Word Sculptures of a Mystical Experience

The Mystical Experience

"The mysteries of life become lucid ? and often, nay usually, the solution is more or less unutterable in words." -- William James, "The Varieties of Religious Experience"

I don't remember who came to my door. I don't remember what he said. I do remember he was angry.

I had just finished reading a book called "Summerhill" by an English schoolmaster, A.S. Neill. Its theme was 'freedom, not license'. Each student in Neill's school was free to do what he wanted as long as the conduct didn't hurt someone else. The community Neill had created was a free, creative, loving, respectful, responsible interaction of unique human beings.

Recently, I'd been involved in disciplinary battles with one of my preschool sons. The battles resulted in increasingly destructive behavior in him and increased frustration in me. I decided to give Neill's methods a try, with my own children and with other people in my life.

The man at the door wasn't hurting me. I decided to allow him to vent his anger. I didn't do it because it was something I ought to do. I did it because I chose to do it. I experienced acceptance of the anger and no desire to retaliate. Suddenly, the anger stopped.

Nothing changed. My house, the door, the living room, the man, were all still there, just as they had been five minutes before.

Yet everything changed. Suddenly, I understood the meaning of words I'd been taught as a child: "But I say unto you, that ye resist not evil; but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also." Matthew 6:39.

My five-year-old son Bill began wetting the bed after his youngest brother was born. At first, I ignored the bedwetting. Perhaps it would disappear. When it didn't, I explained to Bill why he was too big a boy to wet the bed. The wetting continued. I reasoned with him, threatened him, screamed at him, and spanked him. The wetting continued. I felt angry and frustrated.

Neill frequently dealt with problem behavior by rewarding his students. While rewards for bad behavior didn't make sense, nothing else had worked. Neill's ideas worked with the man at the door. I decided to try them with the bedwetting problem.

The next time Bill wet the bed, I gave him a penny. He stared at me in confusion. The following morning, his bed was dry. He never wet it again. My anger and frustration disappeared.

What a powerful tool! I began using Neill's ideas with neighboring children.

One day, two children were calling each other names in the back yard and threatening to fight. Instead of trying to stop them, I took each aside and asked him if he wanted to fight.

"I don't want to fight," each responded, "but he's making me do it. He's calling me names."

"Do you want to fight?" I reiterated. "If so, go ahead and do it."

The boys mumbled to themselves and looked at the ground. Two minutes later, they were happily playing together.

What I was doing contradicted everything society had taught me, but it brought the peace and harmony I desired. Society had taught me to punish people for 'bad behavior', but I didn't punish them. Society had taught me to resist 'evil', but I no longer resisted. Society had taught me to fight for peace, but I no longer fought.

Instead, I simply detached from the anger and turmoil around me and allowed it to happen without responding to it. The anger and turmoil dissipated, and my life and relationships worked. By allowing myself to remain peaceful and harmonious, everything around me became peaceful and harmonious.

I had always understood Matthew 6:39 as an unattainable moral commandment, requiring subservience of my own needs to the needs of others. It wasn't that at all. It was extremely effective action I could take all by myself, that benefited both me and others. There was no self-denial in that action. There was only self-affirmation and life affirmation. I had never before felt so free, so strong, so powerful, so integrated, so fully in control.

Nothing outside me changed. The only thing that changed was my own perceptions, thoughts, actions, and emotions.

What I experienced has been called a "mystical experience".

As a child, I had been taught to doubt, question, and trust my own judgment. My upbringing didn't include education about mystical experiences, but I knew that many religions included words about these experiences.

As I read William James' "Varieties of Religious Experience", and texts from Christianity, Buddhism, Zen Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Islam, Hinduism, Plato, and existentialist philosophers, I could recognize my own experience in all the different words. It was as if different people were describing the same beautiful flower garden. Some talked about roses, some spoke of delphiniums, some noticed the color patterns, some focused on the trellises and paths. If I hadn't seen the flower garden and were just listening to the words, I would have thought the people were talking about different things. Having seen the flower garden, I knew they were all giving verbal structure and form to the same underlying experience, just as our minds give form and meaning to the fixed lines of optical illusions.

I couldn't stop playing with these ideas. Was my life the same or was it different? Did I know or did I know nothing? I wasn't sure.

Are the religious words true, or is each set of words simply a finger pointing toward the moon? Is there a sense in which words are false idols? Does the meaning of each set of words depend on the human consciousness that hears them and uses them? Do words have meaning only in the context of particular experiences and mindsets?

"Neither an outside observer nor the Subject who undergoes the process can explain fully how particular experiences are able to change one's center of energy so decisively, or why they so often have to bide their hour to do so. We have a thought, or we perform an act, repeatedly, but on a certain day the real meaning of the thought peals through us for the first time,..." -- William James, "The Varieties of Religious Experience"

Janet Smith Warfield is a powerful word sculptress who knows how to bring peace into troubled lives. As wife, mother, grandmother, lawyer, mediator, poet, and author of creative essays, she has been honing her words and wisdom for 40 years. She is a graduate of Swarthmore College and Rutgers School of Law, Camden, cum laude.

For more information, see http://janetsmithwarfield.com

Questions? E-mail jwarfiel@ix.netcom.com

---

AD33Today: A Search in Modern America

We, a group of ordinary people who believe in Jesus... Read More

What Are You Leaving On The Table Of Life?

Our Creator is an infinitely loving and generous provider -... Read More

Your Guardian Angel

Your guardian angel is your link to the divine. The... Read More

Humanity Needs Islam

The human nature means the soul and the body. A... Read More

Anam Cara - The Blessing

In Corrogue it is frosty.The ramp into our "acre of... Read More

You Are Not Your Stuff

We humans are a funny, funny breed. We spend our... Read More

Pray Off Your Debts in 10 Days or Less - A Short Case Study

Last Friday night, I met a Christian at a prayer... Read More

Life is like Golf

In the golfing world, yesterday may have been one of... Read More

New Century; Same Old Story

In His graciousness, God has blessed us to enter a... Read More

The Healing Hand of God

"Praise the Lord, O my soul; all my inmost being,... Read More

How To Meditate Using The Bible Like A Double-Edged Sword

Imagine the Bible is a sharp and deadly double-edged sword,... Read More

Quick Reference Guide for Tarot Card Meanings

Obviously, if you really want to learn about the meanings... Read More

Special Washes

Attract and hold your family at home with some unique... Read More

Creating Our Own Emotional Chaos

It's amazing how - even when we're working from a... Read More

Insulting Spirit or Exposing the Me

While it isn't my intention to insult anyone (Alright, for... Read More

Spiritual Growth: Measures for How Youre Doing

In my yard are quarter-circles of grass growing taller than... Read More

Sinners by Choice

God said, "Thou shalt not?" and we continue to tell... Read More

The Mirror of Truth

James 1:23-24Anyone who listens to the word but does not... Read More

God!

God !"My son will be brought up in a place... Read More

When Goliath Comes

One does not have to live long to realize that... Read More

A Fine Line between Heaven, Hell and Astrology - Angelic Governors of the Zodiac

Have you ever wondered which Angel governs your sign? And... Read More

Willing to Walk with Jesus?

Can two walk together unless they have agreed to do... Read More

Change Your Outlook on Change

Make no mistake about it, change is challenging whether it... Read More

Being a Christian

What is a Christian? According to The American Heritage® Dictionary... Read More

Law and Order of the Spiritual Kind

There is no such thing as a coincidence. Albert Einstein... Read More

Prophetic Ministry: How to See in the Spirit and Begin Prophetic Words

A Nathan type prophet sees with his eyes. A Samuel... Read More

Fulfillment

A feeling of fulfillment is something we all seek. Here... Read More

Sunday Dinner

No one appreciates mothers enough. In this life, that's a... Read More

Tarot Spreads: The Planetary Spread, for Insights into a Personality

The Planetary Spread is an excellent layout to use when... Read More

Change Your Beliefs -- Change Your Health

To many people in the Western world Metaphysical Healing is... Read More

What Is The Spiritual Path?

For many years of my life, I thought the spiritual... Read More

Life as the Ultimate Psychedelic Experience

Life is just a journey. Princess DianaWhether we are... Read More

Do Feng Shui Remedies Really Work?

THE PREMISEFeng Shui is an ancient Chinese art that has... Read More