What Is Mystical?

SAT., JAN. 21, 1988, 7:14 AM
FARM, STUDY

One of the most interesting words in your language is the word “mystical.” A word is a tangible “thing,” with a designated proper spelling and pronunciation. It also will be in a dictionary with one or more definitions, also in tangible words. What makes “mystical” interesting is that all of this order does not “encompass” the mystical.

Mystical phenomena or happenings can never be fully described in words. Whatever words are used, even if carefully (and prayerfully) chosen… these limit what is being described to the words, and this is always incomplete and therefore inaccurate. This is frustrating to those in a culture that expects a language to represent accurately and fully all that truly exists. I tell you that such frustration must be normative.

The mystical is to be experienced, mainly with spirit. There are few words that describe what the spirit experiences, for words are in the realm of the mind. You do not “speak in tongues.” You have heard some express themselves thusly, and you have read some accounts… limited, of course, by the words and phrases used. This is a mystical use of language which has true reality. When it is genuine it is the speaker’s spirit responding to Me, the Holy Spirit, using language which does not limit or circumscribe. It can be a language of love and joy. It also can be a language of pain and anguish. Whatever spirit experiences can be expressed in this “prayer language.” It is not important that it be interpreted, for to do so is to put it into words that limit.

You may never have this actual experience, but I encourage you to appreciate what it represents – the mystical. Increasingly you must be aware of the mystical aspects of what you experience, do, and observe. That awareness begins with understanding that your mind, geared to Western secular thought, will try to prevent such awareness by putting it outside of reality. Resist this, gently but resolutely. Words simply aren’t necessary. Appreciation can come without these.

When you attempt to describe this process you find it difficult, and you sometimes let this difficulty raise doubts in your spirit about what We do together. I tell you to continue to describe it as best you can when someone asks out of genuine interest, but know that the words can only lead another to a spiritual understanding, which is quite beyond words. This is the reality, so you might as well be satisfied with it.

All right, what about these Teachings? Are they mystical or tangible? They are both. The words are American English expressed in your particular style and limited to your vocabulary. Their purpose is to nourish the spirit, so the particular choice of words is not critical. You often err in hearing what I say, but “accuracy” is not as important as the spiritual process. If an error is serious it shall be corrected as you continue the process.

I am amazed and amused by the fervor that some Christians exude in determining the meaning and importance of a single, isolated portion of Holy Scripture. Scripture is just as mystical as these Teachings, and even more, for they have been translated and retranslated, with words being substituted for other words, utilizing mind more than spirit.