The Mystical Quest

 Episode 1: Introduction to The Mystical Quest

In this video, I introduce a new video series called "The Mystical Quest." Here I will talk about mystical itineraries, or spiritual roadmaps, in mystical Catholicism, Hinduism, and Buddhism. I have long studied and practiced these traditions, and I delight in talking about them. There is nothing visually innovative about this video. I didn't consult Notebook, Claude, Gemini, or ChatGPT--I just started talking into the camera the way I would in a seminar room at a university or in meeting room in an ashram or monastery! I look forward to sharing my insights with as we journey together on the mystical quest!

Here is my own itinerary.

As an assignment, see if you can map these fifteen stages on the classical Three Ways of Mysticism: purgatio, illuminatio, and unio.

Fifteen Stages on the Spiritual Path

1. Unawareness: Living in “the Real World.”

2. Awakening: Seeing the Path.

3. Renunciation: Stepping onto the Way.

4. Rapture: Beginner’s Bliss.

5. Spiritual Presumption: The Drug of Spiritual Pride.

6. Sensory Purgation: A Well Run Dry.

7. Spiritual Standstill: Was it Only a Dream?

8. Radical Surrender: No Conditions.

9. Mystical Illumination: An Awakening Presence.

10. Mystical Effectiveness: Spirit without Boundaries.

11. Mystical Carelessness: Drifting Away.

12. Mystical Purgation: The Death of the Sacred.

13. Mystical Death: The Fire of Nothingness.

14. Mystical Awakening: The Fragrance of Nonduality.

15. Mystical Union: Remaining in the Presence.

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