And yet, as she contemplated her dilemma, a greater wisdom came to her. A wisdom as applicable to us today with our hectic, high-stress lives, as it was to a world entering its first global conflict with totalitarianism.

`` ... the title deliberately chosen for this book--that of `Practical' Mysticism--means nothing if the attitude and discipline which it recommends be adapted to fair weather alone: if the principles for which is stands break down when subjected to the pressure of events, and cannot be reconciled with the sterner duties of the national life. To accept this position is to reduce mysticism to the status of a spiritual plaything. On the contrary, if the experiences on which it is based have indeed the transcendent value for humanity which the mystics claim for them--if they reveal to us a world of higher truth and greater reality than the world of concrete happenings in which we seem to be immersed--then that value is increased rather than lessened when confronted by the overwhelming disharmonies and sufferings of the present time. It is significant that many of these experiences are reported to us from periods of war and distress: that the stronger the forces of destruction appeared, the more intense grew the spiritual vision which opposed them. We learn from these records that the mystical consciousness has the power of lifting those who possess it to a plane of reality which no struggle, no cruelty, can disturb: of conferring a certitude which no catastrophe can wreak. Yet it does not wrap its initiates in a selfish and otherworldly calm, isolate them from the pain and effort of the common life. Rather, it gives them renewed vitality; administering to the human spirit not--as some suppose--a soothing draught, but the most powerful of stimulants. Stayed upon eternal realities, that spirit will be far better able to endure and profit from the stern discipline which the race is now called to undergo, than those who are wholly at the mercy of events; better able to discern the real from the illusory issues, and to pronounce judgment on the new problems, new difficulties, new fields of activity disclosed.''

And in so doing, the mystic often puts herself at odds with the orthodox minds of her day. Who, pray, dares to stand up to the social programming of our modern world: to observe that (as some scientists themselves are coming to understand) science, by the very asking of its questions, changes the nature of the answers it receives; to notice that, by selectively informing our children, we chain them to a world comprehensible to us, not to the world as it really exists; to perceive that by serving the monetary taskmaster, we make ourselves a slave to the very energies that inform our universe.

Breaking the chains of the orthodoxy can best be described as achieving a state of consciousness wherein we remain aware of the illusory nature of the physical world, but remain focused on the sublime reality that informs it. We live, as Jesus put it, in the world, but are no longer of the world.

So how do we get there? How do we break the chains of the orthodoxy? It isn't easy! Chuang Tze observed that: ``Great truths do not take hold of the hearts of the masses.'' Siddartha Buddha once grumbled: ``Why should I attempt to make known to those who are consumed with lust and hate this which I've won through so much effort! This Truth is not a truth that can be grasped; it goes against the grain of what people think; it is deep, subtle, difficult, delicate.''

And so it is. Consider the following questions, each one a manifestation of our modern day orthodox programming; a model of thinking so automatic most people do not even realize its there:

• Why do you hold down your present job? Is it your bliss, or is it merely something you `like' that `pays the bills and supports your family'?
• Assuming you have an idea of what your bliss is (many do not), does it seem there are a dozen and one things that stand between you and it? You can't follow your bliss, for example, because you've got a mortgage payment; or you need to go back to school and can't afford to; or nobody pays people to do what you really, REALLY like to do; or it's a highly competitive field and takes years to break in; or ...
• How often are you ill, and how bad is each illness? Do you, a normally healthy person, catch every `bug' that comes along? Do the young children in your family? Do you often feel poorly, but not so bad you dare not go to work?
• Do you suffer from one of those chronic diseases that are commonly diagnosed but can't be localized and cured such as Fibromyalgia, RSD, ADD/ADHD, or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, to name a few?
• Do you find yourself getting a headache or feeling ill when you have to deal with certain people or situations? If you beg off, does the ill feeling go away? If you go ahead with the meeting, does it actually materialize?
• How much time do you devote to your chronic physical and mental conditions? Do they provide you with hours and hours of meaningful discussion with others? Are they handy excuses not to do some things and to `have' to do others?
• How much of your thinking follows an IF/THEN pattern? As in, IF only I had x THEN I could be y: IF x loved me THEN I would be truly happy; IF I could afford to go to school and get this spiffy degree THEN I'd have the career I've always wanted, etc.
• How many of your thoughts and actions are devoted to manipulating others into fulfilling your needs? Do you hurl your anger at others until they fulfill your need for self punishment by responding in anger? Do you feel yourself becoming ill to get someone to fulfill an expected need or to react to you in an expected way? Do you expect your lover(s), or spouse(s), or even friends to be responsible for your happiness, to be trustworthy as you define the term, to fulfill your sexual and/or emotional needs?

• How do you treat your body? Do you pump it full of chemicals in the form of drugs (legal and/or illegal) or cigarettes?
• Do you believe that chemical stimulants such as cannabis, peyote, ecstasy, or others bring you closer to the divine, or provide you with a `unitive' experience?
• Do you believe demonstrations, protests, and other disruptive activities are viable means of bringing about meaningful political change?
• Are there people whose names you cannot read or hear without it evoking an immediate response? The politician or boss, for example, whose name can't come up without you wanting to immediately recite all the `bad' things he or she has done or is doing, who would be hard pressed to do anything `right' in your opinion, no matter what it was? Conversely, are there people or groups who can't do anything wrong? Who, no matter what they do, must have had some kind of `good reason'?

Still reading along? Good. Were there items on that list that upset you? Were there items you wanted to defend? How many initial gut reactions did you reject? How many did you try to rationalize as being okay? ``Well, I do this but ... ''

So pervasive is our social programming, so out of touch with the realities of our internal landscape have we become as a culture, that many people (most, some would say), will not even be able to answer those questions honestly.

Is it any wonder Siddhartha got a bit grumpy?

So, assuming we really want to, how do we change this? How do we break free of this social conditioning and become an external observer, rather than an internal participant? There is only one way: Grab yourself by the bootstraps; ``let all else go,'' to borrow from Plotinus, and focus your attention on that and that alone.

Does this mean you must give up your job? No. But don't be surprised if your present job disappears sooner or later.

Does this mean you must give up your present relationship(s)? No, but don't be surprised if they go away too. Or, if they survive, that they are dramatically changed for the better.

But the one thing you must give up: let me repeat, you must give up, is your arrogance. This cannot be overstated for western readers. In the East the value of the guru is still appreciated; they still understand the humble symbiotic relationship between mentor and pupil. In the West everyone is an `equal', and because everyone is an equal there no longer exists any respect for the experiences and wisdom of our teachers.

The problem is exacerbated by a) the proliferation of self pronounced masters who hold workshops and seminars by the score (all for profit, of course), but who have no experiential understanding of sublime Truth; and b) the desperate need any true student on a spiritual path has for a teacher. Indeed, we all must have a mentor if we are to succeed. Some small few may find their way without a physical teacher (like Ammachi), but for most of us, a mentor with a physical body is essential to our success.

So, for those of us born in the West, we must learn the value of the mentor-student relationship. We must turn our gaze away from the handful of unreachable world famous teachers to the equally wise but completely unknown mystics quietly going about their lives right in our local communities. They may be sweeping floors, driving trucks, working on farms, cashiering at grocery stores, stocking shelves, or living in a cardboard box on the street, but they do exist.

So how does one choose a teacher? As with most things, we must begin inside ourselves. ``When the pupil is ready,'' the yogi teaching goes, ``the teacher will appear.'' In some cases, the teacher has been there all along, unnoticed by the pupil who gave no credence to what the teacher knew. The wisdom of the teacher was `` ... cloaked in the murky ignorance of those slaves of passion who have not seen It,'' as Siddartha put it. Though, to say that the student was not looking for it would probably be more accurate. The seductive subtlety of the orthodoxy's illusion is simply that powerful.

The next step is to observe: Having asked for a teacher, who suddenly begins to see into your soul? Not in a rude or egotistical way, but a helpful, yet uncompromising one. Who seems to know just exactly where your largest bleeding wound is at any given time and subtly points to a way it might be healed? Pay attention! Your prayer might have just been answered.

Or, your mentor might turn you on, jazz you up, shift your consciousness by simple proximity. Pay attention! Examine this special person a bit more closely:

• Is this person sure of themselves but humble? The first person that comes up to you and says ``Hi, I'm master so-and-so and I'm looking for students'' should send you running for the hills!
• Is this person trying to sell you something? Granted, while some mystics enjoy teaching (others simply won't), a true mystic will be very cautious about taking on a student. In fact, a good many will require you to ask to be taught by them. Be cautious of teachers who advertise for pupils!
• Is this person capable of taking you where you want to go? The path to enlightenment isn't monolithic. While the signposts along the way remain the same no matter what road you're traveling down, there are as many roads to the mystical experience as there are people experiencing it, and so there are probably as many ways to teach it. Your prospective mentor's perspective should be comprehensible, and the methods used should be acceptable.

Assuming your prospective mentor checks out, then what? What can you expect from him? Do you have to pay him?

Well, probably not, but it wouldn't be a bad idea. It is rather ludicrous, don't you think, that we're willing to pay hundreds of dollars per hour to be validated by some person with a Ph.D, but get incensed when asked to compensate the one person on the planet capable of helping us elevate ourselves above any further need for such validation? So by all means, if your mentor doesn't bring up the subject of compensation--or more accurately, dana--you should. Even if it's not money, there may be something you can do to help balance the energetic exchange between the two of you, and that will help keep the relationship healthy.

In return, your mentor is agreeing to guide you along your spiritual path. He is your lamp holder, lighting the way along your path. Not his path--that's his! Your path, fraught with dragons and challenges which will be very different from his, because they're yours.

Your mentor will point out your dragons, don't expect her to slay them for you. That's your job. Your mentor will tell you things about yourself you won't want to believe, and probably won't like. ``On the dragon are many scales ... '' Its your mentor's job to point out each one--whether you like it or not! If she does any less, she's doing you a grave disservice. On the other hand, she'll not judge you. If she does, she's not the person you want for your mentor; she's got some more work to do on her own. She's there to tell you you're okay when you feel so spiritually parched you'd die for a moment's contact with the divine. And she's there to savor your victories with you when they come--and rest assured, they will.

All of which should make it clear: your mentor is not there to be your friend, your lover, your spouse, though he'll probably know as much about you as a spouse--or more! As you progress down your path, breaking the chains that hold you bound to the orthodoxy one by one, you can be sure that all the skeletons in your closet will be dragged out and aired, all in front of your mentor. You'll have highs you never thought possible, learn more about yourself than you ever dreamed, and suffer lows from your spiritual battles that will leave you broken and bloody. Your mentor will be there to pick up the pieces, then send you back to face that same, terrifying dragon again.

Until one day the dragons don't seem scary anymore. The universe suddenly makes a great deal of sense, in a way you never dreamed it would. You see the energy moving behind the words and agendas; you see the subconscious creations in process all around you and gaze in wonderment at the awesome power and beauty of it all. You feel the energy of the universe moving within you like a great tide, pulsing like a titanic heartbeat; and you know it's all you. You know that secret mystery that your mentor has been talking about for years: you and she are one; powerful beyond imagining, beautiful beyond describing, majestic beyond conceiving, and wise beyond all knowing. You find you have discovered `` ... that that which is the subtle essence--in that have all things their existence. That is the truth. That is the Self. And that, Svetaketu, THAT ART THOU.''

Dr. Matson is co-founder and President of Church of the New Renaissance (www.vetl.org) He is also the author of The Modern Mystic's Guidebook to Enlightenment, published by MFL Publishing. First release scheduled for January 2004. His email address is michael@vetl.org.