Contrasting Mystical versus Rational Spirituality
by Jennifer Essig
1.
Preface
In our previous report (http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/459s2004/essig/report2.htm)
we covered the topic of “Oganization of Rational Spirituality”. I took a diagnostic test to help me develop a
greater awareness of my own ideas and beliefs about spirituality. I also analyzed Swedenborg’s
writings about ritual, mystical, and rational levels of spirituality and applied
them to some of the issues that I had faced in my own life.
From report 2, I learned that my
dominant phase of spirituality is mystical, mainly because much of my
understanding of spirituality is through church and the bible. It was a really fascinating assignment
because I had taken for granted that I knew what my beliefs were. The truth was, I had never really thought
about what spirituality is about, especially from an intellectual point of
view. It opened my eyes to be more
thoughtful about what I believe in and understand how my beliefs affect me.
The purpose of this report is to
review spirituality in terms of mystical versus rational using two assigned
books for this course. The first book,
Testimony to the Invisible, was a collection of writings by several individuals
who were deeply affected by Swedenborg’s
teachings. The second book, Spirituality
That Makes Sense, was a guide to rational spirituality and was written to
explain the ideas of Swedenborg in very comprehensible
way. Furthermore, I will review oral
reports presented by my classmates, as well as some of Dr. Leon James’ lecture
notes, to bring together some of the concepts that were taught in this
class. I will emphasize topics that I
thought were important and should be further explored.
2.
Introduction
Testimony
to the Invisible
For the past few centuries, Emanuel
Swedenborg has been able to influence powerful and
highly honored artists, writers, scientists, and political persons. Testimony to the Invisible is a
collection of articles on Swedenborg by a select
handful of these important figures. The
writers came from all walks, including a Buddhist scholar and a Nobel Prize
winning poet. The text mainly dealt with
how each writer was influenced by Swedenborg. They shared their views on how Swedenborg impacted their own lives, and the lives of
others. I will share a few passages from
the authors and explain the significance of them.
“The
first is his extremely original concept of heaven and hell, which he explains
at length in the best known and most beautiful of his treatises… The heaven and
hell of his doctrine are not places, even though the
souls of the dead who inhabit and, in a way, create them perceive them as being
situated in a space. They are conditions
of the soul, determined by its former life.
Heaven is forbidden to no one; hell, is imposed
to no one. The doors, so to speak, are
open.”
Jorge Luis Borges, “Testimony to the
Invisible”, pg. 9
Borges walked through the life of Swedenborg, highlighting some of his major contributions. I have found this passage to be quick and
accurate description of Swedenborg’s idea of heaven
and hell. It not a place we “enter” in
the afterlife, rather it is a condition that we are in, determined by the
decisions that we make. I think that
the main point he is trying to make is that it is through our free will that our minds elevate to heaven,
or descend into hell. I would like to
learn more about how much effect our lives on earth have on our eternal
destiny. At what point does our mind
become so corrupted that we delight in evil and selfishness? What does it take for us to purify our
thoughts to become heavenly angels? I
think this should further explored so that we can
better prepare ourselves on earth, because eternity is a very long time.
In another passage, Borges’ wrote about
the correspondences of Swedenborg: On page 14 he
wrote:
“He
conjectured that each word of Scripture has a spiritual sense and eventually
prepared a vast system of hidden meanings.
Stones, for example represent natural truths; precious stone, spiritual
truths; stars, divine knowledge; the horse, a correct understanding of
Scripture but also its distortion through sophistry; the abomination of
desolation, the Trinity; the abyss, God or hell; etc.”
The
correspondences are extremely important to the study of Swedenborg’s
ideas because it gives us a guideline as to what the Divine Revelations are all
about. The symbolism of the Old and New
Testament gives us clues as what natural truth is, who God is, or what the
spiritual sun is. Swedenborg
spent years of his life putting together correspondences in order that human
kind can benefit through understanding what the Scriptures mean. To many individuals, the bible may not be
relevant or may be very difficult to understand, so the divine revelations are
useful so that we can see how God has been at work from the very
beginning.
Definition
of mystical: “2: of, resulting from, or
manifesting an individual’s direct communion with God, through comtemplation, vision, an inner light, or the like; as,
mystical rapture”
Wilson
Van Dusen, “A Mystic Looks at Swedenborg”,
pg. 125
Van Dusen
viewed Swedenborg as mystic in his essay. First, he shared his own experiences as a
mystic and attributed the experiences of Swedenborg
as mystical as well. I believe that the
significance of this essay is that it sheds light on the mystical side of Swedenborg that some of his followers deny. I think in using the definition above, one
cannot really argue that Swedenborg was not a mystic,
or that he at least had a mystical experience.
Although Swedenborg clearly thought of
mystical spirituality as a way of thinking only useful until the emergence of
science, I think that mystical experiences are a normal and healthy part of
human life. Although some may disagree,
I think that it does not take away from the intellectual and rational aspect of
spirituality at all. This is a debatable
issue regarding Swedenborg and should be further
explored.
“But
we must accept Swedenborg’s word that his
extraordinary prophetic insight came to him not by study but by what he described
as an “opening” of his consciousness, which revealed to him the inner worlds
that he calls the ‘heavens’ and the ‘hells’.”
Kathleen
Raine, “The Human Face of God”, pg. 55
Raine believed that Swedenborg
had prophetic insight to God’s divine truths.
But Swedenborg’s followers do not believe that
Swedenborg merely had “insight”, but had real access
to the spiritual world. His writings are
actual observations that he made, not because he was in a trance or had a vision,
but because he was physically there. For
me, this brings up several issues. Is it
truly necessary to accept that Swedenborg as a dual
citizen of the physical and natural world?
What if one accepts the fact that his writings are divine revelations,
but does not believe he actually lived in both worlds at simultaneously? Can one separate the theologian from the scientist? In other words, is it rational to think his
writings are spiritually enlightening, but still discredit him as a
scientist? I think that some people may
have an easier time accepting Swedenborg’s ideas of
marriage or charity and love, but have a difficult time believing that he
conducted experiments and took notes during his observations.
Spirituality
That Makes Sense
In Spirituality That Makes Sense, Douglas Taylor went into depth about
who God is, what the Spiritual World is all about, what faith means, what
evilness is, among other spiritual issues.
In the first chapter of his book,
“How
can the most noble and important idea that there is be impossible to grasp—a mystery? If God is completely beyond our
comprehension, then He is invisible to the human mind….To think of God as
invisible to the human mind means that we have a blind faith in God.”
This is a new concept to those
already familiar with Christian doctrine and ideas. He presented some interesting ideas that if
we have this kind of distant relationship with God (if we cannot understand the
idea of God), then we would begin to think of God as unimportant because we
would stop trying to even begin to understand who he is. In turn, this would affect our willingness to
remain obedient to his laws and we would eventually think about God less.
This idea served as the first
entry, and I think it laid the foundation of understanding the rest of the
book. Without accepting the idea that
there is a God, and that God should be accessible by all of us, then Swedenborg’s teachings would be useless. I think that we need to go beyond the fact
that God is infinite. I think that for
so long, this has remained an excuse for further exploration at the character
of God. Although I do not accept
everything that Taylor presented in his book, I do think that it is time to
stop hiding behind the excuse that God is too big for us to understand who he
is because it would so easy to give up at trying to know him, and therefore be
apathetic in our search for the truth.
Later in the book,
“It
is very important to be able to visualize the God you are praying to, the God
you worship. Many sincere Christians
find themselves at some point wondering whom they should worship or pray to…
But when we believe that in Jesus Christ dwells all the fullness of the Godhead
in heavenly form, we can visualize the Lord Jesus Christ. We have an object to worship, someone whom
our minds can focus its sight. That is
why it is so important to have this concept of the visible God.”
There have not been too many
passages that I have come across in studying Swedenborg
that deal with the person of God directly.
Although this is a theistic theory, I was beginning to wonder where “God”
actually fit in. The ideas of heaven and
hell, spiritual truths, or marriage are quite frequently covered, but it seemed
that God himself was more difficult to discuss.
I think that it is important to establish the relationship between God
and man. Yes, he is the creator, but
beyond that, who is he? Why do we need
God? Why did God have to become a
man? Why did God create us? I think that these are important questions
that need to be covered in order to truly understand Swedenborg’s
theistic theory.
“Belief
in the Divinity of the Lord is the work of God.
God put that light into our mind, into the higher or inmost part of our
mind—everyone’s mind. So
that part of the process of believing in the Lord is entirely His work.”
From this passage, one could
conclude that it is not by our free-will that any spiritual truths are revealed
to us, rather it is God’s choice to reveal anything to
us. And this pretty much contradicts one
of Swedenborg’s main ideas. But if you look further into the passage, you
get clearer picture that it is through one’s unity with God that these things
are revealed. I think that many are
interested in learning more about what God’s truth is. We are all seeking revelations from God to
understand our purpose in life. This an important area to explore in order to give people
the right motivations to seek love and wisdom in this world. This will in turn affect our spiritual life
in the afterlife.
I think that although Testimony to
the Invisible tried to be as objective as possible, it was a much more
emotional response to Swedenborg’s writings. For example, Raine was
moved by Swedenborg and described his writings as “great
splendor”. Suzuki was very touched by Swedenborg’s lifestyle and work ethic, as well as his
theology. There was a sense of awe of
the essay writers in this book. While the
emotional connection to God was important, there lacked rational or
intellectual thought in these essays.
Also, there was a lot reference to Swedenborg’s mysticism, whether indirect or direct. As noted earlier, Wilson passionately
believed that Swedenborg was a mystic. He noted, “In the accepted positive scholarly
sense, the mystic is simply one who has direct experience with the Divine. I doubt that any follower of Swedenborg’s spiritual writings would say Swedenborg did not have direct experience of the
Divine. Then he was a mystic.” (pg. 133). Suzuki’s
essay also referred to Swedenborg as a “Swedish
mystic.” Raine’s
passage above also indicates that she thought his revelations came through
prophetic insight.
On the other hand, Spirituality
That Makes Sense, used a cause-and-effect method which
made it much more rational. Each section
of the book was broken down and often times, the Scriptures were used to
support the ideas of Swedenborg. Each chapter addressed a specific issue and
gave adequate definitions and evidence to back it up.
3.
Class Discussions and Lecture Notes
Class Discussions
For the
context of this course, I really felt that the presentation by Josh Cooper on
“Do the Writings Contain Scientific Revelations” (
What I
really enjoyed about Cooper’s presentation was the final two parts about how
science needs revelation and how revelation needs science. I agree with his assessment about how
psychology cannot fully understand the mind without being dualistic. Many of our sciences have come to a dead end
in their explanations of certain phenomenon because they have not embraced God
as part of the explanation. I also
believe that there are spiritual causes to some natural phenomenon that cannot
be explained. I think that as we explore
this issue more, we can better understand psychology and other sciences.
On the
other hand, it is important for revelations to be dependent on science as well
or else nothing would make sense and we would constantly be walking around
blinded. The revelations must be
supported by science—it must be logical.
God has gifted us with the ability to critically think and we really
need to understand spiritual truths in a rational way.
Heather
Piper made a presentation on “A vision of marriage” (
I liked
the quote Piper used from Giles about what marriage is. It says, “A pleasant look, a tone molded with
the winning harmonies of affection, a kind inquiry, a cheering word, the
pleasant surprise of anticipated want, the cheerful surrender of some personal
pleasure, a promptness to lend a helping hand to bear life’s burdens and
perform its duties, there are the bonds which link souls together, and the
medium through which they interchange their life.” I am not sure what context this quote taken
from, but it identifies some of the emotions of being with the person you love.
I think
that the idea of what marriage is about is important because in our society,
there are so many broken relationships.
Even if the marriage that Swedenborg talks
about is spiritual, I believe a bad marriage will affect us both naturally and
spiritually. If we are in an unhealthy
relationship, our character will definitely be damaged because we will
constantly be struggling with hate, contempt and jealousy, amongst other
negative emotions. This is very relevant
to psychology and should explored more in depth.
I do
not believe in the existence of a soul mate, or the idea that there is a person
out there who will complete me. I feel
that I am a complete person on my own, without being attached to another
individual. I believe that whoever I
chose to be with will be my partner in life and that together we will fulfill
whatever destiny we were created for. I
believe that all of us are capable of having a deep connection with another
individual, that this connection might be so deep that it feels
supernatural. That does not necessarily
mean that we are soul mates.
I think that God gives
us the gift of marriage while we are on earth. We have a partner to grow
with, and through our partner we are able to experience and see the kind of
love that God has for us. Ultimately, God will be our bridegroom and we
will have a perfect relationship with him. I'm not saying that we'll be
"married" to God, but marriage is the only analogy we are able to
understand of what our relationship will be like.
Honestly, I am still trying to decipher for myself what marriage is all
about. Maybe it is eternal, and maybe we
do have soulmates.
I do not rule out the possibility of it all. I trust that God loves me and wants nothing
but pure joy and happiness for my life, so I am not afraid of what eternity is
like. I think that most of us are so
scared as to what heaven is like, that we have to hold to on to the only idea
of what we know happiness is like—that it could only exist in the presence our
loved ones. We are deathly afraid that
our parents will not be there, that our best friends would not make it—so we
hold on to the security of knowing that at the very least, our spouse will be
there. This is a very comforting
thought.
Takashi Nakamura and Lee Ann Jones presented Swedenborg’s
views on Children in Heaven. In report
1, I gave an argument about some of the things I find fallible on this
topic. I thought that the idea of
children going to heaven contradicted the idea of free will. Here is a passage from that report:
Here
is an analogy that I thought up: There
are two teenage boys who have decided that they would never take drugs because
of its devastating effects. One boy is
home-schooled where his exposure to media is limited, experiences tremendous
amount of love by his family, and has no friends who takes drugs. The other boy attends a public high school,
has a brother who experiments with drugs, and has friends who urge him to party
with them on a daily basis. Who is truly
making the choice not to take drugs? The
one faced with temptations everyday is truly exercising his free-will. Of course, one can argue that if the
home-schooled boy really wanted to take drugs, he would find a way. But the probability of it is so much smaller
that it seems the free-will he experiences is limited.
However, I do like
the idea that children are educated in heaven in a perfect environment. I think that the idea of what the perfect
education looks like can help us develop a better schooling system for our
children. Of course, we can’t do
anything supernatural, but I think we can definitely begin by fostering a more
positive and encouraging environment for our children.
Lecture Notes
Dr. James’ goal of applied theistic psychology is to help individuals
understand themselves and God in order to function more properly in our
world. Applied theistic psychology would
be a very valuable tool for people to be aware of the natural and spiritual
world around them. According to Dr.
James, “Reality is constructed by God on a rational basis. When thinking rationally people modify their
thoughts and feelings as they proceed with daily activities and
involvements. This systematic
self-modification process is called the ‘regeneration of character.’”
Through the revelations of spiritual truths through the writings of Swedenborg, we come to know who God is and what the
afterlife and eternity is about. The
writings teach us that human character is inherited—traits such as selfishness,
cruelty, jealousy, and insensitivity—are not learned. The writings also teach us about the anatomy
of the mind, that the it is made up natural
(temporary) and spiritual (eternal) substances.
When we are born, we are born in both a spiritual and natural
world. Because we our spiritual lives
will exist for eternity, it is important to develop our character in the
natural world. Ultimately, the way we
live our lives in the natural world will decide our eternity.
That is why regeneration of character is important to applied theistic
psychology. As Dr. James notes, “Every person
who is taught theistic psychology and understands it in a rational way, will be
super-motivated to undergo the process of character regeneration, insuring for
themselves a heavenly eternity.” Through theistic psychology, our relationships
with our families, friends, and communities will be improved.
Dr. James’ notes on Unity and Marriage (http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/theistic-psychology.htm#marriage)
are valuable to the field of psychology because I feel that gender
relationships are very important to the structure of society. Dr. James’ identified three levels of unity
within a marriage. The levels
progressively move inward to the interior unity of the couple. First, a couple is unified through their
exterior selves which involves their sensorimotor
coordination. They enjoy doing things
together and seem compatible and haromonious. However, at this stage, there may not
necessarily be a true respect for their partner. In the second level, the unity becomes deeper
as their thinking becomes more compatible, as well as their reasoning, values,
religion, and philosophies. This allows them to love each other more deeply and are much
more satisfied in the relationship. The
third level of unity is the deepest and is achieved when motivations, desires,
needs, and feelings are in sync. The
relationship becomes less selfish and more about wanting to protect and support
the other person.
I believe that many individuals are stuck on the first level of unity in
a relationship. Educating people about
marriage and the different levels of unity will help people assess their
relationships and see how they can improve, rather than being stuck in an
abusive or unloving relationship. When
people begin to understand that a relationship is so much than enjoying the
other person’s company, I think we will have a much healthier society.
Dr. James also wrote about Mystical vs. Rational Approaches to Theistic
Psychology. He believes that it is
important to know the difference because it will affect how we view our
relationship with God. He refers to the
mystical approach as being based on physical experiences with God, or feeling
“oneness with God”. This approach is
only natural, and is not rational, therefore we cannot
experience spiritual truths about God through the mystical approach. On the other hand, rational spirituality is
more than just an experience with God and involves having revelations of the
truth through analyzing and critical thinking.
It is only through this approach that we can accept spiritual
truths.
This idea lays at the foundation of Swedenborg’s
theistic psychology. If one does not
embrace the fact that rational spirituality is absolutely necessary to
understand God, then one cannot embrace Swedenborg. This is important because everything about
the spiritual and natural world is revealed only through revelations and not
through experiences with God. In order
for us to accept spiritual truths, we must value rational spirituality.
4.
Conclusion
There is
a difference between mystical and rational spirituality and the view you
embrace will affect the way you live your life.
Personally, I still choose to adopt a more mystical approach to
spirituality because I have already begun understanding who God is through
it. Although according to theistic
psychology I am not able to understand spiritual truths because of it, the only
evidence I have that mystical psychology is helping me to develop a greater
character is to share my own experience.
I will be attending seminary shortly after I graduate and I expect that
I will only further my understanding of spirituality. I will be surrounded by individuals also on
this quest to finding out who God is.
This class
has been amazing. I had no idea what I was getting into when I signed up for
this class. Along the way, I had extreme
moments of confusion, doubt, and utter frustration. I had never had to define who God was. I did not think it was important for to dwell
on what heaven or hell was like because I thought was pointless. I thought, how can anyone
know what it is like, so why even bother trying to figure it out. It is so strange, because I talk about God on
a weekly basis with my friends, but it never hit me that I did not truly have a
personal conviction of who God was or what my eternal life would be like.
This
class, if anything, showed me how much growing I need to do. There is so much that I cannot explain, but now
I feel like I cannot be satisfied with that any longer. I need to be more rational and intellectual
about my spirituality. Of course, faith
is important, but I believe God has given me the tools to look further in
search of him. So now I begin my journey….
5.
Future Generations
I hope
that in searching for your own truth about spirituality, you will have an
open-mind but remain CAUTIOUS! You will
not find all the answers you’re looking for in a semester, or two, or ten. This will be a life-long journey. Be prepared to turn your life upside-down no
matter what your personal beliefs are, because this class will force you to
think beyond anything you have ever dealt with before. Whether the writings of Swedenborg
make sense to you or not, keep searching.
The way you understand God and spirituality will no doubt affect the
quality of your life and your relationship with other people. When you start to express your opinions about
who you think God is, don’t be discouraged if others have totally different
ideas. I think God will reveal himself
to each of us in a unique way, using each experience that we’ve been through to
set the foundation for us to understand him.
GOOD LUCK!
My
homepage: http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/459s2004/essig/home.htm
Class
homepage: http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/459s2004/