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| Looking into the Beyond |
MYSTIC:
A person who believes in and pursues a transcendent truth that
surpasses exclusively rational understanding or knowing.
surpasses exclusively rational understanding or knowing.
Sounds a lot like a contemplative photographer to me! At least the kind of contemplative photographer that understands that wisdom can be revealed in the metaphoric capabilities of the landscape. Even with that definition, I would hesitate to add "mystic" to my CV but I think there is much we can learn from the mystical gaze.
The eyes of a mystic, like those of the contemplative photographer, look beyond the surface appearance of things to find a deeper connection with the world around them. They pass through the door, walk through the corridor of life but keep their eyes trained on the light beyond. While the rest of us dwell in the minutia of daily existence, they see the "big picture" somehow. If you ask a mystic, if you are lucky enough to know one, how they know what they know I'm sure the answer would be difficult to absorb. After all, that is where we get the words "mystify" and "mystery". They all come from the same root.
I think the average person, however, is fully capable of mysticism but for that to happen we need to loose our everyday eyes. We must embrace everything we encounter with a loving gaze that accepts it for what it is all the while knowing that it is so much more.
Intrigued? Here are some links you might find illuminating. I've really enjoyed this book by Carl McColman. Beautifully written and easily understood by a mystic-in-training. It is a good starting point for understanding mysticism and its relevance for today's spiritual seeker no matter what their leanings are.
The eyes of a mystic, like those of the contemplative photographer, look beyond the surface appearance of things to find a deeper connection with the world around them. They pass through the door, walk through the corridor of life but keep their eyes trained on the light beyond. While the rest of us dwell in the minutia of daily existence, they see the "big picture" somehow. If you ask a mystic, if you are lucky enough to know one, how they know what they know I'm sure the answer would be difficult to absorb. After all, that is where we get the words "mystify" and "mystery". They all come from the same root.
I think the average person, however, is fully capable of mysticism but for that to happen we need to loose our everyday eyes. We must embrace everything we encounter with a loving gaze that accepts it for what it is all the while knowing that it is so much more.
Intrigued? Here are some links you might find illuminating. I've really enjoyed this book by Carl McColman. Beautifully written and easily understood by a mystic-in-training. It is a good starting point for understanding mysticism and its relevance for today's spiritual seeker no matter what their leanings are.
by Carl McColman
Carl McColman's Website with a video
introduction to his latest books on mysticism
Carl McColman's Website with a video
introduction to his latest books on mysticism
The Christian of the future will be
a mystic or nothing at all.
-Karl Rahner
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