Let’s begin with what Practical Mysticism is:
{Practical} is defined as by practice or action instead of
theory or speculation.
{Mysticism} is
engaging with the transcendent reality of God through conscious contact from
within, as well as with different dimensions of existence. Mysticism represents
the highest quest of human growth and awareness.
The qualities of mysticism include:
Self-discovery,
Self-mastery, and Self-awareness.
Discovering
if there’s a Supreme Universal Intelligence located within us.
Conscious
contact with this Intelligence.
Experiencing
this Intelligence.
Allowing
this Intelligence to work through us.
Being
divinely guided by this Intelligence.
Becoming
a Master Manifestor.
Practical Mysticism is a way of life that helps us
deliberately create more of what we’d
like to experience and less of what we don’t,
using the Absolute power available to us all. It nurtures the strengthening of
intuition and the intimate union of soul, God, and presence in our reality.
Now let’s look at
what {conscious} means:
☽
mentally perceptive or alert; awake
☽
capable of thought, will, or perception
☽
subjectively known or felt
☽
intentionally conceived or done; deliberate
☽
inwardly attentive or sensitive to something
☽ showing awareness of or preoccupation with something
(cost-conscious/value-conscious)
May we all approach consciousness as a
ritual in our daily lives, being fully aware of the present moment and of our
Higher Consciousness. Spend time in nature, interact with empathy, show love
whenever you can, show devoted veneration and radical respect for all things
holy to build self-worth, be true to yourself and truthful to others, and
realize that everything is connected and reflected.
We’ll be working a lot with meditation practices, mindfulness, and
presence because meditation is the
foundation of mysticism!
Mystical Meditation is where you intentfully
attempt to make conscious contact with God. This requires patience and complete
focus which is why mindfulness and presence are equally important.
Mindfulness and presence could be
considered the same thing, however the difference is that with mindfulness you’re
completely focused on being right here, right now, whereas with presence
mindfulness expands to an intertwining of energies that leaves you feeling
grounded, spacious, and open in harmony with what’s happening within, around,
and between us.
Presence
is fullness and emptiness being experienced simultaneously.
May we unite in
mindfulness and presence.
“We are not at home in the past any more than we are at home in the
future. Home is Now and life is only available to us in the present moment. May
we embrace it fully.” –Melissa Marie Nelson
The second practice we’ll do together is Mindfulness
Meditation.
Mindfulness is the antidote for forgetfulness that
unites the body, mind, and soul in harmony. When we are mindful we become aware
of the limiting conditions we place on our happiness, our lives, and ourselves,
and it releases tension providing the space for deep relaxation.
To maintain a positive and conscious attitude,
Mindfulness Meditation can be practiced daily, in silence with eyes closed and
anywhere you are with no special props or anything needed at all, by becoming
intimately aware of the present moment.
We cannot always practice Mindfulness Meditation in
the silence of solitude but we can become just as present by becoming purposefully
aware of the moment we’re in. Look around you and realize that you’re here,
Now, by directing all of your senses to tune-in to Now. Identify 3-5 things you
can see, hear, feel, smell, and, if you can- taste. Allow yourself to become
the center of your universe. The point of this practice is to pull yourself
back from the future and forward from the past by connecting you with your
brain, body, and breath so you can be conscious of what you’re creating for
yourself.
After this is complete you can sit in peaceful
surrender and begin to focus your attention on what you want to create, rather
than aimlessly creating from a lack of self-awareness, by visualizing in detail
and really feeling what you want to
attract. In 20 seconds, momentum is moving. After another minute, momentum
begins to pull what you want into alignment. If you could envision your ideal
circumstances and lifestyle for three minutes a day, you’ll begin to see your manifestations
in your life. By extending this visualizing practice to a period of ten minutes
or more per day – it will magically change your life.
As with any desire or action towards positive
change, a positive mindset is favorable and suggested if you want to see the
fruit of your ‘labor’ in a timely manner.
Mindfulness is a great way to envelop yourself in a
daily, or hourly, gratitude practice because when you’re taking each moment in
fully and experiencing the rapture and joy of being alive, while being
intensely grateful for all you have, all you are, and all you’re aspiring to
be, you’re calling in more reasons to be grateful and more experiences that
create a joyful life according to your own preferences. We can’t always say that
mindfulness brings joy but we can always say that mindfulness relieves
suffering, which contributes to it nonetheless.
During the progression of the guided Mindfulness
Meditation experience we’ll embark on together, you’ll hear only four prompts
throughout the process. The entire meditation is 11 minutes in length for the
purpose of this particular practice, however you can stay in meditation for as
long as you feel you need to. This meditation can be used at any time to cultivate
inner-peace and will be available soon to listen to it on YouTube. A separate post will be created and specifically dedicated to Mindfulness Meditation as outlined in this post.
By focusing on the breath, we become aware of the
miracle of living. We sometimes have many worries and fears, irritations,
resentments, and regrets that can flood our mind and body with pain and
suffering, and that pain and suffering causes us to not be able to remember who
we are and that we don’t have to give our power away to the experiences that
caused the pain and suffering, especially if what happened -happened long ago.
Mindfulness is fully experiencing the moment;
feeling all the sensations of your body and how it feels when air enters
through your nostrils and exits through your mouth. Mindfulness is the key to
unlocking bliss and the breath is our faithful guide.
The actual action of mindfulness is almost
effortless. When we’re walking, we’re already walking, when we’re breathing, we’re
already breathing, and when we’re working or interacting with other’s, we’re
already doing those things. All we’re doing now is adding mindfulness to the
mix.
Mindfulness can be applied to everything, just as
Mysticism can. Doing tasks mindfully produces better results and ensures a more
peaceful and positive outcome. Mindfulness slashes through mind chatter and
paves the way for the shift to a positive attitude and it allows us to taste
the sweetness of silence and intuitive guidance. Mindfulness also improves concentration
skills and intuitive strength, thereby elevating our sense of awareness and
genuine happiness.
Sometimes the mind can wander or we get overwhelmed
with what’s on our plate and we’ll have to gently guide our focus back to the
present moment, but the full extent of the practice is being fully aware that
you are breathing and being alive right now, while you allow the breath to fill
you and the body to release it taking the past and present with it leaving you
right here where you truly are.
If you find that your mind wanders and it’s
difficult for you to control your thoughts or be at peace, intensely focus on
your breath as you inhale and exhale while saying to yourself: this is an in
breath, following it all the way in, and this is an out breath, following it
all the way out.
Otherwise,
do not try to control the way you breathe once you’re centered and present.
Allow it to happen organically and be whatever it is.
Up Next: Chanting
