Paryushana (Jain) First day of a ten-day observance of fasting and prayer, draws attention to the holy texts describing the ten characteristics of holiness to which Jain devotees aspire.  On the tenth day, Jains ask forgiveness for any wrongs committed.  This is the most important festival of the year for Jains.

       Mystics truly are out-of-the-ordinary people.  We dream dreams, experience visions, and create great masterworks of art, music and literature.  We are the metaphysical nonconformists who never fully fit in.  Mystics stand apart from the majority of spiritually minded people who seem content to simply go once a week to church or synagogue or wherever their religion meets, listen to the words of their spiritual leaders, say their prayers, make a financail contribution, and then go back to the mundane business of living.  By contrast, mystical seekers never feel fully satisfied with the routine of conventional relgion, but rather always yearn for something more--a deeper, more intense, more heartfelt spiritual experience.

     There is nothing wrong with either path---the ordinary way or the mystical way.  Each path is appropriate for a certain personality type.  Just because you are called to walk one path, it does not make the other path "wrong."  This is an important point to remember.  Just because there are many different ways of approaching spirituality, does not mean that only one way is right and the others are wrong. 

                                        -  Carl McColman

    pp. 41-42  The Aspiring Mystic--Practical Steps for Spiritual Seekers

Visit Carl's marvelous mystical blog at:   www.anamchara.com