The Supernatural
I wanted to write a small post on this matter because I felt like it could help some of you when dealing with this topic. I myself am a mystic, I am very well aware of the supernatural and have experiences that confirm its existence.
However, the big obstacle that mysticism faces is epistemology. Since the supernatural is by its very definition beyond the veil of the phenomenal world, it is impossible to make any certain conclusions regarding supernatural causes. While we can experience miracles, synchronicities, theophanies, and many other strange events we cannot be certain about the cause of them. It could be One, it could be many, it is a deeply uncertain matter. Many mystics who do not subscribe to dogmatic belief often turn to transforming myths and religions into symbolic systems and allegories. While it is useful, you cannot treat events which have no basis in the real world as having any kind of empirical authority with respect to human action.
All religions are to some extent concerned with the manipulation of the natural world. I consider it a form of spiritual technology–"do ut des"–and the intention is to introduce a supernatural force to cause a certain outcome. It could be good rain, better harvests, a pretty wife, all of it. With all of this in mind I came to a few important conclusions.
>We can have no certainty with respect to the supernatural
>Faith must be rooted in supernatural events that happened in the real world
>Symbolism and allegories are useful when they describe events in the real world
>All prayers and rituals must have the intent of bringing about an event.
>Instead of praying for an outcome it is better to pray for processes that naturally lead to an outcome.
I know it’s not particularly helpful, but this was my two cents.
However, the big obstacle that mysticism faces is epistemology. Since the supernatural is by its very definition beyond the veil of the phenomenal world, it is impossible to make any certain conclusions regarding supernatural causes. While we can experience miracles, synchronicities, theophanies, and many other strange events we cannot be certain about the cause of them. It could be One, it could be many, it is a deeply uncertain matter. Many mystics who do not subscribe to dogmatic belief often turn to transforming myths and religions into symbolic systems and allegories. While it is useful, you cannot treat events which have no basis in the real world as having any kind of empirical authority with respect to human action.
All religions are to some extent concerned with the manipulation of the natural world. I consider it a form of spiritual technology–"do ut des"–and the intention is to introduce a supernatural force to cause a certain outcome. It could be good rain, better harvests, a pretty wife, all of it. With all of this in mind I came to a few important conclusions.
>We can have no certainty with respect to the supernatural
>Faith must be rooted in supernatural events that happened in the real world
>Symbolism and allegories are useful when they describe events in the real world
>All prayers and rituals must have the intent of bringing about an event.
>Instead of praying for an outcome it is better to pray for processes that naturally lead to an outcome.
I know it’s not particularly helpful, but this was my two cents.
