What I have become after 10 years of being a Christian Mystic....

So how is you wittness going? Bring many to Christ through your 10 year lifestyle change? Do people ask you why you are different and your reponce would be Christ in me?

Originally posted by guitarplayer
So how is you wittness going? Bring many to Christ through your 10 year lifestyle change? Do people ask you why you are different and your reponce would be Christ in me?

Wttinessing? No matter how much one does, it's never enough so it seems. Being an ex-atheist and knowing all of those arguments, I've brought a few atheists to reconsider Christ in a different light then what the West projects, have some meditating, some are at least agnostics now.

Other than I have in the works some acreage in the Appalachian areas for the sake of doing long term silent retreats & meditations based on various teachings.

Yes many have noticed the change in my character and have asked what it's attributed to. However, it's not only the teachings of Christ, Holy Spirit experiences, and various others, but all zen koans, socrates, nonduality, buddhist psychological blueprints, and going deep within have all played apart so to speak

reply to post by dominicus


With all the extra teachings what brought you to Christ?

reply to post by dominicus


I dearly hope "Christ in me" isn't your answer. It's such a pitiful answer. Give them something they can use and relate to, instead of sycophantic mystical guru nonsense. Your original post is a perfect answer, provided you give them a reason to believe your story. Be HONEST. Be a PERSON.

Far too many people pretend to be mysterious with their answers.

Originally posted by guitarplayer
reply to post by dominicus

 

With all the extra teachings what brought you to Christ?

I was done with everything. I saw the emptiness in everything, forever unsatiated afer having done it all, had large amounts of $, seen a large portion of the world, various women, a hose, cars, liquor & substances, tried it all. Still remaining an Atheist, I just said basically, "God, if your real, prove it." Next day, I guy I hadn't talked to for over 3 years calls to ask if I want to do Bible studies.

I was intrigued, so I set aside my Atheism and sat down to listen to his presentations. Granted I started hitting him with all the arguments atheists have, but he hung in there w/ love and devotion (something I had not seen for while, heart!!!). So I remembered Buddha's test ....when he said not to take his word for it but to test his theories. I did so w/ the teaching of Christ as a sort of daily experiment to see what would happen and I was genuine about it and did mostly in solitude.

Fast forward 14 months later and this Bible guy tells me I now know enough that I should consider getting re-baptised as an adult. The old atheist in me laughed at this, but the experimenter in me went with it. Baptism happened in Lake Michigan one night and was no big deal. However 3 weeks later was when all the Mystical experiences began. Holy Spirit literally entered into my body slaying the ego and filling me with ecstasies, transcendence, timelessness, empathy, the Now, third eye open, longing for meditation, and the list can go on for miles.

Some of those things remained permanent, while others, like the third eye, came and went. Eventually I went through a few years of the Dark Night of The Soul, where I was stripped of all attachments, emotions, desires, longings, leaving me only utterly aware that I am not the body or the mind/ego.

Throughout the dark night, there was an inner longing in the heart to experience God, Union, etc. The only Christian folks who talk about Union Experience are monks, mystics, hermits, desert fathers, and Eastern Orthodoxy has a rich library on the topic. Still none of their writings no longer beckoned to me. They spoke of decades and decades of techniques to reach Union, but I felt there was a faster way.

I used to get epiphanies reading science on topics such as the vastness of existence and the source of energies, and so forth. Then when exploring Christianity, I got the same epiphanies when studying Theology, i.e. God being Infinite, can God create a rock so heavy, even he himself can't lift, etc

Well eventually I came across a book on Nonduality & Awareness. In the book there was a Zen Koan. I read the Koan (which was pure logic & reason) and after 15 minutes of wrestling with it, Union happened!!!! Everything was One and there was no me in the One. This koan did not belong to any religion or path, it was just simple logic & reason that basically stunned the limits of my mind in such a way, that I shot beyond it, to it's very source so to speak.

Since that Koan, I've been popping in and out of the body, remembered pre-existing, detachment, in and out of the One, subtle channels/Nadi's opening up in the body, bliss and ecstacy, and a whole bunch of other things.....leading me back to the point of this thread.

My motivation for writing is to destroy the mental and skeptical box that so many live in. A lot of people think these things are illusion, fantasy, & delusion. But the real illusion is living in a mental prison that has been constructed by the collective programming of this world. I understand where they are all coming from, because I once laughed at all this. But now I have no choice but to sit in the Transcendent realities that reveal themselves daily ....and my heart longs for others to know this, because this is the next evolutionary step for mankind, where we finally transcend all the ills we see in the world.

We're heading there regardless. Probably another thousand years or so.

Originally posted by AfterInfinity
reply to post by dominicus

 

I dearly hope "Christ in me" isn't your answer. It's such a pitiful answer. Give them something they can use and relate to, instead of sycophantic mystical guru nonsense. Your original post is a perfect answer, provided you give them a reason to believe your story. Be HONEST. Be a PERSON.

Far too many people pretend to be mysterious with their answers.

I'm an open book friend. Many stay quiet about these things and lurk secretly amongst us. I can't help but shout HONESTLY from the rooftops that I, once a hard core atheist, have seen that there is a Spiritual reality accessible to all ...and I urge everyone (instead of arguing about it) see and check for yourself. There are various manuals & blueprints

reply to post by dominicus


As a Christian Mystic, how do your beliefs and practices differ from that of the average Christian? I'm interested to discern what went so right with you, because obviously, something did happen to you. Something clicked. I don't believe it was Jesus himself, but something in what his teachings gave you. I know many Christians who have never come close to experiencing what you have shared with us.

What's the difference between you and other Christians?

I think he is experiencing a clarity of self from intense focus on his self existence - however, because the path that led him to this was the christian one - he has let this sense of god pervade him as it has accompanied his progression into becoming more self-aware.

However, I do not really believe in a god in the traditional sense, more that, I am equal to god in that we are both just conscious entities(that will take some explaining to do). I think latching on to a god figure is the result of the high levels of stress accompanied by the incomprehensibility of reality. It is much harder to deal with reality when you don't dump your existential problem onto an external father figure. However, these people generally fall off into other worse habits when faced with this existential sufferring/problem.

One thing he mentioned was getting rid of the programming of this world, and shatterring the 'box/es' in which we live. I myself have a similar goal, but the concept of god is another thing within that box that I wish to discard. Taking out the middle man between us and reality

reply to post by WorShip


Thank you for such an enlightening and honest answer, Dominicus. Oh, wait, you're not Dominicus. So how do you know the answers to the questions I asked him? Go away!

...kidding.

Still, thank you for sharing that. Sometimes, all it takes is stepping outside the box, turning around, stabbing the bejeezus out of it, and walking away.

reply to post by dominicus


You spoke of pre-exestance is this a prior life or a inkling of being somewhere else before being born?

reply to post by dominicus

Anyway, I recently watched the movie based on the comic The Watchmen, and saw that I've become similar in attitude and thought to the character Dr. Manhattan(minus the powers):

Yep, and he also murdered the guy who was going to expose his lies, in a very interesting fashion. This is the result of hubris.

reply to post by AfterInfinity

As a Christian Mystic, how do your beliefs and practices differ from that of the average Christian?

I apply practices & philosophies from various religions and paths, testing them, and comparing them to the grand scheme of things. While the average Christian is limited to a very narrow minded dogmatic literal and fundamentalist world view from what I have come across ...my old bible study teacher included (for example when I told him that I remember pre-existing as Awareness, prior to taking on a body, it was such a huge blow to his boxed in view of Christianity, that he no longer wanted to talk about these things, as he saw the as a threat to his view).

Also, a large portion of CHrist's teachings have to do with ego death. What I found instead on a large scale, is that a majority of Western (U.S. & Europe) Christians do, is replaced their old worldly ego, with a Christian holier than thou, I'm right & you're wrong based ego. This is a HUGE no no in buddhist thought, nonduality, and various philosophies, but is not openly discussed in Western Christianity.

On top of this, modern day western Christianity is a watered down spiritual path, compared to say Eastern Orthodoxy, which claims the first and true origins of Jesus teachings, and they have monasteries, manuals, and long term retreats where the mystical experience is held in high regards and is what unlocks transcendent meaning in the NT .

I'm interested to discern what went so right with you, because obviously, something did happen to you. Something clicked. I don't believe it was Jesus himself, but something in what his teachings gave you. I know many Christians who have never come close to experiencing what you have shared with us.

I was genuine about it. I went about from the very depths of me wondering, asking, seeking, knocking. All other Christian's that I met who had mystical experiences, were also genuine about their approach. If Western Christianity included solitude, meditation, and 2-4 week retreats based on going within, we'd have a lot more of this.

What's the difference between you and other Christians?

Inherently nothing. Souls inhabiting physical vessels. On a relative level, it's the mystical experiences and that's it. I'll give you an example; Thomas Aquinas, a Christian theologian of antiquity, wrote volumes & volumes of theological books. In his later years, he supposedly experienced God or something of a mystical nature, and afterwords considered all his writings to be as straw to the wind. Words are just words and don't compare to the actual experience.


reply to post by WorShip

he has let this sense of god pervade him as it has accompanied his progression into becoming more self-aware.

just like each physical body has as it's source, the physical parents, so too who we really are, non-local consciousness, have an infinite all pervading consciousness as our parent. Words & ideas, yet the experience of this transcends them both.

One thing he mentioned was getting rid of the programming of this world, and shatterring the 'box/es' in which we live. I myself have a similar goal, but the concept of god is another thing within that box that I wish to discard. Taking out the middle man between us and reality

I went through an experience known as the Dark Night of the Soul destroyed any concepts and ideas of who God is. Left naked in the present moment, the vastness of existence, all of it alive.

The Tao that can be spoken is not the eternal Tao

Originally posted by guitarplayer
reply to post by dominicus

 

You spoke of pre-exestance is this a prior life or a inkling of being somewhere else before being born?

I remember being pure consciousness, in space somewhere. 3 others were near me and were discussing me being "born" on "earth". I didn't know what that meant, so they zoomed in on earth and gave me an emphatic whiff of what goes on here ....I wanted no part of it ...the wars, rapes, death, hunger ...this place is like a massive prison from that perspective, and I remember from m earliest memories being uncomfortable w/ life here ....who my parents were, friends, the system, all seemed artificial and out of place, but at that age, those questions are too big.

Still I agreed to come and help out in whatever way I can ...just whispering into another persons reality ..."Hey, your not who you think you are." Has massive global consequences as we are all inherently tied together like and infinite tapestry (from pre-birth perspective)

reply to post by dominicus

we are tied together ?! but it is vivid I prefer to read my signature than going for so long way
for me the biggest question is why I am alive ! a reason for that !! a reason for life !!!

I am the infamous lover in this town
My eyes, evil seeds have never sown.
Be kind and work hard and live happily
Disbelievers in our creed are hurt and down.
I asked the Master of the tavern to show me salvation
Asked for a cup, said keeping secrets alone.
Why should my heart watch the gardens of this world?
With my pupils picking the flowers that are shown.
Revering wine, I washed away my own image
Selfishness cannot be when the self-image is unknown.
It’s Your (God!) lock of hair that keeps me firm on the ground
Without the pull of love, everything would drown.
Let us turn away towards the tavern, from hence
Upon the deedless words of preachers one must frown.
From the Beloved learn to love what is good
Good company happens to be the ultimate crown.
Hafiz kisses only the bearer and the cup
Keep away from the hypocrite wolf in sheepish gown.
---Hafez

reply to post by dominicus

Originally posted by dominicus
I have since found that Nonduality applies to me, as does Mysticism and the Buddhist teachings amongst many others. There is an entire Universe of Consciousness awaiting each individual if they simply go within. Things that I was already experiencing as a Christian, were things the Buddhists were talking about, specifically a Universal detachment via the Dark Night of the Soul (A real experience as well)

Could you expand on this a little… “the Dark Night of the Soul” experience I mean? If it’s not to much trouble, or too personal…


It’s just that I feel much the same way as yourself in that teachings and doctrines of various religions have become muddled, confused and misunderstood over time. And my own spiritual experiences so far, have taught me much the same, as you have expressed in your OP… but I haven’t experienced this “Dark Night of the Soul”, which is why I am curious about it.


- JC

reply to post by Joecroft

Could you expand on this a little… “the Dark Night of the Soul” experience I mean? If it’s not to much trouble, or too personal… It’s just that I feel much the same way as yourself in that teachings and doctrines of various religions have become muddled, confused and misunderstood over time. And my own spiritual experiences so far, have taught me much the same, as you have expressed in your OP… but I haven’t experienced this “Dark Night of the Soul”, which is why I am curious about it.

Yea no prob.... I'm an open book and my existence & purpose revolve around sharing the insights I have gleamed on the path.

The Dark Night was 3 years long and made depression (which I have had before) look like a trip to a carnival or great party. I was stripped of all attachments, emotions, humor, and any ideas or thoughts I had about God, leaving me in the Now, timeless, beyond words, completely detached from the world and it's programming. At the end of it, the only thing that was left, was a small yearning in the chest center for Union w/ God (not from the head ego)

I think the Dark Night is unnecessary and it happened to me, because I was strictly on the Christian path and had no idea about psychology of the ego and body or the short cuts that exist in buddhist, nondual, and yoga philosophies. I went through it because I was still grasping and desiring worldly things. There was a schism in me (heart soul wanting God and letting go and what not), and the ego wanting fortune, success, fame, and still to continue with the old ways of substance abuse and womanizing.
So the dark night came along and stripped it all away.

What got me out of the dark nigh was wrestling with this Koan:

"Just like the thought of a rock, is not an actual rock; so too, who you think you are, is not who you are."

I wrestled with this koan for 15 minutes realizing that the thought of a rock, is just a mental, or a type of illusion, that represents the actual rock, but is not the actual rock. After realizing this, I moved on to who I think I am and found that the same thing applies to me, as to the rock. Anything that I think I am, is an illusion and not who I am. Eventually a shift occurred, and I was pure awareness watching the mind think. I saw that I am not the thinker of thoughts, but the observer of the ego/mind/thinker of thoughts. This was such great relief for me, that I completely let go of the ego/mind and of all the BS, the Dark night, all Illusions, and as Awareness, I dropped down into my heart, like a vertical drop from the head, through the neck, and into the chest and it was there that me as Awareness merged with the source of Awareness. At this point there was no me and everything was One thing. This was HOME, Union, the ABsolute Beingness, the Untrumpable truth, that includes all yet is prior to all.

Still I came out of that state, like a wave emerges from the ocean, and spent the next 2-3 years getting my hands on all the Nondual, Koan, philosophies I can get my hands on and realized that it all boils down to a few simple things; Letting go of the idea that you are the body (which opens the channels for Awareness to drop down into the heart), letting go of the idea that you are the thinker of thoughts, of all mental and worldly programming, spending time going within, Being Aware of Awareness itself, spending time with Koans, Love, the heart, and a few other things as well.

In light of these things, I saw that Jesus was using Koans as well and also dumbing it down for the average Joe and this watering down is what was past down as modern day Christianity. He also simplified it by using Love, Letting go, and the Spirit to simplify it all. Whereas all the Nondual and Koan stuff requires sharp intellect to figure out

I would Highly recommend I Am That by Nisargadatta, anything by Ramana Maharshi, The Cloud of Unknowing, and Human Buddha by Anadi. Just those 4 alone will bring you to an understanding of Self Mastery, a deeper understanding of what Jesus taught, and for me it ended all questions and the only thing left was meditation, mindfulness, and a few practices like Awareness aware of itself, yoga, letting go, going deep within. This has all lead to me popping out of the body during meditation and exploring around my neighborhood, detachment from just about all things, no fear of death, compassion, no judgment (seeing all people as Consciousness operating physical vehicles), and dipping in and out of the Ocean of Oneness (even that I've come to learn will eventually become permanent)!!!

That's it in a nutshell

reply to post by dominicus

Do you Fast my fellow or some kind of austerity ? (I do not mean economical austerity of EU ! )
I guess you are not married. Are you ! but you can consider marriage some sort of austerity, seriously
what kind of Koan did Jesus use ?
how many times do you pray or something a day ?

Till you grant my wish, I won't give up my demand
I will reach the Soul of Souls, or be buried in this land.
When I am dead and buried, open my grave and see
Smoke rising from my corps, by my inner fire fanned.
Show Thy face to the people, awe-struck and radiant
Man and woman will cry out, at Thy smallest command.
I am tired of this life, jealousy eats away my heart
Without a kiss from your lips (he means God idiomatically !!!), I end my worldly errand.
In search of those sweet lips, I have spent my whole life
Desires of the deprived, those lips will reprimand.
In the circles of the Lovers, his goodness they understand,
With reverence, Hafiz's name, they pass from hand to hand.
--Hafez

reply to post by maes2

Do you Fast my fellow or some kind of austerity ? (I do not mean economical austerity of EU ! ) I guess you are not married. Are you ! but you can consider marriage some sort of austerity, seriously what kind of Koan did Jesus use ? how many times do you pray or something a day ?

Fasting off and on. Austerities various ...usually of the mind, of impulses, of the bodies animalism. Just keeping the ego's reactions in check, or being aware of them and not buying into them, is also austerity.... I guess my permanent state itself is an austerity of life here, of the programming and illusions of various kinds.

Not married. Came close once. I'm glad I didn't in retrospect as all my family and friends who are married have bags under their eyes, miserable for the most part, and have told me that they secretly wish they weren't married with kids. But who knows in the future ....as my life is in a sense not up to me anymore...

Jesus Koans were various ...he called them parables. There are different denominations that all break them down differently, but I believe the Mystical experiences reveal them in the correct light. If thine eye is single thy whole body shall be filled with light is one of them (I experienced this directly)

The kingdom of heaven is within you is another.

Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God. This One is HUGE!!!!! For in Buddhism, Eastern Orthodoxy, and Nondual philosophy, the Mind/ego/thought emerges from the heart and has it's source in the heart. If you remain as Awareness, as an Observer, Mindful, you become Aware of the source of thought and plunge into the source extinguishing the illusions of the Ego at the very source of emergence. Doing so reveals God as the One, that you become merged with. Some greek philosophers also knew about this Socrates, Parmenides, and Empedocles.

Prayer? Daily, but Life itself has become a living prayer with existence itself as a temple

reply to post by dominicus

It's as simple as the above statement. The above statement is Logic, reason, and is not owned by any religion nor does it have to do with satan. If you can unravel the above Koan, you will experience an Absolute Truth, and Absolute Beingness (same one Jesus talked about when he said that he and the father are one)

You keep repeating terms like logic, reason and koans.

What you're telling us is that you had your "spiritual experience" while studying Buddhism and philosophy and not the Bible. So your experience wasn't Biblical.

Man's logic is not God's logic. Man's knowledge is not God's knowledge. We are NOT all ONE, but yes, Jesus was one with the Father.

Colossians 2:8

8 See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ.

Isaiah 55:8-9

8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.

9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Remember what happened when Satan tried to make himself equal to/with God? He was cast out of Heaven.

reply to post by Deetermined

You keep repeating terms like logic, reason and koans.

What you're telling us is that you had your "spiritual experience" while studying Buddhism and philosophy and not the Bible. So your experience wasn't Biblical.

I wrote my testimony and said that as a strict Christian, I went through the mystical Holy Spirit experience with a list too long to mention of mystical attributes, third eye open, heart broke open w transcendence love, then eventually dark night of the soul.

While in the dark night, is when i came across the logical koan which thrust me as awareness, beyond myself and beyond logic. No schism in the post if you reread it.

Man's logic is not God's logic. Man's knowledge is not God's knowledge. We are NOT all ONE, but yes, Jesus was one with the Father.

God makes his logic accessible to man. We have Jesus praying that he wishes we can all be One, the way he and the Father. John 17:21. Paul in Corinthians urges us to put on the mind of God, the gifts of the Spirit, etc. Better yet, do some homework on theosis & deification in the Eastern Orthodox tradition.

We are all, already inherently One from God's point of view in his eminent Absolute Beingness. You believe in the illusion that you are separate.

Colossians 2:8

8 See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ.

Sadly enough, the most Christ-like folks i ever met in my life were yogis, buddhists, mystics, and philosophers of various sorts.

Christ is universal.

Define hollow & deceptive philosophy. You used logic to learn about Christ and become a Christian. Is Logic deceptive?

"The thought of a rock, is not the same as an actual rock". Is that deceptive philosophy?

Remember what happened when Satan tried to make himself equal to/with God? He was cast out of Heaven.

Who's making himself equal to God in my thread? Equating ones self to anything, is a construct of the ego, and we are not the ego.

Again, see theosis & deification in the Eastern Orthodox tradition, philokalia, desert fathers, origen, meister eckhart, the cloud of unknowing.

reply to post by dominicus

I wrote my testimony and said that as a strict Christian, I went through the mystical Holy Spirit experience with a list too long to mention of mystical attributes, third eye open, heart broke open w transcendence love, then eventually dark night of the soul.

Here's what you said...

actually buddhism is just a label. It's basically a set on instructions and blueprints on what happens when you meditate and penetrate the inner realms, freeing one's self from the illusions of the ego mind.

There are things I've learned in Buddhism that I would have never learned in watered down westernized dogmatic Christianity.

I've brought a few atheists to reconsider Christ in a different light then what the West projects, have some meditating

However, it's not only the teachings of Christ, Holy Spirit experiences, and various others, but all zen koans, socrates, nonduality, buddhist psychological blueprints, and going deep within have all played apart so to speak

Baptism happened in Lake Michigan one night and was no big deal. However 3 weeks later was when all the Mystical experiences began.

Throughout the dark night, there was an inner longing in the heart to experience God, Union, etc. The only Christian folks who talk about Union Experience are monks, mystics, hermits, desert fathers, and Eastern Orthodoxy has a rich library on the topic. Still none of their writings no longer beckoned to me. They spoke of decades and decades of techniques to reach Union, but I felt there was a faster way.

So, in the end, it turns out your FASTER WAY was...

Well eventually I came across a book on Nonduality & Awareness. In the book there was a Zen Koan. I read the Koan (which was pure logic & reason) and after 15 minutes of wrestling with it, Union happened!!!! Everything was One and there was no me in the One.

Sorry, but a "strict Christian" as you put it, wouldn't be accessing the Holy Spirit the same ways that you did. They would be using the Bible and praying, not "Buddhist blueprints" that you keep referring to.

reply to post by Deetermined

Sorry, but a "strict Christian" as you put it, wouldn't be accessing the Holy Spirit the same ways that you did. They would be using the Bible and praying, not "Buddhist blueprints" that you keep referring to.

Are we ignoring the fact that Dominicus doesn't adhere strictly to Christian practices and still has had more spiritual experiences than yourself in all of your Christian glory? We're just gonna pretend that there aren't more effective options, for the sake of comfort and familiarity?

Okay, as long as we have that straight.