Thursday 3:35 p.m.
Whilst attending the tai chi class in the catholic church hall, I chanced upon a book, called Journey Inwards, but F.C. Happold, who sounds like a Norwegian football team. It was only when I read another book by him, called Mysticism, a Study and Anthology, that I realised that I'd had a mystical experience, in buddhist terms an experience of non-self and emptiness.
Just in case you have one, Jack, a mystical experience in characterised by the following qualities:
1)Ineffability ... it's hard to put into words that make sense.
2)A noetic quality ... you're convinced that you know something even although it's difficult to express.
3)They're transient ... they don't last long.
4)They have the quality of passivity ... you might feel as if you've been given something.
5)The slam dunk quality is the consciousness of the oneness of everything. This is the non-self and emptiness bit.
The Journey Inwards starts with a very interesting discussion of what God might be. God to this boy is the one beyond conceptualisation, the one there is no point in talking about, the one you can't say anything about that makes sense.
This Happold boy must be a tim. He says God isn't knowable by intellectual means, but some people may get an intuitive grasp of it. Hmmmm? He also says that by yourself you can only get so far in experiencing God and then you need some help, assumedly from God.
It seems to me that it's far better not to be talking about God at all. Buddhism talks about mind of course. I can't see the point of even mentioning something that's beyond conceptualisation.
But, Hotboy, is yoga not about union with .... something. Maybe it's just about achieving unity. Anyway, Jack, I'll tell you what it's like when I experience it! Or experience it again.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
Interesting. I've felt that feeling outlined by the conditions many times in my life.
I always thought it was just a deep sense of wonder and being at one with the universe. It is a good feeling, just hard to put into words.
Marie: I will liberate the book next week and maybe post about goddo again. Some great quotes in it. Hotboy
Tai Chi moves in mysterious ways.
There was a time when I used to get 1 2 and 3 on a regular basis, doing the special yoghurts at weekends. We used to call them revelations. If I'd had 4 and 5 too, things could have turned out different.
Albert? You'd have to be most fortunate to get a mystical experience standing about with your finger in your ear. Hotboy
Well written article.
Post a Comment