A QUOTE ON THE AUTHORITY OF MYSTICS

NOTE: Those sharing with me the course “Modern Problems of Belief” will likely discover that I can and probably will speak comparably to the quote below over the duration of the course, and I do not require someone else to say what is said here for me. However, I wish to note that I am not a lone voice in speaking about mystical authority as Rhea Miller does here. For example, Ken Wilber in numerous places in A Brief History of Everything and in many of his other books makes the same or similar points. There are other examples I could give, including many of the top scientists and philosophers of the twentieth century. But I like what Miller says and the way she says it, and so I share it with you. – Steve Adams, June, 2008 From: Rhea Y. Miller, Cloudhand, Clenched Fist, pages 53-54… One of history’s best kept secrets is that mystics are reformers, if not outright revolutionaries, precisely because of their authority. Contrary to public opinion, mystics are not wimpy, hidden away, uninvolved, “other worldly” folk. Mystics experience a vision, a new way of seeing; they believe in these visions and act upon them. Mystics exude authority. Mystics quite regularly shake up worldviews… The fact of the matter is that the authority, or truth of a knowledge-event or mystical event, is rarely given the opportunity to be verified, due to political agendas. [I would add social, religious, economic, scientific, and other agendas – SA] The problem is not that there is no way in which to verify the authority of a knowledge-event or mystical event. The problem is that such events are so threatening that we rarely have the opportunity to examine them before the mystics and their ideas are whisked away, belittled, dismissed, swept under the carpet, or destroyed. The irony is that the real danger lies not in the true mystical or knowledge-event but in the idolatry. Gestalt therapist Barry Stevens has provocatively asked why, when someone steps out of line, we order them back into line rather than asking them where they are going or what they are seeing. When we stop questioning and assume that what is “re-presented” to us is the truth, without ourselves experiencing its validity or authority, we engage in idolatry.