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Revision as of 22:10, 18 July 2011
, 22:10, 18 July 2011Created page with 'File:lighterstill.jpgright|frame 91:7.1 Mysticism, as the technique of the cultivation of the consciousness of the presence ...'
[[File:lighterstill.jpg]][[File:The_eye_of_all_ur60.jpg|right|frame]]
91:7.1 [[Mysticism]], as the [[technique]] of the cultivation of the [[consciousness]] of the [[presence]] of [[God]], is altogether praiseworthy, but when such [[practices]] lead to [[social]] [[isolation]] and culminate in religious [[fanaticism]], they are all but reprehensible. Altogether too frequently that which the overwrought [[mystic]] evaluates as [[divine]] [[inspiration]] is the uprisings of his own deep [[mind]]. The [[contact]] of the [[mortal]] mind with its indwelling [[Adjuster]], while often [[favored]] by [[devoted]] [[meditation]], is more frequently [[facilitated]] by wholehearted and loving [[service]] in [[unselfish]] [[ministry]] to one's fellow [[creatures]].
91:7.2 The great [[religious]] [[teachers]] and the [[prophets]] of [[past]] ages were not extreme [[mystics]]. They were [[God]]-knowing men and women who best served their [[God]] by unselfish [[ministry]] to their fellow [[mortals]]. [[Jesus]] often took his [[apostles]] away by themselves for short periods to [[engage]] in [[meditation]] and [[prayer]], but for the most part he kept them in [[service]]-[[contact]] with the multitudes. The [[soul]] of man requires [[spiritual]] [[exercise]] as well as spiritual nourishment.
91:7.3 [[Religious]] [[ecstasy]] is permissible when resulting from [[sane]] antecedents, but such [[experiences]] are more often the outgrowth of [[purely]] [[emotional]] [[influences]] than a [[manifestation]] of deep [[spiritual]] [[character]]. Religious [[persons]] must not regard every vivid [[psychologic]] presentiment and every [[intense]] [[emotional]] [[experience]] as a [[divine]] [[revelation]] or a [[spiritual]] [[communication]]. Genuine [[spiritual]] [[ecstasy]] is usually [[associated]] with great outward [[calmness]] and almost [[perfect]] [[emotional]] [[control]]. But true [[prophetic]] [[vision]] is a superpsychologic presentiment. Such [[visitations]] are not pseudo [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hallucination hallucinations], neither are they [[Trance|trancelike]] ecstasies.
91:7.4 The [[human]] [[mind]] may [[perform]] in [[response]] to so-called [[inspiration]] when it is [[sensitive]] either to the uprisings of the [[subconscious]] or to the [[stimulus]] of the [[superconscious]]. In either case it [[appears]] to the [[individual]] that such augmentations of the [[content]] of [[consciousness]] are more or less foreign. Unrestrained mystical [[enthusiasm]] and rampant religious [[ecstasy]] are not the credentials of [[inspiration]], supposedly [[divine]] credentials.
91:7.5 The [[practical]] test of all these strange religious [[experiences]] of [[mysticism]], [[ecstasy]], and [[inspiration]] is to observe whether these [[phenomena]] [[cause]] an [[individual]]:
*1. To enjoy better and more complete [[physical]] [[health]].
*2. To [[function]] more efficiently and [[practically]] in his [[mental]] life.
*3. More fully and [[joyfully]] to socialize his religious [[experience]].
*4. More completely to spiritualize his day-by-day living while faithfully discharging the commonplace [[duties]] of routine [[mortal]] [[existence]].
*5. To enhance his [[love]] for, and [[appreciation]] of, [http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Paper_56#56:10._TRUTH.2C_BEAUTY.2C_AND_GOODNESS truth, beauty, and goodness].
*6. To [[conserve]] currently recognized [[social]], [[moral]], [[ethical]], and [[spiritual]] [[values]].
*7. To increase his [[spiritual]] [[insight]]—[[God-consciousness]].
91:7.6 But [[prayer]] has no real [[association]] with these exceptional religious [[experiences]]. When [[prayer]] becomes overmuch [[aesthetic]], when it consists almost exclusively in [[beautiful]] and [[blissful]] [[contemplation]] of paradisiacal [[divinity]], it loses much of its [[socializing]] [[influence]] and tends toward [[mysticism]] and the [[isolation]] of its devotees. There is a certain [[danger]] associated with overmuch [[private]] praying which is corrected and prevented by [[group]] praying, [[community]] [[devotions]].
<center>[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Paper_91 Go to Paper 91]</center>
<center>[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=The_Urantia_Text_-_Contents Go to Table of Contents]</center>
[[Category:Paper 91 - Evolution of Prayer]]
91:7.1 [[Mysticism]], as the [[technique]] of the cultivation of the [[consciousness]] of the [[presence]] of [[God]], is altogether praiseworthy, but when such [[practices]] lead to [[social]] [[isolation]] and culminate in religious [[fanaticism]], they are all but reprehensible. Altogether too frequently that which the overwrought [[mystic]] evaluates as [[divine]] [[inspiration]] is the uprisings of his own deep [[mind]]. The [[contact]] of the [[mortal]] mind with its indwelling [[Adjuster]], while often [[favored]] by [[devoted]] [[meditation]], is more frequently [[facilitated]] by wholehearted and loving [[service]] in [[unselfish]] [[ministry]] to one's fellow [[creatures]].
91:7.2 The great [[religious]] [[teachers]] and the [[prophets]] of [[past]] ages were not extreme [[mystics]]. They were [[God]]-knowing men and women who best served their [[God]] by unselfish [[ministry]] to their fellow [[mortals]]. [[Jesus]] often took his [[apostles]] away by themselves for short periods to [[engage]] in [[meditation]] and [[prayer]], but for the most part he kept them in [[service]]-[[contact]] with the multitudes. The [[soul]] of man requires [[spiritual]] [[exercise]] as well as spiritual nourishment.
91:7.3 [[Religious]] [[ecstasy]] is permissible when resulting from [[sane]] antecedents, but such [[experiences]] are more often the outgrowth of [[purely]] [[emotional]] [[influences]] than a [[manifestation]] of deep [[spiritual]] [[character]]. Religious [[persons]] must not regard every vivid [[psychologic]] presentiment and every [[intense]] [[emotional]] [[experience]] as a [[divine]] [[revelation]] or a [[spiritual]] [[communication]]. Genuine [[spiritual]] [[ecstasy]] is usually [[associated]] with great outward [[calmness]] and almost [[perfect]] [[emotional]] [[control]]. But true [[prophetic]] [[vision]] is a superpsychologic presentiment. Such [[visitations]] are not pseudo [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hallucination hallucinations], neither are they [[Trance|trancelike]] ecstasies.
91:7.4 The [[human]] [[mind]] may [[perform]] in [[response]] to so-called [[inspiration]] when it is [[sensitive]] either to the uprisings of the [[subconscious]] or to the [[stimulus]] of the [[superconscious]]. In either case it [[appears]] to the [[individual]] that such augmentations of the [[content]] of [[consciousness]] are more or less foreign. Unrestrained mystical [[enthusiasm]] and rampant religious [[ecstasy]] are not the credentials of [[inspiration]], supposedly [[divine]] credentials.
91:7.5 The [[practical]] test of all these strange religious [[experiences]] of [[mysticism]], [[ecstasy]], and [[inspiration]] is to observe whether these [[phenomena]] [[cause]] an [[individual]]:
*1. To enjoy better and more complete [[physical]] [[health]].
*2. To [[function]] more efficiently and [[practically]] in his [[mental]] life.
*3. More fully and [[joyfully]] to socialize his religious [[experience]].
*4. More completely to spiritualize his day-by-day living while faithfully discharging the commonplace [[duties]] of routine [[mortal]] [[existence]].
*5. To enhance his [[love]] for, and [[appreciation]] of, [http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Paper_56#56:10._TRUTH.2C_BEAUTY.2C_AND_GOODNESS truth, beauty, and goodness].
*6. To [[conserve]] currently recognized [[social]], [[moral]], [[ethical]], and [[spiritual]] [[values]].
*7. To increase his [[spiritual]] [[insight]]—[[God-consciousness]].
91:7.6 But [[prayer]] has no real [[association]] with these exceptional religious [[experiences]]. When [[prayer]] becomes overmuch [[aesthetic]], when it consists almost exclusively in [[beautiful]] and [[blissful]] [[contemplation]] of paradisiacal [[divinity]], it loses much of its [[socializing]] [[influence]] and tends toward [[mysticism]] and the [[isolation]] of its devotees. There is a certain [[danger]] associated with overmuch [[private]] praying which is corrected and prevented by [[group]] praying, [[community]] [[devotions]].
<center>[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Paper_91 Go to Paper 91]</center>
<center>[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=The_Urantia_Text_-_Contents Go to Table of Contents]</center>
[[Category:Paper 91 - Evolution of Prayer]]
