WELCOME to my website, and THANKS for stopping by. Scroll around
the grounds until you feel at home. And notice that these web
pages, like the pages in my book, Into
the Mystic (From the Streets of Brooklyn), proceed from
the idea that at our own truest nature, we are all spiritual
beings having a human experience.
If you believe in "God," as the vast
majority of Americans do (upward of 90%), then it necessarily
follows that you must also believe in one or more levels of
reality beyond the everyday world that we perceive and encounter
with our five senses. That puts us pretty much on the same
page.
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To be sure, the premise here
is that other levels of reality actually
do exist. Some of us have been there, especially as
children, but were often told that we were dreaming or letting
our imaginations run away with us. However, any child who
has ever had an invisible friend, talked to a deceased relative,
or seen a ghost, etc., actually may have been in touch with
what may be referred to as the Mysticthat
expanded state of awareness where we can connect with Spirit,
and experience other realities. For the Mystic has been accessible
to us from the very beginning, and we as children were much
more capable of having mystical experiences. It's just that
we tend to lose our spiritual capabilities over time, as we
stray from the innocence and openness of childhood. We can,
however, reclaim the true magic of our youth by following
a spiritual path and seeking ultimate reality, and thereby
becoming mystics in the process.
"Why the
hell would you want to bother doing that?" my
Brooklyn brethren from the street corners of yesteryear might
ask.
"To care for the soul," would
be my answer, "and feel complete." Indeed, by following
a spiritual path, we can get to know
ourselves, and maybe "God" in the process.
For to know oneself, at the deepest level, is simultaneously
to know God, according to the Gnostics (an early Christian
sect). I try to explain how
in the stories contained in Into
the Mystictrue experiential stories to which
I hope you can relate, from which I trust you will benefit,
and within which resonates the idea that our ultimate consciousness
is only temporarily housed in the bodies that we, as souls,
inhabit. And so when life finally does leave our physical
bodies, we, as souls, will live on. It is the soul, not the
body, that is created in the image and likeness of "God,"
as an indestructible life force existing beyond the bounds
of time.
For the uninitiated, the idea of embarking
on a journey Into the Mystic
may seem a bit spooky and "out there," and to our
Western minds, let's face it, it can be. But if so, that is
only because we have lost touch with our true essence. In
actuality, connecting with The Mystic is a natural process,
and you don't have to be a Zen master or yoga guru to make
the connection. It's more a matter of becoming aware and remembering
what is and has been around us since we were kids, listening
to what others have experienced, and maybe sharing a story
or two yourself.
Whether you are an advanced spiritual
traveler, just starting out, or simply curious about what
may be involvedit is my most fervent hope that Into
the Mystic will assist and entertain you along the
way.