It can be useful to restate mystical principles using different words and phrases. Sometimes approaching a concept from another angle can open our stubborn hearts and encourage these hearts to give up some of their habitual morbidity. In this section I will repeat principles I have already presented, but here in a slightly different form. I would like to alert those readers who are annoyed by repetition so that they can skip this section:

The unholy disposition
A god for the atheist
On not forcing compassion on yourself or others
Doubt: a jewel for the apophatic

Shattering
Apophatics and gods
The ubiquity of the divine force
Imaginaing gods
Loving the spiritual source without insisting that she exist

If I want to approach the attainment of my maximum spiritual potential I must annihilate the insidious notion that I am or will ever be more important or more valuable than any other created being. This realization of immutable parity is the foundation of reality-based humility; this humility is the root of all spiritual ability. Self-importance is a rather laughable posture and humor is one of the most effective methods of eliminating it.

By the way, it is useful to note that humility is not the same as selflessness or self-deprecation; humility is very much in our self-interest and it evidences the presence of unambiguous self-esteem.

In discussions of mysticism it is often assumed that mysticism is an activity which is to be more highly valued than other so-called "mundane" pursuits. In apophatic practice this gratuitous assumption that one is engaged in a noble activity is an idea that is gradually eliminated from the psychic disposition. For the apophatic, such normative distinctions are counter-productive.

The world of phenomena senses a person's values, they cannot be hidden. It will separate itself from those who depreciate it, no matter how subtlety they behave. The mystic reaches her aim of contentment by overcoming separations and intimately embracing all things. She understands that when the psyche has been purged of all normative value judgments, it attains a spiritual disposition which enables it to move through the world with extraordinary ease. Lao Zi (43) says, "The one with no baggage can enter places with no openings."

To intimately engage and enjoy the world around her, the apophatic seeks to become empty of disabling notions, especially the malignant idea of holiness.

(See also: No holiness)

The sincere atheist who practices mysticism attempts to simply find and utilize the most potent energy that he can find within, a force arising from the core his being. He discovers that the range of his psyche is larger than he had guessed, its field constituted by his entire perceptual world; everything he senses makes up who he is to become. Within this wider self/world, consisting of the entire field of phenomena that surrounds awareness, the mystical practitioner in time grasps the thrust of a compelling dynamic that can radically change his appreciation of life.

The atheist who is willing to impartially experiment with the field of phenomena which he inhabits will find that by naming that core dynamic of thrust, and imaginatively personalizing a relationship with this so-named core, he will be much better able to access, release, and harness its power. By imaginatively establishing an identity for the amorphous core at the center of being the mystical atheist is able to grasp its essence and invoke its power.

Most atheists are unable to utilize this practice of creative imagination because most of them, like the rest of us, are unable to completely surrender to the idea of a world which works exactly as it is found to be working. We want to hold on to the belief in a world that retains our a priori expectations, a world that continues to act strictly the way we feel it needs to act.

If you suggest to people who have a difficult time loving that they should try to love more, you are likely to merely annoy them with your apparent display of self-righteousness. The ancient daoists understood that the formative dynamics of compassion are rooted at a more subtle level. They realized when the mind is cleared of all of its learned pre-judgments, that a general fondness toward all other beings, (the innate disposition of a human's deepest nature), arises spontaneously. Compassion cannot be forced, but a way for it can be cleared, and soon after the clearing, it will re-root itself in the heart.

"I don't insist that you exist, I am merely praying for your help."
Carla Ansantina

To envision the presence of a supreme being, (or any other entity with a degree of supernatural power) as an object of mystical devotion is to employ an effective method of generating the emotional energy and commitment required to induce the mystical state. But to continuously fix oneself emotionally to a dogmatic belief in a divinity who one insists must eternally save one from loss, is to neglect the important role of doubt in human spirituality. A human mind which has developed clear insight into its existential situation will find that doubt is an authentic property of the human experience and is valuable when it operates within its proper sphere.

To attain an intense and enduring mystical life one needs to embrace and cherish all the virtues of the human experience, this includes the often neglected qualities of doubt. By recognizing the virtues of doubt, doubt can become an ally, rather than an enemy lurking in the psychic shadows. As an ally doubt will no longer frighten the evolving soul from embarking on the dark journey where it consummates its spiritual power. Consummation occurs when the soul makes the necessary descent into the darkness of unknowing; in this realm the soul finally experiences the uncontaminated quality of mystical wholeness.

We are best to utilize our envisioned gods and other divine assistants at auspicious times, perhaps even all of the time. But we are also best to never allow our ideas of these divinities to erase our capacity to appreciate the exquisite vulnerability of the human condition.

When we try to banish doubt we have paradoxically lost faith in the efficacy of the dynamic spiritual dimensions of our world. We have become afraid that something unexpected will spoil our plan for happiness, and we try to cover this fear by denying doubt. But a much more subtle, durable, and efficacious pattern runs through the external reality that surrounds us than any fixed paste-together picture our fear might contrive in its feeble attempt to insure happiness. Doubt in proper proportion, allows us the openness to follow an authentic path, no matter how sharply that path may suddenly turn. Such a flexible course adjusts to continually evolving spiritual patterns; it does not become stuck within the restrictions of dogmatic fantasies.

The entity (God, Coyote, or natural force) which puts this world of phenomena together is an uncanny craftsman. It has made the vulnerability of not knowing anything for sure, the very foundation of human spiritual power. We engage the creating force most intimately by embracing its entire handiwork, and particularly by periodically entertaining doubt, the heart of human vulnerability, a jewel for apophatic practice.

Shattering

There is a barely concealed "things to do" compartment in the structure of the human psyche. It lies hidden most of the time. The storage fees for this bin of stuff are substantial. The high cost is an expense that must be taken against spiritual spontaneity. But the bin plays an important role in the psychic stability of a typical human being.

The things that I have consciously or unconsciously stored are those I think that I "need to do," they are things that give purpose and direction to my life. The direction they provide is linear, and such a course is a stable one.

One who wants to exponentially increase the area that the human psyche can potentially explore, must get rid of most of the contents in the storage bin. This can be done by undergoing a "shattering."

A shattering can be conducted by a psychopomp, or can be done by oneself. The shattering unleashes powerful subconscious forces who break open the carefully arranged bin of conceived meanings, vandalizing and scandalizing most of the contents, no matter how precious they might be. When they are done, much of the collection is rendered meaningless.

To say the least, this is an extraordinarily destabilizing and often viscerally painful experience.

If after shattering one is somehow able to reconstitute a modicum of psychic coherence, one realizes what constitutes the foundation of spiritual aptitude: a heightened state of clarity. With unimpeded vision, everything that your guide or guides transmit will be quickly grasped and can be consummated with ease.

The major result of this consummation is the realization of limitless love. A second gift is that of creative catalytic power. With this creativity, you can resacralize your entire world. Additionally you will have the ability to move other people to discover an inner confidence which will allow them to carry on with their own independently evolving self-actualization.

(see also: Shattering, how to do it)

Apophatics and gods

Some apophatics petition a personal god, but without dogmatically believing (or denying) that such an entity exists. The choice of using the idea of a god is pragmatic. Petioning a visualized god increases the emotional intensity of meditation. With increased intensity the mystical process is greatly accelerated.

The ubiquity of the divine force

It is interesting to guess what kind of interior process the mystic may be undergoing when she talks of the "ubiquity of the divine force." For example Zhuangzi finds that "the dao is even in the shit and piss." This sense of an all pervasive presence may result from the mystic's experience of an intimate resonance with all of the perceived world "outside".

Mystics who report the ubiquity of the divine force clearly sense its presence amid all circumstances. In the mystical prayers of Spanish speaking Roman Catholics one finds that this ubiquity applies to some saints as well. An example is a writing that sometimes appears before an image of the Virgin:

"¿No estoy yo aqui que soy tu madre?" (Am I not right here, the one who is your mother?)


Imagining gods

To obtain the most intimate relationship, (with what can be only provisionally called the "spiritual"), one surrenders everything except one's full participation in the immediate relationship. The surrender includes relinquishing any fixed idea as to what the relationship "actually is," and with whom it takes place.

Imagining what the relationship is, and with whom it occurs, may be quite useful in bringing one to the threshold of the encounter. But in order to step over the threshold and actually encounter that which is on the other side, one surrenders all preconceptions, whether these preconceptions are considered to be "real" or "imagined."

Loving the spiritual source without insisting that she exist

The spiritual source, (whatever it may be or not be) is an outrageously indulgent Mother. She does not care if we believe that She exists or not, She only cares about the unconditional love that transpires between Her and us. And likewise if we love her unconditionally, we won't care about anything other than Her love, we won't even demand that She exist. Each partner, Her and we, will only ask for love from the other.

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