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Article Title: Miracle, Mystery and Authority
Author: James Burgess
Category: spirituality
Word Count: 804
Keywords: spiritual, coaching, therapy, belief
Author's Email Address: [email protected]
Article Source: http://www.7wordsassociates.org/psychology_spotlight.php
The article is preformatted to 65CPL.
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The only three factors that motivate people, according to Dostoyveyski are
miracle, mystery and authority.
One of the greatest writers in world literature was the Russian novelist
Dostoyevsky whose profound insight into human nature is most succinctly
captured in his statement about the only three things by which the typical
person is truly moved: mysticism, miracle and authority. The writer hopes to be
able to relate these three primary motivations to his spiritual path and
explain something of the perceived connection between these principles and the
material in this work.
Can we first consider the inter-connectedness between the three? Could they be
seen as three faces of one primary urge: the urge freely to create creation in
God's name? Is it self evident that we are with this study, concerning
ourselves with religion (whose auspices most certainly include miracle and
mysticism and, as a social phenomenon, authority too)? Then we ask: what is
religion, its purpose and practices, and the extent to which it achieves its
purposes with its practices?
One would hope to be able to affirm that its primary purpose is to bind back
its adherents to Universal Truth, and that its practices are designed to lead
in that direction and only in that direction. We can easily accept that there
are many paths which lead from separation to Unity and so there are many
religions which teach different practices - yet we would hope that these
practices would have some similarities, especially the closer we get to Unity.
Happily we find this to be the case, that even when very different forms of
religion are examined with the consciousness of a mystic it can be seen that
the essential message is repeated again and again.
The mystic has an equivalent mystical insight whatever his or her religious
background. Affirming this, Hazrat Inayat Khan has given us the message
emphasising the unity of religious ideals. A mystic seeks direct experience of
Unity and is given to practices which have the effect of lightening his
vibration, reducing his involvement in the worldly and softening his sense of
self in order to surrender to God.
Miracles are reported to have occurred on numerous occasions throughout history
and are generally associated with saints, prophets and masters. There clearly
is the expectation that a miracle in some way is related to the mystical
leanings of the miracle-worker, that this person is already a mystic and is
demonstrating a certain level of attainment by intending to create a change in
material world phenomena which goes against our perception of natural law.
These types of events are recorded in Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, Sufism,
Islam, Christianity, Shamanism and so on. In some cases the more prosaic word
magic is used to describe the event - a magician being one whose capability to
focus "supernatural" powers results in unusual physical manifestations against
the expectations of ordinary reality. Such a magician would most certainly have
to have been engaged in practices that enable him to control mind, body and
breath, very similar to those of the mystic. In fact it is argued that mystic
and magician are actually engaged in the same activity, one focuses more away
from the earth, the other towards the earth and each can expect to reach a
stage of competence in both states of awareness when each can annihilate his
ego in meditation and each can bend the accepted laws of the physical world.
Authority is an expression of identity. It is the "I am" of an organisation,
that which identifies it as what it is, in other words the reach of its
influence, the extent and limit of its power. Whether this organisation is an
institution or an individual, these ideas seem to apply, a person having a well
developed sense of identity exudes an aura of authority and is more able to
influence and less ready to be influenced by the overpowering authority of
another. It is interesting to note that the phrase "
in the name of
" is a
declaration of authority as well as an invocation - and a mystic would consider
it a practice of attunement (Bismillah, Beshemi, Shema). It is also noteworthy
that certain words which appear to be statements of authority can also been
seen as mystical affirmations ("Inana" of Jesus", "I am .... that which shapes"
of Amairgin, and "I and I" of Rastafarian linguistic structure).
Therefore a link can be drawn between principles of authority, mystical
awareness and magical capability and one can use the model of an hourglass to
good effect. Looking away from the earth, the mystic is empowered by the
authority of God, looking towards the earth the magician is empowered by the
authority of self. Authority here is the strait gate of self - God - knowledge.
Know yourself and you shall know God.
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