Experiential Spirituality and Contemporary Gnosis

a democritization of the spiritual, whereby we take control of our spirituality, get out of being exclusively in our heads and move into our hearts (and hopefully then move towards linking our hearts and our minds), and take personal responsibility for understanding our personal beliefs and acting accordingly. (Another interesting reflection of the trend in our world toward democracy….)

It is through experiential spirituality that we truly come to know what we believe and what we resonate with. It is a knowing akin to gnosis, where what we experience becomes a knowing that is a true knowing – because we’ve been there. Which is quite different from believing in ism’s , creeds, and tenets we’ve been told by external agents or authorities are true, but that we haven’t truly experienced.

So, “what is metaphysics?” “What are you into?” The next time someone asks us where we’re coming from with our “metaphysical stuff,” maybe the notion of experiential spirituality and real gnosis may be some grist for our mill in grinding out our answer.

First published in the March 1996 issue of “Innerchange.”

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