[QUOTE=BeliefnetSabee;9598]Hello and welcome to your new board. Please tell us about yourself and your interest in mysticism.[/QUOTE]

I belong to a Centering Prayer Group.

I have felt the calling to an intimate life with God since I was a child.
Mysticism has always been the path I considered my way.

Thank you for the welcome.

Love,
Always!

whitephoenix wrote:

Hi all, I didn't actually know that htis board was here until just now. My interest in mysticism goes back a long way to my Christian days...I have a love affair primarily with Quakerism (Quaker spirituality was the topic of my dissertation at Bible College) and with Thomas A Kempis and his Imiatation of Xst....now as an atheist I find myself recycling these earlier influences, it is my opinion that silence is the basis of mysticism, whther the logic applied to it is theistic, athiestic or a/theistic practiced silence.....I look forward to expressing the practice of silence and learning with you all.

Hi Whitephoenix. I just now noticed your post. Welcome! In my opinion there is no question silence can't answer. It's probably my favorite topic:). I too look forward to sharing with you.

"Who hinders thee more than the unmortified affections of thy own heart? . . .if we were perfectly dead unto ourselves, and not entangled within our own breasts, then should we be able to taste Divine things, and to have some experience of heavenly contemplation." - Thomas a Kempis, as quoted by Evelyn Underhill in "Mysticism - A Study in the Nature and Development of Spiritual Consciousness.

[QUOTE=Redoak;987617]I'll say "hi" here, though I'm not entirely sure how to describe myself except as "a mystic" -- no affiliation, not even what people often call "spiritual", by which they mean some variant on New Age beliefs.   

I did put together the phrase "liberal Western mystic" to have some way of labeling myself.  Each component is accurate -- I fit within the framework of (theological) liberalism; though I am well versed in world religions I am rooted in Western thought and culture; and I'm a mystic.

Though, really, what I am is whatever it is that happens when persons seeking perfectly good degrees in mathematics go and think too much ;-)[/QUOTE]

Welcom Redoak.  From your description it seems you will fit in perfectly fine here.  Most of us are happy allowing the other person to decide for themselves what mysticism means to them. 

That is to say, some of us know the value of treating the other person as an autonomous subject, not as an object that needs to be corrected.

ciao,
Raymond

student of many paths wrote:

Thanks for the warm welcome. I am "dennis" also, but  I see we already have one, and one is usually enough!

One is enough, indeed, my friend!

student of many paths wrote:

I use "dusty", or "daso" in some places, but names mean little.

Your words warm my heart.... I shall call you "daso". It sounds fun.

student of many paths wrote:

When I'm too focused on one definition, explanation or approach say to a question about our existence, or to anything else for that matter, I cannot be as open as I'd like to be.

Please be as open as you would like to be. :)

student of many paths wrote:

I offer blessings to all, and ask in return for help in visualizing a world where peace reigns, where love transcends, and where light shines. d

Thank you for your blessings, and now be welcome....

light shines sometimes in the darkest of places....

welcome to the land of the Mysticism board where lovely folk dwell.....


:D (it is a green face, but I hope the smile is shining bright)

you can call me "bron", if you like.

Evisionary wrote:

I was just reading Jung on the Alchemists.  They were truely mystical and it was fascinating to read about the Philospher's Stone, which Jung saw as a symbol of the self.  I consider myself to be a mystical person and I look forward to learning alot here.

Hi Evisionary

  Welcome.

I read on your profile that you are interested in the role of women in the history of mysticism.  You might like Amy Hollywood's "Sensible Ecstasy: Mysticism, Sexual Difference, and the Demands of History."

  Given your interest in psychology, you also might enjoy the thoughts of Sitara Lewis who posts on the Mysticism page at facebook.

ciao,
Raymond