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

---

Out of the Closet?

We may sometimes consider the difficulty that occurs with our... Read More

Can Moms Have a Quiet Time, Too?

Spending 'Quiet Time' with the LordFrom the beginning of my... Read More

The Lord is My Shepherd

An acrostic prayer poem.The Lord loves me and is gracious... Read More

How To Find Your Center Of Power

The still place is the beginning. Settle in there, ask... Read More

Being a Christian

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

Understanding the Gospel of Matthew and Why it Matters - Part 3

The Birth of Jesus Christ18 Now the birth of Jesus... Read More

Spiritual Marketing

Let me say that marketing can be a corrupting experience.... Read More

Lance Armstrong had it Right-- Every Second Does Counts!

I have been counseling people on weight loss, exercise efficiency... Read More

Acknowledging Emotions and Feelings

We'll begin with a question:What is a moral?I'd say it's... Read More

Halloween Rites

For some of us, EVERY DAY IS HALLOWEEN!!! If you... Read More

Heart Matters-- What Matters Most

With excitement and anticipation I jumped on a plane last... Read More

The Hand of God

There I was living in a tiny bedroom in my... Read More

Servants of the Antichrist

The "Left Behind" series is inspiring, in that it makes... Read More

For I, the Lord, Heal You!

With those words recorded in Exodus 15:26, God proclaims to... Read More

Clear Mind, Empty Head: A Leak In Mind Like Water

There's a lot of talk in meditation circles about emptying... Read More

The Fountain of Light Exercise

An etheric body, also known as the aura, surrounds every... Read More

Will the World Really End on December 12, 2012?

I was recently asked how I interpreted the Mayan and... Read More

Getting Beyond Imperfect Examples & Resistance, to Receiving Loving Guidance & Help from the Father

As soon as he saw me I saw him. It... Read More

How To Fall With Style - The Art Of Sin

Adam had it right when he covered himself with fig... Read More

What Animal Communicators Do

Many people are awakening today to the idea that the... Read More

Practices for Positive Change

Connect with Your GodDo you at times, feel fearful, depressed,... Read More

Real Spirituality

My fiancee' and I frequent a restaurant in L.A. called... Read More

You Can Influence Your Fortunes In Life

Natural laws exist that serve to maintain order in the... Read More

The Spiritually Dead Church

The spiritually dead church. Now, I am not talking about... Read More

Coming Home

I find myself floating on a cloud as heavenly music... Read More

Unleashing The Treasures Of The Midnight

'O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom... Read More

Joy Of The Lord

The word means different things to different people. Is it... Read More

Kundalini Symbology

While study and pursuit of the Kundalini is considered part... Read More

Making the Impossible Possible

"I learned I was not, as most Africans believed, the... Read More

Change Your Outlook on Change

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

Anam Cara - The Blessing

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

Understanding the Gospel of Matthew and Why it Matters - Part 10

Matthew 3:7-10 John Rebukes the Pharisees and Sadducees7 But when... Read More

The Winds of Change

Humanity is entering a very critical time in its path... Read More