POETRY AND MYSTICISM
JOHN G. SUTTON
John G. Sutton
with Colin Wilson
The author and philosopher Colin Wilson wrote that mysticism is effectively a direct experience of God or of the absolute. In other words all mystical encounters are divine and a part of the infinite giving visions of astounding enlightenment. We may believe that divine mystical experiences are restricted to gifted individuals or ‘holy men’ that dedicate their lives to meditation and prayer. Wilson argues otherwise and in his extremely erudite book ‘Poetry & Mysticism’ he quotes the poet W.B. Yeats as an example:
‘My
fiftieth year had come and gone. I sat, a solitary man in a crowded London shop,
an open book and empty cup on the marble top. While on the shop and street I
gazed my body of a sudden blazed; and twenty minutes more or less it seemed, so
great my happiness, that I was blessed and could bless.’
The
experience Yeats describes is one of momentary enlightenment and inexplicable
delight in what was quite an ordinary yet extraordinary scene. For that brief
period of time Yeats mentally shifted from the here and now mundane world of the
teashop and transcendentally moved into another dimension where his joy seemed
utterly boundless. Yeats had
escaped from the prison of material reality and momentarily entered the land of
lost content where absurd good news abounds and all around is vibrant and alive
with hope. You may think that this
description is a wild exaggeration and that Yeats experienced nothing more than
a brief period of incredible happiness. But think again, you too have had
virtually the same sense of rapture as a child. Is it not true that one long ago
Christmas morning you looked and saw that Santa Claus had brought you something
very special and when you opened that present did you not feel that the world
was a truly wonderful place? Of course you did and we all have been there in the
past.
In his book
‘Poetry & Mysticism’ Wilson writes of ‘The Robot’ that is the
automatic pilot controlling our bodies in the day to day tasks that make up what
we call life. So much of our living
is done without consciously thinking of what we are doing. Take for example
cleaning your teeth in the morning, how long is it since you actually thought
about this? We do not think about these things we just let the auto-pilot, the
robot, assume control and before we know it we have arrived at work, the day is
part gone and we missed it. Irreplaceable time vanished and we paid no attention
to it at all, just cruised along blissfully unaware that life is passing us by.
The question has to be what can release us from our jailer robot and
bring us back to full consciousness. Perhaps the answer is poetry?
On the
morning of July 31st in the year 1802 the poet William Wordsworth and
his sister Dorothy were traveling in a horse drawn coach over Westminster Bridge
in the city of London. In those
distant days the area surrounding the bridge consisted mainly of narrow roads
lined by slum dwellings, dark and gloomy houses populated by the poor. It was
out of these saturnine streets that Wordworth’s coach emerged onto Westminster bridge
clattering over the cobbles towards the houses of Parliament and the towering
mass of Big Ben. Wordsworth describes the scene: ‘Earth has not anything to
show more fair / Dull would he be of soul who could pass by / A sight so
touching in its majesty / This City now doth like a garment wear / The beauty of
the morning; silent bare / Ships, towers, domes, theatres and temples lie / Open
unto the fields, and to the sky / All bright and glittering in the smokeless
air’. Wordsworth was not
controlled by his jailer robot when he looked from his coach and observed
Westminster Bridge in all its earthly glory. He was conscious of the detail and
captured it within those lines so effectively that though centuries pass we can
still see his vision. The poetic image sets our minds free from the prison,
opening the cell door with an inspirational key.
However the
robot within us all helps us to function. I once learned to drive a car and
seriously concentrated on changing gear, looking in the mirrors, road position,
reversing etc. I do not do so any more, my robot drives the car for me and I
just get in, sit behind the wheel and arrive at my destination without once
consciously thinking of driving the vehicle. In fact the only time I do become
acutely aware of the task is when something goes wrong, such as a hazard, say a
dog runs across the road. Other than that I let the robot drive and, quite
frankly, he does a far better job of it than I can. If I concentrate on driving
and really try to get it right I usually make a complete pigs ear of it. Let the
robot do it and no problems. Think of the many tasks that your own robot
performs for you i.e. typing, vacuuming the carpets, making the beds, watching
TV soap operas. Yes your robot does that for you too if you permit it. Imagine
being so lacking in control of your consciousness that you allow your jailer
robot to sit you down in front of the TV night after night whilst imaginary
characters act out fictional scenes. You may think this is relaxation as
Coronation Street, Emmerdale, Eastenders etc. plays on your screen but if you
are not consciously watching this then your mind, the essence that is you, is
locked up by your jailer robot and you are wasting your life in a self imposed
prison.
I have a
theory as to why people allow themselves to become inmates of their own prisons,
it is because they are safe and secure. Safety means a lot to our robots and in
a way they do protect us from harm. But that safety is paid for with our liberty
of will. As a test try this simple exercise. The next time you find yourself in
front of a TV set watching a soap opera stand up, turn it off, go get a book of
poetry and join William Wordsworth and his sister Dorothy as they traverse
Westminster Bridge on a day long, long ago before televisions were invented and
we could all see the sun bright and glittering in the smokeless air.
Then you too will be free from the jailer’s iron grip. Free to think
and free to live beyond the robot.
Poetry & Mysticism by Colin Wilson is published by City Lights ISBN 0-503-847-5274.