The five stages of David Hoffmeister mysticism aren’t as complex as you may think. Contrary to popular belief, you don’t have to have a long mane of white hair and live in an exotic, remote part of the world to be a mystic.
The American Heritage dictionary defines mysticism as “… consciousness of transcendent reality or of God through deep meditation or contemplation. Mystic is defined as of or relating to religious mysteries or occult rites and practices; one who practices or believes in mysticism.”
You may have deep mystical tendencies and not even realize you’re a mystic, by definition.
Spiritually sensitive individuals, those who search deeply for the meaning of life, and those who make self-realization and personal growth a priority are also mystics.
The stages of mysticism involve introduction, exploration, discipline and application, accessing the other side, and then absolute detachment and acceptance of everything and everyone, including what you can’t change.
The process of becoming a spiritual wizard is as challenging as any you’ll encounter, but if you’re like us and are willing to work at it, you can make good progress.
Below we list the five stages of mysticism, according to our long-term empirical findings:
1. Metaphysical topics such as astrology and past lives get a laugh in Hollywood movies and TV shows, and they are targets of attack thanks to conventional wisdom and indoctrination. Yet as a mystic or aspiring mystic, something deep within your being tells you that there’s more to those occult topics than at first glance. Later you learn that they’re gateways to the meaning of life.
As kids, we enjoyed the show “In Search Of,” hosted by Leonard Nimoy in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The show covered topics such as reincarnation, psychic phenomena, pyramid secrets, and astrology.
We still recall an episode with a psychic who predicted something that came true years later. It may have been the first time, in this life, we seriously considered the concept of predestination.
