.
.
Mysticism, as the technique 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.
.
The great religious teachers and 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.
.
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 hallucinations,
neither are they trancelike ecstacies.
.
The Urantia Book
Part III, 91, 7
.
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