What does mysticism mean to you?
I use the term only for convenience, as it is less shrouded in religious gobbledygook than so many other words. For me, it is about adventures in consciousness that take one well beyond the safe shores of normal identity into the deeper waters of unknown reality. Those adventures result in a permanent change in focus that greatly expands the sense of self, being, identity, personality and reality itself.
What sort of things are included under the category of mystical experiences?
Many, many things can be written here, but all will rise out of the expansion of consciousness that include realms previously unperceived. The dissolution of the subject/object divide is one of the first hurdles. An inherent sense of Oneness with All That is (that morphs over time and understanding catches up with the experience). Experience of a non-physical aspect of reality that are highly enjoyable and unimaginably interactive. Experience of timelessness or perhaps of the stopping of time as we know it.
Though something not shared by all mystics - the possibility of what are known as
out-of-body episodes or excursions.
Do you believe Ultimate Reality is ineffable? Or can at least some things be said about it? If so, what can be said about it?
I do not believe in an "Ultimate Reality". I am a big fan of Reality, however. Genuine experiences of inner reality should always have a positive unifying effect on the individual as these experiences can be
decidedly humbling.
Here I am meaning that they should be almost therapeutic by promoting a holistic psychology of a balanced psyche wherein the ego (outer self) is in harmony and at peace with other aspects of personality, of which, it was formerly unaware. I refer to this as the "civilization of the psyche" wherein all parts recognize their worth and work together as one. It is extremely complex, takes time to appreciate and
to an extent cannot be expressed in verbal terms. The real problem here is not all who will experience this different side of personal reality are skilled communicators and the experiences themselves will not automatically make them so. That is a serious problem.
Do you believe that an experience of unity with Ultimate Reality can be brought about through some positive effort or behavior on the part of the mystic?
There are no guarantees, Sunstone. Experience of inner reality is cloaked behind the clouds of conscious belief held by the individual. Those beliefs can and often will hold them back from gaining any kind of meaningful experience. Part of the problem is that inner reality is so startlingly different than the warm and cozy reality we have come to know that there is almost no way to prepare for it as the individual simply cannot imagine what awaits behind the "I" and is right there, all the while, right behind their eyes.
That said, there are ways to promote the experience of inner reality, some more dangerous and risky than others. One if the easiest ways to uncover the unknown reality is through dreams and specifically though what is called Lucid dreaming techniques. I say easy, but even with lucid dreaming it takes some time to get the hang of it. Again though, the individual's beliefs about dreams and the dream state will figure prominently in how successful such an endeavor will be. If one believes dreams are the rubbish of the mind, the meaningless clutter of consciousness, then they should not expect a lot, as their memory of dreams will reflect their beliefs.
Do you believe that Ultimate Reality is theistic? Or do you believe that Ultimate Reality is non-theistic?
It can be either and neither. I depends on the individual and what they believe about the ultimate nature of reality to begin with. Those who believe in a god will experience that belief. Those who do not will detect a reality without any divine overtones. Fortunately, reality is a bit larger than what we expect and that's part of what makes the whole adventure so endlessly thrilling and worthwhile as the smart traveler quickly learns that things are not what they seem and the more they learn, the more they understand that they have only begun to scratch the surface of a very large ball of wax. It's all part of the art of learning to leave no footprints in the snow....