Mystical Activism: Serving Life in Apocalyptic Times
I have been writing and teaching about the mystical experience for over 25 years – 12 books on the nature and impact of this universal state of consciousness. In other words, I’ve been in love with this material for over a quarter century. Upon turning 75, I felt the compelling need to spend time in solitude, to live more fully in the mystical consciousness I have been writing about. So, I did. I stopped doing workshops, talks, papers. For three years!
As the experience deepened, I started spontaneously writing mystical poetry in the tradition of Hafez, Rumi, Kabir, Gibran. It was a complete surprise. Hundreds of poems poured forth, and they keep coming from the deep place of Spirit’s residence in my soul. The first volume, I Am God: Wisdom and Revelations from Mystical Consciousness, came out in 2024. Divinity Rising: Beyond Illusion, Suffering and Death, my second volume of mystical poetry published earlier this year. You can learn more of this work at www.johnrobinson.org and find links to poetry on my IAMGod and Facebook pages.
Mystical Activism in Apocalyptic Times
We live in profoundly challenging times. As a mystic, I felt compelled to about what I call Mystical Activism. Mystics are not passive. They become visionaries and prophets in apocalyptic times. From Divinity Rising, I offer selected mystical insights, realizations, and revelations on serving life in apocalyptic times.
Apocalypse and Rebirth
We stand paralyzed before
a hard-barreling train
carrying the massive freight of
warfare, climate disasters, polluted landscapes,
political strife and human desperation.
Its impact – fierce, powerful, terrifying –
already disrupts our lives.
We tremble in the face of
multiplying catastrophes.
Perhaps a new vision will rise from
the marriage of mystical awakening
and Earth wisdom.
Listen: The sacred world is already here,
divine and conscious.
Do you see it?
As humanity’s arrogance fails,
open your consciousness to the guidance of
Spirit, ancestors and love.
Get ready to move
from heartbreak and loss to
the new work of Creation.
Love in Desperate Circumstances
When hatred, horror and cruelty,
set the world ablaze,
the mystic knows that society’s fires
mirror the narratives of
a few angry males,
sheer and utter foolishness,
like two drunks fighting outside a bar
over grievances long forgotten.
When men’s brutal fantasies
widen and deepen,
violence spreads like disease
infecting all relationships,
causing immeasurable suffering.
Social activism tries to help,
but often finds itself
caught in warring accusations,
like a marriage heading for divorce,
ending only when everyone loses.
Humanity begs for another
kind of response.
Consider…
Walt Whitman,
acting from sacred perception,
devoted his mysticism to nursing Civil War soldiers,
in hospitals and battlefields
all the while knowing he had no control over
the outcome of humanity’s latest nightmare.
Psychologist Victor Frankl,
imprisoned in a concentration camp,
with love and attention his only resources,
provided comfort and hope to others
by finding meaning in love.
Here’s my prayer…
May we merge
mystical consciousness with
God-as-Creation,
and love as Creation loves,
healing wounds with tender new growth.
May we offer ourselves,
as love-in-action
until the terrible cost of violence
brings people to their knees and
humanity begins to wake up.
The Middle Way
Hate begets hate,
bring love.
Blame begets revenge,
bring compassion
Rage begets violence,
bring peace.
Lies beget confusion,
bring facts.
Cynicism begets nihilism,
bring hope.
Acquiescence begets tyranny,
bring resolve.
Despair begets retreat,
bring community.
Denial begets unconsciousness,
bring feelings.
Numbness begets disenchantment,
bring the mystical Self.
We are never alone or defenseless.
The deepest source of our resistance to
oppression and injustice lies in
our common humanity and the
mystical experience of the divine world.
Bring love, compassion, peace,
facts, hope, resolve, community,
feelings, and the mystical Self.
We are the creativity of God-as-Creation.
Our oneness begets the strength to
continue for as long as it takes.
The Answer Is Here
When problems avalanche
over attempts to fix, control or escape them,
stop everything.
Be still, silent, quiet, present.
Let the holiness of the moment
settle around you.
No thought, no effort, no goals.
No place to go.
Wait…
Wait…
The answer is here.
Now.
Ecstasy and Love
All my words,
like moths attracted to a single light bulb,
hunger to embody
the ecstasy of God’s being.
Neither politics, betrayals nor assaults
can lessen their passion for
the perfect utterance that will
one day unchain your
ecstasy.
Radical pantheism is our
most powerful
response to reality in times of crisis.
Mother Theresa saw Christ in each dying
body lifted from the streets of Calcutta.
May we, too, know the other
as the bearer of divinity, and
may these words join your love with
the passion of ecstasy.
Perception as Solution
Nothing matters more than
the perceptual act of
divinizing every single thing
through mystical seeing.
We will no longer harm Creation,
ignore suffering, or start wars
when everything,
including us,
is directly experienced
as God.
What Is Mystical Activism?
As you can see from these poems, mystical activism is a very individual thing. While the left brain organizes large, goal-directed activities, like demonstrations and law suits, the right brain reveals what Divinity asks us to do. The two approaches can certainly work together, it’s just that, in the rush of large social movements, we forget our own mystical nature. And, as the Middle Way suggests, there are countless ways we can embody the sacred. You might be work in an animal shelter, homeless shelter, community garden, knit sweaters to donate, or stand in front of a line of tanks in Tiananmen Square. In mystical communion, you feel animated by something larger than you, outside of time, and dissolve into the doing simply because you know it’s right. It’s the way I feel writing poetry. It’s Holy Work.
