Mysticism is, essentially, a practice — with a host of meanings. There are as many frames to mysticism as there are leaves on the mulberry tree.
Mysticism is also aesthetics. It is practical science, its expression from a classic transcendental point. This explains why the transcendental has often been referred to as the high spot of all human glory. Or, the expression of spirituality itself.
It’s a fact that mysticism is valued by people more than their religion. It is also examined more openly; it is not restricted to a few great souls, or sages. Mysticism is for all the people. Just think of it: the magnificent Eastern mystical tradition of yoga, for instance, is practiced without religious connotations.
Bridge Sans Limits
In objective terms, mysticism is the limitless bridge that connects the finite and the infinite. It is also a boundless ocean — a link between the self and the super-self. It is a human want too — a need that can never be satisfied by something finite, or anything that is limited.
In our search for the infinite, we often tend to get in touch with aesthetics, or beauty, to start with — be it science, or art. The idea, of course, may not always reflect what is pleasant to the eye and the mind. Rather, it could mirror disorder, or something awkward and difficult. But, it does represent something substantial — delicacy. In other words, when mysticism reaches its most subtle detail, it achieves its summit — the highest point of human distinction.
Spirituality is, without a doubt, the propelling force that gives mysticism its identity. One major example is, again, yoga. Yoga is précis in motion. It also means unification — a part of the whole, and the sum of its parts. It means complete unification — beyond numbers, or what may be obvious. It’s the peak of supreme enchantment — the unification of the supreme entity.
Our physical and psychical structures, as you’d know, are most fitting when it comes to achieving our complete purpose of unity. This is, of course, something which neither animals nor plants possess. Animals and plants, as a matter of fact, aren’t as mentally developed as we human beings are — or, think. But, plants and animals have feelings. Like us. When a plant is ‘harmed,’ its feelings are hurt.
Likewise, when the inborn instincts of an animal are channelled well, it derives pleasure out of it. In much the same way, when our own resident instincts are muffed, suppressed or undervalued, we experience pain. This holds good for all life: whether it is our life, or the fundamental existence of plants and animals. The only difference is: the wheels of the human spiritual movement cannot be brought to a halt, because we human beings have specialised a design of our own. You may call this the higher plane of our own existence, or intellectual refinement.
Seat Of Energy
Back to yoga, the most developed and the most valuable statement of our wants. Yoga is the original mode that expresses itself through the arts and sciences. It is also the final point of all artistic associations and all branches of the sciences. It is, in simple terms, the supreme source — the unending origin of all energies. In other words, yoga is the ultimate seat of all energies. It is the supreme entity, or the source manifestation of all existence in the universe — living and non-living. Yoga also tells us why for each of us — whatever our position, intelligence, or lack of it, education, or lack of it — the supreme entity must always be our first agenda.
This is what mysticism, or our spiritual search, for living a life in the right spirit and proper frame of mind, body, and soul, is all about. It is, in sum and substance, the coming together of all our expressions.
Dr RAJGOPAL NIDAMBOOR, PhD, is a wellness physician-writer-editor, independent researcher, critic, columnist, author and publisher. His published work includes hundreds of newspaper, magazine, web articles, essays, meditations, columns, and critiques on a host of subjects, eight books on natural health, two coffee table tomes and an encyclopaedic treatise on Indian philosophy. He is Chief Wellness Officer, Docco360 — a mobile health application/platform connecting patients with Ayurveda, homeopathic and Unani physicians, and nutrition therapists, among others, from the comfort of their home — and, Editor-in-Chief, ThinkWellness360.
[This article was first published August 29, 2022].
