I am really not special...and I did not mean to infer that I was by saying I was a mystic. I call myself a mystic because of my educational background in Christian Studies, and because of William James.

William James wrote "The Varieties of Religious Experience" in 1902. He was a psychologist and philosopher interested in scientifically looking at religious experience in a scientific way. He looked at the broad range of religious experience, from good works to mysticism in his series of lectures. According to James, a mystic is a person who experiences God at the personal level. "In these lectures, James considers something which he takes to be central to the religious experience: "personal religious experience has its root and centre in mystical states of consciousness". p 379

I called myself a mystic because I do experience God in the way James describes. I do not know if mysticism can be learned- one would hope that a good life of prayer and devotion to God would result in some sort of mystical experiences. I am not a monk or nun, but I have had these experiences as James describes. When I experienced "The Mind of God", I experienced a visual and spiritual experience that went beyond anything I could call a physical experience. Sticking to James' definition, my experience was mystical.

I am sorry I do not have all the answers you seek, but I really recommend the book (actually, a compilation of his series of lectures on Religion) if you want answers. I do think that mystics seem to be born this way, and I do think that they come from all walks of life. One need not be mystical in order to be deeply spiritual.

I hope I pointed you in the right direction, Vee. It is a good question! I hope your question prompts others to post about their "mystical experiences".

Blessings, Jai

"All things are possible to Him who believes"

To be anything,including a Mystic, or have anything is within the realms of possibility.

Does everyone achive what they can in this life....well thats a different story.

Graham

I have a hard time putting a label on spiritual experiences,I have been experiencing numerous different energies for over four years now, and what it shows me is that I am now open to a whole new way of learning.Where this will take me I not sure but I know I am not alone in this because I belong to a large metaphysical group in our area and the people here are blessed with many,many, different modalities including our own Abraham (one of my vibrational matches), several other channels ,top energy workers,animal communicators,and the list goes on.There are over two hundred people involved in this group and many other groups are springing out from it.So what I feel about this question is that every Being on this Planet is Limitless and capable of achieving anything. We are One and the same.

Love and Light

A Mystic can do whatever a Regular person can do and vice-versa.

These are two labels of misunderstanding.

I am a channeler , i post them all on utube, i understand what the diffrence is,, the difrance is ONLY that the ones that u call a "regular person" is the exact same as a "mystic" the mystic only has the knowlege how to connect with their inner self, al psychic, channelers, healers, shammans , or seers are only able to communicate w/ there inner self connsiesly, we all do this every day,, when u have a "gut feelin" it is the same it just isnt as well recieved because the outside world is not being drowned out, any regular person can learn to drown these "worldly distractions" out with a little bit of meditation,, i help many people who are regular veiwers of my channeling, if any of u need help learning this,, i will be sooo happy 2 help!!!! love n light, rob

I see a mystic as someone who is able to either tap and or see into that which is unknown to the average person. Even bending the supposed physical rules accepted by the rest. Not because a mystic has special powers but rather because of their openness to such a thing, either through upbringing, occult studies....or something they've planned for themselves for that lifetime.

thank you, namaste

Being a mystic is having access to Knowledge and the wisdom and discernment as to when and to whom to share it.

joy.

mystic pass through the inner gates to experiance the truth or have vision(seing the universe from a to z in the fraction of a second) of things! some are sage they seek wisdom and try to look at god works in this world through the coincidence deja vue prophetic dream lucid dream non ordinary state of being clauraudience clairsience the inner voice etc. if someone that as not experiance anny of this how can he know one that as and understand it? that is why everything comes at the right time! Theistic, pantheistic, and panentheistic metaphysical systems most often understand mystical experience as individual communion with God. One can receive these very subjective experiences as visions, miracles, dreams, revelations, or prophecies, for example. Going beyond "natural theology" (theologia naturalis) to direct experience of God is "mystical theology" (theologia mystica) or, as Thomas Aquinas defined it, "experiential knowledge of God" (cognitio dei experimentalis).That moment that science calls the Big Bang, the mystic calls the sudden arising of awareness..."[14] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mysticism