Tantric Mysticism – Become Mystic – God is not required

Have you ever wondered about mystical experiences? Many books have been written describing what they are, how to have one, and how one may benefit from such experiences. Most seem to written from some religion’s perspective that naturally excludes those who do not follow that religion. In reality, the mystical experience is not any one religion’s method of seeing that religion’s higher power; it is a glimpse into a physical reality of our world. The ability to see this physical reality is not confined to any one religion or a set of religions, but is open to anyone who will develop the proper mindset. In my book, Physical Tantric Mysticism: The Brain and Mystical Experiences, I argue that mystical experiences are simply a byproduct of the way normal brains function and that any individual, regardless of religious background, can become a mystic. What individuals experience during a mystical event is produced by the brain and not by some spiritual being or by peering into some spiritual plane. What it is, in fact, is experiencing part of the material world around us, a part that is normally obscured by sensory distractions and ways of thinking. In brief, the first part of the argument is that one’s DNA determines that a normal human will have a human type of brain that processes sensory information in a certain way and that one’s environment helps to lay a foundation of memories on which a belief system is constructed. Memories, which are physical structures in the brain, server as filters through which future sensory information is processed. As one matures, he or she develops a sense of self that is an expression of this web of memory built belief systems. The latest brain research shows this to be true but it is fairly commonsensical as well. Take any person and look closely at friends, family, living situations, diet, and a host of other environmental factors and it will be easy to see how a person’s beliefs fit those factors. Taken another way, a person cannot believe something he or she was never taught or never learned. Even in those cases where someone seems to break free from one mindset, there will be beliefs present in the brain that facilitated the paradigm shift. From here, the argument is that because of similarities in environmental cues and brain structures, humans as a species seem prone to share certain beliefs, even though those beliefs are expressed somewhat differently from culture to culture. Nearly all cultures developed some sort of Tantric Mysticism and some form of religion. There are some beliefs in older cultures that recur universally. In many cultured, these beliefs persist still. Specifically, humans once existed in a higher state of some sort and maintained some relationship with beings that were not human. There was some sort of connection between humans and some supreme power, whether or not that power is personified. However, this connection was broken for some reason (the reasons vary between cultures). There also persists a belief that a person can reconnect or reestablish this connection through either physical or mental actions that grant access to the higher plain humans once roamed freely. [See Mercia Eliade’s The Myth of the Eternal Return for a deeper exploration on this subject] In my book, I explore the religious and mystical traditions in Chinese religions, as well as Hinduism, Tantric Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam to demonstrate that these motifs are present in each, even though the expressions of the motifs are different. In reality, the Nirvana one can experience in Tantric Buddhism is the same presence of God one might experience in the so-called Western, monotheistic religions. The experience of mystical enlightenment is nearly identical in all traditions. I also explore just how the human brain actually works and how this functionality is what produces the mystical experience. Seeing Nirvana or the face of God is not seeing into some higher existence or connecting with a Grand Unity (as Newberg, D’Aquili, and Rause call it in their book, Why God Won’t Go Away), but is simply using a natural function of the brain to see what is there all the time. What one does see or sense is the interconnectedness of all life. Many animal species can smell things we cannot, sense movement we do not notice, a

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