Christian Mystics

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Profane Source of Truth?
2011-10-21 15:26:00
Let every good and true Christian understand that wherever truth may be found, it belongs to his Master Continue reading →
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Mystical Experience
2011-05-12 18:05:00
In God Logic we have the perfect religious recipe, the authority of scripture applied rationally in the fullness of understanding and individually confirmed by emotion… God becomes property of the soul, neatly and logically compartmentalized, conveniently accessible in time of need, want, or whenever socially necessary Continue reading →
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Wandering Mind – Friend or Foe?
2011-04-30 00:01:00
I sit at my table and wage war on myself It seems like it's all, it's all for nothing It's high time I've razed the walls that I've constructed Continue reading →
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Spirit of Soul (Part III of III)
2011-04-01 06:32:00
Spirit is a synergistic word intended to express the sum of mankind’s intellectual composition and is characteristically responsible for motion in the soul leading to action in the body. Continue reading →
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Heart of Soul (Part II of III)
2011-03-22 22:01:00
Our heart is therefore, the shrine of the intelligence and the chief intellectual organ of the body, When, therefore, we strive to scrutinize and to amend our intelligence through rigorous watchfulness, how could we do this if we did not collect our intellect, outwardly dispersed through the senses, and bring it back within ourselves – back to the heart itself, the shrine of the thoughts? Continue reading →
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On The Soul (Part I of III)
2011-03-09 04:06:00
In modern-day Christendom scriptural words are frequently used as building blocks for doctrine but rarely discovered for their experiential value. Continue reading →
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Making of a Mystic
2011-02-14 17:28:00
A lifetime spent preparing for the journey, Reading from a map in the mind, In the rolling mist, then he gets on board, Now there'll be no turning back, Beware that hooded old man at the rudder Continue reading →

You Hypocrite
2011-01-31 07:00:00
Judgment is the cutting edge of the sword, wield it well less hypocrisy divides the kingdom. Continue reading →

Philokalia & Christian Mysticism
2011-01-24 20:49:00
There is, therefore, no Christian mysticism without theology: but, above all, there is no theology without mysticism. Continue reading →

Seven Deadly Sins
2010-12-30 07:07:00
sin is discernable as any motion of the soul that is ultimately a violation of Jesus commandment to “Love your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” Continue reading →
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Merry Christmas, Gifts From The Magi
2010-12-23 23:38:00
Consider The Magi... “Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, Continue reading →
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On Loving God
2010-12-06 04:37:00
the real gem is found in Saint Bernard of Clairvaux’s short but profound exposition of Psalms 19:7… Continue reading →
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What is Holiness?
2010-11-30 01:52:00
we would come to the conclusion that only God is perfect and that consequently holiness is His exclusive attribute Continue reading →

Teresa of Avila
2010-11-22 06:00:00
Saint Teresa of Avila uses the framework of the visionary castle, its inhabitants, and mansions or dwelling places within to guide readers through her process of unknowing that ultimately lead to divine union of the soul with the object or her affections, Jesus Christ. Continue reading →

Christian Mystics Goes Social
2010-11-12 20:39:00
Now you can have your very own blog at Christian Mystics.com. We simply require that bloggers stay on topic “Christian Mysticism”.  To get started you must first (Register Here). Keep an eye out for the email verification, it has a tendency to go to the … Continue reading →
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Into The Wild
2010-11-04 19:41:00
Like Supertramp, nothing we clutch will aid in this journey… “whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” (Mathew 10: 34-39) Unlike Suupertramp, “nowhere” is not our destination, but rather our starting point… Continue reading →
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The Fox and the Pearl
2007-02-04 00:12:02
A few tidbits today. The first is an invitation to visit the main site and read The Golden Key to Prayer by Emmet Fox. It's a wonderful approach to integrating prayer into your life, and I really recommend you take a moment to discover it and, then, to put it into practice if it so moves you.Journeying around the Internet today, came across a poem by Gibran that wanted to include in the thoughts today:A pearl is a temple builtby pain arounda grain of sand.What longing built our bodiesand around what grains?- Kahlil GibranSand and FoamSo very much going on, so many changes -- most of them good. I hope things are going well for you and yours.Best,Brian
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A Little Reminder
2007-01-31 06:09:06
Going through some tough times these days. With a small bit of breathing room, I took a journey to one of my favorite haunts - Half Price Books.I was looking through their spiritual books, and had picked out a paperback to look at. As I turned, I caught sight of a book that had been put back on the shelf sideways, lying on top of the other books.It was The Sermon on the Mount by Emmet Fox, and what made it special was it was an old hardback edition -- 1935. First, it was odd that an old book such as that was among all the other much newer paperbacks and such. Secondly, odd that it was singled out by it's position. Third, and most of all, I immediately realized it was an old book that used to belong to my father, one he was especially fond of, that I would see lying around his study as a kid.I bought it -- of course -- and have been reading it for the past two days and loving it. More to the point, from the very moment I saw it, it as if my dad was reaching out and saying, "Hey. Yo...
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Want to understand a bit more about why Jesus of Nazareth wa
2007-01-15 05:57:01
Want to understand a bit more about why Jesus of Nazareth was and remains so powerful for people today? That experience, I believe, doesn't lie in the various creeds and dogmas, and especially not in the emphasis on Jesus' death to the exclusion of his life and teachings that has characterized Christianity for many, many years.I think, instead, one must ask a very simple question -- what would it be like for you, who you are and as you are, to encounter Jesus amidst the dust of the road or the cool of a mountainside? A wonderful answer worth contemplating and giving some time to came from SacredSpace.ie, one of the most essential Web sites I know of. I wanted to pass it on from today's prayers and lessons:In curing the paralytic Jesus appears again as the affirmer, the one who gives life, frees us for action, and says Yes to us. Look back for a moment. His first miracle is turning water into wine so that the party can go on. The individuals who come to him often feel awful, guilt...
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Put in the name Jesus for a Google Search and you come up wi
2007-01-15 05:57:01
Put in the name Jesus for a Google Search and you come up with 40,600,000 pages. How do others stack up?Internet 1,170,000,000Islam 38,200,000Weight Loss 31,500,000Cell Phone 29,300,000Poker 27,6000,000The Poor 16,800,000George W. Bush 16,100,000Paris Hilton 11,600,000Shakespeare 11,000,000Christianity 8,760,000Beatles 7,830,000Buddha 3,410,000Buddhism 3,170,000Allah 2,090,000Chocolate Chip Cookies 1,210,000Christian Mystic 69,700So, what does all this mean?Haven't a clue! Feel free to draw your own conclusion from this intensely scientific poll. Cough.-- Brian Robertson
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Jorge Luis Borges once said, "To rearrange a library is to q
2007-01-15 05:57:01
Jorge Luis Borges once said, "To rearrange a library is to quietly practice literary criticism." I have a few shelves of books around the house, and as I pass by I sometimes wonder which one would be the one I'd keep. Fortunately, I've never had to make that decision, but I did come up with one that obviously I'd like in the top five!This wasn't an academic exercise, I assure you. My wife and I were both involved in a fairly substantial car wreck a few days ago -- which explains why work on the site and this blog slowed to a stop. Now, if only the guy who hit us from behind at 40 miles per hour would have done the same.Both of us ended up in the emergency room of the hospital (and thank you, Brackenridge) and there was quite a bit of waiting time involved. As I breezed through the house on my way to the hospital, I scooped up a small, old-fashioned (as in put-it-in-your-back-pocket style) paperback which I kept with me the whole time to get lost in.A philosophical or theological...
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As St. Paul says, ?That which I would not do, I do; and that
2007-01-15 05:57:01
As St. Paul says, ?That which I would not do, I do; and that which I would do, I do not."Ain't it the truth?Paul represents one particular stream of Christian thought, although historically we know there were many, many interpretations and understandings of Jesus in the very first years after his death. Quite simply, his happens to be the side that "won" and shaped what we might call Standard Brand Christianity. Frankly, I disagree with him on various points, but his story is the story of a person racked with tremendous guilt and plagued by their own secret demons. From that, he held to a particular version (quite obviously his own) of the meaning of the Christ with almost no concern of apparent knowledge of the teachings of Jesus.But on this particular quote of Paul's I'm right with him. We all know what Paul is saying here. I can focus my spiritual concentration and write for this blog or this site, I can say the Jesus Prayer or read inspiring works. Two minutes later something...
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After some 30 years of journeying through a variety of tradi
2007-01-15 05:57:01
After some 30 years of journeying through a variety of traditions and approaches to God, as I get older I find simplicity wins out. When I was younger, I was always attracted by the opportunity to debate, study, experiment and, to my embarrassment now, even teach.But health and time have made many things impossible for me, personally, and so I have found that it is enough to approach God simply and directly. One part of this journey has always been the use of a prayer or, in other traditions, a mantra to quiet the mind and heart, for it is always in the silence and not in the words that one finds the Presence of God.Given the fact that I am, through none of my doing, a person born in the West, I have a cultural and traditional base that has come to me (as a different and certainly beautiful one is homegrown in the East). As such, I am extremely interested in the Jesus Prayer, which comes in various forms. According to tradition, the full form is "Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of God, have...
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As I was going through some papers, I found a folded up piec
2007-01-15 05:57:01
As I was going through some papers, I found a folded up piece of newspaper that I'd set aside quite a while ago. Finding it again today, Christmas Eve, seemed especially fortunate, and I wanted to share it with you. To me, it seems a way of looking at things that can bring each of us together, regardless of our particular take on spirituality.God is beyond our capacity to define because to define is to limit. God cannot be controlled, and therefore God cannot be defined, yet our religious traditions guide us in our attempt to experience God's presence and discern God's will. We are invited to trust that beyond the mystery, there is meaning. Our faith is a recognition that there are realities that cannot be adequately expressed in scientific terms, but they are extraordinarily real and extraordinarily important.Faith is the belief in the reality of the unseen.Rabbi Samuel Karff-- Brian RobertsonTags: Samuel Karff, Faith, God's Presence
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Nativity SermonBy St. Isaac the Syrian (d. AD 700)This Chris
2007-01-15 05:57:01
Nativity Sermon By St. Isaac the Syria n (d. AD 700)This Chris tmas night bestowed peace on the whole world;So let no one threaten;This is the night of the Most Gentle One -Let no one be cruel;This is the night of the Humble One -Let no one be proud.Now is the day of joy -Let us not revenge;Now is the day of Good Will -Let us not be mean.In this Day of Peace -Let us not be conquered by anger.Today the Bountiful impoverished Himself for our sake;So, rich one, invite the poor to your table.Today we receive a Gift for which we did not ask;So let us give alms to those who implore and beg us.This present Day cast open the heavenly doors to our prayers;Let us open our door to those who ask our forgiveness.Today the divine being took upon Himself the seal of our humanity,In order for humanity to be decorated by the Seal of Divinity.Tags: Isaac the Syrian

I paid another of my very, very regular visits to PoetSeers,
2007-01-15 05:57:01
I paid another of my very, very regular visits to PoetSeers, a site that offers an astonishing collection of the poetry of Christian mystics, as well other remarkable samples from a variety of traditions.One poem, which I talk about on the site, really grabbed hold of me. It is what I would call a "re-imagining" of a poem by St. John of the Cross by poet Daniel Ladinsky. I wanted to highlight it by placing it here on the blog. I hope you find it as powerful as I did and, more importantly, that it will lead you back to PoetSeers.org. The site is maintained by followers of Sri Chinmoy, and regardless of one's interest or disinterest in the spiritual teacher, the service provided by this collection of poetry is wonderful. This Earth Is A Bowby St. John of the Cross You letmy sufferings cease,for there was no one who could cure them.Now let my eyes behold your face for you are our only love.My spirit's body is rising near ? this earth a bowthat shot me;now lift me into your arms as so...
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All of us have difficult days, we all have our share of prob
2007-01-15 05:57:01
All of us have difficult days, we all have our share of problems and stress. Myself, in particular. I wonder then, and quite often, if people who find their way to this website (and I'm grateful to each of you) may get the wrong idea about the person behind the site -- myself.There was an old tv show I grew up watching -- To Tell The Truth. Three people -- one of them the actual person whose story was given out by the and two impostors. The object for the panel was to pick which was the real person and at that they often failed miserably. The host would say, "Will the real Filbert Quork please stand up!"If you had three people and my website on To Tell the Truth, I doubt you'd pick me a the author of much of what is here! As far as I can tell, I'm not a person who exudes a spiritual aura. I'm the old guy with the two strokes and diabetes, severe money troubles, and I'm more apt to be the one who has to stay on top of a slightly short temper.Yet, at the same time, I'm also the...
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'The only thing that burns in Hell is the part of you that w
2007-01-15 05:57:01
'The only thing that burns in Hell is the part of you that won't let go of life, your memories, your attachments. They burn them all away. But they're not punishing you, he said. They're freeing your soul. So, if you're frightened of dying and... and you're holding on, you'll see devils tearing your life away. But if you've made your peace, then the devils are really angels, freeing you from the earth.'A paraphrase of quote by Meister Eckhartas spoken at the end of the filmJacob's LadderTags: Meister Eckhart
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I just received an email which started off:My eyes ground to
2007-01-15 05:57:01
I just received an email which started off:My eyes ground to a complete halt at the last sentence on your home page: "Welcome to the world of true Christianity." In place of "true," you could have written "alternate" or "another" or "mystical." But to use "true" means that some might interpret this as implying that other approaches to Christianity are false. That path leads to the killing fields in Bosnia Herzegovina, Sudan, Pakistan's low level civil war, Iraq's not so low level civil war, etc. But perhaps I am being too finicky. Regards, Bruce Robinson ReligiousTolerance.orgI thought it was a striking comment and I greatly appreciate it. In fact, it set several things in motion on the site which I'd like to point you towards. First, take a look at the bit of clarification and, I hope, deepening on the first page of the site where Bruce hit a roadblock.If you have time, you might take a deeper look at my reply to the email and such over at True Christianity? on the site...
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Years ago, a Unitarian minister told me the story about a Un
2007-01-15 05:57:01
Years ago, a Unitarian minister told me the story about a Unitarian who was walking along a road that forked. To the left the sign said "Heaven" while the sign pointing to the right read, "A Discussion About Heaven." Being a Unitarian, the story went, he turned right.I have to admit that throughout most of my life, I eagerly made the right turn as well!As time goes by in my life, however, I tend to want to make my spiritual life more simple, more direct, both in my "theology" as well as in practice so that the two become one thing. Unfortunately, for much of my life I was like the guy who jumped on the horse and rode off in all directions -- I plead guilty to being more than slightly lacking in focus.Things have changed. Spiritually, I now tend to get through the world in two very basic steps.First, I personally make use of the Jesus Prayer -- "Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy." This isn't the time or place to "unpack" that and tell you what the words mean to me, but let's say God an...
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