 158. Stigmata (All Faiths) |
In the Christian tradition, the principal concepts, images, metaphors, and imperatives are those of self-sacrifice and suffering and wounds—Jesus crucified, and so forth. Therefore, when Christian individuals become intensely devotionally responsive (or even, for any number of reasons, deeply open and vulnerable), it is rather inevitable that some such individuals will show psychological, emotional, and even (in one manner or another) physical signs of that suffering and those wounds. And that does not mean those signs are merely material, or un- Divine. Rather, the signs are simply a product of ecstasy within a particular tradition, in which particular concepts, images, metaphors (or symbols), and imperatives provide the basis for religious participation and religious demonstration. Therefore, a genuine case of the stigmata does not necessarily require any "Other" (whether the Divine, or a Spiritually Present Teacher, or whatever) to "Will" or "Intend" the bodily wounds. Rather, whatever else may pertain to the particular case, all that is actually required is self-giving participatory openness to the great unity and Oneness (in this case, through the categories of the Christian tradition). There are innumerable possible kinds of psycho-physically exhibited religious and Spiritual (or otherwise sacred) phenomena. When an individual moves beyond the separative (or selfcontracted and non-participatory) disposition and dramatization of the phenomenal ego-self, it is not just that the individual body-mind mechanism (in and of itself) starts doing spontaneous things. Rather, the individual body-mind mechanism yields to participate in the larger unity and the Ultimate Oneness—and, because of this, all kinds of contents and effects (from within the individual, and also from beyond the individual) may be manifested.
Psycho-physically displayed religious, Spiritual, or otherwise sacred phenomena are products of human religious, Spiritual, or otherwise sacred tradition and of human religious, Spiritual, or otherwise sacred responsiveness—whether or not, in any particular case, there is also an "outside" causative Means (such as the Blessing-Intention of a Spiritual Master). Therefore, the relative profundity of the individual responsiveness (or, otherwise, spontaneous openness), and the character and relative profundity of what is received through that responsiveness or openness, are the appropriate and necessary matters to be "considered" in any examination (or investigation) of religious, or Spiritual, or otherwise sacred signs. And such examinations (or investigations) are the serious responsibility of religious, or Spiritual, or otherwise sacred institutions or communities themselves (and they are not, in general, the proper responsibility of those who do not assume the religious, or Spiritual, or otherwise sacred point of view)—for only such religious, or Spiritual, or otherwise sacred gatherings (and individuals of a like point of view) are (if they are fully authentic) competent to evaluate (and, otherwise, bear sufficient authority to rightly guide) individuals exhibiting religious, or Spiritual, or otherwise sacred signs.
There are particular psychic, psychological, emotional, and physical phenomena that tend to appear, within each particular religious tradition, when people feel free to be totally given up and to be ecstatic. Of course, for various reasons, some people may merely (and superficially) imitate (or even fake) such phenomena. Every religious, or Spiritual, or otherwise sacred culture must responsibly instruct and guide and discipline its own, but even individuals who (because they are more superficial, and gross in their egoity, altogether) superficially imitate (or even fake) ecstatic phenomena are, basically, simply demonstrating their own real (but limited) manner of participation.
When unusual religious, or Spiritual, or otherwise sacred phenomena appear, people within (and, unfortunately, even without) a tradition tend to put a great deal of attention on the events, and especially on the individuals involved. Indeed, it is because of such fascination that this documentary on the stigmata was made. But, even as shown in this documentary, the stigmata may appear in many different kinds of people—including saints, genuine visionaries, religious fanatics, and ordinary (and even bewildered) people who are in a uniquely vulnerable state. Therefore, religious, Spiritual, and otherwise sacred phenomena should (in general) simply be allowed within the sphere of their own tradition or culture, and not be otherwise "made much" of (especially by "outsiders"). If such is the case, then superficial people will feel less inclined to fake such phenomena. People will understand that such phenomena are, rightly, merely a possible part of real and intensive participation in the religious, Spiritual, or otherwise sacred life, that such phenomena are not necessary (but, nonetheless, they are fairly common), that many kinds of people experience such phenomena, and that the phenomena themselves do not necessarily indicate great profundity of either practice or Realization.
The mind should, rightly, be transformed by response to what is beyond itself. Therefore, in the religious, Spiritual, or otherwise sacred life, the entire body-mind should be responsive. The entire body-mind must be let loose, allowed to be moved, allowed to be transformed, allowed to reflect or manifest the possible signs (and the characteristic concepts, images, metaphors, and imperatives) of the tradition or school that informs and guides the practitioner. All the natural signs that may occur in mature mystical life, and all the Spiritual signs that may occur in the context of real Spiritual reception, should be allowed. Of course the mind has something to do with it (including the brain, and the body, and the total body-mind)—because all of that is the vehicle (or the unified complex of designs) that is surrendered and yielded into the great psycho-physical unity that is the cosmic reality and the Ultimate Oneness That Is the Source of the cosmic reality. That is how religion works. That is how Spirituality works. That is how the sacred process of Divine (or Ultimate) Realization works. Indeed, that is how Truth works.
