Posts in Mysticism
Is It Possible to Pray Continuously?
Is It Possible to Pray Continuously?

Part Two: Whole-Body Mystical Presencing

Whole-Body Mystical Presencing is a practice to enter into the everyday, every moment reality of Christ consciousness. It is a way to welcome and invoke holistic presence at all times, not just in “spiritual” settings or “sacred” places and times. All of life and every moment is sacred. We can presence into this way of being at any time.

Before we get into the specifics of this practice, I want to draw upon some of the Christian heritage for this way of being, along with sharing some of my own story coming to this practice.

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Practice, MysticismLuke HealyWBMP, practice, Embodiment, presencing Comments
Can I Get (More Than) a Witness?
Can I Get (More Than) a Witness?

Part One: Whole-Body Mystical Presencing

You are not a spectator.

One of the great spiritual evolutions today is the rise of the mystic. And by that I don’t mean an increasing number of spiritual superheroes. The mystic is rising in us all. It is the longing for more than we have been given, and coming to embrace the spiritual power that is naturally within us. It is moving from the spiritual sidelines and into the joy of the action.

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Practice, MysticismLuke HealyWBMP, practice, Embodiment, presencingComment
Transmitting Awakened Spirit Consciousness
Transmitting Awakened Spirit Consciousness

What, in the World, is Holy Spirit?
Part Four

When we define spirit as awakened consciousness, we can then see there are many avenues to it. A sudden transforming experience, as we see in Acts. We see the slow work of contemplative prayer in mystics down through the ages. The Enlightenment found in Eastern traditions. Some Eastern traditions transmit spirit-awakening in a way similar to what Jesus, Paul, and Peter did.

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MysticismPaul SmithSpirit, Consciousness, TransmissionComment
Who Else Believes Spirit is Consciousness?
Who Else Believes Spirit is Consciousness?

What, in the World, is Holy Spirit?
Part Three

What comes to your mind when you see, hear, or say the word "spirit"? Spirit personified as a shadowy, mystical presence? A vague, mysterious force in the universe? God at work everywhere? The third person of the Trinity?

What comes to my mind after considering this for several years is the amazing, still mysterious, single word: "consciousness." God's spirit as Consciousness Beyond Us, Beside Us, and Being Us. We are that divine consciousness, localized and encased in a human body.

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MysticismPaul SmithConsciousness, Spirit Comments
A New Look at Holy Spirit
A New Look at Holy Spirit

What, in the World, is Holy Spirit?
Part Two

In the recent Coronation of King Charles, the Archbishop of Canterbury spoke of "the anointing of the spirit." I wondered what came to mind in the millions of people listening in. Did it mean Charles was not just a religious man but also a "spiritual" one? And then, what is a "spiritual" person? It must have something to do with "spirit!" So, back to what spirit means in progressive, evolving, integral Christianity.

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MysticismPaul SmithSpirit, ConsciousnessComment
How Do We Be Together Well?
How Do We Be Together Well?

In this series on Practicing Community, we have explored many aspects of how we come into and practice mystical community with others on this evolving spiritual path. Undergirding this whole series are the foundational identities and fundamental values of Integral Christian Network. We approach practicing community from the heart of being Christian (in an evolving way), Mystical, and Integral. We hold everything we do to our values of Love, Mystical, We, Uniqueness, and Emergence. 

When we look particularly at our practices of community, we may also identify some more specific values of community that have been implicit throughout this series. I’d like to now bring those up to the forefront and consider these more directly, as they make up the energetic source of how we are together—of how we seek to be together well. 

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Community, MysticismLuke HealyMystical Community, ValuesComment
Mystical Sacraments of the New Church

Communal Participation in Resurrection
Practicing Community – Part Sixteen

On this Easter weekend, churches across the world are celebrating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. A common refrain will be heard and echoed across many services and gatherings:

“Christ is risen!” 

And the response, “He is risen indeed!”

If I might be so bold, I’d like to propose an amendment to this declaration: 

“We are risen indeed!”

For we are the living resurrection of Christ today. Here and now.

If the body of Christ is the people of God, the church, the gathering together of those who are summoned in spirit—and Christ is risen—then we are risen indeed!

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Community, MysticismLuke HealyMystical Community, Integral Church, SacramentsComment
How to Awake to Oneness

Part Five: Waking Up to Oneness

In his book, Working with Oneness, Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee Ph.D. and Sufi mystic, writes, "Oneness is very simple: everything is included and allowed to live according to its true nature. This is the secret that is being revealed, the opportunity that is offered. How we make use of this opportunity depends upon the degree of our participation, how much we are prepared to give ourselves to the work that needs to be done, to the freedom that needs to be lived."

This is our call at ICN – "to give ourselves to the work that needs to be done."

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Mysticism, PracticePaul SmithOneness, Embodiment, ConsciousnessComment