Mysticism

[close] A club for the spiritually ambitious, somatically curious, and slightly done with the fluff — especially the kind that gaslights your nervous system. ⸻ 📖 About This Group: Welcome to the anti-fluff sanctuary for readers who crave depth, embodiment, and truth that actually lands in the body. We’re here to explore books that challenge, clarify, and change us — the kind that make you pause mid-page and whisper, “Holy sht.”* Expect reads on: • Pain science that respects complexity, not just symptoms • Yoga and yoga therapy as tools for nervous system regulation and spiritual alignment • Movement-based therapeutic practices that illuminate the body’s role in transformation • Sacred texts, memoirs, and soul-stretching works from psychology to mysticism We are: • Intellects who trust the body • Mystics who ask questions • Readers who highlight like monks and reflect like rebels ⸻ 🔍 What to Expect: • Monthly books that activate your body, your brain, and your belief system • Optional reflection prompts, somatic insights, and yes — occasional spirals of existential awe • A community where spiritual discipline meets literary disruption • No bypassing. No 10-step gloss. Just breath, presence, and bold pages ⸻ You don’t need to be healed. You don’t need to be flexible. You just need to be done with the fluff — and open to growth that doesn’t insult your intelligence.

[close] Among the most easily recognized mystic communications are riddles, parables, fables, woven in symbols, dreams, allegory, apocrypha, & metaphors. Mystics often speak of being in a trance. They are communicating something other-worldly. Philosophers, in an attempt to make the deeper meaning more esoteric, obscured the meaning of their writes. Scientists use symbols & codes. One must come to understand metaphors, symbols & codes so they can understand. So, why have these writers throughout history used such obscure methods to say something that should be easy to say? Ø Being persecuted. Ø To speak about the ethereal world or to acknowledge communication with entities outside of our world would usually lead to being labeled insane. Ø Mysticism is meant for those who seek truth. ​​ Why write mystically? Or, how does the mysticism find the author? Many writers throughout history have found themselves helpless to the labels of insanity bestowed upon them. I often wonder if the likes of Virginia Wolff, Edgar Allen Poe, or Emily Dickinson would be considered mentally incompetent by today's standards. Language limits us from being able to fully express what we experience & what we intuit. We are forced by these limitations to use words creatively to give our reader insights that are otherwise lost in common usage. Writers are painting pictures, providing backdrops with sound, taste, texture & feeling – but the mystic writer is taking you behind the veil to a place where the senses have no power & hard reality does not exist, & mystic writers are translating from a language unknown to man, a language spoken to them by entities that exist in another time & space that is not in sync with our mortal occupation in the here & now. Mystic writers themselves are as perplexed about their relationship with or connection to the ethereal & the surreal as you are.

[close] The original Inklings were a literary set in Oxford whose members comprised of lecturers and academics from the University of Oxford between the 1930s up until 1950. Most notable among these were CS Lewis, JRR Tolkien, Charles Williams, and Owen Barfield. The Inklings of GoodReads is a copy-cat group for those who may have an interest in: philosophy, theology, the classics [Homer, Virgil, Sophocles etc] folklore (esp. Nordic or European, but not exclusivly!), mythology and ancient legend [from Greek mythology to Eastern]; and connected subjects and areas of reading. The creator and moderator of this group is a philosopher of religion [with a paticular interest in philosophical theology] and will therefore be mostly reading books to that end, however all book and discussions in any area/related area to the topics mentioned above are welcomed. The original Inklings, Lewis and Tolkien notwithstanding, was not a religous group-neither is this one.

[close] Tony Samara, author of ‘Shaman’s Wisdom,’ ‘From the Heart,’ ‘Different Yet the Same,’ and ‘Deeper than Words’ was born in England, grew up in Egypt and also in Norway where he discovered the “Zen Buddhist philosophy”. This discovery eventually led him to the “Mount Baldy Zen Center in California, USA” where he learned the spiritual teachings of “Kyozan Joshu Sasaki.” He had curiosity to explore further the essence of spirituality and thus went to live and learn with shamanic communities around the globe including a period of time spent with some highly influential shamans in the Amazon River region and the Andes Mountains. Now people from all over the world visit Tony Samara to take spiritual guidance and experience being in his presence. His main countries of activity are in Europe yet with the assistance of the Internet is attracting a Global audience through frequent online interviews and live satsangs. His function is as a Spiritual Teacher who encourages all to lead their lives actively in a noble way in order to realize the evolution of human consciousness. The completely natural state of joy and wisdom experienced as the heart opens to life is the remarkable path he expounds. The path that is free for everyone to experience. Verbal dialogue is not the essence of his teachings, but he explains in a direct and simple way that everyone can understand how each individual can practically integrate greater acceptance, peace and joy into their daily lives. Tony teaches with humour, humility and with infinite patience, empowering the individual with courage, trust and inner strength to continue on this journey back into wholeness, a path that leads towards real freedom. Like many spiritual teachers, Tony Samara is concerned with practical inner work and liberation. He teaches by personal example and instruction, guiding the seeker to realise bliss here and now, through growing spiritual awareness rather than mental effort.