De ervaring van het mysterie

by Tim Freke, Vera Groen (translator)

Prepare for the journey of your life. Literally. This book does not aim to make your life carefree, to make your problems disappear, to turn you into a saint free from blemish or blame. In fact, you may end up utterly bewildered by The Mystery Experience at times. But you will also be intrigued. Curious.Questioning. Loving. Loved. Overjoyed. Seduced out of the numbness of banality. And most importantly, awake. Gloriously awake, and full of wonder. Philosopher and author Tim Freke leads us on a journey through the nature of the 'Mystery Experience', via quantum physics, Gnosticism, the essence of Tao, meditation, Walt Whitman, Greek mythology, Buddhism, Dub Punk musician Jah Wobble, and Carl Jung. But what is the 'Mystery Experience'? You can taste it by simply focusing your attention on the mystery. But what is the mystery? The mystery is life. The mystery is the journey. The mystery is you. The mystery is me. The mystery makes you want to say, simply: WOW. No one has the answers, but asking the questions is what makes us come alive. Wherever you're coming from, you will find this journey rewarding. The only real requirement is that you're willing to wonder about life - to be curious and open - to be an explorer. Now prepare to leave base camp, because we're about to set off on a grand adventure.

Genres: Spirituality, Nonfiction, Philosophy, Religion, Self Help, New Age, Unfinished

352 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

Timothy Freke has an honors degree in philosophy and is the author of more than twenty books on world spirituality. He lectures and runs experiential seminars throughout the world exploring gnosis. For information, see timothyfreke.com. Both Freke and Gandy live in England and are the authors of five previous books, including The Jesus Mysteries and Jesus and the Lost Goddess.

Reviews

[Yelda Basar Moers · Rating 3 out of 5]

What is the Mystery Experience? It's everything that you can imagine is spirituality. It's the soul, it's the ineffable, it's what's felt and left unsaid, as Emerson said, "the action of the soul is oftener in that which is felt and left unsaid than in that which is said in any conversation." Rumi said, "we are a brush in the hand of the mystery that is painting this soul-making universe." All of the most famous poets, thinkers and artists lived this mystery experience and I believe the author made a good attempt to convey it, or his vision of it to the reader.

The problem is that this book could be cut by half. It needs a good edit. Too much of the author's wonderful insights (the author is a philosopher himself) are bogged down by his own chatty language and it waters down his prose. Still, it was an intriguing read and I thank the Goodreads friend who recommended it to me!

[Erik Akre · Rating 3 out of 5]

Freke is coming from an appropriate place for this exploration, rejecting any specific religious standpoint (and pulling from any and all standpoints at his leisure). His eclectic approach addresses the experience of WOW in its myriad manifestations throughout human experience and thought.

For example, I like his citation of Niels Bohr. It gives a good idea of what the author is saying in the book: "There are trivial truths and there are great truths. The opposite of a trivial truth is plainly false. The opposite of a great truth is also true." Freke loves paradox--"paralogical thinking" vs. purely logical thinking--and he celebrates it as fundamental to human spiritual experience.

[An astonishing Frekish factoid: The number of thoughts of which the human mind is potentially capable is 10 to the 70,000,000,000th power. In contrast, the number of atoms in the universe is 10 to the 80th.]

Freke's goal, which he sets out to accomplish in surprisingly readable prose, seems to be an explanation of the Perennial Philosophy in an almost logical way, step-by-step, citing spirituality and science both. The author may just bring you closer to It, at least for the duration of the book. He is convincing, and he really tries (with mixed success) to be your friend too.

Interest in wide-awakeness and WOW? Give the book a try. Not bad.

[Raja G · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tim Freke must be about the most amazing writer/philosopher I have ever known. Well, I've never met him but all his numerous books are, well, amazing. Coming to this book, "The Mystery Experience." I know exactly what he's writing about: it (the mystery experience) transcends thoughts and words. It is an incredible feeling of knowing that which is beyond knowing. I experienced it over twenty years ago while practicing Zen style awareness meditation. Suddenly my body and mind disappeared, and I was flooded with light. It didn't linger, though. But afterwards I started to laugh inexplicably for several minutes, and my fear of death was gone forever. However, I kind of sympathize with the reviewers who didn't give it a 5 star rating. To begin with, I do wish he had given a more in-depth introduction to himself and a list of his amazing books, such as "The Jesus Mysteries" and "Jesus and the Lost Goddess" among many others. Tim is a master analyst of Gnostic thought. Gnosis is the Christian (not the literalist Christianity we know today) version of the Yoga of Knowledge referred to as Jnana (or you can say Gyana, pronounced Gyaana) Yoga. That knowledge doesn't come from reading books, though you need pointers, guidelines. That knowledge is what the Mystery Experience is. It is a huge awakening of the "Awe Factor." There is a book with that title by the way by another author. It is to be just stunned by all that there is, from what is seen through a microscopy to the incredible galaxies in outer space.

That said, the book is kind of tedious reading. It is almost like I say: "I get it." And Tim says, "No, you didn't get it, not yet." This is the sort of theme throughout. I feel bad saying this, because the intention of writing this book is genuine and sincere. It really is all about attaining what is called Nirvana in the Buddhist tradition, awakening to Satori in Zen, attaining Moksha in the Hindu tradition, and awakening to the Inner Christ in the Gnostic tradition. All different ways of expressing the same thing: awakening to the Magnificent Mystery.

To summarize, this is yet another masterly achievement by Tim Freke. It was twenty years ago when I read his "The Jesus Mysteries," when a huge load rolled off my mind, and I truly felt light, airy, and awakened. My family and I were in Hawaii and I found it in a bookstore. I couldn't put it down, totally fascinated. My family was getting quite annoyed that we were there in Hawaii and all I was doing is reading a book! He is one of the great "Awakened philosophers," if I can put it that way! It is a book you'll want to keep in your home library always.

[Garry · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a topic dear to my heart, and I desperately wanted to like this book - not least because a Van Morrison song called 'The Mystery' is resonating extremely strongly with me at this point in my life. The book attempts to be a 'how-to' guide about letting go into 'the mystery', mixed with some theory about spirituality and quantum physics along the way. Unfortunately, I just couldn't get into it at all. There was something about the author's language and delivery which came across as smug, self-satisfied and even somewhat patronising. I can't fault Tim's enthusiasm and apparent sincerity, but he's too much like a modern RE teacher for my tastes. Maybe I was prejudiced, having seen the author talk about his book on a YouTube video, after I had ordered the book but before I had started reading it. Couldn't get beyond page 153, I'm afraid. There are far better books out there.

[Tink · Rating 5 out of 5]

every thought that ever crossed my mind is in this book, Tim is brilliant !

[Ben · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it.

[Nafeez Ahmed · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eminently practical

This book combines exploration of ideas, science, faith and spirit with actual meditation exercises drawn from the author’s own practice. The ideas part is great for introductory reading into the intersections of science and spirituality, for those unfamiliar - not so useful if you follow this literature in depth already. What’s powerful and unique about this book is how it brings these issues beyond the realm of theory and abstract concepts into the here and now of your own life and experience, through a range of suggested guided practices. I’ve learned much from these and look forward to engaging further with the author’s refreshingly humble and real approach.

[Thomas Lambrecht · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tim Freke is promovendus filosofie. Het boek 'De ervaring van het mysterie' schept een licht op spiritueel ontwaken, vanuit een filosofische invalshoek en wetenschappelijk gefundeerd. Spiritualiteit of spiritualisme komt bij veel mensen over als zachtzinning en zweverig; ik moet toegeven dat ik ook die indruk toegedaan was toen ik er voor het eerst mee in aanraking kwam, intussen meer dan 15 jaar geleden. Vaak overstijgt het de logica en voelt het irrationeel aan. Maar door de jaren heen door me te verdiepen in Boeddhisme en dergelijke andere Oosterse geloofsovertuigingen en filosofieën ben ik tot inzichten gekomen die mijn leven alleen maar ten goede zijn gekomen. Dit boek vervolledigd op bepaalde vlakken antwoorden op vragen die ik had, maar tegelijk levert het ook nieuwe vragen op. De belangrijkste les die ik uit dit boek geleerd heb is dat de schoonheid van het leven zit in het verwonderd zijn, zoals een kind dat doet en alles met een nieuw oog trachten te bekijken. Het leven op zich is een mysterie waaraan we ons dienen over te leveren in een staat van diep niet-weten.

[Andrew Marshall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unlike a lot of spiritual books where the author assumes a level of knowledge from the reader about their faith or that he or she is already committed believer, Freke starts at the very beginning and takes you step by step from general curiosity to belief (or at the very least open to it). Even better, he creates a character - who he calls Dick (as in clever dick) - who comes up with the average reader's objections so he can explain some of the science that underpins his mystery experience. The book is full of exercises to try at home and it is obviously based on the workshops he's given taking people through this process. Perhaps, as I write a similar kind of book - but about relationships - I found Freke was on my wave length. However, I loved the way he has one foot in the everyday world of bills and family and the other in a spiritual world (that he calls being deep awake). I was so impressed that I'm thinking of doing the workshop myself.

[Johanna Craven · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first picked up this book a couple of years ago and while I found it fascinating, the ideas didn't really resonate with me yet. But a few weeks ago, while looking for something else at the library I stumbled upon this book again and decided to give it another go. I'm so glad I did- it really confirmed my belief that the universe will bring me exactly what I need at each point in my life!

A fascinating and eye-opening read. You won't look at life the same way!

[Ally · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's good. I like how he presents being fully awake and how he treats dealing with our egos. I may be confusing this last part with one of his other books as it's been a few months since I read it, and I read two of his books back-to-back. He reminds me of a cheerleader, but that's okay. While serious this stuff is worth cheering about.

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stunning book! Freke is a genius! This is a must read. Mass reading of this book will shift the paradigm and change the world. Do yourself a favor and put this in your to-read list and then read it.....

[GONZA · Rating 4 out of 5]

UAU, I have never thought about life and myself from this point of view, many point of view to be precise.

THANKS TO NETGALLEY AND DUNCAN BAIRD PUBLISHERS FOR THE PREVIEW