceiving with greater clarity. I
walked home feeling exhilarated and bursting with
energy."(13)
9. As described by a subject of Alister Hardy:
"About 14 years ago when life was difficult and I was
in a state of near despair one evening, the quality of
sunlight seemed to change, and this time, though the
scenic beauty all around was magnificent, it was the
colour and pattern of a common weed's tiny clustered
flowers which I found I was really seeing for the
first time, and in the contemplation of which I was
again swung into that wider vision and
participation."(Quote from (821,F,63))(14)
10. As described by David Boadella:
"If such phenomena as Reich described in the sky in
fact exist, why is it, one may reasonably ask, that
other people have not commented on them. Let us
consider a related phenomenon that can be observed in
the daytime, which Reich also described. If one looks
into the daytime sky on a clear day, relaxes the eyes,
and looks into empty space, a number of minute
brilliant points of light become visible. They appear
to dance about in whirling motions."(15)
11. As described by Jiddu Krishnamurti:
"It was a clear morning though soon clouds would be
gathering. As one looked out the window, the trees,
the fields were very clear. A curious thing is
happening; there is a heightening of sensitivity.
Sensitivity, not only to beauty but also to all other
things. The blade of grass was astonishingly green;
that one blade of grass contained the whole spectrum
of colour; it was intense, dazzling and such a small
thing, so easy to destroy. Those trees were all of
life, their height and their depth; the lines of those
sweeping hills and the solitary trees were the
expression of all time and space; and the mountains
against the pale sky were beyond all the gods of man.
It was incredible to see, feel, all this by just
looking out of the window. One's eyes were
cleansed."(16)
12. As described by Jean-Joseph Surin:
"on a number of occasions my soul was invested with
these states of glory, and the sunlight seemed to
grow incomparably brighter than usual, and yet was so
soft and bearable that it seemed to be of another kind
than natural sunlight. Once when I was in this state,
I went out into the garden of our college at Bordeaux;
and so great was this light that I seemed to myself to
be walking in paradise." Every color was more
"intense and natural," every form more exquisitely
distinct than at ordinary times.(Huxley's
paraphrasing.)(Quotes from Jean-Joseph Surin)(17)
13. As described by Rabindranath Tagore:
"All of a sudden a covering seemed to fall away from
my eyes, and I found the world bathed in a wonderful
radiance, with waves of beauty and joy swelling on
every side. The invisible screen of the commonplace
was removed from all things and all men, and their
ultimate significance was intensified in my
mind."(Quote from Rabindranath Tagore.)(18)
4. What is the source of mystical energy?
Pine trees and other trees with resinous, oily, or
milky sap accumulate and project large amounts of
mystical energy. A sensitized person can meditate in
a grove of resinous trees and see "fairy" lights in
the foliage. These lights aren't electromagnetic
energy and they're not visible to a person who isn't
sensitized to the mystical energy. Persons who
accumulate and project the mystical energy may be
recognized by other people as inspired.
5. Is mystical energy renewable?
Yes, to the extent that evergreen trees and human
beings are renewable.
6. Is mystical energy an entity or a process?
Mystical energy is an entity that is sensed and
integrated by a mystic within his body, his emotions,
and his mind. The sensing and mastery of mystical
energy by a mystic is a process. The mystic also has
to integrate his own personal skills and talents with
those of other people. This is how a clear
understanding of this difficult subject will be
achieved.
7. Where is the mystical energy perceived in the
psyche?
The mystical energy is perceived and sensed in
different parts of the psyche, as it affects taste,
smell, vision, hearing, thought, and other brain
processes. Sensitized persons who don't understand
this sense have difficulty integrating the mystical
energy with their ordinary senses and their
rational-verbal intelligence.
8. How does mystical energy differ from imagination?
A person who has a great imagination will conceive
hundreds of different poems, characters, stories,
melodies, or other inventions in a year. But the
mystical energy itself isn't an imagined construct.
Nor is a person who has a great imagination
necessarily sensitive in the way a mystic is. The
fact is, imagination is disrupted by the mystical
energy because imagination is a result of brain
activity.
However, when a man's brain activity is altered by his
recent sensitization to mystical energy, his
imagination may be over-stimulated. He may get lots
of bizarre ideas, and never understand the actual
means by which this mental hyperactivity is produced.
Attributing his own hyperactivity or the hyperactivity
of some other person to an imaginary God or Spirit
doesn't provide a truly useful result.
Furthermore, just as a blind man (such as Stevie
Wonder) may be very imaginative and create many new
songs in a year, a person may be normally sighted and
full of imagination, but never become sensitized to
the mystical energy. In this way we recognize that
imagination and the mystical energy are not the same.
Notes and References:
1. Brown, Barbara "SuperMind the Ultimate Energy."
Bantam Books, New York 1980. pages 207-209
2. Taken from the webfile
http://www.gangaji.org/satsang/library/excerpts/darknt.htm
3. Taken from the webfile
http://www.friendsofm.com/wib/wib.html
4. Personal communication. website
http://www.well.com/user/phils/index.html
5. Taken from Beyond Comprehension, a story of
one devotee's first encounter with Avatara Adi Da.
P.27 from the booklet "An Introduction To Adi Da."
6. Weeks, Andrew, "Boehme" (Albany:State University
of New York Press,1991),pp 1,2
7. Jacobson, Nils M.D. "Life Without Death?" (New
York:Dell Publishing Company, Inc.,1971),p.289
8. Rogers, Carl and Stevens, Barry "Person to Person"
(Lafayette, California: Real People Press,1968), p.115
9. Jacobson, Nils M.D. "Life Without Death?" (New
York: Dell Publishing Company, Inc.,1971), p.293-295
10. Bucke, Richard Maurice "Cosmic Consciousness"
(New York: E.P. Dutton and Company, Inc., 1946).pp.
325-329
11. Fechner, Gustav and Lowrie, Walter "Religion of a
Scientist" (New York: Pantheon Books Inc., 1946),
p.211
12. Watts, Alan "Nature, Man, and Woman" (New York:
Pantheon Books Inc.,1958), p.125
13. Wilson, Colin "The Quest For Wilhelm Reich"
(Garden City, New York: Anchor Press/Doubleday, 1981),
p.165
14. Hardy, Alister, F.R.S. "The Spiritual Nature of
Man- A study of contemporary religious experience"
Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1972. page 72
15. Boadella, David "Wilhelm Reich- The evolution of
his work." Arkana Press London, Boston and Henley 1985
page 160
16. Krishnamurti, Jiddu "Krishnamurti's Notebook"
Harper & Row, Publishers New York 1976 pages 38, 39
17. Huxley, Aldous "The Devils of Loudun" Chatto &
Windus, London 1970 page 353
18. Kripalani, Krishna "Rabindranath Tagore- a
biography" Grove Press, Inc. New York 1962 page 101
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