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Christmas marks the celebration of the birth of the most famous mystic in the West. What mystics have in common is that they have something complicated to share with people, but not with other mystics. It isn’t easy to make people believe they have something important to say when people systematically misunderstand them. And it is not mystics to blame; it is our language, which does not confirm to describe mystical experiences.

Mystical experiences are real, even though they are rare and unique. Many people think they are fictitious or phoney, a plot, or a lie. But the fact is that a mystical experience is an unusual incident that only a few would have the opportunity to explore, and even fewer dare to do so. The mystical experience does not fit into our usual perceptions of experience, which are usually possible to share with other people. When we typically experience something special, this means more intense or out of the ordinary intensity. Such does not break the worldview but allows us to explore our limits. But the mystical experience is not about power or intensity but qualitative change. It is as if we got new senses. Human is not the only one that changes: the world also changes.

Mystics are everywhere. Mystics exist in all religions, in all countries, on all continents, and in all political systems, whether closed or open. Mystics often stay silent and invisible to the public, but they try to generate criticality and judgment in their listeners when they wish to speak. And this usually means criticality against all kinds of governments and authorities. Mystics clearly show indifference and despise for laws, rules, or instructions set by people. They seem to rely on something superior to humans. Even though they also have reservations about their talks and teachings. They value most their ability to sense the world differently and significantly more profound than before their mystical experience. But if they try to translate what they feel into a linguistic message, it will inevitably become an instruction, a hint, a rule, or a law, which is very easy to misunderstand. Mystics do not mean that following a guide will result in a mystical experience. Why not? Because they usually know the consequence only works the other way around. Mystical experience results in increased sensitivity, but it does not lead to a mystical experience even if we try to improve our sensitivity. That is why instructions to have a mystical experience are pointless. There is another reason, and while everyone may not recognise it, it seems inevitable for me: the mystical experience does not obey the human will. In other words, it is not a voluntary event. Therefore, meditation, prayer, fasting, etc., do not affect the mystical experience, although they may affect the general state of mind and alertness. The third reason is that a mystical experience occurs only once. Some are against my hypothesis, but I am sure the mystical experience is related to the final stage of growing up, and it only happens once in a lifetime.

Does the mystical experience happen to animals? Probably it will do. Although it cannot be verified (the same with humans), certain animals and those closest to homo species will likely experience similar. It may even apply to all mammals. I reckon it’s only exceptionally short, just among us humans. But it is equally likely that not all animals will need it if they mature faster than us. My argument is that the mystical experience is probably related to the final stage of growing up, a mental change in the transition from adolescence to full adulthood. Children who grow up for several years protected by their parents will experience a drastic change when the change finally occurs. In animals, change may be more natural.

There are also other differences, the most important of which is that there is no indication that the mystical experience among animals would ever remain just a mere experience. I am talking specifically about the short-term nature of the human experience. It is always momentary in humans; it most likely remains permanent in animals. And that should happen to humans as well, but as I have mentioned many times earlier, humans seem to have lost this quality. So, we will be confused as we experience something meant to be permanent only momentarily. We will never understand the experience because we only try to understand why and where the incident came from. Instead, we should ask why the experience disappeared. Why so? Well, there can be no other explanation for such an event than that something is wrong, that everything didn’t go right, and that something else should have happened. But we won’t ask why it disappeared. And why not? Because we think there can be nothing wrong with such a divine experience.

We usually infer our views from religious and mystical traditions. We seek support from them to convince us we have not gone nuts. According to them, at best, the human part is just getting a peek at something that looks enchanting and inviting, but nothing more. They might give peace of mind, but certainly not the correct answer. They will offer a delusion that the experience is indeed a mystery and utterly inexplicable. But it is not about that. The experience is entirely possible to understand. And the explanation is, in fact, relatively mundane, though it is pretty challenging: humans are not the pinnacle of development on this planet. We are the ones who lag behind others.

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