A Personal Relationship

I am grateful to a dear brother for using a common tag phrase from modern christian circles of faith: A personal relationship with god. It reminded me that there are some basic aspects of the religious traditions - christian, muslim, buddhist and others that are incompletely contextualized within the larger sphere of the mystic experience. A mystic life, and the living truth it provides, are not commonly understood. Though not well understood, it is, in fact, the actual point of a life of religious devotion or spiritual seeking. In a largely modified form, are the thoughts I shared with him — I wanted to extend and expand upon them here.

The personal relationship experience is a good starting point for understanding how to solve our apparent separation from god. However, within the structure of the christian communities, it is still born of a division that does not fundamentally exist. Again, this, though an ancient truth, oft repeated, is also an experiential truth. Mystic realization or Awakening can shed more light than I can in a hundred thousand words.

I was born again many, many years ago. I received some very wonderful gifts of the holy spirit - which are active to this day. It is precisely because of this transformation that I am able to say these things now.

To be born again, to have a personal relationship with god is the very beginning of the path, though when it happens, it appears to be the whole thing. It is not. Our christian faiths maintain the traditions that will lead you to the personal relationship. They do not, however, have any appropriate teaching for the stages that follow.

Allow me an indulgence of repetition via restatement: The peak experiences in most practiced religions are merely the beginning of the path. The path itself, over time, becomes substantially different than that intimated by the limited illumination provided by the peak experience. Most world faiths do not teach these further steps. In a very real sense, these further steps are largely untransmitable within the context of the religious practice. Once on the path, the tools of mystic realization must be applied.

The change in character of the path is not the result of the path being different in essential character from the peak experience, but from the inherent limitations of our own perceptual mechanisms. As we proceed, our view alters, the path is seen in new light, over and over again. We glance back at where we have been, and our new point of view, our altered perceptions allow us to see things differently.

Indeed, at the outset, the personal relationship is central — though it manifests and is articulated in wildly different ways by different faiths and systems.

The fundamental intimacy with god, the beloved, is so profound, so constant, so magnificent, that it must be known. Assuming one has already formed the personal relationship, the question is, will you continue to walk the path you have started, and by necessity, reach beyond the confines of your current community of faith to reach a deeper understanding?

I would rather see you standing at the doorway than to be out in the dark and cold. This personal relationship is a good step, a good first step. I embrace you for it. Inside we are bathed in the swirling magnificence of the beloved. Serene, joyous, divine; the brotherhood dances to the very breath of the One. We will await you when you transcend the limited and start to walk the path of rememberance; the path of the divine. Our table is well set, our path difficult but essential, and your place is among us.