Reyes, Narciso. C. “Mysticism and Authenticity, Philippines.” MA thesis, Maryhill School of Theology, 1995
“How do we separate experiences which really come from God and which are not?” asked by the author, Narciso C. Reyes, on his thesis, “Mysticism and Authenticity.” His writing basically talks about a theological investigation of a mystical phenomenon and the pursuit to find the difference between a religious and a mystical experience. He expounded Bernard Lonergan’s cognitional structure in order to deeply understand mysticism.
Reyes was intrigued by the religious experience of Francis Thompson, (contemporary writer) as he compared it with its development from the early writings of St. Teresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross. Adding Lonergan’s insights, he wants to expound more about the study of Christian spirituality. On his quest to find the answers, he used the descriptive method through the books and articles that he had studied together with the interviews that he made from the expert on the mentioned field.
He divided his study into the different key elements. First is about the difference between the religious and mystical experience. The second is about the Bernard Lonergan’s cognitional structure; third is about “how to approach mystical experience from the viewpoint of Lonergan’s cognitional structure;” fourth on “modern society’s view of mystical experience as well as the factors that have brought about the said view;” final is about dealing on a real or authentic mystical experience.
Reyes initially defined an “experience” and described what constitutes this before he proceeded to tackle about religious and mystical experience. According to him, experience is “the primary awareness of the world one lives in, or the primary givenness of the world to the self.” He then mentioned that an experience becomes religious when there is the notion of “theophany.” This means that “an individual sees an action of God revealing to him.” However, this revelation must come into reality when a person is ready to receive it. He even shared his personal religious experience to deepen his notion on the said matter. He then embarked upon the meaning on a real mystical experience (which is the core of his study). As he said, mystical experience is one of the types of religious experience. To wit, religious experience is a broader perspective than of a mystical one. Mystical experience constitutes with the following: infallibility which is “that it defies expression that no adequate report of its contents can be given in words… its quality must be directly experienced and cannot be imparted or transferred to others;” noetic quality which is the “mystical states seem to those who experience them to be also states of knowledge;” transiency that states “mystical states cannot be sustained for long;” and passivity where “mystic feels as if his own will were in abeyance, and indeed sometimes as if he were grasped and held by a superior power.” The most important notion on his argument about mystical experience, as he mentioned is about the reception of “apophatic knowledge.” It is about the “response to the incomprehensibility of God by opening his/her (individual) mind through unrestricted openness to knowing and loving.” Thus, it is the welcoming of the “light and love” of God by a person in the midst of his unclear thoughts. As the author continues to discuss his arguments, he made mention about Lonergan’s cognitional structure which are the levels of empirical, intellectual, rational, and responsible. This aspect was used in order to deepen the readers’ understanding about mysticism and to verify its authenticity within an experience. This talks about the level of consciousness of a person in the natural sense. However, Lonergan initiated the fifth level of this consciousness which is the religious level. And this notion made a firm impact on explaining the relationship of the mystical experience of a person and his/her consciousness.
As the author found, experience becomes religious when it entails a manifestation of Divine presence in an individual. “The most important event in a mystical experience is the reception of apophatic knowledge.” He added that the fifth level of consciousness which is religious, “is the level of being in love, without restrictions, with an absolute being (God).”
As Reyes further suggest, new researchers could give emphasis in the “role of suffering in the mystical experience” as he did not focus on this aspect. He also mentioned about “the role of intuition in Lonergan’s cognitional structure” and the “insights and reflections of the writers on Liberation Theology in relation to the occurrence of mystical experience. And to sum up, Reyes’ thesis about the “Mysticism and Authenticity” contributed wonderful insights in the continuation of the study for the aspect of spirituality. This writing could be highly suggested to the students who are questioning about the authenticity of a spiritual or mystical experience as the criteria for it are deeply elaborated on this study.
By: Jeffrey E. Loma
