ETHICS AND MYSTICISMby:

Imam K. Raharja

MYSTICISM

Searching for secret religious understanding by prayer and meditation

CONNECTION BETWEEN ETHICS AND MYSTICISM

1. Man seeks his own perfection which he can find only in all-perfect Being, the Boundless Good

2. The absolutely ultimate end of all human activities is found in bliss and beatitude, the possession of and union with the Summum Bonum

3. The ultimate norm of the morality of human acts is the Divine Nature, the Divine Pattern or Model for human actions

4. The two are inseparable as means and end. It is absolutely necessary that we lead a good upright life, as demanded by ethics, in order that we can be united with the All Holy One. Right living or ethics is the only path to union with God.

MORALITY AND MYSTICISM

Both point to the boundless good Mysticism found in all times, in all religions of

the world, thus, it is universal

Difference: Ethics is normative, mysticism not Ethics has prescribed rules, mysticism is free Mysticism differs among societies

DIVINE UNION THE CHRISTIAN WAY

Receiving God in holy communion sacrament Meditation and contemplation of the divine

truths Constant imitation of the divine model Love

UNION THROUGH CONTEMPLATION

Thinks the thoughts of God and thereby shares in the divine mind

Beatific vision of heaven, the perfect stage of meditation

LOVE AND UNSELFISHNESS

If we love we are like God, and the more we love, the more God-like we become

Perfect love means perfect likened to and identified with God who is love

UNSELFISH

To be true to oneself Far from earthly desires Undistracted Undistorted Detached towards materials

TO BE UNSELFISH

“To become broader, stop the selfish nature. Leave your efforts towards perfection,

prosperity, safe, or admired. Those efforts will only limit and shutting your universality”

(The Tao of Leadership, John Heider)

ORIENTAL MYSTICISM

To attain the union with the all-pervading ultimate reality is to be unselfish, desireless

Desire is the root of individuality, selfishness, thus, separating one with the universe

　

“makoto”: to be true to oneself and others

EXAMPLES OF ORIENTAL MYSTICISM

Kon Fu Tzu – China “To find the central clue to our moral being which

unites us with the universal moral order is the noblest human achievement”

Tao Te Ching – China Live naturally, by simply being what you really

are in in your original pristine nature Yoga – India

Absolute oneness with the absolute one, away from anything indicative/implicative, conducive to multiplicity such as materialism and selfishness, distractions of desirable things.

ZEN (CHEN)

“The initial aim of Zen is samadhi, total stillness, in which body and mind are fallen

off, no tought stirs, the mind is empty, yet we are in the state of wakefulness”

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE TWO

Christian mysticism Personal: elevated to the rank of divinity by

participation Personality enhancement by one participation in

the life and nature of the Holy Trinity

Oriental mysticism Non-personal One’s personality is destructed and transformed

into new personality, united with the universe

GOD-CENTERED LIVING

To have meaning and value, any activity or passivity should be referred to God

In the offering of everything, we not only sanctify our life but also unite ourselves intimately with Him.

When the eye see colors, this is desireWhen the ear hear sounds , this is desireWhen the nose smells fragrances , this is

desireWhen a single thoughts simply germinates ,

this is called desire

(The Unfettered Mind, Takuan Soho)