The word "mystical" means a spiritual reality or experience that is not perceived by the five physical senses. A mystical experience is different than having a belief because a mystical experience involves coming into a direct relationship with God. Feeling God, seeing God and knowing God cannot be accomplished by belief alone. Belief in something may nudge you in the direction of finding out something or inspire you to hope for something. A belief in God may move a person towards having a relationship with God. A direct, personal experience of God is what every mystic strives to attain. Christian mysticism is the process of coming into the experience of God at the center of one's being. A mystic meditates and prays and strives to be in close relationship with God throughout the day and throughout their life. Only through a direct experience can you say you know anything for certain.

Christian Mysticism refers to the Christian approach to the experience of God within, coming under the teachings of Jesus and Mother Mary. Mysticism is at the center of every world religion and involves the seeker in a serious search for God at the center of one's being. The mystical side of Buddhism is called Zen, that of Islam is called Sufism, in Hinduism it would be called Kriya Yoga and in Judaism, Kabala. In Christianity it is simply called Christian Mysticism. Jesus was certainly a mystic, as was Buddha, Krishna and the founders of all the major religions. All who have similarly sought to move beyond dogma and concepts into the direct experience of God and God's love are known as mystics. The mystics from any of the traditions understand one another because the inner experience is the same. There have been many mystics: St. Teresa of Avila, St. Francis of Assisi, Paramahansa Yogananda, St John of the Cross and Rumi to name a few.

The Order of Christ/Sophia is a mystical Christian Order of people who are devoted to the experience of God within. The OCS is a spiritual school and a spiritual practice. This means there is a set of teachings that deepen the understanding of the student and also meditations and spiritual exercises which bring the opportunity for a real spiritual experience of God, light and love. The OCS is made up of Teachers, Priests, Deacons, students and community members all joined together for the purpose of becoming one with God. Some teach, some strive to serve and help other people and some simply learn.

Through the patterns, teachings and disciplines of the OCS, people are brought ever deeper into being who they were created to be, sons and daughters of God.

Because we are a Holy Order, our practices and style of life brings into manifestation the plan God had when God created us. We are becoming lighted beings clothed in flesh bodies. What most people experience is heavy flesh imprisoning the divine soul. Reuniting with God after a long exile is our process and growth. Another purpose of the OCS is to raise up a true priesthood of women and men who will express God in their way of being. This real priesthood is divined by Jesus and Mother Mary as the ultimate attainment of each human being who returns to the Creator transformed and healed. The seven Sacraments are means of obtaining the graces necessary to become one with God, as all of our OCS Centers of Light hold meditation and Communion services each morning.

Learn more about classes and services at www.centersoflight.org

A Spiritual School is an Inner Path. The inner Path of Islam is Sufiism. The Inner Path of Judaism is Caballah. The Inner Path of Buddhism is Zen Buddhism. The Inner Path of Christianity is Mystical Christianity. The Order of Christ/Sophia is an Inner Path and a Mystical Christian Path. We are a Spiritual School because we teach the ancient wisdom that all students have learned from a long oral tradition passed down from Teacher to student. The inner teachings were always passed down in this way from ancient times to this day. A Spiritual School has Teachers and students; Masters or Priests and disciples. The disciples learn from the Teachers or Priests about the spiritual life and about themselves.

In a Spiritual School, book learning is less emphasized than interior, meditative training. Students are asked to go within in meditation to learn about themselves and about God at the center of their being. They work with spiritual exercises and meditations designed to bring them into the Illumination and into Self-Realization. In our Order new students are assigned a Priest to teach them who will watch over their spiritual growth. The student will be given exercises, meditative practices and will be counseled on various aspects of their spiritual life. In time, the student opens their awareness of their own purpose in life and of the nature of their own being in relation to God. Spiritual development and spiritual consciousness are the sole basis of advancement into higher consciousness or deeper levels of responsibility.

The purpose of a real spiritual school is to bring the student face-to-face with God at the center of their being. This is not a mental concept but an actual experience. Spiritual experience changes a person from someone who is speculating to someone who actually, really knows what is real. The purpose of a spiritual school is to bring a person as far as they can go spiritually in any particular lifetime. Through dedication to the Way and obedient devotion to the process of the spiritual lessons given, the student comes to know what the Teacher knows. The knowledge is experiential rather than cerebral and so demands a complete transformation of our personality. All the old concepts about life are shattered in the awakening of who one really is and how each person was created.

A spiritual school is as different from a theological seminary as a recipe is different from the food that one will experience when eating it. Theology is for the brain while spiritual experience is for the soul and the heart.