From Mysticism to We-Mysticism

Jeff Carreira Philosophy 7 Comments

Mysticism is most often associated with the lone spiritual adventurer who separates from the world in order to turn his or her gaze inward and unite with the divine.  Yet there is also another form of mysticism – a we-mysticism – that is a spiritual journey that can only be accomplished with others.

This We-Mystical union occurs when individuals come together in an elevated inquiry into the sublime. As we collectively turn our attention toward awe-inspiring truths we enter into a state of mutually generated revelation. What is discovered in this experience is a shared inner space that does not exist within us, but between us.

In Ralph Waldo Emerson we find a beautiful description of shared mystical rapture.

Persons themselves acquaint us with the impersonal. In all conversation between two persons, tacit reference is made, as to a third party, to a common nature. That third party or common nature is not social; it is impersonal; is God. And so in groups where debate is earnest, and especially on high questions, the company become aware that the thought rises to an equal level in all bosoms, that all have a spiritual property in what was said, as well as the sayer. They all become wiser than they were. It arches over them like a temple, this unity of thought, in which every heart beats with nobler sense of power and duty, and thinks and acts with unusual solemnity. All are conscious of attaining to a higher self-possession. It shines for all.

The first line, “Persons themselves acquaint us with the impersonal.” tells us that in that miraculous space we find absolute reality through our interaction with others. Engagement at this level initiates a shared experience of consciousness that sweeps everyone into it. Ultimately, this unity of thought arches over us like a temple and animates each and every voice until we become aware that we are vessels of a higher mind that has been born between us. This is what contemporary spiritual teacher Andrew Cohen has described as the birth of a ‘higher we’.

The We-Mystic comes together with other inspired souls in search of a direct experience of divinity that cannot be found in solitude. This ‘higher we’ only exists between people and cannot be experienced through solitary practice.  As Cohen puts it:

It is a leap from I to We, from extreme individuation to a living context of intersubjective nonduality—a higher We consciousness in which all parties experience simultaneously their own individual and collective transparency while remaining fully and completely themselves.

Returning to Emerson for a moment, he once described mystical revelation by saying,

 I become a transparent eyeball-I am nothing; I see all; the currents of the Universal Being circulate through me-I am part or particle of God.

Inserting ‘we’ for ‘I’ in Emerson’s beautiful sentence gives us a sense of the difference between mysticism and we-mysticism.

We become a transparent eyeball-We are nothing; we see all; the currents of the Universal Being circulate through us-we are part or particle of God.

In an earlier post I mentioned William James’ four characteristics of mystical experience – ineffability, noetic quality, transiency and passivity. To these I would like to add two other characteristics that distinguish a we-mystical from a mystical experience.

The first characteristic exclusive to we-mysticism is collective transparency. Initially when individuals come together they are opaque to each other. You see the outer surface but the inner workings of mind and spirit are only revealed through evidences of word and deed. In the we-mystical experience the surfaces that separates us become transparent. We begin to see into and through each other. As this happens we let go of the sense of being separate and become aware that the intelligence animating the others is also animating our own thoughts, feelings, words and deeds. Together we have become a collective being – a higher we – that has an experience of consciousness that is dependent upon, and yet independent from the individuated self sense. It is a ‘new being.’

The awakening of the ‘higher we’ leads to a second characteristic of we-mysticism – spiritual interdependency. Because  the heights of awareness that open up to us in the we-mystical state are only revealed between individuals, they ignite a sense of shared responsibility and obligation for that profound  consciousness. We realize that access to that higher mind does not belong to any individual. It is the property of the space of relatedness between all the individuals. This recognition brings with it a sense of sacred obligation to each other. We know that we must do whatever we need so that we can play our part in keeping the miraculous portal to the divine open. And simultaneously we feel the vulnerable dependency that comes from knowing that the others must also do their part to maintain access to this ‘new being’. The emergence of this sense of spiritual interdependency has called this ‘higher we’ experience, the antidote to post-modern narcissism. In it we discover that at the deepest levels we were never truly seperate and that even the consciousness we hold is common property.

About the Author

Jeff Carreira
Jeff Carreira
Jeff Carreira is a mystical philosopher and spiritual guide. He is the author of eleven books on meditation and philosophy. He teaches online programs and leads retreats throughout the world that teach people how to let go of their current perceptual habits so they are free to participate in the creation of a new paradigm. To put it simply, he supports people to live a spiritually inspired life, free from the constraints of fear, worry and self-doubt, and aligned with their own deepest sense of meaning and purpose.
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John Slade
10 years ago

I love your frequent use of Emerson and the transcendentalists. Did you know Emerson’s protege Walt Whitman was a committed evolutionist? He told Horace Traubel, “I believe in Darwin from A to Izzard!”

sjavaid
sjavaid
10 years ago

This writing in itself is a manifestation of and the evidence of the we conciousness that permeated in our applied trainining sessions.

Frank Luke
Frank Luke
10 years ago

Sitting in meditation in the East Side of NYC, I once had such a wonderful visualization of me sitting in the center of lines of other meditators all radiating from me to infinity, forwards and behind me, and in diagonal directions, all united in our meditation. This gave me such a sense of the historicity and unity of medtation practice, making me feel so vividly a part of the tradition and factualness of this practice that seems such a blessing to those who have come to see the value of it. It’s for me a vivid metaphor for the collective… Read more »

Teri Murphy
10 years ago

Yes yes! Jeff. You are bringing a higher level of consciousness to what people have intuited for millennia as they sang and danced around the fire. I really appreciated this article and will share it.

Loring Palmer
Loring Palmer
10 years ago

Thank you for this presentation and for your radio dialog with Patricia A. And for your generous and helpful answer to my question regarding personal vs. We-Mysticism. First of all, “Scenius,” the “intersubjective field event” that can occur with a group, seems similar to “We-Mysticism,” is there a difference? Second: to extend our exploration further into the mystical, it could be, Jeff, that We-Mysticism has the potential to access the Noosphere,that Teihlard de Chardin described. Because mystic Jose Arguelles [RIP] maintains that a form of inter-group telepathy will occur as part of the shift of planetary consciousness. “The term “noosphere,”… Read more »