I wrote this tounge in cheek essay for an ezine around 2005 or so. Enjoy!
Knowledge is irrelevant to the mystic. The true mystic strives for something greater than knowledge. Knowledge is but the logic connection of information about random facts, but logic is beyond the mystic, who even at an early age sets out on a life-long journey seeking a deeper and more personal understanding of his internal universe. It usually starts with fantasy novels.
Mystics revel in their deep understanding, because it avoids the unpleasantries of thinking about the real world; yet despite a life long journey of healing their damaged selves and professing their conclusions in chat groups and weekly group meetings, what have they really said?
Well, currently mystic philosophy has turned into a word game in which mystics achieves a fuzzy inner feeling by confusing themselves and each other with obscure combinations of spiffy multi-syllable words handily borrowed from popular science books. This frequently elicits responses from territorially threatened scientists, who on the other hand are rather narrow minded people – easily corrupted by facts and logical explanations. Such simple people lack the enlightenment to see beyond their senses, because they take everything too literally. And while mystics frequently take pity on these lost souls, the salvation of a scientist is usually a lost cause, so mystics usually turn to a more understanding and sympathetic audience, who are always ready and obliging to buy yet another self-help book to win even more friends and influence.
As has been the case for the past few hundred years the current generation recently realized that the world is going to end due to some great evil! Depending on who you are, this great evil either takes the form of Microsoft operating systems, comet strikes, resurrected rampaging dinosaurs, or in the case of mystics a lack of universal love and paradoxical quantum consciousness or whatever. This is partially due to the usual human tragedy of attaching the greatest importance to whatever is directly in front of one’s nose at the present moment. With their inwardly turned attention, the modern mystic easily disregards the real world in a manner which is only possible for one who lives comfortably sheltered and never had to face any constraints of nature. Naturally mystics, like economists and politicians, tend to deal with the world of human relations where anything is possible as long as you can argue your point convincingly. If you believe this, you can fly! Actually flying may not sound too far out considering that mystics are not exemplary for keeping their feet on the ground save for prolonged tree hugging sessions.
However, it is exactly that inwardly turned attention and understanding that mystics can contribute to the world. A world, where scientists are pursuing destructive goals, because they are ‘interesting’ and soldiers are ‘just following orders’. A world where employees strive for the next increase in relative status; and consumers, who used to call themselves citizens, are satisfied with voting only for whatever choices they are handed from above. Such a world devoid of values, indeed, is ripe for mystic wisdom which is defined to be correct merely because it feels right.
Originally posted 2010-03-03 23:21:09.
