This sermon was given at Stevens Chapel on January 11, 2004, by the Reverend Judith Campbell
Mysticism for Unitarian Universalists
Touching the transcendent with human hands
When I think of the words mystic and mysticism, my first images are those of traditional western and Christian images of monks and nuns, alone in their austere little cells within in their isolated cloistered communities, falling into swoons or ecstatic trances in mystical and complete union with the male white God of their understanding.
If I push my thinking beyond the Christian historical framework, I can envision Buddhist monasteries, again far away from the madding crowd, with devotees gently tapping cymbals and chanting a multi-tonal Ommmmmm, or simply sitting in profound silence and being transported out of themselves and into complete union with all existence past and present and future.
From there I can take myself to a Sufi monastery. The Sufis are a mystical sect of Islam, and as part of their devotions they will dance and whirl themselves into a prayerful ecstatic trance, whirling for hours at a time as they transcend the everyday world around them and move into a place that is direct communion with the divine.
Stepping back into our own history, the Shakers of our own 19th and early 20th century were a mystical community, as well as a highly industrious and inventive community. Like the Sufis, they sang and danced in religious fervor until they actually swooned or began “trembling and shaking” in religious ecstasy.
I can continue with our mystical voyage to almost every religion and culture and religious practice on the planet. Because mysticism and desire for transcendence or mystical union with the “holy other” would seem to be a very human component of the religions we define for ourselves. Mysticism crosses religious boundaries and, in fact, unites some very unlikely and disparate religious seekers. Christian Contemplative theologian and religious philosopher and mystic, Thomas Merton, regularly traveled to a Zen Buddhist monastery in Tibet where he lived with the Buddhist monks in religious community and with them found much common ground in their respective religious journeys.
By its very nature, mysticism and the mystical union or experience is not easy to define, because it will be different for each person, and will vary according to the religious practice and to the culture. But, however we define it, it is not the first thing that comes to mind when we think of Unitarian Universalism. We are after all practical rational people. Aren’t we?
The mystical experience is an experience of religious transcendence, of moving beyond the constraints of physical body and mind into another level of awareness - or non-awareness - depending on the practice and the culture. In Western Christian mystical tradition, the mystical experience can be invited through intense prayer and meditation, but at the same time it cannot be summoned on demand. On the other hand, Native Americans on a Peyote journey or other vision quest are quite prepared for what will happen and what they will experience. They can summon it on demand.
The mystical journey is in very defined ways, cultural. Religious seekers sometimes assist the mystical journey by fasting, intense exercise, sleep deprivation and/or otherwise pushing the earthly body to a point that it is almost delusional. We might justly ask: where is the boundary between the deeply religious individual and the fanatic.
In my rational, humanist mind, I want to say HAH! There I told you, they were all nuts. But that is too easy a dismissal. Too many of us would-be skeptics have experienced moments of genuine transcendence without any such assistance. Or, may I add, warning!
Medical researchers studying the act of dying and/or near death experiences tell us that, in the natural process of dying, the brain undergoes certain chemical changes which can cause the dying individual to become very much at peace, and what might be described as delusional. Any number of persons having had a near death experience, when later interviewed, often describe seeing a tunnel, or a great light, or predeceased family members. I can’t account for this, but I can accept that it might be the way of nature to ease the way to the end of the earthly journey in transcendence and joy.
Wanting to move beyond the physical experience is not new to us. We humans have forever used drugs, alcohol, exercise, chanting, dancing or ritual movement, the arts. In other words, anything their own HUMAN body is capable of, to take them out of that body, to transcend the physical material reality and move into another level of awareness. And we do it a lot. And we seem to need to be in that altered state for reasons we may or may not be able to explain. It might be that, for many of us, this world IS TOO MUCH WITH US, and, while not choosing to leave it completely or permanently, we need little vacations, time off from the frenzy and the pressure that the mechanics of living in today’s world inflict upon us all. I ask: is it mystical? Or, is it just being stoned out of your gourd? It might depend on whose buying or selling. And while I am being deliberately flippant here, the reality is religious mystical union and being high on whatever gets you there have a lot in common. Perhaps, if we understand more about our own individual needs to be lifted out of the every day from time to time, we might find ways to accomplish this for ourselves that are physically and spiritually healthy, rather than in ways which are physically and spiritually disastrous.
It is no coincidence that so many of us use the word or the metaphor “journey” to describe our life stories. Our spiritual or religious development can be seen as a journey. Our social and cultural life can be viewed as more of an outer journey, while the religio-spiritual life is more of an inner journey. And within our logical and rational and analytical religious denomination, there are any number of us who in describing our religious or spiritual journey, refer to ourselves as modern day mystics, myself included.
Therefore, the questions for me, and the questions in this sermon are:
Does mysticism and the experience of transcendence fit in a denomination where so many of us are hard core rationalists who define the sacred individually? If so, where?
How can someone who does not hold a concept of deity central to their religious framework be a mystic? (The quick answer is ask a Buddhist! Buddhism is a major world religion which has no concept of a Deity, and yet the Buddhist tradition by definition is a lifelong journey towards ultimate dissolution of the physical and spiritual self into complete union with all that exists. That is another Sermon.)
The answers to those two questions - how Mysticism fits in a rational religious practice and how can people who don’t have a concept of God or the divine call themselves mystics - is present for me, not in our 7 principles, which are really ethical guidelines for living in world community, but in another list, on the same little Tract which I hand out when asked about my faith. It describes Unitarian Universalism as “a living tradition”, which means that Unitarian Universalism is always growing and evolving. The denomination itself is a spiritual and religious and political journey.
I would like to read it to you.
“The living tradition we share, draws from many sources. (read Pamphlet)
Incidentally, this and our 7 principles are in our Church directory. You should really check them out from time to time as a mini-refresher course in Unitarian Universalism.
The first statement - ”Direct experience of that transcending mystery and wonder, affirmed in all cultures, which moves us to a renewal of the support and an openness to the forces which create and uphold life” - says to me part of that which supports and uphold life is the experience of the transcendent mystery and wonder, which is and will be as different for each of us as we are different from one another. And for me anyway it is those transcendent moments that remind me just how beautiful the gift of life is, and how precious and how short.
Whether or not you hold a belief in God or other supreme being, how many of you have been completely transported, lifted out of yourself by a sunset, a piece of music? A creative journey through writing or painting or simply thinking and being present to what emerged? How many of us have been so transported that we have lost track of time and space and place? I think if I asked for a show of hands, or had a time of sharing, there would be a great many of us who would stand up and be counted.
And for those of you who can remember those moments, (and they are quite unforgettable when they do happen), think for a moment, how you felt afterwards. A little dazed and in wonder perhaps about what just happened.
What I find interesting is that, while the mystical tradition is present in most religious traditions, the mystical journey, and what the individual will experience in the center of it, will be culturally and religiously defined. Christian Mystics will be in complete and direct union with God and/or Jesus. Native Americans and Tribal Africans will commune with their own tribal spirits or totem animal spirits. Buddhists in the ultimate release of all earthly desires are one in perfection and perfect peace. The Transcendentalists of one hundred and fifty years ago found their experience of that Transcendent mystery in nature and not in a concept of God, and many of them were Unitarians. The transcendent mystery in Nature was just as renewing and uplifting and miraculous for them as was the voice and presence of God the 13th century Christian Mystic.
Tom Owen Towle calls his book “Free thinking mystics with hands”. There is a good reason for that. As much as we are intrigued by the idea of a mystical experience, most of us here do not have the time or the inclination to go to the mountaintop. We have jobs, kids or grand-kids, committees, you know. But going to the mountaintop is not a requirement. The inner pilgrimage is ours for the undertaking and the road maps are diverse and at the same time, they are all around us.
We live in a real, no kidding, in your face world, where we can watch a war half a world away over dinner and then look at the Mars landscape with coffee and dessert. Later, we can send an e-mail to a newly discovered relative 7 time zones away in an instant. Or, we can, if we want to, turn away from the intensity for a little while and open ourselves to the mystery and the transcending wonder that surrounds us. Unlike more traditionally religious people, if and when we do undertake the inner mystical journey, we are not going to find what has been predetermined for us when we get there. More likely, if we open ourselves to the mystery, it will overtake us in the most unexpected and unlikely times, and you will be forever changed. I promise you.
