Reflections Parallel: The Fire Inside

This is a time, an era, of great decision-making, global conflicts, and the possibility of mass extinction for the first time in human history. We are also compelled to search for deeper ways to heal the ever-expanding manifestation of spiritual and psychological crises that are manifesting in epidemic numbers because of unprecedented challenges and social changes. Human beings do not like chaotic change. That is when we feel most vulnerable and frightened.

And yet.

Such extraordinary times offer us the opportunity to forge new ways of thinking, discover grace-filled resources within ourselves and embrace the wisdom and guidance from the great souls who also experienced personal human and social crises. Among the great souls to whom we should look for guidance is John of the Cross (1542-1591), a mystic-activist who was also a poet of the human soul. Carl G. Jung once wrote, “it is to the mystics we owe what is best in humanity.” We will use the poetry and guidance of John of the Cross to discover what is best in ourselves and how to access the depth of our power.

Like so many people, John of the Cross’s inner resources (in his case, his poetic soul) came alive during his most desperate time. Because he joined Teresa of Avila and other brothers to reform his Order, he was imprisoned by his fellow Carmelites for nine months during which time he was relentlessly tortured. It was during this brutal period that he wrote the poem, “The Canticle” and after escaping he wrote “The Dark Night of the Soul.” Today people often refer to their times of suffering as their “dark night,” unaware that they are also referring to the profound journey of spiritual transformation that this Spanish mystic, John of the Cross, so elegantly articulated shortly after escaping from prison four-plus centuries ago. Suffering does imprison us, so it is no wonder that somehow his poetic phrasing has found its way into our common parlance. In this class, we will explore the contemporary dark night of the soul, the way in which we undergo this profound mystical journey expresses itself in our everyday life.

John of the Cross was driven by holy inspiration which for him translated into the need to be an active agent of social change in the world, his world. He was a mystical activist. His great poem, “Canticle,” is a prayer to the beauty of nature and the grace of gratitude and delight. It is based on the “Song of Songs” in the Hebrew Bible and was written, by the way, while he was a prisoner. It is unimaginable to feel gratitude for one’s deepest challenges, so what is that rare grace that can be bestowed upon us during these times? Is gratitude or acceptance a part of this mystery? We need the grace John of the Cross describes so beautifully in our lives today, for all of us are in some way influenced by the chaos of these times. We have never lived in a more tumultuous collective psychic field. It is easy to lose our way, to feel overcome with helplessness when we see the landscape of challenges facing humanity. But here we are – born to live at this time. It is our collective challenge to navigate these times with soul creativity as well as gratitude and grace. Better to understand that we were born to navigate these rough waters and that this is our time.

For that reason and so much more, we will explore The Four Paths of Creation Spirituality, along with the guidance of John of the Cross. These four paths describe an archetypal journey of transformation in a similar way that John of the Cross offers a mystical description of the stages of transformation during the dark night. It is so often the case that deep despair and suffering can cause us to think our “imprisonment” will never end. But all mystical journeys of transformation are mystically mapped out, as I will describe in detail when we explore, The Four Paths of Creation Spirituality.

Finally, let me say a brief word about what it means to be a “mystic”. The status of “mystic” has profound archetypal and indeed cosmic significance. Mystics are lovers and often cosmic creatures, having shed the weight of the politics and limitations of the religious traditions into which they were born. Some are rare and remarkable people who become, in a way, like the design of the Universe itself: detached (as Buddha so brilliantly taught) to the cravings of the world and yet they were deeply in love with the intimacy and wonder of the Divine and its endless expressions within the human experience. Many experienced this Divine intimacy directly, having visions or hearing direct guidance. Francis of Assisi, for example. Others became wildly inspired by downloads of mystical poetry that sent them into states of ecstasy, such as Rumi. Buddha experienced an outpouring of the Divine as pure Light, become “enlightened.” Mystics belong to the cosmos, to the Divine, and not to any religion. They return to their religions to language those teachings from a mystical altitude, like the psalms or the mystical poetry of John of the Cross and Rumi and Hafiz. It is often the case that ordinary words fail at being able to express the power that is hidden within us, and that deeper path of our lives that seeks direct contact with that power.