Mysticism

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I have a query concerning Catholic Mysticism. This requires showing a piece of graphic analysis as an attachment. All the topics at which I have looked, decline attachments. How do I get round this? Thanks, R
 
Richard4747 said:
I have a query concerning Catholic Mysticism. This requires showing a piece of graphic analysis as an attachment. All the topics at which I have looked, decline attachments. How do I get round this? Thanks, R
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Hello Richard; Welcome to CAF.
Looking at the last part of your question I don’t believe its a matter of getting around anything when studying Catholic Spiritual Mysticism, as it is more importantly taking something up first.

Namely a good solid prayer life to begin with, scripture reading and study of the Saints lives.

Contemplative Prayer life is something the Spirit of God brings us to while putting our Christian life into practice in how we choose to live our lives striving for holiness and humble service towards others. Humility is the key that ties all good things in our journey towards God and Spiritual life.

Here’s a lists of links that might be of interest:

newadvent.org/cathen/10663b.htm

helpfellowship.org/

freecatholicebooks.com/

catholic-forum.com/saints/indexebk.htm

catholicplanet.com/ebooks/

ccel.org/ccel/john_cross/dark_night.toc.html
 
Richard4747 said:
I have a query concerning Catholic Mysticism. This requires showing a piece of graphic analysis as an attachment. All the topics at which I have looked, decline attachments. How do I get round this? Thanks, R
Click to expand...
Richard,

You could post a web link to your example and then state your question. CAF restricts attachments to ward off spam. You can also try to use the Insert Image button in the post editing toolbar. You may need to resize your image based on image size and resolution limits of the forums.
 
Spencerian said:
Richard,

You could post a web link to your example and then state your question. CAF restricts attachments to ward off spam. You can also try to use the Insert Image button in the post editing toolbar. You may need to resize your image based on image size and resolution limits of the forums.
Click to expand...
I’m not so sure there is a graphic analysis that could adequately depict Catholic Mysticism itself except through ancient images of symbols and objects ?
 
Thank you for your kind responses to my post. I infer from the tone of these that I may not have found the right forum for my query. I would be gratefulif you could suggest an apppropriate forum. The analysis to which I refered is, I think, an attempt to explore the journey of the spiritual life from an objective rather than subjective standpoint. I understand that very,very few people who embark on this journey acheive their goal. It would seem to be sad that so many aspirants are doomed to failure due, perhaps, to the lack of a plan. The choice of an instructor is itself vulnerable to malevolent or incompetent influence. Sorry! that came out more aggressively than I intended but I trust that you get my drift.
 
try the help and techie forums, how does CAF work for instance since i don’t understand your technical question but in general you can’t post anything that can’t be virus scanned first like a link.
 
I understand that very,very few people who embark on this journey acheive their goal. It would seem to be sad that so many aspirants are doomed to failure due, perhaps, to the lack of a plan.
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Ah, so you want to become a mystic, it seems. Dear friend, God alone grants this gift to those who make ready His paths, and even then, some never attain it, depending upon God’s gracious giftedness to the person and His holy will.

St. John of the Cross wrote that when God begins to send the trials that are necessary to purify the spirit and enable it to come into union with Him, few can bear them and thus abandon the road. That’s probably where you read that so few attain this sublime spiritual union.

Maybe you have found a wonderful plan in your graphic, and maybe you have already arrived and simply want to share how well your plan worked. It is hard to understand your purpose, but yes, this is the right forum. If it is spiritual direction you seek, I trust you are well aware how few are able to advise you.
 
Richard4747 said:
Thank you for your kind responses to my post. I infer from the tone of these that I may not have found the right forum for my query. I would be gratefulif you could suggest an apppropriate forum. The analysis to which I refered is, I think, an attempt to explore the journey of the spiritual life from an objective rather than subjective standpoint. I understand that very,very few people who embark on this journey acheive their goal. It would seem to be sad that so many aspirants are doomed to failure due, perhaps, to the lack of a plan. The choice of an instructor is itself vulnerable to malevolent or incompetent influence. Sorry! that came out more aggressively than I intended but I trust that you get my drift.
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I get your drift. I am interested in reading your post. I hope that you solve the technical problems and post on this forum.

God Bless.
 
Sirach2 said:
Ah, so you want to become a mystic, it seems. Dear friend, God alone grants this gift to those who make ready His paths, and even then, some never attain it, depending upon God’s gracious giftedness to the person and His holy will.

St. John of the Cross wrote that when God begins to send the trials that are necessary to purify the spirit and enable it to come into union with Him, few can bear them and thus abandon the road. That’s probably where you read that so few attain this sublime spiritual union.

Maybe you have found a wonderful plan in your graphic, and maybe you have already arrived and simply want to share how well your plan worked. It is hard to understand your purpose, but yes, this is the right forum. If it is spiritual direction you seek, I trust you are well aware how few are able to advise you.
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There are some very fortunate souls whom God gives no choice BUT to follow this path. Trust me. For some, that path is pretty rough in the beginning, but proves to be a precious gift.
 
Right! Here we go.
Please have a look at this image
postimage.org/image/2qvv4cs5g/

Assuming that you can read it, can you tell me:

i. Is it reasonable to attempt an expalnation of the Spritual Life in this way?
ii. Is the explanation conventional (orthodox)?
iii. Do you see any obvious flaws?
iv. How many people would be pursuing this path
iv. Is the repeated 99% loss (dropout or stasis) at each stage realistic.

Any comments are sincerely welcome

Rick
 
and he hasn’t put any values on the axes.

Should the y-axis be time?
 
Can I ask what you’re trying to do with this?

I’ve seen many authors/theologians try and come up with structures to equate St. Teresa’s mansions to St. John’s nights and the “stages” of the spiritual life (purgative,illuminative and unitive ways).

But it looks like you’re trying to assign mathematical probabilities? Can’t tell,though, because the chart is very hard to read.

Dave
 
The chart is not completely legible. I think that if it was totally legible, it would not stand on its own without an explanation.
 
Richard4747 said:
Right! Here we go.
Please have a look at this image
postimage.org/image/2qvv4cs5g/

Assuming that you can read it, can you tell me:

i. Is it reasonable to attempt an expalnation of the Spritual Life in this way?
ii. Is the explanation conventional (orthodox)?
iii. Do you see any obvious flaws?
iv. How many people would be pursuing this path
iv. Is the repeated 99% loss (dropout or stasis) at each stage realistic.

Any comments are sincerely welcome

Rick
Click to expand...
Well, your graph is coming up.

However, could what you’re trying to accomplish be something like what St. John of the Cross did in his book, “The Ascent of Mt Carmel?”

icspublications.org/images/Drawings1.html

Jim
 
Vatican II reaffirmed that holiness is available for everyone. Not just for the religious, or any other demographic group.

The previous posters have posted many excellent resources.

I have an idea. Start by trying to imagine what your everyday life would be like, if you were in the same situation you’re in now, but were spiritually mature and were experiencing a constant flow of the fruit of the spirit – joy, peace, etc.

Can you imagine ANYONE in the world, living or dead, saint or not, who could navigate whatever situation you’re in, but maintain all the characteristics of a spiritually mature person without fear, anxiety, despair, anger, and all that is bad?

If you can, then imagine, "what would it feel like to act that way, and what impact on others’ actions might that have, and what would it be like for me when I start seeing people act that way?

In essence, I’m suggesting you might try an experiment in imagination whereby you think about what it would be like further down the spiritual road so you have some sort of target to aim at. You will, by the nature of the process, refine your goals as you go, and each time you get near a goal, let the goal run further ahead. Life is about moving toward perfection at any given moment, so since you never quite get there during this lifetime. The fact that you never reach perfection doesn’t necessarily have to come as a disappointment. If you reach perfection while on the earth, then what in life do you have to look forward to?

Alan
 
AlanFromWichita said:
Vatican II reaffirmed that holiness is available for everyone. Not just for the religious, or any other demographic group.

The previous posters have posted many excellent resources.

I have an idea. Start by trying to imagine what your everyday life would be like, if you were in the same situation you’re in now, but were spiritually mature and were experiencing a constant flow of the fruit of the spirit – joy, peace, etc.

Can you imagine ANYONE in the world, living or dead, saint or not, who could navigate whatever situation you’re in, but maintain all the characteristics of a spiritually mature person without fear, anxiety, despair, anger, and all that is bad?

If you can, then imagine, "what would it feel like to act that way, and what impact on others’ actions might that have, and what would it be like for me when I start seeing people act that way?

In essence, I’m suggesting you might try an experiment in imagination whereby you think about what it would be like further down the spiritual road so you have some sort of target to aim at. You will, by the nature of the process, refine your goals as you go, and each time you get near a goal, let the goal run further ahead. Life is about moving toward perfection at any given moment, so since you never quite get there during this lifetime. The fact that you never reach perfection doesn’t necessarily have to come as a disappointment. If you reach perfection while on the earth, then what in life do you have to look forward to?

Alan
Click to expand...
Alan,
I think this is a very good excerize for any of us.👍

Peace
James
 
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