Growing Into God: A Beginner's Guide to Christian Mysticism - Softcover

Mabry, John R.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0835609014 ISBN 13: 9780835609012

Verlag: QUEST BOOKS, 2012

Inhaltsangabe

For many people, the word mysticism conjures up occult, secretive rituals held after midnight in some dark cave. But true mysticism isn't at all sinister or secretive, says author John Mabry, an Anglican-rite Congregational minister. In fact, mysticism is at the heart of an authentic Christian life. It is nothing more and nothing less than the pursuit-and enjoyment-of union with God, which is the goal of all Christian spirituality. Christian mysticism is the discipline of growing the soul into God--shedding illusory identities, deepening prayer, seeing God in all things, and acting as Christ in the world.

Mabry's great passion is to bring theology to everyday life by explaining complex ideas in everyday language that anyone can understand and find useful. In Growing into God, he "demystifies" mysticism, providing a friendly and accessible entry point to some of the teachings, practices, and experiences of the Christian mystical tradition. Mabry explores the classic mystical journey, which begins with the Awakening of a unitive consciousness that experiences everything as Divine and interconnected. The journey continues with Purgation, in which we empty ourselves of illusion; Illumination, in which we begin to see God in all things and all things in God; and, finally, Union, in which we marry our lives with God's life. Our hands become God's hands, our lips become God's lips, our touch becomes God's touch, in order to bring help, comfort, and healing to the world.

,p>Along the way, and with an entertaining teacher's clarity, Mabry recounts the stories of many Christian mystics, including inspiring quotations. He also enriches each chapter with questions and answers to simplify points as well as experiential practices to help readers embark upon the mystical journey themselves

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Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

John R. Mabry is a pastor, teacher, musician and writer. He holds a master's degree in creation spirituality from Holy Names College and a doctorate in philosophy and Religion from the California Institute of Integral Studies. John has served as editor for Creation Spirituality magazine and Presence: An International Journal of Spiritual Direction, and as managing editor for the Episcopal Diocese of California's Pacific Church News. John currently serves as pastor of Grace North Church in Berkeley, Calif., an Anglican-rite Congregational parish. John is the Director of the Interfaith Spiritual Direction Certificate Program at the Chaplaincy Institute for Arts and Interfaith Ministry, where he also teaches world religions and interfaith theology. He also teaches for the master's degree program in Interfaith Spiritual Guidance at the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology in Palo Alto, Calif. John is the author of numerous books on spirituality and spiritual guidance, including Faith Styles: Ways People Believe, Noticing the Divine: An Introduction to Interfaith Spiritual Guidance, and The Way of Thomas: Nine Insights for Enlightened Living from the Secret Sayings of Jesus. He also writes fiction, poetry, and music. John lives in Oakland, Calif.

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Growing into God

A Beginner's Guide to Christian Mysticism

By John R. Mabry

Theosophical Publishing House

Copyright © 2012 John R. Mabry
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-0-8356-0901-2

Contents

Notes and Acknowledgments, 
Introduction, 
Chapter One: Awakening, 
Chapter Two: Purgation, 
Chapter Three: Transition: Dark Night of the Senses, 
Chapter Four: Illumination, 
Chapter Five: Transition: Dark Night of the Spirit, 
Chapter Six: Union, 
Conclusion: This Tradition Belongs to You, 
Questions and Answers, 
The Mystics, in Their Own Words, 
Spiritual Practices, 
Appendix A: The Mystic's Journey in Liturgy and Tradition, 
Appendix B: The Mystic's Journey and Spiritual Development Theory, 
References, 

CHAPTER 1

Awakening

* * *

In the passage on the facing page from the Gospel of John, Jesus issues a call to his future disciples Philip and Nathanael. He calls them to follow him and he gets Nathanael's attention with a very minor miracle: he knew what Nathanael was doing when Nathanael was alone. But he promises that if he comes with him, Nathanael will see much greater things.

Nathanael is not unique—this is something that happens to a lot of people; perhaps it has even happened to you. It seems to be the way God works: he shows us just a little bit, enough to turn us from our intended course, and promises that if we will come with him, he will show us much, much more.

This is the essence of Awakening. It is a minor miracle—sometimes dramatic, sometimes subtle, but usually it is just enough to make us go, "Whoa! What was that?" and start us searching in a direction we might not have gone otherwise.

It is, in a sense, an experience of conversion, but not in the way we normally think about that word. For it is not a conversion to a set of doctrines or beliefs, but a conversion—a transformation, if you will—of one's very perception of Reality.

"YOU MUST BE BORN AGAIN"

When we are born the first time, it is into a world that revolves around ourselves. When we have an Awakening experience, we are born again, but this time into a world in which the locus of importance is elsewhere—in fact, everywhere. Awakening is a momentary flash of insight when we are granted a glimpse of the universe as God sees it.

In college, I struggled mightily with the fundamentalist teachings I had grown up with; I was terrified that God would reject me. I was reading a lot of Anglican poets, theologians, and mystics, so when a friend said, "Let's go see what those Anglicans mean by 'church,'" I was primed for the experience.

Primed maybe, but not ready. The church of my childhood harbored a deep distrust of art or beauty, especially in worship spaces, so my jaw dropped when I encountered the gothic sanctuary covered with tapestries, icons, and statuary, as well as the enormous, gory crucifix staring down at me in all its agony—mesmerizing and deeply moving.

But what really shook me was when the priest gave the call for communion. I cannot say why, but I raced for the communion rail and knelt, certain that I had found what I had been searching for all of my life.

And that's when it happened. I heard the voice of the Holy Spirit speaking to me. As the priest placed that wafer on my tongue, I felt a presence wash over me like an ocean wave and I heard an audible voice: "This is my mercy for you. You can feel it. You can taste it. It is real." Not only had I not been rejected by God, I had been chosen. I had been called. And I glimpsed something of God that completely reoriented my life. I was awakened.

Awakening takes different forms for everyone. For some it may be a half hour in which everything seems to glow with transcendent import. Or perhaps it is a moment in which you seem to see right into people's souls and feel such profound compassion for them your heart feels likely to burst. Perhaps it is an inrushing of energy that leaves you dazed and tingling. Perhaps, like me, you are actually in church and the voice of the Spirit whispers to you audibly in a way you cannot ignore or deny. Or perhaps a walk in the woods turns into a more sacred experience than any church service you've ever been to, as in this account from Quaker mystic Rufus Jones:

I was walking alone in a forest, trying to map out my plan of life and confronted with issues which seemed too complex and difficult for my mind to solve. Suddenly I felt the walls between the visible and the invisible grow thin and the Eternal seemed to break through into the world where I was. I saw no flood of light, I heard no voice, but I felt as though I were face to face with a higher order of reality than that of the trees or mountains. I went down on my knees there in the woods with that same feeling of awe which compelled men in earlier times to take off their shoes from their feet. A sense of mission broke in on me and I felt that I was being called to a well-defined task of like to which I then and there dedicated myself.

Such an experience can utterly undo a person. It can be disorienting, frightening, inspiring, and dangerous. In spiritual direction, we call it a Spiritual Emergence, or even a Spiritual Emergency—and indeed people often flee to the emergency room, fearing that they are going crazy or are physically ill.

Some people are glad when the experience passes. "Thank God that's over," they say as they go back to life as usual. And for some people it's not so dramatic. But whether the experience is subtle or intense, there are many who do not go back to business-as-usual; for these people it is the beginning of the end—in a good way. Because in that glimpse they realize that the way they have been living has little meaning in the grand scheme of things, that they are not who they thought they were; they've had a little taste of God, and they want more. They are hooked.

AN INVITATION

If you want to grow spiritually, if you want to walk the mystic's path, be careful and beware what you ask for. You may be singing with REM, "It's the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine," and, indeed, you may be so drunk on divine ecstasy that you're lighting the flame-thrower yourself, but your world will end. And worlds do not end without tears.

When Philip and Nathanael followed Jesus, they left everything and everyone they knew behind. They left their jobs, their homes, their families, their lives. What God may be calling you to may not be so extreme—but then again, it might be. That's a risk you take on this journey. Just how far down does the rabbit hole go?

But here is the comfort—the only things coming to an end are unreal things—nothing real is ending, only illusions of security, or competence, or grandeur. Everything that you thought you were, but that you are not, in fact, is called into question by this experience, and it can be both liberating and scary as hell.

The Awakening experience is actually very common. Some people run from it as far and as fast as they can. But those who are truly mystics, who embrace the experience, set their feet upon a path that has no end. There will be more hardships, sure, more worlds to end, you can be sure of that, but also joy and the greatest gift God can bestow upon a human being: the knowledge of our true selves, our true nature, our true purpose.

The experience of Awakening is, in a way, an...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: QUEST BOOKS
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2012
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 0835609014
• ISBN 13: 9780835609012
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Anzahl der Seiten: 287
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
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