The Mystic and the Mystery

“The most beautiful thing that one can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of
all true art and science,” has said Albert Einstein. Many times, I am asked why I use
the term mystic and why I say that God is a mystery. In fact, the term God is very
misleading and is even a misnomer, thus I prefer the word mystery though I do use the
word God occasionally. That which is beyond human mind is mysterious. Indeed, if
God is not mysterious, then what is It?

The Bible says that no man has ever seen the face of God. Then why so much talk of
that which has never been seen? The truth is that to know or to see It, the mind must
dissolve and when this happens, who will know, who will describe, who will be the
witness? Fortunately, many who have merged with the Infinite have retained, by the
will of that mystery, a little humanness and it is that which helps to give a faint idea of
the unknown to others. They say that it is bliss, consciousness, boundlessness and
infinite peace. But how is bliss? How is consciousness, boundlessness or ineffable
peace? Can our mind grasp them?

The creation is nothing but a modification of That or Tat, as it is referred to in the

Upanishads. However, by ‘creation’ I do not mean the tiny dream-world of ignorant
people. It is the true nature of things that is reflected in the placid mind of those who
have nearly dissolved into that mystery. Those who have known will definitely say that
He is mysterious or a mystery. The mystic is one who has merged into that mystery.

As long as we are filled with bookish knowledge and preconceived ideas, we cannot
experience and say, like Einstein, that the most beautiful thing we can experience is the
mysterious. If it were not mysterious but known as any ordinary thing, then it would
cease to be beautiful. In fact, beauty is a mysterious phenomenon that can be only
experienced, not described. Description is made of words and feelings. Einstein says
that the mysterious is the source of all true art and science, but I say, nay, it is the
source of this wonderful universe and innumerable other universes!

The mysterious is such because even after experiencing It, one feels that one does not
really know It and one becomes aware of one’s ‘nothingness’. Thus Socrates said,
“The only thing I know is that I know nothing.” Indeed, in front of that mystery, one
realises how much one is nothing, ignorant and tiny. It is the mind that thinks it knows
a lot. When it dissolves in That, all its knowledge vanishes like a dewdrop in the
morning sun. That is what I call Vedanta - the end of knowledge. No wonder
knowledgeable people, scholars and pundits fear to approach the enlightened beings.
The very presence of the latter renders them ignorant. They realise how much they are
stupid and that hurts their ego.

Mystics are not necessarily knowledgeable people. Jesus, Kabir, Ramakrishna and
many others were illiterate and did not even know the scriptures. Knowing God does
not imply knowing everything. On the contrary, it implies losing all knowledge and
what remains is self-knowledge. One sees nothing but oneself and even that remains a
mystery by its very nature. All the methods, words, parables, stories, koans and
scriptures used by prophets and enlightened gurus are only means to help the seeker to
attain a no-mind state or to develop an interest towards that state. The words are not
the truth but simply a pointing finger. Alas! In their ignorance, people have caught the
finger, moulded it in their own way and according to their own likeness and have
given it the name of religion or God.

People are cosmos back from the truth and it seems impossible to enlighten most of
them about the real nature of that mystery and the way to it. Perhaps new ways have
to be invented, but even these will be later called religion and modified by people of
meagre intelligence and vested interest. Should we then lose hope? Definitely not!
Those who have known and experienced will always try their best, though that is the
most impossible task. Also, such individuals are absolutely rare. The few who exist are
persecuted; if it is not physically, it is by subtle means. Of course, the mystics
themselves are untouched. However, their endeavour to help others is greatly
hampered.

Seekers, devotees, disciples and everyone else should do their best to protect, shelter
and help those mystic-gurus. A light is protected so that it can dissipate the darkness of
night. Similarly, if the mystic is protected and helped, he can dissipate the horrible
darkness of ignorance that has spread over the whole human society and has its root
deep, very deep in the unconscious mind of one and all.

Swami Paramananda