First Unitarian Universalist Society of Albany
Mystery and Mysticism
Rev. Samuel A. Trumbore, February 16, 2003

Call to Celebration -Rumi

Dissolver of Sugar, dissolve me,
if this is the time.
Do it gently with a touch of hand, or a look.
Every morning I wait at dawn.
(that’s when it’s happened before)
Or, do it suddenly like an execution.
How else
Can I get ready for death?
You breathe without a body like a spark.
You grieve, and I begin to feel lighter.
You keep me away with your arm,
but the keeping away is pulling me in.

Sermon

A good way to get into the topic of mystery and mysticism is to look to the Bible. In particular, let us look at the experience of Saul of Tarsus. As he was approaching Damascus, "suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, 'Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?'" (Acts 9:3) The English word 'fall' doesn't do justice to the Greek word "pipto" used in the book of Acts. This word ranges over meanings like: to fall prostrate; to be overcome by terror or astonishment or grief or of falling dead suddenly; the dismemberment of a corpse by decay, to fall as if to perish or be lost; to fall into ruin. Saul didn't just trip and stumble, he was, as Sheldon Solomon likes to say, reduced to a quivering mass of protoplasm.

Not only is he prostrate on the ground, he hears voices. He asks, "Who are you, great power who reduces me to the dirt." The voice is said to have responded, ""I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting."

Saul is not alone when this happens. There are witnesses! The men who are traveling with him are speechless at what they have seen and/or heard. Unfortunately the Bible contradicts itself here. In one place it says they heard the voices and saw no one (Acts 9:7) and in another it says they only saw the light and heard nothing (Acts 22:9). (This is a good passage to talk over with your friends who believe in Biblical inerrancy.)

Poor Saul is struck blind. He can neither eat nor drink for three days. The scales fall from his eyes only when he is healed by Ananias, one of Jesus' disciples. Not that Ananias wanted to help Saul. When God tells him to go heal Saul, he resists. He says, "Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints in Jerusalem; and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who invoke your name." (Acts 9:13,14) Not only did Saul persecute Jesus' disciples, he could have Ananias arrested in Damascus. God was asking Ananias to risk his life to heal Saul. God doesn't take no for an answer saying, "Go, for he is an instrument whom I have chosen to bring my name before Gentiles and kings and before the people of Israel; I myself will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name."

So begins the Christian religion. Without Saul “pipto'ing” to the ground in the First Century, it is unlikely Jesus' message would have survived to this day. Saul's experience on the road to Damascus is a powerful example of what one mystical experience can do to change the world.

Saul was neither the first nor the last to have these kind of powerful, transformative, mystical experiences. Scholar of world religions, Karen Armstrong,writes, "Paul's vision is not unique; nor is its transcendental experience limited to Christianity. Throughout history men and women have had similar visions and been impelled by them to acts of supreme courage and endurance." [2]

Unitarian Universalists are ambivalent about these kinds of powerful mystical experiences. On the one hand, we are suspicious of them--and with good reason. If that experience happened while Saul was walking down the street today, the police would take him to the mental hospital for evaluation and observation.

Humanist UU’s have been suspicious of mysticism because of the alleged supernatural content and references.Here we have some philosophical allies to get a more reasoned approach to mysticism.Instead of categorizing mystical experiences as supernatural experiences created by God, William James is best known for his attempt to reclassify them as real, human experiences.To avoid confusion with supernaturalism, James talks psychologically about "mystical states of consciousness" to describe a range from the most profound religious experience to non-religious experience.

One important quality that James identifies that makes these experiences mystical is the strong sense of significance and knowledge that comes with them.Another is their ineffability.They cannot be captured effectively or completely in language and defy symbolic expression.Typically they are transient.They come and are gone, not to be willed again.While they powerfully affect the person who has had them, they are not easily re-experienced through memory.And interestingly, while in the mystical experience, the individual having it is not actively able to process the information.Instead it is a passive experience, operating outside the will.Saul was powerless before the forces that overwhelmed him and blinded him for three days.

The positive part of having a mystical experience is that it seems to expand one's field of consciousness.They sharpen perception and open the door to greater insight and understanding.They breach the wall of self and leave behind a window that opens to a sense of life and meaning beyond the self.Paul, before his experience was only a Jew.Afterwards he also became a follower of Jesus as well as remaining a Jew.

Abraham Maslow also felt that mystical experiences occur universally, with or without theistic or supernatural content.He felt strongly that each experience was unique to the person experiencing it.He called them "peak experiences" because he thought they could be de-mystified, making them natural and available outside a religious framework.He felt a secular framework could be better used to understand and interpret them.

Taking the mystery out of mysticism would make many Unitarian Universalists happy because of the disbelief among our members in the supernatural.Unitarians have never liked the word “mystery.”It is a dislike that springs from our historical dispute with the Trinitarians.Our sixteenth century forbears read the Bible and could find no evidence for a Triune God.How can there be three Gods in one and still believe God is one?What did our Catholic rivals say?"It's a mystery."

Well we aren’t quitters when it comes to the search for truth.Labeling a broad spectrum of problems mysterious and presuming their intractability implies ceasing all attempts to know or explain.We don’t want to admit defeat or lapse into intellectual sloth.We see mysteries opening doors of exploration rather than closing them.We are not interested in accepting the status quo.We want to penetrate mystery’s veil and reveal her true nature.

Take the experience of John (1) which has both elements of mystery and mysticism in it.John (not his real name) has an MA in Psychology and a D.O. in medicine, and is board certified in family practice. He has been an Associate Professor of Family Medicine and is now in private practice. His totally unexpected and unusual visionary experience took place when he was 30 years old in the most unlikely setting of a military briefing. 

In the summer of 1984, fresh out of a Navy medical internship, he was assigned as a general medical officer to a Marine Corps Air Station. The base was here in the continental US, and was largely a training command. There were no wars or deployments on the horizon.John was and still is a straight arrow--no drugs or alcohol.He had no spiritual practice or special spiritual training.

In a modern, well-lighted auditorium, John was listening to a completely uninspiring, mundane orientation by base officers in a room three quartersfull of Marines and sailors.After several hours of tedium, he noticed the presenter's feet were melting into the floor.They appeared to merge with a very large, living structure, that he recognized as the back of some sort of truly enormous reptile.As he looked around he saw everyone, even himself connected to the back of this reptile, as if they were all the same living organism.

Soon came a flood of extremely positive emotions.He felt vibrantly alive, safe, warm, and in harmony with all that exists.He felt he was being shown the fundamental reality of our interconnectedness.The vision was as solid and as clear as any normal waking experience.The walls became mildly translucent and he could see the enormous head of the reptile turning to look at him.In its eyes, he saw tremendous compassion and humor almost as if it smiled.It wordlessly communicated the message, "So, for a moment, you see.Relax.Don't take yourself so seriously!All is well.We are forever one."

After about 10 minutes, the vision faded away, as if the curtain that had been drawn back, closed again.Nothing even remotely mystical or mysterious has happened to John since that day.

What do you think of this experience?What if it had happened to you?John waited years before sharing it with anyone.The emotion and the message are clearly mystical but the images of the huge reptile are very mysterious.

A more psychological and scientific example of the intersection between mystery and mysticism comes from the life of Dr. James V. Hardt.Dr. Hardt has a B.S. degree in Physics and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Psychology. He has been employed as an Assistant Professor at the University of California, San Francisco and published research in such journals as Science, the Journal of Experimental Psychology, and Psychophysiology. This experience occurred while he was a graduate student.

In 1968, Hardt was a subject in biofeedback research.This was his forth session trying to generate alpha waves while a computer monitored his electroencephalogram through electrodes on his head.The experiment was conducted in a low-light, soundproof room. The only feedback he had was a tone and an electronic readout that calculated the magnitude of the waves.If the tone got louder, and his numbers increased, he was making more alpha waves.

The lab technician wired him up and started the electronic equipment.Then she ran an errand upstairs and became involved in another task.Apparently she forgot that Hardt was still in the chamber and went out to lunch with some friends.3 1/2 hours later, she suddenly realized he was still in there and rushed back to see what had happened.

Over that time interval, Hardt had had quite an inner adventure.The practice from the first three sessions of biofeedback had shown him some good methods of relaxation and mind control to generate alpha waves.As he worked at it, he was able to make the tone stronger and stronger.If he moved or allowed himself to become distracted, the tone diminished.

He noticed breathing slowly seemed to help.Opening the eyes made things worse.Sometimes the tone would get very strong.But if he reached for it with his mind to try to control it, it vanished.As he experimented with different states of mind, he noticed he had gaps in consciousness that he couldn't account for that registered positively in the readings and sound.He noticed that thinking itself was blocking the alpha waves.The gaps in thinking produced a burst of alpha wave activity!

Hardt worked at letting go of thoughts until he could sustain the tone during that gap.He found himself watching the process of consciousness rather than being absorbed in the process of consciousness.As he got better and better at it, he noticed a strange sensation of lightness.Whenever the 'I', the sense of self, started thinking about the sensation of lightness, it became heavy again.Gradually he felt himself floating to the ceiling and looking down at his body.If he started trying to analyze the experience or felt self-congratulatory, down he came.The more he was able to empty his mind, the more he was able to float, and the more ecstasy he felt.

It was as if he could exist outside the flow of time, almost unrippled by his presence.The faltering of the tone indicated any self-centered brain activity.He began to peel the onion and see the multi-leveled dimensions of thought as it arose and disappeared.

By the time the lab techs came bursting in to see what had happened to him, Dr. Hardt had had a near ego-death experience and was ready to spend the rest of his life researching biofeedback.

I love this story because it suggests where the intersection of mystery and mysticism can go.Dr. Hardt was having what many would categorize as a mystical experience.But because of the laboratory conditions and his keen observation and insight, he was slowly unraveling the mystery of that mystical experience.

Yes, we all love a good mystery.But we love even better discovering the meaning and method behind it.I could recognize in Dr. Hardt's retelling of his experience, elements of my meditation practice techniques.I'm now becoming fascinated with the idea of biofeedback as a tool for accelerating my meditation practice.

This is the vision today's scientists are taking seriously.Instead of rejecting mystical experience as supernatural or unworthy of study, scientists are using the new tools available to peer into people's brains and remove some of the mysteries about how they work.

While science cannot reveal the meanings behind mystical experiences, it may be able to reveal the mechanisms.Whether that will bring us closer to a higher truth or not, I’m afraid is still a mystery, for now.What we do know is the transformative power of mystical experience to bring meaning and purpose to people's lives.Saul was transformed from a persecutor to a peace-loving religious leader.Dr. Hardt has developed effective healing tools through his research in biofeedback that transform the lives of people suffering the scourge of addiction.There is no mystery about using the power of mystical experiences to help people, particularly those who have lost their way.

There will always be mysteries.And always the urge to know why rises from the deepest part of our being.Let us respect, even enjoy, the persistence of mystery while continuing our quest for truth and meaning.

And as we do, the great reptile, upon whose back we ride, connecting us all together, will continue to smile and laugh.“So, for a moment, you see.Relax.Don't take yourself so seriously!All is well.We are forever one."

Benediction

The pink orange hues peeking
over the frozen horizon
trumpeted the arrival of the sun god’s chariot.
So transfixed was I
as night began lifting the curtain on a new day.
Yes, photon receptors, neurotransmitters, and
endorphins may explain it all . . .

All, except my strengthening resolve
to love it all with all my mind, heart and strength
while at the same time, letting it be.

May all the mysteries in our lives
expand our love and stimulate our curiosity
loving that mystery
like locked rooms and books written in a foreign tongue. 

(1) Both these stories are found on Charles Tart’s web site titled T.A.S.T.E. The Archives of Scientist’s Transcendent Experiences http://www.issc-taste.org/The stories are fascinating.

Copyright © 2003 by Rev. Samuel A. Trumbore.All rights reserved.